Getting Started

Set up RaspboCrate on your Raspberry Pi and start managing catalogues offline.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

  • Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 (4GB RAM recommended)
  • SD card (32GB or larger)
  • Power supply appropriate for your Pi model
  • Network connection (Ethernet or Wi-Fi) for initial setup
  • Computer with an SD card reader for flashing the image

Step 1: Download the image

Download the latest RaspboCrate image from the GitHub Releases page.

Choose Raspberry Pi Image.

Step 2: Write the image

Use one of these tools to write the image to your SD card:

  1. Insert your SD card into your computer
  2. Open your chosen imaging tool
  3. Select the downloaded RaspboCrate image
  4. Select your SD card as the target
  5. Click "Write" or "Flash" and wait for the process to complete

Step 3: First boot

  1. Insert the SD card into your Raspberry Pi
  2. Connect the power supply
  3. Connect to the raspbocrate-XXX Wi-Fi access point (no credentials required), or connect the Pi to your local network via Ethernet (DHCP must be available)
  4. Wait for the Pi to boot (first boot may take 5–10 minutes depending on your Pi as containers initialise)
  5. On a Raspberry Pi 5, the power LED will flash when all services are ready. The LED flashes for 2 minutes at a 1-second interval to signal that the system is available

Step 4: Access the admin interface

Once the Pi has booted, access the admin interface in your web browser:

http://raspbocrate.local/admin

If raspbocrate.local doesn't resolve, you may need to find the Pi's IP address from your router and use that instead.

Importing data from USB

RaspboCrate makes it easy to import collections from USB drives:

  1. Prepare your RO-Crate data on a USB drive (it must have all the files in a catalog directory)
  2. Insert the USB drive into the Raspberry Pi
  3. Open the admin interface
  4. Navigate to the "Import" section
  5. Select the USB drive and the collections to import
  6. Click "Import" and wait for the process to complete

Browsing catalogues

Once you've imported data, you can browse your catalogues using the Oni UI:

http://raspbocrate.local/

The catalogue browser provides full-text search, filtering by collection, language, and other metadata fields.

Troubleshooting

Can't find the Pi on the network

  • Ensure the Pi is connected via Ethernet or has valid Wi-Fi credentials
  • Check your router's admin page for connected devices
  • Try using an IP scanner tool like nmap or Angry IP Scanner

Services not starting

  • On a Pi 5, if the power LED doesn't flash after 10 minutes, the containers may have failed to start
  • Wait a few minutes after first boot for all containers to start
  • SSH into the Pi and check Docker container status: docker ps
  • Check container logs: docker compose logs

Need help?

If you encounter issues, please open an issue on GitHub .