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ConIguration

The raspi-config Tool

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raspi-config is the Raspberry Pi con1guration tool

originally written by Alex Bradbury. To open the
con1guration tool, type the following on the command
line:

sudo raspi-config

The sudo is required because you will be changing 1les

that you do not own as the pi user.

NOTE

If you are using the Raspberry Pi desktop then you

can use the graphical Raspberry Pi
Configuration application from the Preferences
menu to con1gure your Raspberry Pi.

You should then see a blue screen with options in a grey

box:

NOTE

The menu shown may differ slightly.

Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlighted

selection between the options available. Pressing the
right arrow key will jump out of the Options menu and
take you to the <Select> and <Finish> buttons.
Pressing left will take you back to the options.
Alternatively, you can use the Tab key to switch between
these.

Generally speaking, raspi-config aims to provide the

functionality to make the most common con1guration
changes. This may result in automated edits to
/boot/config.txt and various standard Linux
con1guration 1les. Some options require a reboot to take
effect. If you changed any of those, raspi-config will
ask if you wish to reboot now when you select the
<Finish> button.

NOTE

In long lists of option values (like the list of timezone

cities), you can also type a letter to skip to that section
of the list. For example, entering L will skip you to
Lisbon, just two options away from London, to save
you scrolling all the way through the alphabet.

List of Options
NOTE

Due to the continual development of the raspi-

config tool, the list of options below may not be
completely up to date. Also please be aware that
different models of Raspberry Pi may have different
options available.

NOTE

All options are available via a non-interactive

command line interface. See the section on the
raspi-config command line interface for more
information.

System Options

The system options submenu allows you to make

con1guration changes to various parts of the boot, login
and networking process, along with some other system
level changes.

Wireless LAN

Allows setting of the wireless LAN SSID and passphrase.

Audio

Specify the audio output destination.

Password

You can change the 'default' user password.

NOTE

Until recently the default user on Raspberry Pi OS was

pi with the password raspberry. The default user is
now set on 1rst boot using a con1guration wizard.

Hostname

Set the visible name for this Raspberry Pi on a network.

Boot / Auto login

From this submenu you can select whether to boot to

console or desktop and whether you need to log in or not.
If you select automatic login, you will be logged in as the
pi user.

Network at Boot

Use this option to wait for a network connection before

letting boot proceed.

Splash Screen

Enable or disable the splash screen displayed at boot

time

Power LED

If the model of Raspberry Pi permits it, you can change

the behaviour of the power LED using this option.

Display Options

Resolution

De1ne the default HDMI/DVI video resolution to use when

the system boots without a TV or monitor being
connected. This can have an effect on RealVNC if the
VNC option is enabled.

Underscan

Old TV sets had a signi1cant variation in the size of the

picture they produced; some had cabinets that
overlapped the screen. TV pictures were therefore given a
black border so that none of the picture was lost; this is
called overscan. Modern TVs and monitors don’t need the
border, and the signal doesn’t allow for it. If the initial text
shown on the screen disappears off the edge, you need to
enable overscan to bring the border back.

Any changes will take effect after a reboot. You can have
greater control over the settings by editing con1g.txt.

On some displays, particularly monitors, disabling

overscan will make the picture 1ll the whole screen and
correct the resolution. For other displays, it may be
necessary to leave overscan enabled and adjust its
values.

Pixel Doubling

Enable/disable 2x2 pixel mapping.

Composite Video

On the Raspberry Pi 4, enable composite video. On

models prior to the Raspberry Pi 4, composite video is
enabled by default so this option is not displayed.

Screen Blanking

Enable or disable screen blanking.

Interfacing Options

In this submenu there are the following options to

enable/disable: Camera, SSH, VNC, SPI, I2C, Serial, 1-wire,
and Remote GPIO.

Camera

Enable/disable the CSI camera interface.

SSH

Enable/disable remote command line access to your

Raspberry Pi using SSH.

SSH allows you to remotely access the command line of

the Raspberry Pi from another computer. SSH is disabled
by default. Read more about using SSH on the SSH
documentation page. If connecting your Raspberry Pi
directly to a public network, you should not enable SSH
unless you have set up secure passwords for all users.

VNC

Enable/disable the RealVNC virtual network computing

server.

