Demonstration using terminal and GUI to explain process for allowing remote connection to Raspberry Pi using VNC Viewer, available for desktops, and mobile devices.
Episode #9-02 released on August 26, 2018
The Raspberry Pi can be really useful, and it is even more useful when you can remotely connect to one. Today, we are going to be using VNC Viewer to connect to a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, but before I explain the process you need to follow to allow for such functionality to work, you will require a Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, and the program VNC Viewer, which can be used for free. I will provide you with the command line and GUI variations for anyone who setups their Raspberry Pi 3 in either graphical or command line mode. Since Raspbian is based on Debian, most Debian commands will work here, and since it is Linux, you can do a lot of stuff with this useful gadget.
I will be demonstrating the entire process using the VNC viewer to help with video capture, this both serves as proof this works, and, also, helps me demonstrate the method step by step.
The first step is to connect your Raspberry Pi 3 to a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and make sure it is, also, connected to your network via Wi-Fi, or Ethernet. I personally went ahead and manually assigned a fixed IP address in the DHCP server of my router, this simplifies the process for myself, and could for you, too. The simplicity of the process resides in the fact that the IP address will not change for the Raspberry Pi.
The second step is to create a password for your Raspberry Pi 3. In the GUI go to the Raspbian menu, then Preferences, then Raspberry Pi Configuration, then click change password. Or in the command line you can simply type in passwd as the command. Then you can setup the password there.
The third step is simple in the GUI, you go to the Raspbian menu, then Preferences, then Raspberry Pi Configuration, then click Interfaces, and enable VNC, click ok, and then it should ask to reboot, which you allow. Or In the terminal, you enter sudo raspi-config as the command. Select number 5, Interfacing options, click enter. Then select P3 VNC, click enter again. Then reboot. To reboot in terminal, the command is reboot.
Step four includes getting VNC up and running and figuring out the IP address of your Raspberry Pi. To identify the IP address, hover over the network icon, in my case I have connected it wirelessly. You are interested in the wlan0 or eth0 address to make connecting to it possible. Download the appropriate VNC viewer client from RealVNC for your operating system. Once installed, open VNC Viewer, go to file, new connection, then insert the IP address, a friendly name to remind you which Raspberry Pi this is, then click ok. Clicking on the new icon the first time will attempt to connect to it. Make sure you have the correct IP address. The username will be pi, and the password will be the one that you assigned. You may choose to remember the password to make it easier for you. Now, that that is done, you are now logged in remotely into your Raspberry Pi, have fun. Remember, that since you are running over the network, there will be some lag in the video preview.
Now, remember that you need to shut down your Raspberry Pi 3, you can do this in the GUI like you would any other operating system, or in the terminal by using the following command: sudo shutdown -h now. Make sure the green light is off and wait 5 seconds before unplugging it.
Host : Steve Smith | Music : | Editor : Steve Smith | Producer : Zed Axis Dot Net