Ubuntu Server on Your Pi. Fast.

Got a Raspberry Pi? Let's turn it into a legit server. No crap, no monitor, no fuss.

What you need

• A Raspberry Pi (2, 3, 4, 5, or a Zero W 2...)
• A microSD card (8GB+)
• A power cable (5V 3A minimum, 4/5A preferred — grab an official Pi power supply)
• Your computer

The steps to get it going

Step 1: Flash it

1. Grab the Raspberry Pi Imager (it's the official one).
2. Pop your SD card into your computer. If it's been used before and won't cooperate, wipe it clean first with the SD Card Formatter.
3. In the Imager:
   • OS: Other > Ubuntu > Ubuntu Server — pick the 64-bit LTS.
   • Storage: your SD card.
   • This is the important part: click the gear icon. Set a hostname and password, enable SSH, and add your Wi-Fi details. That's the whole headless trick right there.
4. Click Write.

Step 2: Boot it

1. Put the freshly flashed SD card into your Pi.
2. Plug in the power.
3. Walk away. Seriously — give it 2-3 minutes. It's running cloud-init to set itself up from the details you baked in. Don't touch it.

Step 3: Log in (from your main PC)

1. Find your Pi's IP address — check your router's device list.
2. Open your terminal and type:

   ssh your-username@its-ip-address

3. Type your password.

Boom. You're in. You've got an Ubuntu Server running headless on a Pi. Go wild.

Sources

• Raspberry Pi Imager
• Ubuntu Server for Raspberry Pi
• cloud-init documentation