Raspberry Pi Instructions

Raspberry Pi Setup Instructions

The goal of these instructions is to provide you with a platform that you can use to create and share H5P content with in mobile scenarios. The platform will allow you to also run our custom H5P content types that you cannot install on cloud based solutions such as H5P.com or Lumi Cloud.

Please note that this will not provide you with a server to create and share H5P content on the internet.

This graphic shows an overview of the setup process. The next pages will lead you through the process step by step and in more detail.

Hardware Details

In order to start the setup, you will need to puchase some hardware first.

There are plenty of vendors who sell Raspberry Pi computers, and they usually offer bundles for you to configure conveniently. That means you should be able to get everything that you need in one place.

Here’s an overview of what you need. Please note that the following list may feel long, but most things are optional or you may have them at home already.

On the next page there is a short checklist for you to get a clearer idea of what to purchase.

The following hardware is necessary

The Raspberry Pi 4 is the tiny computer that will host your mobile H5P server solution. The official name is “model B”, but if it’s only named “Raspberry Pi 4”, then that’s okay. With a price of around 60 EUR, it should be quite affordable even for small companies.

We’re using the 4GB SDRAM version. That number denotes the memory that the Raspberry Pi has. The 4GB version should be enough for common use cases. If you just want to experiment, the 1GB or 2GB version should be fine as well, but you might experience some slowdowns if you use it in production. If you expect the device to be used by many users at the same time, you could go for the 8GB version. It will be around 20 EUR more expensive though.

The recommended way of buying a Raspberry Pi 4 is via the official website at https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/

Scroll to the bottom.
Choose the “4GB RAM model”.
Choose your country.
Choose one of the official resellers and go shopping there.

If you know that you will most likely not use the Raspberry Pi for anything else but the XREnergy H5P server, instead of using the Raspberry Pi 4 model B, you could also choose the Raspberry Pi 400. It essentially is a Raspberry Pi 4 computer built into a keyboard (remember the Commodore 64?). The Raspberry Pi 400 is usually sold in a bundle that also contains a power supply, a microSDHC card, a mouse, and a micro-HDMI-to-HDMI cable, so you have everything that you need. Please note though that it currently is crucial to get a microSDHC card of 32GB! Cards with more or less capacity currently do not work.

The recommended way of buying a Raspberry Pi 400 unit is via the official website at https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-400-unit/

Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Choose your keyboard layout and color (commonly red/white).
Choose your country.
Choose one of the official resellers and go shopping there.

The Raspberry Pi 4 is just the board without a case. You don’t have to have one, but it’s highly recommended to get one, too. The official standard case is more than sufficient and costs 5-10 EUR.

If you want something special because you can foresee some special use cases, you can choose from a large variety of readily available cases on the internet. There are also plenty of models for 3D printers that you can use to build your own custom case if you want to. Either way, just ensure that the case is for the Raspberry Pi 4 as other versions have a different board layout and cases for those won’t fit.

The recommended way of buying a Raspberry Pi 4 case is via the official website at https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-4-case/

Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Choose your country.
Choose one of the official resellers and go shopping there.

If you purchase a case from a brand other than Raspberry Pi, you may need a screwdriver to insert the Raspberry Pi into the case as screws may need to be used. The original case does not require any tools to assemble.

The following hardware is probably already available to you. If not, it should be purchased

The Raspberry Pi 4 gets its power via a standard USB C port that your phone most likely is using for charging, too. The official power supply costs around 10 EUR.

The recommended power supply is a voltage of 5V at a current of 3A, resulting in a power of 15W. A current of 2A should work as well, but may be unstable under heavy load, and devices that you attach to the Raspberry Pi may not get enough power to run.

If you already have a spare USB-C power supply lying around you can try to use this as well. The same goes for mobile power banks that you need if you plan to use your H5P server in a completely mobile scenario. Just keep in mind that it’s recommended for them to deliver 15W - and the more capacity the better, as the longer your Raspberry Pi will be able to run.

The recommended way of buying a Raspberry Pi 4 power supply is via the official website at https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/type-c-power-supply/

Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Choose your area + your desired color (commonly white).
Choose your country.
Choose one of the official resellers and go shopping there.

