How to Setup Raspberry Pi Zero W for Headless

The following instructions will work anytime, you don't necessarily have to follow them for the first boot - this is just a very convenient way to get your Raspberry Pi onto a network without using any plug-in peripherals like a keyboard, mouse or monitor.

What is "headless," anyway?

A computer setup without a monitor is said to be running headless. You might want to do this if you're installing your Pi into some project, or want to keep power-usage and cost minimal. This kind of setup is what the Pi Zero W was built for. The idea is that you can still access your Pi's terminal interface over your network using a protocol called SSH.

[issamal-azzoni]

Excellent video. However, I had to make the following changes to make this work:
1- Use Notepad++ to save the wpa_supplicant.conf file. Use “Edit” > “EOL Conversion” > “UNIX/OSX Format”. “UNIX” is then shown in the status bar.
2- For wpa_supplicant.conf:

country=us
update_config=1


network={
scan_ssid=1
ssid="MyNetworkSSID"
psk="Pa55w0rd1234"
}


3- For PuTTY, use raspberrypi.local in the host name box for the first connection.

[TheGraeme]

As i am new to RPI Zero W, i found this video extremely useful.
It was clear, easy to follow and not rushed like some videos i have seen wondering what do i do next.
Thank you very much for taken the time to do the video.

[JamesAnderson-bzcg]

This tutorial is the difference between someone who knows how to explain things properly and those that don't.
The file extension tab is a life saver.
So many people forget to mention the ultra fine detail that makes all the difference.

This is a superb description, thank you.

[phillippi]

Thank you for going over this. I am working on a "loop" system to control my insulin pump automatically (the computer, continuous blood sugar monitor and insulin pump). It's a system that acts like a pancreas; It tracks my blood sugars and automatically adjusts the insulin coming from the pump. This video covers the information I was missing.

[lindnerlars]

I would never have thought of that in my life. Thank you very very much Issam.

[moldisocks]

Bloody Brilliant, someone who knows how to explain properly

[guitaristmarko]

best video on youtube on how to setup your rasp pi zero w.

[WhiteSword]

Wifi can only be preconfigured before the first time device boots i.e. /boot/wpa_supplicant.conf is only read once the first time device boots up. If you have booted the device with no wpa_supplicant.conf file or invalid wpa_supplicant.conf file, then you'll need to either reflash the SD card or overwrite the /data/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file.

[hottroddinn]

Here are somethings which I discovered while trying to setup my Raspberry pi zero W
1. Followed all steps perfectly as shown in the video and also reading comments, but it wouldn't connect to the internet

2. Eventually, connected HDMI to TV and found that the boot up was fairly slow and wasn't sure why but still decided to reflash with Raspbian Stretch(GUI)

3. Connected a USB dongle for my Microsoft Keyboard 850(mouse and keyboard combo) and rebooted this time with Raspbian stretch and it was good to see both keyboard and mouse work!

4. Remember this is designed to connect only to 2.4GHz and 5GHz is not seen by the pi. Wifi could see all the access points around me but wouldn't connect even after entering the right PSK. Disabling, rebooting multiple times didn't help either.

5. Set these things manually locale, keyboard language, timezone and internet setting for country. This helped to connect the pi to wifi.

6. Once connected, the wifi icon display is equivalent to "connecting..." seen on most devices / operating systems, but it actually means it's already connected. Realized only after about 5 minutes and pinging multiple domains.

I will probably disable X on the server after I'm happy with the overall performance for few days.

Hope this helps someone who might be struggling.

[TheMegaMrMe]

Nice to know you can do that!
Glad to see the plain text credentials get cleaned up

[coderduck]

Excellent video. I was very lost. Thank you so much!

[ziyuwang]

Great great video! I thought I created a file named "ssh" without txt. But actually the ".txt" is hidden!!! Thank you so much!

[aelidrissi]

Great explanation! For the the version as in june 2020:

GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
country=US
network={
ssid="YOUR_WIFI_NAME"
scan_ssid=1
psk="YOUR_WIFI_PASSWORD"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

Don't forget to change the country code. If your country is the Netherlands.. it would be country=NL.
Hope this helps.

[bobf]

Created and saved the 2 files, booted up, no connection. Took card out and connected to PC, both files disappeared. BTW Hidden items is checked.

[SusmithHCK]

you sound like JARVIS, good explanation. nice video.

[nehadwivedi]

you solve my all problem related to setup

[UmerFarooq-nvzl]

I am getting the following message while entering the host name in puTTY "unable to open connection to raspberry pi Host does not exist"

[sciencevetal]

Hi, I gave it up to you, but I do not have a Wi-Fi on the Raspberry. Why is that?

Host does not exist

[pepsi-straw-dog]

Thank you very much sir, it worked greatly!

[mrembeh]

I followed your steps, but the pi does not connect to my router. it does not show up in the list of connected files. (using a Mac) arp -a does also not show the π on the network.