This document is an outline of setup steps to configure a Raspberry Pi 4 as a desktop. The primary focus of these steps is for a system with the following applications and service tasks.
- Video conferencing, primarily MS Teams but also Zoom
- Microsoft 365, including Exchange Online
- CA Service Desk Manager and Banner Self-Service Applications
- Remote access, RDP (Remmina), and VPN (OpenConnect)
- Script and code editing with Visual Studio Code
- Version control with Git
- Azure management with PowerShell Core
There are several operating system options for the Raspberry Pi, but Ubuntu-Mate had the most hardware optimizations at the time of this testing. Version 20.04 located here, https://ubuntu-mate.org/download/arm64/, is what I used.
Here is a list of the hardware.
- 8GB Pi 4
- Ice Tower cooler
- Samsung EVO Plus SD Card
- Corsair Voyager premium flash drive
- 5 amp power supply
- 2.4 GHz wireless keyboard and mouse
- Jabra external USB headset
- Microsoft LifeCam
- External speaker with 3.5mm audio jack
- USB extension cable
I will leave the details about installing the OS and getting all the devices working for another document. However, I will mention that the USB extension cable is a must if you are going to use a wireless keyboard and mouse. I tested two different units, and both caused interference for the keyboard and mouse.
The following GitHub repository will install Microsoft Teams, https://github.com/gdevin/Teams. This installation expects there to be a Chromium profile located in the following directory, "~/snap/chromium/common/chromium/Profile 1".
The Chromium "Profile 1" can also be used to access Microsoft 365, and the service desk/banner applications.
Follow the "via Git clone" section here to install custom prompt for Git in bash, https://github.com/magicmonty/bash-git-prompt.
Use the website for details about installing Visual Studio Code, https://code.headmelted.com/. Do not forget to run sudo -s!
Powershell Core has not officially been released for Ubuntu 20.04, see https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell. However, I was able to use the build for Raspbian and get it to work. Here are the steps.
- Download and extract PowerShell
- Grab the latest tar.gz
- Make folder to put powershell
- mkdir ~/powershell
- Unpack the tar.gz file
- tar -xvf ./powershell-7.0.3-linux-arm32.tar.gz -C ~/powershell
- Start PowerShell
- ~/powershell/pwsh
Here is a tutorial on using pwsh, https://matthewdavis111.com/powershell/manage-azure-ad-powershell-core/.