Raspberry Pi User Guide, 3rd Edition

Chapter 5

Network Configuration

FOR MOST USERS, configuring the Raspberry Pi’s network is as easy as plugging a cable into the Model B’s Ethernet port—or a USB Ethernet adapter, in the case of the Model A. For others, however, the network requires manual configuration.

If you know that your network doesn’t have a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server—a system that tells the Pi and other devices on the network how they should connect—or if you want to use a USB wireless adapter with the Pi, read on.

Wired Networking

In some instances, in order for the Pi’s network to operate correctly you may need to configure it manually. Normally, the network in a home, school or office has a DHCP server that tells the Pi and other devices on the network how they should connect. Some networks don’t have a DHCP server, however, and need to be set up manually.

The list of network interfaces, along with information about how they should be configured, is stored in a file called interfaces located in the folder /etc/network. This is a file only the root user can edit, because removing a network interface from this list will cause it to stop working.

From the terminal, you can edit this file using a variety of different text editors. For simplicity, the nano text editor should be used for this process. Open the file for editing with the following command:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

Nano is a powerful yet lightweight text editor, with a simple user interface (see Figure 5-1). You ...