Raspberry Pi A, User Manual, Page: 67 / 314

C H A P T E R 3
L I N U X S Y S T E M A D M I N I S T R A T I O N
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1. Connect the USB storage device to the Pi, either directly or through a connected
USB hub.
2. Type
sudo fdisk -l
to get a list of drives connected to the Pi, and find the USB
storage device by size. Note the device name:
/dev/sdXN
, where
X
is the drive letter and
N
is the partition number. If it is the only device connected to the Pi, this will be
/dev/sda1
.
3. Before the USB storage device is accessible, Linux needs a mount point for it. Create
this by typing
sudo mkdir /media/externaldrive
.
4. Currently, the device is only accessible to the root user. To make it accessible to all
users, type the following as a single line:
sudo chgrp -R users /media/externaldrive &&
↵
sudo chmod -R g+w /media/externaldrive
5. Type the following command to mount the USB storage device to gain access to the
device and its contents:
sudo mount /dev/sdXN /media/externaldrive -o=rw
Creating a New User Account
Unlike many desktop operating systems, which were originally designed for use by a single
individual, Linux is at heart a social operating system designed to accommodate numerous
users. By default, Raspbian is configured with two user accounts:
pi , which is the normal user
account, and root , which is a superuser account with additional permissions.
TIP
Don’t be tempted to log in as root all the time. Using a nonprivileged user account, you’re
protected against accidentally wrecking your operating system and from the ravages of viruses
and other malware downloaded from the Internet.
While it’s certainly possible for you to use the pi account, it’s better if you create your own
dedicated user account. Further accounts can also be created, for any friends or family mem-
bers who might want to use the Pi.
Creating a new account on the Pi is straightforward, and is roughly the same on all distribu-
tions, except for the username and password used to log in to the Pi initially. Just follow
these steps:
1. Log in to the Pi using the existing user account (user name
pi
and password
rasp-
berry
if you’re using the recommended Raspbian distribution).