til/install-archlinux.md

6.6 KiB

Install Arch Linux

Install Arch Linux is thing I always want to do for my laptop/PC since I had my laptop in ninth grade.

This is not a guide for everyone, this is just save for myself in a future and for anyone who want to taste a bit.

Assume your laptop/PC is UEFI-capable.

Installation guide

Pre-installation

Check disks carefully:

lsblk

USB flash installation medium

Verify the boot mode

Check UEFI mode:

ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

Connect to the internet

Use iwd.

Update the system clock

timedatectl set-ntp true

Partition the disks

GPT fdisk:

cgdisk /dev/sdx

Partition scheme

UEFI/GPT layout:

Mount point Partition Partition type gdisk's code Suggested size
/mnt/efi /dev/efi_system_partition EFI System Partition ef00 512 MiB
/mnt/boot /dev/boot_system_partition Extended Boot Loader Partition 1 GiB
/mnt /dev/root_partition Root Partition 8304
/mnt/var /dev/var_partition Var Partition 8310 >= 12 GiB
/mnt/home /dev/home_partition Home Partition 8302
/dev/swap_partition Swap 8200 RAM x 2

BIOS/GPT layout:

Mount point Partition type Suggested size
Linux extended boot 1 GiB
/mnt Linux
/mnt/var Linux >= 12 GiB
/mnt/home Linux
Linux swap RAM x 2

Format:

# efi
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/efi_system_partition

# boot
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/boot_system_partition

# root
mkfs.ext4 -L ROOT /dev/root_partition
mkfs.btrfs -L ROOT /dev/root_partition

# var
mkfs.ext4 -L VAR /dev/var_partition
mkfs.btrfs -L VAR /dev/var_partition

# home
mkfs.ext4 -L HOME /dev/home_partition
mkfs.btrfs -L HOME /dev/home_partition

# swap
mkswap /dev/swap_partition

Mount:

# root
mount /dev/root_partition /mnt
# btrfs
mount -o compress=zstd /dev/root_partition /mnt

# efi
mkdir /mnt/efi
mount /dev/efi_system_partition /mnt/efi

# boot
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/boot_system_partition /mnt/boot

# var
mkdir /mnt/var
mount /dev/var_partition /mnt/var
# btrfs
mount -o compress=zstd /dev/var_partition /mnt/var

# home
mkdir /mnt/home
mount /dev/home_partition /mnt/home
# btrfs
mount -o compress=zstd /dev/home_partition /mnt/home

# swap
swapon /dev/swap_partition

Installation

pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware

# LTS
pacstrap /mnt linux-lts

# Performance
pacstrap /mnt linux-zen

# AMD
pacstrap /mnt amd-ucode

# Intel
pacstrap /mnt intel-ucode

# Btrfs
pacstrap /mnt btrfs-progs

# Text editor
pacstrap /mnt neovim

# Development
pacstrap /mnt base-devel

Configure

fstab

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

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fstab#Automount_with_systemd

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Btrfs#Compression

Chroot

arch-chroot /mnt

Time zone

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Region/City /etc/localtime

hwclock --systohc

Localization:

Edit /etc/locale.gen:

# Uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8

Generate locales:

locale-gen

Edit /etc/locale.conf:

LANG=en_US.UTF-8

Network configuration

Edit /etc/hostname:

myhostname

Edit /etc/hosts:

127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
127.0.1.1 myhostname.localdomain myhostname

Root password

passwd

Boot loader

systemd-boot

GRUB

General recommendations

Always remember to check dependencies when install packages.

System administration

Users and groups

Add user:

useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash -c "The Joker" joker

Set password:

passwd username

systemd-homed

systemctl enable systemd-homed.service

homectl create joker --real-name="The Joker" --member-of=wheel

Sudo

pacman -Syu sudo

EDITOR=nvim visudo
# Uncomment group wheel

Desktop Environment

Install Xorg:

pacman -Syu xorg-server

GNOME

pacman -Syu gnome-shell \
	gdm \
	networkmanager \
	gnome-control-center \
	gnome-terminal gnome-backgrounds gnome-screenshot \
	gnome-system-monitor gnome-keyring \
	nautilus xdg-user-dirs-gtk file-roller \
	evince eog gedit

# Login manager
systemctl enable gdm.service

# Network
systemctl enable NetworkManager.service

# Bluetooth
systemctl enable bluetooth.service

# Clock
timedatectl set-ntp true

List of applications

pacman

Uncomment in /etc/pacman.conf:

# Misc options
Color

Improving performance

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/swap#Swap_file

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/swap#Swappiness

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd/Journal#Journal_size_limit

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Core_dump#Disabling_automatic_core_dumps

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Solid_state_drive#Periodic_TRIM

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Improving_performance#Improving_system_responsiveness_under_low-memory_conditions

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/improving_performance#Watchdogs

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Improving_performance/Boot_process#Staggered_spin-up

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Silent_boot

In the end

This guide is updated regularly I promise.