- Installing ArchLinux
- Customizing ArchLinux
- Solving problems
We must ask us a question, where are we going to mount our OS. In a Virtual Machine? A new disk? On a partition? In my case, I'm going to install it in VMware for some reasons.
- Easy to execute while doing another things in my OS at college.
- Improved cybersecurity (if you know how to make it secure).
- If I screw up something I still have an OS, to continue my work, instead of losing my entire work.
- I want to test this system until I'm prepared for replace it for my current OS.
Also there is something that we'll discuss later.
If we want to install ArchLinux we must download the .ISO file. So let's go to the ArchLinux website.
Then we choose the best option for us. I must recommend to download qBittorent and use the Torrent option because all times I've downloaded the image seems to be very fast.
First we are going to configure the machine. So here is a table of the components I've added to the VM.
| Components | Specs |
|---|---|
| Memory | 4 GB |
| Processors | 2 |
| SSD | 420 GB |
Then we are going to include our image to the VM. If you are going to install it for your computer you can still follow my guide, it seems to work perfectly. The counterpart of following this guide if you're installing this system without a VM it could be that some utilities like a USB port will not function correctly, because you need the specific software or packages.
It could be possible that you want to store more data than the VM, just create a partition that covers the full disk and create folders organizing your data. You'll need one for the system, just remember that.
The next scheme is how my disk is distributed:
flowchart LR;
A[PaskiArch]-->B[ArchISO];
A-->C[ArchSystem];
B-->D[ArchLinux.iso];
C-->E[System Files];
Time to get started of the installation of ArchLinux. You'll have the "username@hostname ~ $" structure in the tutorial, if you want just the commands please, just copy it.
If we are using a keyboard layout different from the US layout, we'll change it with the next command, in my case I'm using a spanish layout, so:
root@archiso ~ # loadkeys esIf you don't know how your layout is called, put this command to see the list of layouts:
root@archiso ~ # localectl list-keymaps | lessSo let's play with the real game. Just put the next:
root@archiso ~ # cfdiskWith this we will see a little window asking us which type of disk will be, it doesn't matter because we can change it after with:
root@archiso ~ # fdisk /dev/sdaIn my case I'll be choosing DOS. I'm making everything from the start like in a fresh computer, but in a Virtual Machine. If you want to change your type do the next:
GPT Partition
root@archiso ~ # fdisk /dev/sda
root@archiso ~ # g
root@archiso ~ # wDOS Partition
root@archiso ~ # fdisk /dev/sda
root@archiso ~ # o
root@archiso ~ # wSo let's going with our real command:
root@archiso ~ # cfdiskWe are going to create 4 partitions. One for the boot, another for the root, the swap and the home.
I've got a rule that configures the amount of space required.
NOTICE: The amount of space for the root and home partition is calculed after discouting the sum of /boot and /swap.
| Partition | Space (Maximum) |
|---|---|
| /boot | 2GB |
| /root | 30% |
| /swap | 10GB |
| /home | 70% |
So our partition will be like the next table:
| Device | Bootable | Start | End | Sectors | Size | Id | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /dev/sda1 | * | 2048 | 4196351 | 4194304 | 2G | 83 | Linux |
| /dev/sda2 | 4196352 | 255854591 | 251658240 | 120G | 83 | Linux | |
| /dev/sda3 | 255854592 | 276826111 | 20971520 | 10G | 82 | Linux swap / Solaris | |
| /dev/sda4 | 276826112 | 880803839 | 603977728 | 288G | 83 | Linux |
Then we click on [ Write ] and enter "yes". We [ Quit ].
In the first case, we'll have the boot:
root@archiso ~ # mkfs.ext2 /dev/sda1Then the root and home:
root@archiso ~ # mkfs.ext2 /dev/sda2
root@archiso ~ # mkfs.ext2 /dev/sda4Next the swap:
root@archiso ~ # mkswap /dev/sda3
root@archiso ~ # swapon /dev/sda3For making the install of the OS we have to mount the partitions. So let's get started.
