Arch Linux Installation Guide

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for installing Arch Linux.

Table of Contents

1. Keyboard Layout Setup
2. Connecting to Wi-Fi
3. SSH Connection to Another Device
4. Date and Time Setup
5. Disk Management for Installation
6. System Installation
7. Configuring the New Installation (arch-chroot)
8. Edit The Mkinitcpio File For Encrypt
9. Grub Installation
10. Enabling Systemd Services
11. Creating a New User
12. Finishing the Installation
13. Post-Installation Configuration

1. Keyboard Layout Setup

Load the keyboard layout using the following commands:

localectl
localectl list-keymaps
localectl list-keymaps | grep us
loadkeys us

Explanation:

• localectl: Lists the current keyboard layout settings.
• localectl list-keymaps: Lists all available keyboard layouts.
• localectl list-keymaps | grep us: Filters the list to show only layouts containing "us" (United States layout).
• loadkeys us: Sets the keyboard layout to US.

2. Connecting to Wi-Fi

Connect to a Wi-Fi network using the following commands:

iwctl
device list
station wlan0 get-networks
station wlan0 connect wifiname
ip a
ping -c 5 google.com

Explanation:

• iwctl: Launches the interactive Wi-Fi control utility.
• device list: Lists available network devices.
• station wlan0 get-networks: Scans for available Wi-Fi networks.
• station wlan0 connect wifiname: Connects to the specified Wi-Fi network (replace "wifiname" with the actual network name).
• ip a: Displays the network interfaces and their IP addresses.
• ping -c 5 google.com: Pings the Google website to test the internet connection.

3. SSH Connection to Another Device

Set a password and establish an SSH connection to another device:

passwd
ssh root@ipaddress

Explanation:

• passwd: Sets the password for the current device (root user).
• ssh root@ipaddress: Connects to the current device using SSH from another device (replace "ipaddress" with the actual IP address of the current device).

4. Date and Time Setup

Set the date and time for the system:

timedatectl
timedatectl list-timezones
timedatectl list-timezones | grep Dhaka
timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Dhaka
timedatectl

Explanation:

• timedatectl: Displays the current system time and date settings.
• timedatectl list-timezones: Lists all available time zones.
• timedatectl list-timezones | grep Dhaka: Filters the list to

show time zones containing "Dhaka" (replace with your desired time zone).

• timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Dhaka: Sets the system's time zone to "Asia/Dhaka" (replace with your desired time zone).
• timedatectl: Verifies the updated time and date settings.

5. Disk Management for Installation

Manage the disk partitions for the installation:

lsblk
ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
blkid /dev/vda
cfdisk
lsblk
mkfs.btrfs -f /dev/vda1
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/vda2
blkid /dev/vda
mount /dev/vda1 /mnt
cd /mnt
btrfs subvolume create @
btrfs subvolume create @home
cd
umount /mnt
mount -o noatime,ssd,space_cache=v2,compress=zstd,discard=async,subvol=@ /dev/vda1 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/home
mount -o noatime,ssd,space_cache=v2,compress=zstd,discard=async,subvol=@home /dev/vda1 /mnt/home
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/vda2 /mnt/boot/efi

mkdir /mnt/windows
lsblk

Explanation:

• lsblk: Lists available block devices and their partitions.
• ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars: Verifies if the system is booted in UEFI mode.
• blkid /dev/sda: Displays information about the /dev/sda drive (replace with the appropriate drive if different).
• cfdisk : # create two pertion 1. Main file 2. efi partion

disk encryption

• cryptsetup luksformat /dev/vda1: setup encryption

• cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/vda1 main: open your encrypted partition

• lsblk: Lists the updated block devices and their partitions after partitioning.

• mkfs.btrfs -f /dev/mapper/main: Formats the System partition (/dev/vda1 or (main)) as Btrfs.

• mkfs.fat -F32 -f /dev/vda2: Formats the EFI System partition (/dev/vda2) as FAT32.

• blkid /dev/vda: Verifies the UUID of the formatted partition.

• mount /dev/mapper/main /mnt: Mounts the System partition (main) to the /mnt directory.

• cd /mnt: Changes the current directory to /mnt.

• fat subvolume create @: Creates a Btrfs subvolume named "@" for the root directory.

• fat subvolume create @home: Creates a Btrfs subvolume named "@home" for the home directory.

