Arch Linux installation guide

But it can be confusing for new users because of how much information it provides. In this tutorial, I'll show you how I install Arch Linux, without showing you too many choices.

Prerequisites

• Your desktop/laptop
• A USB key
• Some basic knowledge of Linux

The base system

Verify the boot mode

Make sure you're booting in EFI mode, check if the directory exists:

ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

Connect to the internet

Ethernet

You don't need to do anything.

Wifi

Get your device name:

iwctl station list

Scan for networks:

iwctl station wlan0 get-networks

Connect to your network:

iwctl station wlan0 connect MYWIFI

Update the system clock

Ensure the system clock is accurate:

timedatectl set-ntp true

Check the service status:

timedatectl status

Partition the disks

Identify disks:

lsblk

Disks are assigned to a block device such as /dev/nvme0n1.

Clean the entire disk (do not do this if you want to keep your data):

• # gdisk /dev/nvme0n1
• x for extra functionality
• z to zap (destroy) GPT data structures and exit
• y to proceed
• y to blank out MBR

Create boot partition and root partition:

• # cfdisk /dev/nvme0n1
• Select gpt
• Hit [ New ] to create a new patition
• Give the boot partition 1G and let the rest for the root partition
• Select the boot partition and hit [ Type ] to choose EFI System
• Hit [ Write ] then type yes to save, then hit [ Quit ]

Format the partitions

Format the boot partition to FAT32:

mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1

Format the root partition to ext4:

mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p2

Mount the file systems

Mount root partition first:

mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt

Then create mount point for boot partition and mount it accordingly:

mkdir /mnt/boot

mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot

Install the base and base-devel packages

Use the pacstrap script:

pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware base-devel

Generate an fstab file

Use -U or -L to define by UUID or labels:

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

Chroot

Change root to the new system:

arch-chroot /mnt

Install some essential packages

Microcode:

pacman -S intel-ucode (or amd-ucode)

Network manager:

pacman -S networkmanager

Your text editor of choice:

pacman -S neovim (or nano or micro)

And some packages for my personal config:

pacman -S ansible git zsh

Create swap file

As an alternative to creating an entire swap partition, a swap file offers the ability to vary its size on-the-fly, and is more easily removed altogether.

Create a 32GiB (adjust the number depending on your RAM, I recommend a number equal to the amount of RAM) swap file:

fallocate -l 32GiB /swapfile

Set the right permissions:

chmod 600 /swapfile

format it to swap:

mkswap /swapfile

Activate the swap file:

swapon /swapfile

Edit fstab at /etc/fstab to add an entry for the swap file:

nvim /etc/fstab

/swapfile none swap defaults 0 0

Configure time zone

Set your time zone by region:

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh /etc/localtime

Generate /etc/adjtime:

hwclock --systohc

Configure locale

Uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 in /etc/locale.gen (or just overwrite the file like below), then generate locale:

echo 'en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8' > /etc/locale.gen

locale-gen

Set LANG variable in /etc/locale.conf:

echo 'LANG=en_US.UTF-8' > /etc/locale.conf

Change host name

Create hostname file at /etc/hostname contain the host name, for example:

echo 'Precision' > /etc/hostname

Set your root password

passwd

Enter your password then confirm it.

Install boot loader

Install systemd-boot to the /boot partition:

bootctl --path=/boot install

Edit systemd-boot options:

nvim /boot/loader/loader.conf

default arch
timeout 0

Add Arch boot entry:

nvim /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

title   Arch Linux
linux   /vmlinuz-linux
initrd  /intel-ucode.img
initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
options root=/dev/nvme0n1p2 rw

Enable network services

systemctl enable NetworkManager

Add new user

Add a new user named myname:

useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/zsh -c "My Name" myname

Protect the newly created user myname with a password:

passwd myname

Establish nvim as the visudo editor:

EDITOR=nvim visudo

Then uncomment %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL to allow members of group wheel sudo access.

Reboot to the new system

Exit the chroot environment by typing:

exit

Restart the machine:

reboot

Login

Login with your user account after the machine has rebooted. Use nmtui to connect to the Internet if you're using wifi.

Graphical user interface

You'll have a lot of choices when it comes to Linux user interface, but for the sake of tutorial, I'll choose GNOME because it's the simplest one to install and use.

sudo pacman -S gnome

sudo systemctl enable --now gdm

Personally I don't like GNOME, here's some of my recommendation:

• KDE: Fast, looks nice by default, tons of feature
• Build your own desktop environment with a window manager:
  • bspwm: Minimal and fast
  • dwm: hackable, designed to add your own feature to the code base, written in C

Checkout the r/unixporn subreddit for much more eye candy screenshot of Linux.