First the root:
root@archiso ~ # mount /dev/sda2 /mntNext we're going to make two folders:
root@archiso ~ # mkdir /mnt/home
root@archiso ~ # mkdir /mnt/bootAnd pass them to the boot and the home directories:
root@archiso ~ # mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
root@archiso ~ # mkdir /dev/sda4 /mnt/homeI'm going to install some packages from outside:
root@archiso ~ # pacstrap /mnt base base-devel grub os-prober ntfs-3g networkmanager gvfs gvfs-afc gvfs-mtp xdg-user-dirs linux linux-firmware nano dhcpcdThe only packages that I think could be optional in a VM are:
- gvfs-afc (this allows us to mount an iphone)
- gvfs-mtp (this allows us to mount an android)
- ntfs-3g (detects the windows partition)
- os-prober (detect other OS)
We'll generate a file needed to load and store the info about the generated partitions. So let's put this command:
root@archiso ~ # genfstab -pU /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstabNow let's configure Arch!
Just like it sounds, the basics. Now we'll learn how I'm going to configure a basic Unix System. Depending on which use we'll make we can configure in a different way.
When we began the installation we where on a default console, but for installing the system we must get access to the OS through a new console. Using:
root@archiso ~ # arch-chroot /mntIf we want to change the hostname we can put this command with the new name:
[root@archiso /]# echo hostname > /etc/hostnameIn my case I'll be using a name from a norse god:
[root@archiso /]# echo odin > /etc/hostnameWe can choose what time to put. Normally I'll be choosing Europe/Madrid to get the same time from my country, but because I'm recently learning japanese I'll be using that time:
[root@archiso /]# ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Tokyo /etc/localtimeIf you cannot find your time you can check this command:
[root@archiso /]# ls /usr/share/zoneinfoWith the next command we will change the language of our system. In this case I'll be using English instead of Spanish.
[root@archiso /]# nano /etc/locale.genThis will open a list with codes like this en_US. I will uncomment a line named en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8. After that I'll be putting manually on the system config.
[root@archiso /]# echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.confLet's adjust the internal clock:
[root@archiso /]# hwclock -wFor the inner system we must configure the layout.
[root@archiso /]# echo KEYMAP=es > /etc/vconsole.confYou must know that when we install the graphic package we must reconfigure this part.
If you're not very familiar with grub, is just a bootloader. So let's install it.
[root@archiso /]# grub-install /dev/sdaIf we want to update grub just put the next command, I recommend it to do it, for not having errors later:
[root@archiso /]# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfgWe're close to finish the basic installation. Let's put a password for the user root. I usually recommend to block direct access to root after the first login but it's up to you.
[root@archiso /]# passwdCreating a new user for login, instead of root.
[root@archiso /]# useradd -m -g users -G audio,lp,optical,storage,video,wheel,games,power,scanner -s /bin/bash usernameI'll be using a different name like "thor", so you could see the difference.
[root@archiso /]# useradd -m -g users -G audio,lp,optical,storage,video,wheel,games,power,scanner -s /bin/bash thorSo then we change the password of our new user:
[root@archiso /]# passwd thorThen we quit from the mounted partition.
[root@archiso /]# exitIt's time to undo what we made earlier, unmount the partitions. Time to test our new system. We must be able to unmount all partitions with:
root@archiso ~ # umount -R /mntBut if we are getting troubles, we'll do it one by one:
root@archiso ~ # umount /mnt/boot
root@archiso ~ # umount /mnt/home
root@archiso ~ # umount /mntTime for a reboot!
root@archiso ~ # rebootWe will be login using root as first login, to change some things before the graphic update. Let's edit the sudoers file to put our new user.
root@odin ~ # nano /etc/sudoersAnd we check for a line that is commented, then remove the "#":
%wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALLTime to get access to Internet.
root@odin ~ # systemctl start NetworkManager.service
root@odin ~ # systemctl enable NetworkManager.serviceThen we exit with:
root@odin ~ # exitTime to make the first system update! Just login with your user.
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -SyuIt's important that if we want to create graphic environments we use Xorg. This helps us to create a bridge between the hardware and the software we want to run.