The Raspberry Pi uses a microSDHC card as primary storage, and that is where the XREnergy H5P server software will be put onto. You will need to write that software onto a microSD card. If you don’t have access to a computer with an SD card slot, you will need to acquire an SD card reader. It can be attached to any computer via USB and should work without any configuration.

You should be able to get an SC card in any decent IT hardware shop. One of these costs around 10 EUR.

The Raspberry Pi uses a microSDHC card as primary storage, and that is where the XREnergy H5P server software will be put onto. At the current stage, our solution requires a microSDHC card with a capacity of 32GB. Cards with more or less capacity currently do not work! The price usually is 5-10 EUR.

You should be able to get such a microSDHC card in any decent IT hardware shop. One of these costs around 10 EUR.

Please note that if your SD card reader doesn’t offer a slot for microSD cards but for regular SD cards only (which are larger), you will need to get an SD adapter. It has the shape of an SD card that the microSDHC card can be put into. This allows you to read and write the microSDHC card with a common SC card reader. Often, when you buy a microSD card, you will receive an adapter for free.

The following hardware is optional.

Whether you want to purchase these items or not depends on your own needs and circumstances.

Our Raspberry Pi solution does not require a mouse or keyboard to run. If you ever need to access it directly, you can use any standard USB mouse or keyboard.

If you want everything to match colorwise, you feel free to obtain the official mouse (around 10 EUR) and keyboard (around 20 EUR).

The recommended way of buying an official Raspberry Pi 4 mouse is via the official website at https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-mouse/

Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Choose your keyboard layout and color (commonly red/white).
Choose one of the official resellers and go shopping there.

The recommended way of buying an official Raspberry Pi 4 keyboard is via the official website at https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-keyboard-and-hub/

Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Choose your keyboard layout and color (commonly red/white).
Choose your country.
Choose one of the official resellers and go shopping there.

Our Raspberry Pi solution does not require a monitor to run. If you ever need to access it directly, you will need an appropriate cable in order to hook it up to a monitor though. The Raspberry Pi has a micro HDMI socket, so you will need a cable that on the one end holds a micro HDMI plug and on the other and fits your monitor (usually a HDMI plug). In most cases, that will likely mean that you need a micro HDMI to HDMI cable that you should be able to get in any IT hardware shop. One of these costs around 10 EUR.

The Raspberry Pi usually doesn’t need active cooling. If you plan to run the Raspberry Pi non-stop, if you plan to use it with many people at the same time or if you know that the environment is very hot, then you may want to add a fan or cooling setup. The official Raspberry Pi vendors commonly offer different solutions in the 5-20 EUR price range. Please note though that some may not fit into the official case, and you will need to get a different one. Please also note that active cooling solutions will be powered by the Raspberry Pi, so a power supply of less than 15W may fail.

Write the XR Energy Server Image

A server image is a complete snapshot or copy of a server's operating system, software, configurations, and data at a specific point in time. It includes all the necessary files, settings, and applications required to run the server. Server images are commonly used for deployment, backup, recovery, and replication purposes.

Download our XREnergyServer image from Raspberry Pi H5P Server Setup (evlts.io)
You will download a quite large zip file.
Unzip that file. Make sure that you have 32GB available to wherever you are unzipping to.
Put the microSDHC card into your PC's SD card reader and follow the instructions for your operating system (choose below).

Download the Etcher tool from https://etcher.balena.io/, install and run it.
Click "Flash from file" and navigate to the location of the unzipped “.img” file.
Click "Select target" and choose the SD card/your SD card reader.
Click "Flash!" and confirm the operation.
Wait for the process to complete.

Or simply use

lsblk

to find the name of your sdcard device, e.g. /dev/mmblck0 or whatever your distribution uses.

Use

sudo dd if=/path/to/sdcard_image.img of=/dev/mmblck0 bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync

to write the image to the SD card.

Set up the Raspberry Pi

Put the Raspberry Pi in its case
Put the SD card from your Computer into the Raspberry Pie
Power up the Raspberry Pi (should take around 15-20 seconds)

it will open a WiFi network. You can log into that WiFi network:

name (SSID): XREnergyMobile
password: xrenergy-mobile

You can then use a browser to access the WordPress site that is hosted on the Raspberry Pi via http://xrenergy.local/

Please note that your Raspberry Pi will need to be hooked up to the internet via the LAN port with a cable, otherwise, you will not be able to access the internet using your device. You will only be able to connect to the Raspberry Pi.