SPI

Enable/disable SPI interfaces and automatic loading of

the SPI kernel module, needed for products such as
PiFace.

I2C

Enable/disable I2C interfaces and automatic loading of

the I2C kernel module.

Serial

Enable/disable shell and kernel messages on the serial

connection.

1-wire

Enable/disable the Dallas 1-wire interface. This is usually

used for DS18B20 temperature sensors.

Remote GPIO

Enable or disable remote access to the GPIO pins.

Performance Options

Overclock

On some models it is possible to overclock your

Raspberry Pi’s CPU using this tool. The overclocking you
can achieve will vary; overclocking too high may result in
instability. Selecting this option shows the following
warning:

Be aware that overclocking may reduce the lifetime of

your Raspberry Pi. If overclocking at a certain level
causes system instability, try a more modest overclock.
Hold down the Shift key during boot to temporarily
disable overclocking.

GPU Memory

Change the amount of memory made available to the

GPU.

Overlay File System

Enable or disable a read-only 1lesystem

Fan

Set the behaviour of a GPIO connected fan

Localisation Options

The localisation submenu gives you these options to

choose from: keyboard layout, time zone, locale, and
wireless LAN country code.

Locale

Select a locale, for example en_GB.UTF-8 UTF-8.

Time Zone

Select your local time zone, starting with the region, e.g.
Europe, then selecting a city, e.g. London. Type a letter to
skip down the list to that point in the alphabet.

Keyboard

This option opens another menu which allows you to

select your keyboard layout. It will take a long time to
display while it reads all the keyboard types. Changes
usually take effect immediately, but may require a reboot.

WLAN Country

This option sets the country code for your wireless

network.

Advanced Options

Expand Filesystem

This option will expand your installation to 1ll the whole

SD card, giving you more space to use for 1les. You will
need to reboot the Raspberry Pi to make this available.

WARNING

There is no con1rmation: selecting the option begins

the partition expansion immediately.

GL Driver

Enable/disable the experimental GL desktop graphics

drivers.

GL (Full KMS)

Enable/disable the experimental OpenGL Full KMS (kernel

mode setting) desktop graphics driver.

GL (Fake KMS)

Enable/disable the experimental OpenGL Fake KMS

desktop graphics driver.

Legacy

Enable/disable the original legacy non-GL VideoCore

desktop graphics driver.

Compositor

Enable/Display the xcompmgr composition manager

Network Interface Names

Enable or disable predictable network interface names.

Network Proxy Settings

Con1gure the network’s proxy settings.

Boot Order

On the Raspberry Pi 4, you can specify whether to boot

from USB or network if the SD card isn’t inserted. See this
page for more information.

Bootloader Version

On the Raspberry Pi 4, you can tell the system to use the

very latest boot ROM software, or revert to the factory
default if the latest version causes problems.

Update

Update this tool to the latest version.

About raspi-conIg

Selecting this option shows the following text:

This tool provides a straightforward way of doing i

Although it can be run at any time, some of the opt

Finish

Use this button when you have completed your changes.

You will be asked whether you want to reboot or not.
When used for the 1rst time, it’s best to reboot. There will
be a delay in rebooting if you have chosen to resize your
SD card.

The raspi-config
Command Line Interface
The raspi-config tool can also be run in a non-
interactive mode, which is useful for setting up a
Raspberry Pi image for distribution.

sudo raspi-config nonint <command> <arguments>

The sudo is required because you will be changing 1les

that you do not own as the pi user.

NOTE

There is no consistent meaning for 0 and 1 in

arguments. Each function will document what 0 and 1
mean for that function.

List of Options
NOTE

Due to the continual development of the raspi-

config tool, the list of options below may not be
completely up to date. Also please be aware that
different models of Raspberry Pi may have different
options available.

Wireless LAN

Allows setting of the wireless LAN SSID and passphrase.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_wifi_ssid_passphrase <s

Hidden: 0 = visible, 1 = hidden. Defaults to visible. Plain: If

plain is 1, the default, passphrase is quoted

Example:

sudo raspi-config nonint do_wifi_ssid_passphrase my

sudo raspi-config nonint do_wifi_ssid_passphrase my
sudo raspi-config nonint do_wifi_ssid_passphrase my

Audio

Specify the audio output destination.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_audio <N>

Raspberry Pi 4B+

0 - bcm2835 Headphones

1 - vc4-hdmi-0

2 - vc4-hdmi-1

Password

You can change the 'default' user password.

