If you are using an HDMI screen and a USB keyboard, ensure they are plugged in before powering the Pi. You will be able to see the boot process on the screen.
Warning
During your first boot a tool called cloud-init is doing configuration. WAIT for it to finish before trying to log in. It typically takes less than 2 minutes but there is a break between the log-in prompt and cloud-init completing. If you interrupt the process you have to start again. You’ll know it’s done when it outputs some more lines after the log-in prompt has appeared.
Once cloud-init finishes log in using “ubuntu” as both the password and login ID. After a minute or so, Ubuntu on your Raspberry Pi will have fully booted and connected to the network.
If you are using an ethernet cable and are not connected to the network at this point you may need to run:
sudo dhclient eth0
Connect remotely to your Raspberry Pi
To connect to your Raspberry Pi remotely, you need two things (we’ll help you find them):
- Its IP address on the local network
- An SSH client (SSH is a communication protocol between machines)
You have to do this if you are running your device headless, but you might also want to do this if you are not so you can access your Pi from anywhere.
Determining the Pi’s IP address
To determine the IP address of your board, open a terminal and run the arp command:
On Ubuntu and Mac OS:
arp -na | grep -i "b8:27:eb"
If this doesn’t work and you are using the latest Raspberry Pi 4, instead run:
arp -na | grep -i "dc:a6:32"
Information
Depending on your version of Ubuntu, you may need to install the net-tools package. Install it with sudo apt install net-tools and try the arp command again.
On Windows:
arp -a | findstr b8-27-eb
If this doesn’t work and you are using the latest Raspberry Pi 4, instead run:
arp -a | findstr dc-a6-32
This will return an output similar to:
? (xx.xx.xx.x) at b8:27:eb:yy:yy:yy [ether] on wlp2s0
Where the x’s are the IP address of any Raspberry Pi connected to the local network. Note it down.
If the command doesn’t return an IP address, you may need to wait a little longer for your Pi to join the network. If you still can’t see it after a few tries, which can happen with some home or office network configurations, we recommend you use a USB keyboard and HDMI screen to interact with your device.
Using an SSH client
On Ubuntu and Mac OS, an SSH client is already installed. Some versions of Windows 10 also include an SSH client too, but if yours does not or you’re unsure, follow these steps to install one.
Open a terminal and run the following command:
ssh ubuntu@<Raspberry Pi’s IP address>
You will be asked to confirm the connection:
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?
Type “yes” to confirm.
Changing the password
When prompted, use “ubuntu” for the password. (The cursor won’t move when you type the password.) The first thing Ubuntu will do is to ask you to change it to a secure password. Once done, you can reconnect again with the SSH command and the new password.
Success! You are now connected to Ubuntu Server running on your Raspberry Pi.
Still not connected to the internet?
Sometimes the structure of the network-config file that you modified before boot gets messed up when you boot. This would cause your Pi not to be able to connect to your wifi.
To fix this you need to go into the correct file and correct the issue. Run:
sudo nano /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml
so you can edit the file. Edit it so it looks like this again, the indentation needs to be correct for the .yaml to work:
wifis:
wlan0:
dhcp4: true
optional: true
access-points:
"home network":
password: "123456789"
Save and exit the file with Ctrl + S and Ctrl + X.
Run sudo netplan apply and sudo reboot and when you log back in, you will be connected to your wifi.