Oliver:

The most “complicated” part may be to put the Raspberry Pi in its case. After that, it’s just putting the SD card into the Raspberry Pi’s slot and attaching cables. Engage!

When the Raspberry Pi has powered up (should take around 15-20 seconds), it will open a WiFi network. You can log into that WiFi network:

name (SSID): XREnergyMobile
password: xrenergy-mobile

You can then use a browser to access the WordPress site that is hosted on the Raspberry Pi via http://xrenergy.local/

Please note that your Raspberry Pi will need to be hooked up to the internet via the LAN port with a cable, otherwise, you will not be able to access the internet using your device. You will only be able to connect to the Raspberry Pi.

Configure Raspberry Pi

There are a couple of local settings that you will want to adjust.

Setting up the keyboard layout is optional, but if you want to work on the Raspberry Pi directly at some point, it’d certainly useful to have it set up to your keyboard layout.
Setting the correct WiFi country may not feel mandatory - as the network works already - but you should at least set the country to where the WiFi is hosted for regulatory reasons.
Setting your local language is optional, but you may want to.
Setting the local timezone is optional, but recommended.
Changing the password for the XREnergy network is a must from a security perspective!

Start the Raspberry Pi. It will boot into the desktop without the need to log in.

Keyboard setup

Go to Preferences -> Mouse and Keyboard Settings
Choose Keyboard
Choose a keyboard layout

Localization

One step may not feel mandatory - as the network works already, but you should at least set the country to where the WiFi is hosted for regulatory reasons. Setting your local language and the local timezone are optional, but probably makes sense.

Go to Preferences -> Raspberry Pi Configuration
Choose Localisation
Chose Set Locale
Set your language
Set your timezone
Set your WLAN Country

Network password

You should change the password of the network!

Click on the network icon in the upper right-hand corner of the taskbar
Select Advanced options -> Edit Connections
Double click on XREnergyMobile
Go to “Wireless Security” Tab
Enter new password in password field
Click on Save

Configure WordPress

You should change the password and put in your designated admin email address!

You can use a browser to administer the WordPress site that is hosted on the Raspberry Pi via http://xrenergy.local/wp-admin. You can log into the site as admin:

user name: admin@wordpress
password: admin@wordpress

Known open issues

The SD card image is currently served on my private GoogleDrive account. We will need to find a sustainable place to host it under one general URL where the latest version will be served.
The HTTP connection between devices and the Raspberry Pi is not using TLS, so it is unencrypted. Everyone who can connect to the WiFi network can listen to all browser communication from and to the WordPress site. This is most likely not a big issue, but SSL certification seems sensible here. We could introduce a self-signed certificate that the user then (probably) must add to the list of trusted authorities in their browser.
The Raspian operating system and WordPress have been set up to automatically fetch and install available updates when the computer is connected to the internet. This should ensure that security updates find their way onto the device without the need to interfere. However, there will come a time when this does not suffice. For instance, PHP 8.3 will only get security updates until December 31, 2027. A newer version of PHP will then need to be installed and nginx be configured to use the newer version.
The current WordPress instance is only meant for demo purposes and would need to be “completed”.
The current nginx/PHP/WordPress configuration is set to accept files up to 25 MB when uploading. Don’t know if that will suffice in practice. H5P files may get larger, especially when using large media.
We should probably create an “XREnergy server” distribution based on WordPress and offer this for installation as well, so companies can set it up on web space. The Raspberry Pi should then use the same version and the “technical instructions” to create the image would change.

Raspberry Pi Setup Instructions

Pro's of Pi computer version 4:

Pro's of WordPress:

Hardware Details

The following hardware is necessary

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 4GB SDRAM

Raspberry Pi 400

Raspberry Pi 4 Case

The following hardware is probably already available to you. If not, it should be purchased

Raspberry Pi 15W USB-C Power Supply

SD card reader

microSDHC card, 32 GB capacity

SD Adapter

The following hardware is optional.

Whether you want to purchase these items or not depends on your own needs and circumstances.

Mouse and keyboard

Micro HDMI to HDMI cable

Fan or cooling