Headless Raspberry Pi setup: there is no default 'pi' user anymoreprocedure · unverified · Since the April 2022 Raspberry Pi OS release there is no default pi user. For headless IoT devices, preconfigure user, Wi-Fi and SSH in Raspberry Pi Imager's customisation, or use userconf.txt and the ssh file on the boot partition.
Reach a headless Raspberry Pi over one USB cable: the rpi-usb-gadget Ethernet gadgetprocedure · unverified · rpi-usb-gadget makes the Pi appear as a USB network adapter to the host (CDC-ECM on Linux/macOS, RNDIS on Windows). It switches automatically between using the host's connection sharing and serving DHCP/NAT itself at 10.12.194.1/28.
Shut down a headless Raspberry Pi safely: a button instead of pulling the plugprocedure · unverified · Pulling the power risks SD card and file system damage. Give headless devices a shutdown button: the onboard power button (or J2 pads) on Pi 5, the gpio-shutdown overlay on earlier models. The default GPIO3 button also powers the board back on, but GPIO3 is the I2C clock pin.