Download Raspbian-OpenFlexure

The simplest way to set up the Raspberry Pi is to download the pre-built SD card image that contains a full operating system with all the necessary software (the OpenFlexure server and OpenFlexure Connect) pre-installed.

Raspbian OpenFlexure

Full desktop OS.

Includes full graphical microscope control software.

Required:

Raspberry Pi 2 Model B (1GB RAM)
(or better)

Recommended:

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (2GB RAM)
(or better. 8GB model not supported)

Raspbian OpenFlexure Lite

Minimal OS without desktop.

You will need another computer to control the microscope graphically.

Required:

Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ (512mb RAM)
(or better)

Recommended:

Raspberry Pi 2 Model B (1GB RAM)
(or better. 8GB model not supported)

Write your SD card

A guide explaining how to install a Raspberry Pi operating system image onto an SD card can be found here on the Raspberry Pi website. You will need another computer with an SD card reader to install the image.

The default username is pi, with a default password openflexure.

First boot

Connect your Pi to a display, mouse, keyboard, and power. When the Pi first boots, you will be asked to complete a quick setup, before rebooting.

After rebooting, the OpenFlexure Microscope Server should run automatically. You no longer need to connect the microscope to a display or peripherals if you’re using the microscope from another computer. The server application will handle all communication to the microscope.

Managing the microscope server

Our installer includes various commands to simplify common tasks when using the OpenFlexure Microscope. From the terminal on your Raspberry Pi, you will have available commands such as:

ofm start - Start the server background service

ofm stop - Stop the server background service

ofm update - Pull and install the latest version of the OFM CLI itself

ofm upgrade - Pull and install the latest version of the server

For a complete list of available commands, run ofm help

Raspberry Pi configuration

Additional Raspberry Pi configuration options, such as network and interface settings, can be accessed by running sudo raspi-config from your terminal.

Source

Source code for the OpenFlexure Microscope server is available on GitLab.

Legacy versions

Previous versions of the OpenFlexure Microscope server can be found on the build server. Previous versions of Raspbian-OpenFlexure can be found on the build server.

The OpenFlexure Microscope server is licensed under the GNU General Public License (v3). Installed our software? See our privacy policy.