Starting a new life with embedded linux system

I am a long time Windows user, and I have just started playing with embedded linux system. It's like having found a whole new world, too many new concepts, too many new "ways" to get things done. I have had a hard time getting started, so now I want to share some apps that make my life with embedded linux easier.

All of the apps I share here are free. And this post is based on my experience with BeagleBone Black, but it should be applicable to most embedded linux system.

What you have just bought is a tiny computer, like the credit-card-size BBB. And having another set of monitor and mouse and keyboard to work with it is not convenient. Those embedded computer could be operated headlessly with no difficulty. Just a power cord and a LAN cable then you're good to go.

First of all, you need a SSH terminal to connect to your embedded system's SSH server. BBB come with Angstrom installed on it, and Angstrom has both a GUI desktop and a SSH server. Many people, including me, then install Ubuntu onto BBB. Ubuntu doesn't come with a GUI desktop, but still has SSH server installed. So basically, it's a good chance that your embedded system comes with a SSH server. My recommendation here is PuTTy:

Figure 1: PuTTy main screen

And once you got yourself a terminal to your embedded system, you can do literally everything with your new system. For example, install a GUI desktop and a VNC server. If you plan on using GUI on your embedded system, then VNC is the solid way to go. You can read more about VNC here. You can also download a VNC Viewer. Basically, VNC lets you see your embedded system's GUI desktop in a window, and you can control your embedded system with your mouse and keyboard, just as you are working with a windows app:

Figure 2: My BBB's LXDE desktop as a window on my Windows PC

We had terminal access, we had remote desktop control. Now, we need a way to quickly transfer files from/to our embedded system. Linux systems has a very strong command: scp. It allows computers to exchange data easily and securely over network. And now, we can use scp on windows, with GUI thanks to WinSCP:

Figure 3: My PC's C:\ drive and BBB's root in WinSCP window

With PuTTy, VNC and WinSCP, you can easily manage your embedded system.

A special note here for my fellow BBB users. If you want to backup/restore your embedded system (before trying something messy, or recover from disaster), you can use this script. It save my day countless time.

You may also want to give VirtualBox a look. A linux PC (or at least a virtual linux machine) will help you tremendously when dealing with embedded linux.

And if you need to deal with some disk format that windows doesn't support like ext2, ext3, ext4, ... you may need MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition.

If you have any correction and/or suggestion, please feel free to let me know.