Ameya Shenoy
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Archlinux - My Sanctum Sanctorum

This comprehensive guide covers setting up Arch Linux from scratch. I’d recommend first gaining familiarity with Linux through Ubuntu or similar distributions before attempting Arch, as it requires deeper system knowledge.

Prerequisites

  • Internet connectivity
  • A computer or laptop
  • Several hours of spare time
  • Patience. Patience. Patience.

Creating Bootable Installation Media

On Linux, identify your USB device using lsblk, then write the ISO:

Terminal window
dd bs=4M if={path_to_archlinux.iso} of=/dev/sd{x} status=progress oflag=sync

Installation Process

Initial Setup

  • Disable Secure Boot in BIOS (keep UEFI enabled)
  • Verify UEFI mode: ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
  • Test internet: ping -c3 google.com

Network Configuration

Ethernet: Start the DHCP service on your interface:

Terminal window
systemctl start dhcpcd@{interface}.service

WiFi:

Terminal window
iw dev {interface} scan | less
wpa_supplicant -B -i {interface} -c <(wpa_passphrase {SSID} {passphrase})
dhcpcd {interface}

Disk Partitioning

Using gdisk, create:

  • EFI partition: 512MB (type EF00)
  • SWAP partition: 20GB (type 8200)
  • Root partition: 80GB (type 8304)
  • Home partition: Remainder (type 8300)

Formatting and Mounting

Terminal window
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1
mkswap /dev/sda2 && swapon /dev/sda2
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda4
mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/boot && mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
mkdir -p /mnt/home && mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/home

Core Installation

Terminal window
pacstrap /mnt base base-devel
genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
arch-chroot /mnt

System Configuration

Timezone:

Terminal window
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/{Region}/{City} /etc/localtime

Locale: Edit /etc/locale.gen to uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8, then:

Terminal window
locale-gen

Set /etc/locale.conf:

LANG=en_US.UTF-8
LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8
LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8
LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
LANGUAGE="en_US.UTF-8"

Hostname: Create /etc/hostname with your desired name.

Hosts file: Add to /etc/hosts:

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
::1 localhost.localdomain localhost
127.0.1.1 {hostname}.localdomain {hostname}

Root password: passwd

Microcode: pacman -S intel-ucode

Bootloader (systemd-boot)

Terminal window
bootctl install
bootctl update

Edit /boot/loader/loader.conf:

default arch

Create /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf with UUID of root partition:

title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /intel-ucode.img
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options root=UUID={UUID} rw

For hibernation, add SWAP UUID:

options root=UUID={root_UUID} resume=UUID={swap_UUID} rw

Essential Packages

Terminal window
pacman -S iproute2 acpi iw wpa_supplicant dialog vim zsh git curl wget aria2 stow networkmanager xdg-user-dirs

Post-Installation

After rebooting, optionally add SSH keys:

Terminal window
mkdir -p ~/.ssh
curl -L https://github.com/{username}.keys >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
systemctl restart sshd

Activate Zsh:

Terminal window
chsh -s $(which zsh)
curl -L git.io/antigen > $HOME/antigen.zsh
exec zsh

Pacman Configuration

Edit /etc/pacman.conf to uncomment:

Color
TotalDownload
CheckSpace
VerbosePkgLists
ILoveCandy

User Management

Terminal window
useradd -m -G wheel {username}
passwd {username}
visudo  # Uncomment: %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL
su - {username}
xdg-user-dirs-update

Desktop Environment

Install KDE Plasma and applications:

Terminal window
pacman -S plasma docker firefox dolphin dolphin-plugins zip unzip unrar vlc p7zip rsync syncthing konsole openssh git blender krita gimp inkscape kwallet kwalletmanager networkmanager digikam spectacle ntfs-3g cups print-manager imagemagick mesa okular gparted screenfetch bluez bluez-utils pulseaudio-bluetooth linux-headers whois

System Services

Terminal window
systemctl enable NetworkManager
systemctl enable org.cups.cupsd
systemctl enable sddm
systemctl enable bluetooth
systemctl enable sshd

Advanced Topics

NVIDIA Driver Setup (Optimus)

Terminal window
pacman -S bumblebee mesa nvidia xf86-video-intel
gpasswd -a {username} bumblebee
systemctl enable bumblebeed
pacman -S mesa-demos nvidia-settings intel_gpu_tools cuda cudnn bbswitch

Check GPU usage: nvidia-smi

Run applications on GPU: optirun -b none {app} -c :8

Touchpad Gestures

Terminal window
gpasswd -a $USER input
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/libinput-gestures.git
cd libinput-gestures && makepkg -sci
libinput-gestures-setup autostart

Shutdown Timeout Reduction

Create /etc/systemd/system.conf.d/timeout.conf:

[Manager]
DefaultTimeoutStartSec=15s
DefaultTimeoutStopSec=5s

Common Pacman Commands

  • Update database: pacman -Syy
  • Full system upgrade: pacman -Syu
  • Install package: pacman -S {package}
  • Remove package: pacman -Rs {package}
  • Search database: pacman -Ss {package}