Flash Hypriot as your Raspberry Pi Operating System.

HypriotOS is a linux distro for the Raspberry Pi that focuses on using Docker.

1. Download the Raspberry Pi Imager (not the Raspberry Pi OS)

2. Download hyriot os

• Hypriot is made to:
• Run on Raspberry Pi
• Run headless (ie no destkop)
• Run Docker
• Be 10-20x faster to flash than Raspberry Pi OS

3. Unzip hypriotos-rpi-vX.YY.Z.img.zip

Change X.YY.Z to the latest version, in my case it’s 1.12.3

4. Insert a microSD card* into your non-raspberry pi computer

*We are going to completely erase this card

5. Open Raspberry Pi Imager

Under Operating System

• Select Custom
• Navigate to your unzipped Hypriot OS (hypriotos-rpi-vX.YY.Z.img not hypriotos-rpi-vX.YY.Z.img.zip) Under Storage system
• Select the microSD card you inserted in step 4

  When in doubt, do not just select anything. Eject your card, take note of available options on the Imager, insert card, select the new option.

6. Click Write

• Confirm warnings
• Wait about 2-10 minutes

7. Once complete, card will be ejected for you.

8. Re-insert card into your non-raspberry pi computer

9. Open up the contents of the mircoSD Card (should now be named HypriotOS)

10. Copy user-data to your non-raspberry pi computer and open in VSCode

user-data is just a yaml file.

11. Edit user-data.

The following items I tend to change:

• hostname
  • default is black-pearl
• users.name
  • default is pirate
• users.gecos
  • default is Hypriot Pirate
• users.plain_text_passwd
  • default is hypriot
• users.ssh_authorized_keys
  • This is an optional field, I add my public ssh key here.
• timezone
  • default is America/Los_Angeles
• write_files.content.network.ssid
  • default is YOUR_WIFI_SSID
• write_files.content.network.psk
  • default is YOUR_WIFI_PASSWORD

YOUR_WIFI_SSID and YOUR_WIFI_PASSWORD are your wifi network name and wifi password respectively.

I recommend setting passwords using at least plain_text_passwd:

python3 -c "import secrets;print(secrets.token_urlsafe(32))"

Setting the ssh_authorized_keys: will allow you to login without using a password. To get your ssh public key you can just:

mac/Linux

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | pbcopy

windows

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | type

Here’s my working sample:

#cloud-config
# vim: syntax=yaml
#

# Set your hostname here, the manage_etc_hosts will update the hosts file entries as well
hostname: tars-1
manage_etc_hosts: true

# You could modify this for your own user information
users:
  - name: cfe
    gecos: "CFE for Life"
    sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
    shell: /bin/bash
    groups: users,docker,video,input
    plain_text_passwd: qcxOIuSjAI1dKebYLwbzT7OciGNV5FpNe4Ij21BWRr0
    lock_passwd: false
    ssh_pwauth: true
    ssh_authorized_keys: 
        - ssh-rsa AAAAB3N... cfe@justins-mbp.lan
    chpasswd: { expire: false }

# # Set the locale of the system
locale: "en_US.UTF-8"

# # Set the timezone
# # Value of 'timezone' must exist in /usr/share/zoneinfo
timezone: "America/Los_Angeles"

# # Update apt packages on first boot
# package_update: true
# package_upgrade: true
# package_reboot_if_required: true
package_upgrade: false

# # Install any additional apt packages you need here
# packages:
#  - ntp

# # WiFi connect to HotSpot
# # - use `wpa_passphrase SSID PASSWORD` to encrypt the psk
write_files:
  - content: |
      allow-hotplug wlan0
      iface wlan0 inet dhcp
      wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
      iface default inet dhcp
    path: /etc/network/interfaces.d/wlan0
  - content: |
      country=de
      ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
      update_config=1
      network={
      ssid="WifiIsComing"
      psk="KingOfTheNorth"
      proto=RSN
      key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
      pairwise=CCMP
      auth_alg=OPEN
      }
    path: /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

# These commands will be ran once on first boot only
runcmd:
  # Pickup the hostname changes
  - 'systemctl restart avahi-daemon'
  # Activate WiFi interface
  - 'ifup wlan0'

12. Replace your local user-data with the microSD card’s user-data

13. Eject microSD, insert into pi, and boot. Wait for initial boot. Restart the pi again to ensure the user-data (aka cloud-init config) changes take place from above.

If you ever need to change user-data after you boot for the first time, you must reflash the OS and do steps 10-13 again.

14. To repeat on new raspberry pis, I recommend you change the hostname in user-data each time to something new. The reason I used tars-1 is because my next few would be tars-2, tars-3, etc.

15. Use grep to find our new host ips:

macOS

nmap -sP "$(ipconfig getifaddr en0)/24" | grep "tars"

linux

nmap -sP "$(ip -4 addr show eth0 | grep -oP '(?<=inet\s)\d+(\.\d+){3}')/24" | grep "tars"

windows users use this guide