How to Turn a Raspberry Pi Zero W into a Tiny Web Server with SSH and Ngrok

Introduction

The author discovered the Raspberry Pi and decided to document the whole process of turning a Raspberry Pi Zero W into a functional mini‑host.

What is a Raspberry Pi?

Raspberry Pi (RPi) is a credit‑card‑sized Linux‑based micro‑computer designed for learning programming. Despite its small size, it supports video, audio, GPIO, and many peripherals.

Understanding in My Words

It is essentially a tiny PC that can connect to a monitor, keyboard, mouse, USB drives, etc., and provides numerous serial and GPIO interfaces for low‑level hardware access.

Available Models

The most common model on the market is the 3B+ version, priced around 230 CNY for the bare board.

Raspberry Pi Zero W

The Zero W is a miniature version, about one‑third the size of a 3B+. It is extremely compact and affordable (≈100 CNY). Below are its key specifications:

BCM2835 processor, 1 GHz, 512 MB RAM

BCM43438 Wi‑Fi / BT chip

Micro‑USB power port

Micro‑USB OTG port

Mini‑HDMI port

Composite video & reset pins

CSI camera interface

Micro‑SD slot for OS

40‑pin GPIO header

Dimensions: 65 mm × 30 mm

Despite its modest CPU and memory, it can comfortably run a small website.

Installing the OS on Zero W

1. Preparation

16 GB or 32 GB SanDisk micro‑SD card

Standard USB‑type A cable (not Type‑C)

SD formatting tool (e.g., SDFormatter)

Image writing tool (Win32DiskImager)

Raspberry Pi OS image (download from the official site)

The author used Raspbian Stretch Lite , a lightweight, console‑only image.

2. Download the Image

After downloading the zip (≈360 MB), extract it to obtain an

.img

file (~1.7 GB).

3. Write the Image to the SD Card

Insert the card into a reader, open Win32DiskImager, select the

.img

file, choose the correct device, and click “Write”.

4. Modify the Boot Partition

4.1 Create an empty ssh file

To enable SSH on first boot, create a file named

ssh

(no extension, no content) in the

boot

partition.

4.2 Create wpa_supplicant.conf

Add the following content (replace with your Wi‑Fi SSID and password) to let the Pi connect to Wi‑Fi automatically:

<code>country=CN
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1

network={
    ssid="your_wifi_name"
    psk="your_wifi_password"
}
</code>

5. Assemble and Power Up

Insert the prepared SD card into the Zero W, connect power via the USB cable, and wait for the LED to become steady. Then locate the Pi’s IP address on your router.

6. System Optimization

6.1 Change Package Sources

Replace the default sources with a faster domestic mirror (e.g., USTC):

<code>sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
# comment existing lines and add:
deb http://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/raspbian/raspbian/ stretch main contrib non-free rpi
</code>

<code>sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/raspi.list
# comment existing lines and add:
deb http://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/archive.raspberrypi.org/debian/ stretch main ui
</code>

<code>sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
</code>

6.2 Set Timezone

<code>sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
</code>

Select “Asia/Shanghai”.

6.3 Enable SSH on Boot

Method 1:

sudo raspi-config

→ Interfacing Options → SSH → Enable.

Method 2: Add

/etc/init.d/ssh start

before the

exit 0

line in

/etc/rc.local

.

7. Install Nginx

<code># Install
sudo apt-get install nginx
# Start
sudo /etc/init.d/nginx start
# Restart
sudo /etc/init.d/nginx restart
# Stop
sudo /etc/init.d/nginx stop
</code>

Access

http://<span>your_pi_ip</span>

to verify the web server.

8. Enable Internet‑Facing Access (Ngrok)

Use a tunneling service such as ngrok, frp, or domestic alternatives (ittun, sunny, natapp) to expose the local Nginx service to the public internet. The author used the

ngrok_arm

client from ittun.

9. Final Status

The Zero W runs both Nginx and Ngrok, with about 250 MB free RAM, CPU temperature stable around 37‑39 °C after two days of operation.