Arch Linux Installation & Configuration

This is a brief record of Arch Linux installation and configuration for quick reference.

Preparation

Download ISO

Download the latest ISO from the USTC Mirror.

Installation

Disable reflector

systemctl stop reflector.service

Ensure UEFI

ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

Connecting to WI-FI

iwctl
device list
station wlan0 scan
station wlan0 get-networks
station wlan0 connect wifi-name
station wlan0 show
exit

Update time

timedatectl set-ntp true
timedatectl status

Use mirror source

vim /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Recommend mirrors:

Server = https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch

Setup Btrfs

Check partition layout

lsblk

Use `cfdisk` to setup the new partition

cfdisk /dev/sdx

Make a swap first. The recommended size is about 60% of your RAM (e.g. 10GB if your RAM is 16GB). The type should be Linux swap.

Then make the main partition for your files. The type should be the default Linux filesystem.

If you don’t already have a boot partition, make a partition of type EFI System. Around 200-300 MB is proper, however I would recommend 512 MB.

After completing the partition, check it again and [Write].

Now you can use fdisk -l or lsblk to check your partition layout.

Format Btrfs and others

If necessary, format EFI partition:

mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdxn

Format Swap

mkswap /dev/sdxn

Format Btrfs

mkfs.btrfs -L ArchZone /dev/sdxn

You can also use your own label instead of ArchZone

mount -t btrfs -o compress=zstd /dev/sdxn /mnt
btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@
btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@home
btrfs subvolume list -p /mnt # if you want to check
umount /mnt

Mount

mount -t btrfs -o subvol=/@,compress=zstd /dev/sdxn /mnt
mkdir /mnt/home
mount -t btrfs -o subvol=/@home,compress=zstd /dev/sdxn /mnt/home
mkdir -p /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sdxn /mnt/boot
swapon /dev/sdxn

To check:

df -h
free -h

Install system

pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux-zen linux-firmware btrfs-progs

pacstrap /mnt iwd networkmanager vim sudo zsh zsh-completions

Generate fstab

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

Change root

arch-chroot /mnt

Follow-up setup

vim /etc/hostname

vim /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1   localhost
::1         localhost
127.0.1.1   [hostname].localdomain [hostname]

(You may use TAB to align them)

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

hwclock --systohc

vim /etc/locale.gen # en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 & zh_CN.UTF-8 UTF-8
locale-gen
echo 'LANG=en_US.UTF-8' > /etc/locale.conf

passwd root

# Choose one
pacman -S intel-ucode
pacman -S amd-ucode

Boot software

Install GRUB:

pacman -S grub efibootmgr os-prober
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB

Get your swap partition id:

lsblk -o name,mountpoint,size,uuid | grep SWAP

Configuration:

vim /etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="loglevel=5 nowatchdog resume=UUID=[your swap partition uuid]"
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false
GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true
GRUB_DISABLE_SUBMENU=y # Optional

Apply:

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

Edit resume hook:

vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

Add resume in the HOOKS line. It must be added after udev, after block, before filesystems and before lvm2 if there is it.

Regenerate initramfs:

sudo mkinitcpio -P

Enter your Arch Linux

After the above steps, you can reboot and boot into your Arch Linux!

Connecting to WIFI

vim /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/wifi_backend.conf

[device]
wifi.backend=iwd

systemctl enable --now NetworkManager

Then use nmtui or iwctl.

fastfetch

pacman -S fastfetch

fastfetch

Basic configuration

pacman -Syu

Do this regularly :)

Edit your .bash_profile

vim ~/.bash_profile

to add:

export EDITOR='vim'

to use vim as default editor.

Add a main admin user:

useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash [username]
passwd [username]
EDITOR=vim visudo
#%wheel ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

Config pacman:

vim /etc/pacman.conf

Uncomment [multilib] and Color, add archlinuxcn at the bottom:

[archlinuxcn]
Server = https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/archlinuxcn/$arch
Server = https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/archlinuxcn/$arch

Then

pacman -Sy archlinuxcn-keyring
pacman -Syyu

Hyprland and more with my dotfiles (Optional)

pstron/dotfiles

CLI Configuration & Hyprland Rice

My dotfiles repository includes modern configuration files for CLI tools like zsh and a fancy rice for Hyprland. For example, get a modern zsh instantly through that:

sudo pacman -S yadm
yadm clone -b dotfiles git@github.com:pstron/dotfiles.git

Now you can change your shell to zsh:

pacman -S fzf # fzf is required
chsh -s /bin/zsh

To install Hyprland and other related components, refer to the next post.

References

Arch Linux Brief Guide - A really nice guide for Arch Linux installation. Especially for CN users.

Arch Linux Wiki - Almost everything you want to know about Arch Linux or even more can be found here.

# Arch Linux Installation & Configuration