NOTE

Until recently the default user on Raspberry Pi OS was

pi with the password raspberry. The default user is
now set on 1rst boot using a con1guration wizard.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_change_pass

NOTE

This does not check for the interactive eag and will
show full-screen messages.

Hostname

Set the visible name for this Raspberry Pi on a network.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_hostname <hostname>

Network at Boot

Use this option to wait for a network connection before

letting boot proceed.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_boot_wait <0/1>

0 - Boot without waiting for network connection 1 - Boot

after waiting for network connection

Splash Screen

Enable or disable the splash screen displayed at boot

time

sudo raspi-config nonint do_boot_splash <0/1>

0 - Enable splash screen 1 - Disable splash screen

Power LED

If the model of Raspberry Pi permits it, you can change

the behaviour of the power LED using this option.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_leds <0/1>

0 - Flash for disk activity 1 - Be on constantly

Display Options

Resolution

De1ne the default HDMI/DVI video resolution to use when

the system boots without a TV or monitor being
connected. This can have an effect on RealVNC if the
VNC option is enabled.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_resolution <group> <mod

Group: 2 = DMT, otherwise = CEA Mode: 0 = Default

Automatic

Underscan

Old TV sets had a signi1cant variation in the size of the

picture they produced; some had cabinets that
overlapped the screen. TV pictures were therefore given a
black border so that none of the picture was lost; this is
called overscan. Modern TVs and monitors don’t need the
border, and the signal doesn’t allow for it. If the initial text
shown on the screen disappears off the edge, you need to
enable overscan to bring the border back.

Any changes will take effect after a reboot. You can have
greater control over the settings by editing con1g.txt.

On some displays, particularly monitors, disabling

overscan will make the picture 1ll the whole screen and
correct the resolution. For other displays, it may be
necessary to leave overscan enabled and adjust its
values.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_overscan <0/1>

0 - Enable overscan 1 - Disable overscan

Pixel Doubling

Enable/disable 2x2 pixel mapping.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_pixdub <0/1>

0 - Enable pixel doubling 1 - Disable pixel doubling

Composite Video

On the Raspberry Pi 4, enable composite video. On

models prior to the Raspberry Pi 4, composite video is
enabled by default so this option is not displayed.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_composite <0/1>

0 - Enable composite video 1 - Disable composite video

Screen Blanking

Enable or disable screen blanking.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_blanking <0/1>

0 - Enable screen blanking 1 - Disable screen blanking

Interfacing Options

In this submenu there are the following options to

enable/disable: Camera, SSH, VNC, SPI, I2C, Serial, 1-wire,
and Remote GPIO.

Camera

Enable/disable the CSI camera interface.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_camera <0/1>

0 - Enable camera 1 - Disable camera

SSH

Enable/disable remote command line access to your

Raspberry Pi using SSH.

SSH allows you to remotely access the command line of

the Raspberry Pi from another computer. SSH is disabled
by default. Read more about using SSH on the SSH
documentation page. If connecting your Raspberry Pi
directly to a public network, you should not enable SSH
unless you have set up secure passwords for all users.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_ssh <0/1>

0 - Enable SSH 1 - Disable SSH

VNC

Enable/disable the RealVNC virtual network computing

server.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_vnc <0/1>

0 - Enable VNC 1 - Disable VNC

SPI

Enable/disable SPI interfaces and automatic loading of

the SPI kernel module, needed for products such as
PiFace.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_spi <0/1>

0 - Enable SPI 1 - Disable SPI

I2C

Enable/disable I2C interfaces and automatic loading of

the I2C kernel module.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_i2c <0/1>

0 - Enable I2C 1 - Disable I2C

Serial

Enable/disable shell and kernel messages on the serial

connection.

sudo raspi-config nonint do_serial <0/1/2>

0 - Enable console over serial port 1 - Disable serial port 2

- Enable serial port

1-wire

Enable/disable the Dallas 1-wire interface. This is usually

used for DS18B20 temperature sensors.