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First Login & Updates

After installing Raspberry Pi OS, you need to log in and perform initial system updates.

Time Required: ~15 minutes

Difficulty: Beginner

Login Options

You have two ways to access your Pi:

Option 1: Direct Login (With Monitor & Keyboard)

If you have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse connected:

  1. You'll see either the desktop (Desktop version) or login prompt (Lite version)
  2. Enter your username and password (configured during OS installation)
  3. For Desktop version, you're logged in automatically after entering credentials
  4. For Lite version, you'll see a command prompt after successful login

Option 2: Remote Login via SSH

SSH (Secure Shell) allows you to access your Pi remotely from another computer.

Prerequisites:

  • Pi must be on same network as your computer
  • SSH must be enabled (configured during OS installation)
  • Know your Pi's hostname or IP address
# Using PuTTY or Windows Terminal
ssh <PiTracUsername>@<hostname>.local
# Example: ssh pitrac@pitrac.local

# Or with IP address
ssh <PiTracUsername>@192.168.1.100

# Open Terminal
ssh <PiTracUsername>@<hostname>.local
# Example: ssh pitrac@pitrac.local

First SSH Connection:

  • You'll see a message about host authenticity (ECDSA key fingerprint)
  • Type yes to continue
  • Enter your password when prompted
  • You won't see characters while typing password - this is normal

Tip

Logging in remotely makes it easy to copy-paste commands from this documentation directly into your Pi terminal.

Initial System Updates

After logging in, immediately update your system to get the latest security patches and software versions.

Update Package Lists

sudo apt update

This downloads information about the newest versions of packages and their dependencies.

Upgrade Installed Packages

sudo apt -y upgrade

The -y flag automatically answers "yes" to prompts. This can take 5-15 minutes depending on how many packages need updating.

Reboot

After updates complete, reboot to ensure all changes take effect:

sudo reboot now

Your SSH connection will close. Wait 1-2 minutes, then log back in.

Verify Sudo Privileges

The user account you created during OS installation should automatically have sudo (administrator) privileges. Let's verify:

Test Sudo Access

sudo whoami

If configured correctly, this should output: root

If Sudo Doesn't Work

If you get an error like "<username> is not in the sudoers file", you need to add your user to the sudo group.

From another account with sudo access:

sudo usermod -aG sudo <PiTracUsername>

Or edit sudoers file directly (advanced):

su -  # Switch to root
visudo
# Add this line:
# <PiTracUsername> ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

More guidance: How to grant sudo privileges

Verify System Information

Check your Pi is configured correctly:

Check OS Version

cat /etc/os-release

Look for:

  • VERSION_CODENAME should be trixie (Debian 13)
  • PRETTY_NAME should say "Raspberry Pi OS"

Check Architecture

uname -m

Should output: aarch64 (64-bit ARM)

32-bit OS Detected

If you see armv7l or armhf, you're running 32-bit OS. PiTrac requires 64-bit - you must re-image your SD card.

Check Available Disk Space

df -h

Look for the root filesystem (/):

  • Should show most of your SD card size (minus OS overhead)
  • Ensure you have at least 10GB free for PiTrac installation

Next Steps

Basic Setup Complete!

Essential Next Step:

Optional Advanced Configuration:

Return to:

Troubleshooting

Can't SSH to Pi
  • Verify Pi is powered on and network cable connected
  • Check router to confirm Pi has IP address
  • Try using IP address instead of hostname
  • Verify SSH was enabled during OS installation
  • Ping the Pi: ping <hostname>.local or ping <ip-address>
Updates failing
  • Check internet connection: ping google.com
  • Verify DNS is working: nslookup google.com
  • Try different mirror: sudo apt update --fix-missing
  • Check disk space: df -h
Permission denied errors
  • Verify you're using sudo for system commands
  • Check sudo privileges as shown above
  • Ensure you're logged in as the correct user: whoami
Forgot password
  • If you have physical access, you can reset via recovery mode
  • Otherwise, you'll need to re-image the SD card
  • This is why it's important to write down your password!