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My Arch Linux installation

This is how I install Arch Linux.

For a generic guide visit ArchWiki. If you have a computer with UEFI support and Intel CPU, this setup can work well for you.

Initial setup

After you boot the Arch Linux ISO image set up keyboard layout.

loadkeys uk

Connect to the Internet. I personally use cable (connect before you boot), but you can connect via WiFi using wifi-menu command.

Verify you have the Internet connection.

ping archlinux.org

Enable NTP to synchronise time with the Internet.

timedatectl set-ntp true

Partitioning

This will wipe everything else on the disk.

I personally use LVM on LUKS. I usually have two physical partitions:

  • /dev/sda1 - EFI (/boot)
  • /dev/sda2 - LUKS (/dev/mapper/cryptlvm)
    • LVM (/dev/mapper/VolGroup00)
      • swap (/dev/VolGroup00/swap)
      • root (/dev/VolGroup00/root)

I don’t create a separate home partition because I don’t really find it useful, but nothing stops you from doing so.

Use gdisk utility to create partitions.

gdisk /dev/sda
  1. Using gdisk create new GPT partition table. You do it using command o.
  2. Then use n to create EFI partition.
    1. Use default value for the first sector.
    2. For the last sector use +512M.
    3. For the partition type code use EF00.
  3. Use n again to create our partition for the encrypted system.
    1. Use default value for the first and last sectors.
    2. Use 8309 partition type code which is LUKS Linux.
  4. Type w to save the changes. This will wipe your partition table.

Format EFI partition

mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1

Create encrypted (LUKS) partition

cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sda2
cryptsetup open /dev/sda2 crytptlvm

Set up LVM

pvcreate /dev/mapper/cryptlvm
vgcreate VolGroup00 /dev/mapper/cryptlvm
lvcreate -L 14.9G -n swap VolGroup00
lvcreate -l 100%FREE -n root VolGroup00

Format and enable swap

mkswap /dev/VolGroup00/swap
swapon /dev/VolGroup00/swap

Format and mount the root partition

mkfs.ext4 /dev/VolGroup00/root
mount /dev/VolGroup00/root /mnt

Mount EFI partition

mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

Download Arch Linux

pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware lvm2 gvim git tmux

Generate /etc/fstab

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

chroot into the new system

arch-chroot /mnt

Set the timezone

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/London /etc/localtime

Run hwclock to generate /etc/adjtime

hwclock --systohc

Localization

Uncomment needed locales in /etc/locale.gen.

# /etc/locale.gen
...
en_GB.UTF-8
en_US.UTF-8
...

Generate them with:

locale-gen

Set LANG variable in /etc/locale.conf:

LANG=en_GB.UTF-8

Set the keyboard layout for the vconsole in /etc/vconsole.conf:

KEYMAP=uk

Hostname

Set your hostname in /etc/hostname:

some-laptop

Add entries in /etc/hosts:

127.0.0.1	localhost
::1		localhost
127.0.1.1	some-laptop.localdomain	some-laptop

mkinitcpio and Initramfs

Edit your /etc/mkinitcpio.conf. Find the HOOKS line and change it to:

HOOKS=(base systemd keyboard autodetect modconf block sd-vconsole sd-encrypt sd-lvm2 fsck filesystems)

Then run the following command to generate your initramfs image.

mkinitcpio -p linux

Create your user

Create your user using:

useradd --create-home someuser
passwd someuser

Then add it to the wheel group.

usermod -a -G wheel someuser

sudo

This should have been installed with the base-devel group.

pacman -S sudo

Run visudo and make sure that the line %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL is uncommented. That will grant sudo access to the members of the wheel group.

%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL

Disable root account

I advise to lock your root account so it’s unusable. I don’t think you can do it during the installation, but I’ve never tried.

usermod --lock root

Or you can set a password on it using passwd.

Boot loader

Using Systemd-boot.

bootctl install

Edit /boot/loader/loader.conf to contain:

default         arch
timeout         4
console-mode    max
editor          no

Processor microcode

Install your processor’s microcode. Assuming your computer uses Intel:

pacman -S intel-ucode

Otherwise, please see the guide on ArchWiki.

Boot entry

Then create a boot entry for the OS in /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf.

title   Arch Linux
linux   /vmlinuz-linux
initrd  /intel-ucode.img
initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
options rd.luks.name=[UUID]=cryptlvm root=/dev/VolGroup00/root resume=/dev/VolGroup00/swap

Add the initrd /intel-ucode.img line only if you you use an Intel CPU and have installed the microcode package for it.

Substitute [UUID] with your LUKS partition UUID. It must be UUID of the physical partition. You can find it using:

blkid /dev/sda2

Set up networking

The simplest way is to use NetworkManager.

pacman -S networkmanager
systemctl enable NetworkManager

After reboot, cable connection should run out of the box. WiFi set-up may require you to use the nmcli utility.

Quiet boot

After the system booted, I usually make my boot quieter by adding the following options to the kernel parameters (i.e. options).

quiet loglevel=3

Reboot

Now you should be ready to go. Use Ctrl+d to escape the chroot session and type umount -R /mnt, then reboot.

After reboot

After you reboot you should first get a screen asking you to input your disk encryption password. Then it should take you to the log in screen where you can log in with your user. Make sure that root user is secured or disabled.

In case if you did not boot in, you can always boot back to the installation media, mount the drives and use arch-chroot command again to rectify your mistakes.ocal

Set up X keyboard layout

localectl set-x11-keymap gb pc104 , caps:escape_shifted_capslock,grp:alt_shift_toggle

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