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rpi-connect

service v1.0.0

Raspberry Pi Connect client with screen-sharing support and remote shell access

Additional Documentation

Installation

Configuration variable IGconf_connect_on provided by this layer dictates whether Raspberry Pi Connect is enabled at system start up. This is equivalent to running rpi-connect on from the device command line.

Authentication Key

To link your device to your Raspberry Pi Connect account automatically, generate an Auth key in your account Settings and set IGconf_connect_authkey to either:

  • An absolute path to a file containing the key, or

  • The key value itself

Like other variables, IGconf_connect_authkey can be set on the command line or via the config system. For example:

$ rpi-image-gen build <args> -- IGconf_connect_authkey=$KEY
connect:
   authkey: /path/to/file
connect:
   authkey: $KEY

systemd

This layer enables user lingering for IGconf_device_user1 so that Connect runs even if the user is not logged in. See systemd loginctl.

Suitability

Choose the layer that matches your deployment and needs:

  • rpi-connect-lite (no screen-sharing support: remote shell only)

    • Headless devices or systems without a Desktop

    • Low-resource machines (limited CPU/RAM/disk)

    • Servers or remote-only nodes

    • When Desktop screen sharing is not required

  • rpi-connect (supports screen-sharing and remote shell)

    • Remote access to the Desktop is required

    • Need the full feature set and widest compatibility

If unsure: use the full client on Desktop systems; use the lite client on headless devices.

Please refer to the Raspberry Pi Connect documentation for further details.

Relationships

Depends on:

systemd-min rpi-user-credentials

Provides: rpi-connect-client

Configuration Variables

References: IGconf_device_user1

Declares (prefix: connect):

Variable Description Default Validation Policy
IGconf_connect_authkey Auth key generated via Raspberry Pi Connect account Settings. This can hold a path to the key file or the key itself. <disabled> Non-empty string value skip
IGconf_connect_on Enable Raspberry Pi Connect on system startup y Boolean value - accepts: true/false, 1/0, yes/no, y/n (case insensitive) immediate

mmdebstrap

Packages

Installs:

Attributes

File: rpi/device/services/rpi-connect.yaml

Type: static