A brief archlinux setup guide.

Final setup will be: archlinux + i3wm (xorg) or sway (wayland), booted with efi.

• To migrate an installation:
  https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Migrate_installation_to_new_hardware
• To install a new system from a existing system, get package arch-install-scripts for tools arch-chroot and genfstab etc.
• To install a new system from a existing system, to a REMOVABLE drive, see this note:
  https://shrik3.com/post/archlinux/portable_os/

PRE

liveCD

Download iso and verify signature
https://archlinux.org/download/

# lsblk get usb drive identifier with lsblk.
$ dd bs=4M if=ARCH.iso of=/dev/USB_DRIVE conv=fsync oflag=direct status=progress

Tell me you don’t fuck with sudo dd, do you?

datetime

$ timedatectl set-ntp true
$ timedatectl status

Internet

It’s recommended to use ethernet (which should automatically connect). For wifi setup

# make sure the interface is up
$ ip link set <interface> up

$ iwctl
    > station list
    > station <interface> get-networks
    > station <interface> connect SSID_NAME

Partitioning

This is UEFI/GPT, for BIOS/MBR read the wiki:

• Partioniong examples

identify target disk with lsblk; for further disk info you can use fdisk -l /dev/sdx.

Disk Partition & Formatting (UEFI/GPT, EXT4 + SWAP)

Partitioning will typically wipe your disk so don’t fuck up.

$ cgdisk DEVICENAME

minimal example

part.| Mount | Type         | Size      | id e.g.
-----+-------+--------------+-----------+----------
boot | /boot | Efi System   | 256-512MB | /dev/sda1
root | /     | linux fs     | as needed | /dev/sda2
swap | NA    | linux swap   | 2 * ram   | /dev/sda3

Formatting the /boot and /root partitions

$ mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/sda1
$ mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2

Use swap partition (Optional)

1
2

$ mkswap /dev/sda3
$ swapon /dev/sda3

Note: package dosfstools may be needed for vfat file system.

Mount the Disk

mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/home 
mkdir -p /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

§ System Install and Basic Configs

(optional), choose a proper mirror by modifying /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist and run pacman -Syy

install basic system

$ pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware

create fstab: check lsblk or fdisk -l etc. to make sure partitions are correctly mounted.

$ genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab 

chroot into the new installed system

$ arch-chroot /mnt

Setting Timezone

# timedatectl list-timezones
# timedatectl set-timezone Zone/SubZone

Locale and Language: edit /etc/locale.gen, uncomment the language encoding that you need. then run locale-gen to generate locales..

create /etc/locale.conf and set LANG variable, e.g.

LANG=en_US.UTF-8

Network Manager: (and disable dhcpcd)

sudo pacman -S networkmanager
sudo systemctl disable dhcpcd
sudo systemctl enable NetworkManager.service

Create new user It’s not recommended to use root user on a daily basis.

useradd -G wheel username
passwd username
mkdir -m 700 /home/username
chown username:username /home/user

Then edit sudoers to grant new user root privilege. Use visudo command to edit.

username ALL=(ALL) ALL

Bootloader (UEFI)

Check again all the partitions are correctly mounted!

$ pacman -S grub os-prober efibootmgr
$ grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=arch_grub --recheck
$ grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

If you reuse existing grub install, you only need to update the grub config. After this you should be able to remove the liveCD and boot into new system.

MISC

Desktop environments
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Desktop_environment

xorg
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xorg

wayland
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Wayland