• cd: Returns to the previous directory.

• umount /mnt: Unmounts the /mnt directory.

• mount -o noatime,ssd,space_cache=v2,compress=zstd,discard=async,subvol=@ /dev/vda1 /mnt: Mounts the System partition (/dev/vda1) with Btrfs subvolume "@", applying specified mount options.

• mkdir /mnt/home: Creates the /mnt/home directory.

• mount -o noatime,ssd,space_cache=v2,compress=zstd,discard=async,subvol=@home /dev/vda1 /mnt/home: Mounts the System partition (/dev/vda1) with Btrfs subvolume "@home" to the /mnt/home directory, applying specified mount options.

• mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi: Creates the /mnt/boot/efi directory.

• mount /dev/vda1 /mnt/boot/efi: Mounts the EFI System partition (/dev/vda2) to the /mnt/boot/efi directory.

(Optional) For Windows partition:

• mkdir /mnt/windows: Creates the /mnt/windows directory.
• lsblk: Lists available block devices and their partitions to identify the Windows partition.

6. System Installation

Install the base system:

reflector --country Bangladesh --age 6 --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
pacman -Sy
pacstrap -K /mnt base linux linux-firmware intel-ucode vim
genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
cat /mnt/etc/fstab

Explanation:

• reflector --country Bangladesh --age 6 --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist: Updates the mirrorlist file with the fastest mirrors in Bangladesh (replace with your desired country).
• pacman -Sy: Synchronizes package databases.
• pacstrap -K /mnt base linux linux-firmware intel-ucode vim: Installs essential packages (replace with any additional packages you may need).
• genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab: Generates an fstab file based on the current disk configuration.
• cat /mnt/etc/fstab: Displays the contents of the generated fstab file for verification.

7. Configuring the New Installation (arch-chroot)

Enter the newly installed system for configuration:

arch-chroot /mnt
ls
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Dhaka /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc
vim /etc/locale.gen
locale-gen
echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" >> /etc/locale.conf
echo "KEYMAP=us" >> /etc/vconsole.conf
vim /etc/hostname
passwd
pacman -S grub-btrfs efibootmgr networkmanager network-manager-applet dialog wpa_supplicant mtools dosfstools reflector base-devel linux-headers bluez bluez-utils cups hplip alsa-utils pipewire pipewire-alsa pipewire-pulse pipewire-jack bash-completion openssh rsync acpi acpi_call tlp sof-firmware acpid os-prober ntfs-3g

Explanation:

• arch-chroot /mnt: Changes the root to the newly installed system (/mnt).
• ls: Lists the contents of the root directory to verify the chroot environment.
• ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Dhaka /etc/localtime: Creates a symbolic link from the system's time zone file to /etc/localtime, setting the system's time zone to "Asia/Dhaka" (replace with your desired time zone).
• hwclock --systohc: Sets the hardware clock from the system clock.
• vim /etc/locale.gen: Opens the locale.gen file for editing.
  • Uncomment the line containing "en_US.UTF-8" by removing the leading "#" character.
• locale-gen: Generates the locales based on the uncommented entries in locale.gen.
• echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" >> /etc/locale.conf: Sets the LANG variable in locale.conf to "en_US.UTF-8".
• echo "KEYMAP=us" >> /etc/vconsole.conf: Sets the KEYMAP variable in vconsole.conf to "us" (replace with your desired keyboard layout).
• vim /etc/hostname: Opens the hostname file for editing.
  • Set the hostname to "arch" (replace with your desired hostname).
• passwd: Sets the root password.
• pacman -S grub efibootmgr networkmanager network-manager-applet dialog wpa_supplicant mtools dosfstools reflector base-devel linux-headers bluez bluez-utils cups hplip alsa-utils pipewire pipewire-alsa pipewire-pulse pipewire-jack bash-completion openssh rsync acpi acpi_call tlp sof-firmware acpid os-prober ntfs-3g: Installs various packages necessary for the system, including GRUB, network management tools, Bluetooth support, printer support, audio utilities, and other useful packages. Adjust the list based on your requirements.

