README

I never found a simple utility that headlessly allows setting up wifi to a pi, without logging into it with a monitor and keyboard or preconfiguring it prior to setup with the wifi creds. What if you can't use ethernet? Andf, what if you are using it in an installation or a setup where you can't be there and someone who is there doesn't know anything about SSH or is not into Linux?

Well I have a solution.. (Behold)

Here with this utility, with the long press of a button, the rpi disconnects from any previously connected WiFi Access Points and creates a new Access Point. If the WiFi is not configured, then it doesn't matter.

You can then connect to that Access Point (Check out how to customize that below), navigate to http://10.10.1.1:8080 and provide a SSID and PWD for a visible 2.5GHz network that you what your rpi to connect to.

It will then disable the self initited AP and connect to the provided SSID. If all goes well and the credentials were, correct, it will connect successfully.

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File Structure

├── app.py
├── button.py
├── led.py
├── LICENSE
├── logger.py
├── __pycache__
│   ├── button.cpython-311.pyc
│   ├── led.cpython-311.pyc
│   └── logger.cpython-311.pyc
├── README.md
├── requirements.txt
├── rpi-btn-wifi-manager.service
├── setup_service.sh
└── wifi_config
    ├── network_manager.py
    ├── __pycache__
    │   ├── network_manager.cpython-311.pyc
    │   └── web_server.cpython-311.pyc
    ├── static
    │   ├── css
    │   │   └── style.css
    │   ├── images
    │   │   ├── icons8-favicon-32.png
    │   │   ├── icons8-favicon-64.png
    │   │   ├── icons8-favicon-96.png
    │   │   └── komorebi_background.jpg
    │   └── js
    │       ├── script.js
    │       └── socket.io.js
    ├── templates
    │   ├── general.html
    │   └── index.html
    └── web_server.py

Hardware notes

0. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/dattasaurabh82/rpi-wifi-configurator.git

1. Connect Button to GPIO 23
2. Connect LED to GPIO 24

If you want to use a different pin for the button to reconfigure Wifi (for whatever reason) make sure to after changing them, makes the changes in the script. You can do so by editing app.py. Find the line WIFI_RESET_PIN = 23 and change it there.

How to customize WIFI Settings

1. Create a new branch before making adjustments to your new pi project

# Create & switch to your branch
git checkout -b [A_SUITABLE_NAME_PROJECT]

2. In app.py change the SSID name

AP_SSID="[A_PREFERRED_SSID_NAME]"

3. Create a new hotspot/access_point scope using nmcli. So that the script network_manager.py can control it and create an AP when needed for you to provide as SSID and WPA2/PSK for the pi to connect to.

sudo nmcli con add \
    type wifi \
    ifname wlan0 \
    con-name hotspot \
    autoconnect no \
    ssid [SAME_SSID_USED_ABOVE] \
    mode ap \
    ipv4.method shared \
    ipv4.addresses 10.10.1.1/24 \
    wifi-sec.key-mgmt wpa-psk \
    wifi-sec.psk "[YOUR_WPA2/PSK_PWD]"

The value of wifi-sec.psk must be same as the value of AP_SSID modified in app.py

4. Edit the html to customize according to your needs. Specifically edit these two files:

   1. index.html

   <title>[YOUR_PROJECT_NAME] Wi-Fi Configuration</title>

   <h1>[YOUR_PROJECT_NAME] Wi-Fi Configuration</h1>

   2. general.html

   <title>[YOUR_PROJECT_NAME]</title>

   <h1>[YOUR_PROJECT_NAME]</h1>

5. Update network discovery interface names (edit app.py )

Find the line

logger.info(f"[app.py][Status] Connect to wifi access point: {AP_SSID} and go to: http://serialmonitor.local:8080 or http://serialmonitor.lan :8080 to provide 2.5GHz Wifi credentials")

And, update http://serialmonitor... to either your ip or if network interface name is set, update to that.

6. Create a virtual environment

python -m venv venv
source activate venv/bin/activate

You must leep the new venv's name as venv

7. Install dependencies

python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

8. Test Script

Better run it when a monitor and keyboard is attached to the pi, as if you are SSHed into the rpi, then when it creates an AP, you will lose connection to your tunnel, until you connect to it's AP again as it disconnectes from any associated station.

pyhton app.py

Now you can Long Press (> 4 sec) and you will see the prompts ...

Alright, now that it's working, let's organize ...

9. Commit & Push Changes

git add .
git commit -m "made my custom changes"
git push -u origin [YOUR_BRANCH_NAME_FROM_BEFORE]
# Wait to be merged

10. Automate to start this as a service in the background (also to start after reboots)

./setup_service.sh
systemctl --user start rpi-btn-wifi-manager.service
systemctl --user status rpi-btn-wifi-manager.service

This sets it up as a user service by modifying the rpi-btn-wifi-manager.service and copying it over to .config/systemd/user/ and enables it. You still have ot start it.

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How to Use

1. Very simple, if everything is wired up correctly and configured correctly, you can just long press the button for more than 4 sec and then the LED should BLINK.
2. Soon you shoud see the raspberry pi's AP mode's hotspot (Step 3).
3. Join that with whatever PWD you set in Step 3.
4. Then go to a browser and type in http://10.10.1.1:8080.
5. Enter the 2.5 GHz SSID name and PWD of the WiFi you want the pi to connect to.
6. If all goes well, you wil see the LED BREATHING; meaning it's attempting to connect to the wifi you just provided.
7. If it succeeds, the LED will go SOLID and then turn OFF, meaning it has sucessfully connected.
8. If not, it will still blink, meaning, it's still in AP mode.
9. This means that the rpi is disconnecting from any previous WIFI and setting up an access point.

LED STATE	STATUS
FAST_BLINK = "FAST"	In AP Mode
BREATHING	Connecting to user provided SSID
SOLID & the OFF	Successfuly connected to user provided SSID

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Attribution

Saurabh Datta
zigzag.is [Principal Designer]
Berlin
January 2025

Enjoy :)