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -Sy xorgNow we have a system in terminal, unless you really like this kind of desktop it's not the best to work. So I'll install lightdm, with a greeter (you need a greeter to run lightdm), qtile for work with a tiling system instead of floating windows, xterm as a terminal (temporary) and neovim as a code editor (I really like vim and neovim it's magic).
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -S lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter qtile xterm neovimAfter these packages I want to install a browser to navigate through Internet. People usually download firefox, in my case I'll install brave. For install brave we will need yay a package manager.
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel
thor@odin ~ $ git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
thor@odin ~ $ cd yay
thor@odin ~ $ makepkg -siThen it's time to install our browser.
thor@odin ~ $ yay -S braveTime to enable lightdm and reboot!
thor@odin ~ $ sudo systemctl enable lightdm
thor@odin ~ $ rebootQtile is a tilling window manager. The summary is that you can control the system just using the keyboard, it boosts the productivity and efficiency of the developer. I'm planning to use bspwm also (at least to see how much difficult is or see how I lost my time), but for the moment Qtile it's easy to configure and use.
I'll leave you here some Qtile keybindings useful to know how to move in the system.
NOTICE: If you're using a windows keyboard the mod key is the windows key.
| Keys | Functionality |
|---|---|
| mod + enter | launch terminal |
| mod + w | kill window |
| mod + k | next window |
| mod + j | previous window |
| mod + ctrl + r | reload qtile |
| mod + ctrl + q | session logout |
| mod + tab | change layout |
Before starting again, if you use a different keyboard layout than the english, you must make the next command with your layout name (in my case is "es" because I'm spanish):
thor@odin ~ $ setxkbmap esXterm it's nice, but alacritty is written in Rust and if you don't know, I love Rust ❤.
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -S alacrittySo let's edit the Qtile config file with nano or nvim (I'll use nano, nvim is not ready configured as I like):
thor@odin ~ $ sudo nano ~/.config/qtile/config.pyWe'll edit the next line:
Key([mod], "Return", lazy.spawn(terminal)),And change xterm for alacritty:
Key([mod], "Return", lazy.spawn("alacritty")),Something important to work with is the size of the screen, we're not going to work always with a sqaure screen of 1024x1024px. In this instance I'm going to show you the magic of xrandr. I recommend to use the console just this time, instead of a package called arandr. Put the next thing in the console:
thor@odin ~ $ xrandrThe results are the name of the different monitors available. Then we will configure our monitor.
thor@odin ~ $ xrandr --output Virtual-1 --primary --mode 1280x720 --pos 0x720You can set different sizes.
The question is, how am I going to open certain programs if they have a graphc interface and large commands to execute? There are different solutions, creating shell files to execute that commands, use a menu, binding certain shell commands to the keyboard... It's much simple to use a menu. I'd recommend rofi but dmenu is also nice as well.
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -S rofiThen add these keybindings to Qtile config:
Key([mod], "m", lazy.spawn("rofi -show run")),
Key([mod, 'shift'], "m", lazy.spawn("rofi -show")),Recommended if you don't want to navigate through console.
My recommendation is use ranger if you want something terminal based.
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -S rangerBut if you want a graphic one you can use thunar.
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -S thunarTo achieve the transparency feature on the terminals and get some fancy things we can install picom.
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -S picomFor now all we could listen is the silence of the system, we're gonna install a program to get audio and a graphic control to regulate the sound.
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -S pulseaudio pavucontrolWe must understand that every package that we install on the system will not run automatically on startup. So this is what we are going to do. Install xinit:
thor@odin ~ $ sudo pacman -S xorg-xinitNow, if you create a hidden file called xprofile and put every command you want to run at startup it will happen.
thor@odin ~ $ touch ~/.xprofile
thor@odin ~ $ nano ~/.xprofileExample file:
xrandr --output Virtual-1 --primary --mode 1280x720 --pos 0x720 &
setxkbmap es &
picom &You've seen there are '&', correct? That is to put more conditions on startup.
This is an important section to solve some issues you may had while configuring or installing the system.
| Keys | Functions | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ctrl + alt + F2 | This will open the default terminal | When you can't access your system because something failed. |