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How to connect Raspberry Pi to wifi using ssh in command line?


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Hedy

Connecting a Raspberry Pi to Wi-Fi via SSH is a classic “headless” setup method. This is especially useful when you don’t have a monitor or keyboard for your Pi.

There are two main scenarios. Choose the one that applies to you.

Scenario 1: First-Time Setup (No Access to the Pi Yet)
This method is for a fresh Raspberry Pi OS image where you need to configure Wi-Fi before even booting it up for the first time. This is done by creating a special file on the SD card from your computer.

Steps:

  1. Flash Raspberry Pi OS: Write the Raspberry Pi OS (preferably the Lite version for servers, or any version) to your SD card using the Raspberry Pi Imager.

  2. Enable SSH (Mandatory):

  • After flashing, your computer will see the SD card as a drive called boot.
  • Navigate to this boot drive.
  • Create a new, empty file named ssh (with no extension).
  • On Windows, you can do this in Notepad by saving a file and typing ssh as the name, making sure “All files (.)” is selected instead of “.txt”.
  • On Mac/Linux, use the terminal in the boot directory: touch ssh
  • This file tells the Pi to enable the SSH server on first boot.
  1. Configure Wi-Fi:
  • In the same boot drive, create a file named wpa_supplicant.conf.
  • Open this file with a text editor and paste the following configuration, editing it for your network: 
conf

country=US  # Change to your country code (e.g., GB, FR, DE, IN, JP)
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1

network={
    ssid="Your_WiFi_Name"
    psk="Your_WiFi_Password"
}
  • Important: Replace US with your country’s ISO code (e.g., GB for United Kingdom, DE for Germany, IN for India). This is required for legal radio frequency compliance.
  • Replace Your_WiFi_Name with your network’s SSID (name).
  • Replace Your_WiFi_Password with your network’s password.
  1. Boot the Pi:
  • Safely eject the SD card from your computer.
  • Insert it into the Raspberry Pi and power it on.
  • Wait about 1-2 minutes for the Pi to boot, connect to Wi-Fi, and enable SSH.
  1. Find the Pi’s IP Address and Connect:
  • You need to find the IP address assigned to your Pi. Check your router’s connected devices list (often under “DHCP Client List” or similar). The device name is usually raspberrypi.
  • Once you have the IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.100), open a terminal on your computer and connect using SSH: 
bash

ssh pi@<your_pi_ip_address>
# Example:
ssh pi@192.168.1.100
  • The default password is raspberry.

Scenario 2: The Pi is Already Connected via Ethernet or You Have Physical Access
If you can already access the Pi’s command line (via a monitor/keyboard or an Ethernet cable), you can configure Wi-Fi directly from the terminal.

Method A: Using raspi-config (Easiest)
This is a simple text-based menu system.

  1. Open a terminal on the Pi.

  2. Run the following command:

bash

sudo raspi-config
  1. Use the arrow keys to navigate:
  • Go to System Options > Wireless LAN.
  • Enter your Wi-Fi SSID (name) and password when prompted.
  1. Select Finish and reboot when asked. 
bash

sudo reboot
  1. After reboot, the Pi should be connected to Wi-Fi.

Method B: Using the Command Line (nmcli – Recommended for newer OS versions)
Modern Raspberry Pi OS versions include NetworkManager and its command-line tool nmcli, which is very powerful.

  1. List available Wi-Fi networks: 
bash

nmcli dev wifi list
  1. Connect to your network (replace “Your_WiFi_Name” and “Your_Password”): 
bash

nmcli dev wifi connect "Your_WiFi_Name" password "Your_Password"
  1. That’s it! The connection is saved and will auto-reconnect on boot.

Method C: Editing the Configuration File Manually (Traditional Method)
This edits the same wpa_supplicant.conf file that Method 1 creates.

  1. Open the Wi-Fi configuration file: 
bash

sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
  1. Add the following block to the bottom of the file (with your details): 
conf

network={
    ssid="Your_WiFi_Name"
    psk="Your_WiFi_Password"
}

  1. Save and exit (Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter).

  2. Restart the networking service or reboot:

bash

sudo wpa_cli -i wlan0 reconfigure
# Or simply reboot:
sudo reboot

After Connecting: Check Your Connection
Once you’re connected via SSH (or on the Pi itself), verify the Wi-Fi connection:

bash

# Check the IP address assigned to wlan0 (Wi-Fi)
ip addr show wlan0

# Or use a simpler command
hostname -I

# Test the internet connection
ping -c 4 google.com

Troubleshooting Tip: Finding the Elusive IP Address
If you can’t find the Pi’s IP address in your router:

Use a Network Scanner: Tools like nmap can scan your network.

  • On Linux/Mac: nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24 (adjust the network range to match yours).
  • On Windows, use a GUI tool like “Advanced IP Scanner”.

Use the ping Broadcast (if supported):

bash

ping raspberrypi.local

This often works if your computer supports mDNS (Bonjour on Windows/macOS, Avahi on Linux).


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Hedy