VS-Pi: Installation and Development

For any issues or updates to this page, please visit our discussion forums or contact us.

Required Hardware

For full details, please visit the Technology page. For a fully functional VS-Pi server you will need:

• Raspberry Pi Model B
• 32GB SD card
• USB WiFi adapter
• Micro USB power cord
• Raspberry Pi case

For the initial installation you will need:

• Keyboard
• Display
• Ethernet cable to an internet connection

Installation Steps

Once you have the required hardware, follow the instructions below to set up a fresh installation on the Raspberry Pi. Please note that this installation does not include any of the educational content that is intended for use as part of the iQuEST pilot project.

1. Install Raspberry Pi’s New Out Of Box Software (NOOBS) to SD card following these instructions.
2. Boot Raspberry Pi with the ethernet cable connected.
3. Run this command to install and configure VS-Pi (which will reboot Raspberry Pi):
   • git clone https://github.com/villagescience/vspi.git && sudo bash ./vspi/setup.sh
   • You can see what the Setup script is doing at the bottom of this script.
4. Try connecting a laptop (client) to the open ‘VS-Pi Connect’ Wi-Fi hotspot (server):
5. After connecting, try navigating to http://vspi/.
6. You can also connect to Raspberry Pi through SSH:
   • ssh -l pi 10.0.10.1 (the VS-Pi installation codes a static IP address for the WiFi adapter).
   • username=pi
   • password=raspberry

Development Steps

All of our development is done under our Git Repository. You’ll need an account with GitHub in order to contribute. You will not need an account if you only want to install and play around with VS-Pi!

1. Create a GitHub account and set up Git! This is where all the magic happens.
2. Follow the ‘Fork a Repo’ instructions for the Village Science ‘vspi‘ and ‘wordpress‘ repositories.
   • The VS-Pi repository is used for initial installation and pushing updates.
   • The WordPress repository is used to house the latest free educational framework.

How To Get Involved

Village Science is always looking for ways to improve!

1. Discuss VS-Pi with our online community.
   • General VS-Pi discussion can be found on our discussion forums. Please note, you will need to register to post on the Village Science message boards. You do not need an account to simply view the forums.
2. Find issues that you can help fix. Individual bugs or desired improvements are tracked in each ‘Issues’ section of the Git repository (e.g. VS-Pi issues and WordPress issues).

Our Get Involved page shows the developer skills Village Science currently needs.

And as always, please feel free to contact us!