Home lab

A remote keyboard and screen, built yourself

Who it is for

This is for someone who already has a PC or a small server in a rack and wants its screen and keyboard from elsewhere in the house, including when that machine has no working network. Use it for recovery, installs, and the BIOS screen. If the operating system is healthy, a normal remote-desktop client is less hardware.

Source tutorial: I couldn't do my job without this. - PiKVM. That video is a review of a branded unit. This guide is the do-it-yourself path. It does not use the branded-appliance images. The handbook says those images "are not suitable for DIY and are intended only for our branded devices": https://docs.pikvm.org/flashing_os/. Do-it-yourself hardware video: Pi-KVM - DIY CHEAP Raspberry Pi KVM over IP Prototype Version 3 Review!.

Parts list

A Raspberry Pi 4 or Raspberry Pi 5. The handbook's do-it-yourself image list includes both, and you must download the image that matches the board and the capture device.
The official power supply for that board.
A microSD card, at least 32 GB, Class 10. That is the handbook's minimum: https://docs.pikvm.org/flashing_os/.
One video capture path: an HDMI-to-CSI bridge, or an HDMI USB capture dongle. The image you flash has to match that choice.
A short HDMI cable from the computer you want to control to that capture device.
A USB cable from the Pi to that computer, so the Pi can act as the keyboard and mouse.
An Ethernet cable. Wi-Fi is a bad idea for the box that is supposed to save a machine whose network just died.
Optional: a case for the Pi, if the capture hardware fits.

Steps

On the flashing page, under "DIY PiKVM V2 Platform", download the image for your board and your capture device. Ignore the "Official PiKVM Devices" images. https://docs.pikvm.org/flashing_os/
Write it with Raspberry Pi Imager: Choose OS, Use custom image, pick the file, pick the card, Write. Refuse the imager's customization options. The handbook says those options are for Raspberry Pi OS and will break this image.
Power off. Seat the CSI cable, or plug in the USB dongle, while the Pi is unpowered. Connect HDMI from the target computer to the capture device. Connect the USB data cable from the Pi to the target. Connect Ethernet. Then power the Pi.
Find the address on the router. Open it in a browser with HTTPS. Expect a certificate warning on a new box; you are talking to your own Pi, on your own LAN.
Change both passwords before you do anything else. They are different accounts. The handbook's defaults, documented at https://docs.pikvm.org/auth/, are root / root for SSH and the console, and admin / admin for the web interface, API, and VNC. Change the Linux password with passwd root, and the web password with kvmd-htpasswd set admin. The handbook wraps those in rw and ro because the system disk is read-only until you say otherwise. Use the commands on that page rather than a memory of them.
Confirm you see the target's screen and that a keystroke lands. If the picture is black, reseat the capture cable with the power off and confirm the image matches the capture hardware.

Caution

Change both default passwords before the Pi is left running, and do not put this web interface on the internet.

Want this done for your office?

The quote is free and human-written, from the engineer who would do the work. Websites are remote-friendly across the US. WiFi, and Apps & AI, are local to Nashua, southern New Hampshire, and northern Massachusetts.