8. Edit The Mkinitcpio File For Encrypt

• vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and search for HOOKS;
• add encrypt (before filesystems hook);
• add atkbd to the MODULES (enables external keyboard at device decryption prompt);
• add btrfs to the MODULES; and,
• recreate the mkinitcpio -p linux

9. Grub Installation

Install and configure Grub:

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=GRUB
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

vim /etc/default/grub
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

• run blkid and obtain the UUID for the main partitin: blkid /dev/vda1
• edit the grub config nvim /etc/default/grub
• GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="loglevel=3 quiet cryptdevice=UUID=d33844ad-af1b-45c7-9a5c-cf21138744b4:main root=/dev/mapper/main
• make the grub config with grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Explanation:

• grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=GRUB: Installs GRUB bootloader on the EFI System partition (/dev/vda2) with the bootloader ID "GRUB".
• grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg: Generates the GRUB configuration file based on the installed operating systems.
• vim /etc/default/grub: Opens the GRUB configuration file for editing.
  • Uncomment the line with "os-prober" by removing the leading "#" character. This allows GRUB to detect other installed operating systems.
• grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg: Generates the GRUB configuration file again to include the changes made.

10. Enabling Systemd Services

Enable necessary systemd services:

systemctl enable NetworkManager
systemctl enable bluetooth
systemctl enable cups.service
systemctl enable sshd
systemctl enable tlp
systemctl enable reflector.timer
systemctl enable fstrim.timer
systemctl enable acpid

Explanation:

• systemctl enable NetworkManager: Enables the NetworkManager service to manage network connections.
• systemctl enable bluetooth: Enables the Bluetooth service.
• systemctl enable cups.service: Enables the CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) service for printer support.
• systemctl enable sshd: Enables the SSH server for remote access.
• systemctl enable tlp: Enables the TLP service for power management.
• systemctl enable reflector.timer: Enables the Reflector timer to update the mirrorlist regularly.
• systemctl enable fstrim.timer: Enables the fstrim timer to trim the filesystem regularly.
• systemctl enable acpid: Enables the ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) service.

11. Creating a New User

Create a new user and grant sudo access:

useradd -m akib
passwd akib
echo "akib ALL=(ALL) ALL" >> /etc/sudoers.d/akib
usermod -c 'Akib Ahmed' akib
exit

Explanation:

• useradd -m akib: Creates a new user account named "akib" with the -m flag to create the user's home directory.
• passwd akib: Sets the password for the newly created user "akib".
• echo "akib ALL=(ALL) ALL" >> /etc/sudoers.d/akib: Grants sudo access to the user "akib" by adding a sudoers file for the user.
• usermod -c 'Akib Ahmed' akib: Sets the user's full name as "Akib Ahmed" (replace with the desired full name).
• exit: Exits the chroot environment.

12. Finishing the Installation

Unmount partitions and reboot the system:

umount -R /mnt
reboot

Explanation:

• umount -R /mnt: Unmounts all the partitions mounted under /mnt.
• reboot: Reboots the system.

Once the system reboots, you can log in with the newly created user and continue the setup process.

13. Post-Installation Configuration

After logging in with the newly created user, perform the following steps:

nmtui

• Opens the NetworkManager Text User Interface (TUI) for managing network connections.

ip -c a

• Displays the IP addresses and network interfaces for verification.

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

• Generates the GRUB configuration file to include any changes made during the post-installation steps.

sudo pacman -S git

• Installs the Git package.

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay-bin.git

• Clones the Yay AUR (Arch User Repository) package from the AUR repository.

ls
cd yay-bin/
makepkg -si
cd

• Changes directory to the cloned "yay-bin" directory, builds the package, and installs it using makepkg.

yay

• Verifies the successful installation of Yay by running the command.

yay -S timeshift-bin timeshift-autosnap

• Installs the Timeshift packages from the AUR using Yay.

sudo timeshift --list-devices

• Lists the available devices for creating Timeshift snapshots.

sudo timeshift --snapshot-device /dev/vda1

• Sets the device (/dev/vda1) to be used for creating Timeshift snapshots.

sudo timeshift --create --comments "First Backup" --tags D

• Creates a Timeshift snapshot with a comment and assigns it the "D" tag for easy identification.

sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

• Generates the GRUB configuration file again to include any changes made during the post-installation steps.

Ensure you have read and understood each step before proceeding. These additional steps cover various post-installation configurations, including network setup, package installation with Yay, and creating a Timeshift backup.

Happy Arch Linux configuration! 🐧