A step-by-step guide on how to connect to your Raspberry Pi and access its terminal

Learn how to establish a connection with your Raspberry Pi through various methods, including SSH and VNC, so you can remotely access the device’s terminal. …


Updated September 25, 2023

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Learn how to establish a connection with your Raspberry Pi through various methods, including SSH and VNC, so you can remotely access the device’s terminal.

There are several ways to connect to your Raspberry Pi and access its terminal. In this article, we will cover two popular methods: SSH (Secure Shell) and VNC (Virtual Network Computing). We assume that you have already set up your Raspberry Pi with an operating system like Raspbian or Ubuntu Mate, and it is connected to a local network.

Method 1: Connecting via SSH

SSH allows you to remotely access the terminal of your Raspberry Pi from another device on the same network. To connect using SSH, follow these steps:

  1. Ensure that your Raspberry Pi is connected to a local network and has an IP address. You can find the IP address by navigating to the “Network & Internet” settings on your Raspberry Pi or by using a tool like ifconfig in the terminal.

  2. Open a terminal on your computer (Mac/Linux) or PuTTY (Windows).

  3. In the terminal, type ssh pi@<IP_ADDRESS>, replacing <IP_ADDRESS> with the IP address of your Raspberry Pi. For example: ssh pi@192.168.0.10.

  4. If you are connecting to the Raspberry Pi for the first time, you may see a message like this: “The authenticity of host ‘192.168.0.10 (192.168.0.10)’ can’t be established.” Type yes and press enter to continue connecting.

  5. Enter the default Raspberry Pi password when prompted: raspberry.

  6. You should now have access to your Raspberry Pi’s terminal.

Method 2: Connecting via VNC

VNC allows you to remotely view and interact with the graphical interface of your Raspberry Pi from another device on the same network. To connect using VNC, follow these steps:

  1. Ensure that your Raspberry Pi is connected to a local network.

  2. Install a VNC server on your Raspberry Pi by running sudo apt-get install tigervnc-standalone-server in the terminal.

  3. Start the VNC server by running vncserver.

  4. Set a password for your VNC server by running vncpasswd.

  5. Find the IP address of your Raspberry Pi on your local network (e.g., using ifconfig).

  6. Install a VNC client on your computer (such as TightVNC for Windows or Screen Sharing for macOS).

  7. In the VNC client, enter the IP address and display number of your Raspberry Pi (usually :1) to connect. For example: 192.168.0.10:1.

  8. Enter the password you set earlier for your VNC server when prompted.

  9. You should now have access to your Raspberry Pi’s graphical interface remotely.

Note that SSH is generally faster and more secure than VNC, but VNC can be useful if you need to view or interact with the graphical interface of your Raspberry Pi. Additionally, some devices may not support VNC, while all should have SSH capabilities.