This article will discuss how to access Raspberry Pi via XDMCP and Xmanager without a peripheral monitor. The main benefit of accessing Raspberry Pi with Xmanager is increase in performance. Raspberry’s built in GPU is not ideal for heavier projects and since Xmanager uses your PC’s GPU, you may see increase in speeds taking into account a sufficient network condition.
First, you’ll need to download a few things before we get started.
- Operating System. This instructional article will use the Raspian Jessie OS (based on Debian Jessie). You can download it directly from Raspberry Pi’s website (https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/).
- Zip Archiver. Your preferred Zip archiver should suffice (Winrar, 7-zip, etc.).
- SD Card image writer. We recommend win32diskimager (http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/).
Now, if you have your Raspberry Pi, a MicroSD card (a MicroSD card reader is required to access it from your PC), and the above software downloaded, we’re ready to begin!
We’ll need to write the raspbian image onto the MicroSD card. Extract the raspbian.zip file and use win32diskimager to write raspbian’s image onto the MicroSD card. Make sure you select the correct path for the MicroSD card. In the example below, our card’s path is set to E:\.
Once the write is complete you can remove the MicroSD card. Make sure to do so safely to avoid any corrupted data. From here, you can insert your MicroSD card into your Raspberry Pi and power it on. We’re using the latest Raspberry Pi Version 2 Model B.
We’ll need to access the Raspberry Pi to obtain it’s IP address. Xmanager can detect Raspberry Pi’s IP address automatically, but we will retrieve it manually for the sake of good practice. Once the Raspberry Pi boots on, you’ll be asked for authentication information. Default id is ‘pi’ and password ‘raspberry’.
Open the terminal and retrieve the IP address (ours is ‘192.168.0.107’) using the following command:
ifconfig
We can now access Raspberry Pi via SSH. Unlike other distros, when Raspberry Pi boots, ssh is enabled by default. Create a new Xshell session and input your Raspberry Pi’s IP address.
Click OK and connect to the session. You’ll be prompted to enter your login credentials. User id ‘pi’ and password ‘raspberry’.
Once you’re connected, you’ll want to change your password and upgrade your system. Use the following commands:
sudo passwd pi
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade
We will now make some tweaks to raspbian’s configurations to maximize efficiency. First you’ll want to expand the filesystem to ensure the that entire MicroSD card is available to the OS. This is very important as Raspberry Pi’s root file system is defaulted to only 2GBs. Type the following command to bring up the configuration tool:
sudo raspi-config
Also, we’ll want to overclock to Pi2. (Caution!!: this requires 2A of power voltage)
Now we need to make some configurations to lightdm to enable XDMCP. You’ll want to make a backup copy of lightdm first.
cp /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.backup
Then edit your lightdm config as such to enable XDMCP over port 177:
From here, you’ll want to
Restart lightdm:
sudo service lightdm restart
Install x-11 apps:
sudo apt-get install x11-apps
Check to make sure port 177 is open:
netstat -anl | grep 177
We’re all set! Now we can access the Raspberry Pi via XDMCP. Open Xbrowser, righ click any whitespace, and select Refresh. Raspberrypi is now available as an XDMCP connection.
Double click the host and enter your credentials.
You’ve successfully accessed your Raspberry Pi via XDMCP! Use Xmanager Enterprise and Raspberry Pi to accomplish countless number of activities and projects.
For ideas, check out Raspberry Pi’s resources page: https://www.raspberrypi.org/resources/
Don’t have Xmanager Enterprise? You can evaluate free for 30 days! Get started below:
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