raspberryzerow-wifi.md

First-time wifi config for Raspberry Zero W using Debian 12: Bookworm

The Raspberry Pi Imager V 1.9.3 fails when configuring wifi for a fresh Debian 12 install on a Rasppi Zero W.

To do this manually, configure your wpa_supplicant config with

wpa_passphrase "YourSSID" "YourWifiPassword" | sudo tee /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf

This is assuming your wifi device is wlan0. The built-in one in the Rasppi Zero probably is wlan0, but if you want to use a different one, like an external one, then change the filename accordingly.

Then, do

sudo nano /etc/systemd/network/25-wlan.network

And add in it

[Match]
Name=wlan0

[Network]
DHCP=yes

Enable the services with

sudo systemctl enable systemd-networkd
sudo systemctl enable wpa_supplicant@wlan0

Again, this is all assuming wlan0. Change it here and in 25-wlan.network if your device is named differently.

Now, reboot.

You should now have wifi on boot automatically.