So this seems like it should be really simple. I want to use Fedora server on my rPi. I wrote the image to the SD using the Raspberry Pi imager, seems to boot okay, but I can’t log in with the credentials specified via the imager.
This is to be a headless box. I’m using a Mac for creating the image, and don’t have another box I can boot to Fedora.
There’s a “user-data” file in the boot directory of the SD with my settings set in the imager, but apparenly Fedora doesn’t do anything with it (makes sense because it seems to expect to have apt available).
I can do everything else I need to via ssh (works fine), if I just had a login to use, or a way to set it up.
I tried setting up a standard Raspberry Pi OS on the Pi (works fine) and attached the imaged card via USB, but it seems there is no way to mount the Fedora LVM volumes. IDK if it’s an incompatible version of xfs or what, it just refuses to recognize it for mounting.
It recognizes the /dev/fedora/root LVM device, but can’t mount it even using a loop device.
Beside ssh what would you like to do? I mean would you like to set up more users?
I can add users when I have access (with sudo) with some account. I’m using this to replace on old x86 server, and want to use Fedora instead of Ubuntu because the Ubuntu/debian configs are too different. I’m just stuck unable to login via SSH with anything.
I recall that I had to enable sshd from a local screen and keyboard on each of my RPi’s.
Why not connect a HDMI screen and keyboard to the RPi to set it up?
I don’t have a microHDMI cable. I might be able to scrounge up a USB keyboard, but can’t see a screen.
sshd is enabled. I can connect, confirm the key (fingerprint), but it doesn’t recognize my password.
I finally managed to mount the fedora LVM from a Ubuntu install in the rPi, and I can see my user name entries in /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow, so that seemed to kind of work. The account does NOT exist in /etc/shadow or /etc/passwd, so it just didn’t work.
Anyway if the account doesn’t exist, I still would not be able to log in with my account …
This is what I ended up having to do, which worked. Since the Raspberry OS worked fine, I mounted the Fedora LVM from USB drive on the rPi booted with that, then did:
Since Fedora uses the wheel account for sudo instead of adm or whatever, I also had to edit the /etc/group file and and my user name to the “wheel” entry in that file.
After that, unmounted the /dev/fedora fs, shut down the rPi, and booted off the fixed Fedora image. I can now log in. I would have had to do this even if I had a screen and keyboard (unless there is some default password for root? IDK).
Seems like a bug in the Fedora image, or there should be some warning somewhere that the Fedora image will NOT work correctly with the Raspberry Pi imager tool.
The user is created and added to the wheel group with the first boot of a newly installed fedora workstation OS. Since you did not boot directly to fedora that script was not followed and your user account was not configured properly.
It does require that you have a screen and keyboard to perform those steps.
Your problem seems not that the raspberry pi imager did not work, but rather that you did not boot in the normally expected method with a newly installed image. You had to do manually what the first boot process would have done for you.
For future preparations I would encourage you to obtain a mini-hdmi to hdmi cable so you can boot normally for actions such as a new installation. I seem to recall that Ubuntu also requires a monitor to be attached for the first boot as well. The raspberry pi OS defaults with a user name and password already configured, unlike most distros.
I seem to recall that Ubuntu also requires a monitor to be attached for the first boot as well. The raspberry pi OS defaults with a user name and password already configured, unlike most distros.
This is all incorrect information. The raspberry pi imager allows you to configure settings for a user and sshd service. It works fine for Ubuntu - I can boot the image and log in via SSH to the server with the configuration parameters I supplied. I did boot directly to Fedora, it just didn’t have the user I configured when it loaded. How would have a screen helped? So I could see the login prompt an a console screen instead of connecting via SSH? What user would have been created? How would I have / set the credentials? The server image doesn’t have a graphical head, does it? How does that work?
The pi OS does NOT have a default user name / password, that old pi/raspberry default account is not used any more. You have to configure it with the imager.
I definitely also would like that we try to bring useful information together to be able to install a normal RPI image to an SD card and run it.
I tested the the linked Server image and could not start it, there came some system mount errors. To write the image I just used the rpi-imager I can install in a Fedora Linux.
I do use an RPI5 with 8GB memory.
Server Images normally not come with a DE installed but should have cockpit installed to access it remote. I do not know If this is the same with an aarch64 image.
So I got a microHDMI and booted a fresh image of Fedora Server 41. On startup it does display a script that prompts you through creating a user. Doesn’t do anything else, but it does that. Then you login with it and it just drops you to a console prompt.
Frankly it took more time and trouble than just booting the rPi twice - once with a standard image, mounting the Fedora image and creating an account, then rebooting with the fixed image.
Would be nice if that script that prompts for a user could read the user-data in the boot partition, which the rPi imager creates, then create the user. Then no HDMI console or keyboard required, just SSH to it and log in. The rest is the exact same experience as having a hard-wired screen and keyboard set.