Arch Linux Installation Guide

Pre-installation

Before starting the installation, ensure your system is ready for Arch Linux installation and verify all necessary connections are working properly.

1. Internet Connection: Verify that you have a stable internet connection for package installation. Test connectivity with ping -c 3 archlinux.org.
2. Update System Clock: Synchronize the system clock with timedatectl set-ntp true for accurate time during installation.
3. Verify Boot Mode: Check that your system is booted in UEFI mode with ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars (directory exists if booted in UEFI mode).

Partitioning

1. Open cfdisk and create the following partitions:
   • Select GPT as the partition table.
2. Create partitions:
   • /dev/sda1 = 300M (EFI System Partition)
   • /dev/sda2 = 4G (Swap Partition)
   • /dev/sda3 = Remaining space (Root Partition)

Formatting Partitions

3. Format partitions:

   mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3
   mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sda1
   mkswap /dev/sda2

Mounting

4. Mount the partitions:

   mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
   mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
   mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi
   swapon /dev/sda2

Installing Essential Packages

5. Install the base system:

   pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware sof-firmware base-devel grub efibootmgr nano networkmanager

Generate fstab

6. Generate the fstab file:

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

Chroot into the System

7. Change root into the new system:

   arch-chroot /mnt

System Configuration

Timezone

8. Set the timezone:

   ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Kolkata /etc/localtime
   hwclock --systohc

Locale

9. Configure the locale:

   nano /etc/locale.gen  # Uncomment en_US.UTF-8
   locale-gen
   echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf
   echo "KEYMAP=us" > /etc/vconsole.conf

Hostname & Network

10. Set hostname:

    echo "arch" > /etc/hostname

11. Enable NetworkManager:

    systemctl enable NetworkManager

Root Password & User Creation

12. Set root password:

    passwd

13. Create a user:

    useradd -m -g users -G wheel -s /bin/bash Ren
    passwd Ren

14. Grant sudo privileges:

    EDITOR=nano visudo  # Uncomment %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL

Bootloader Installation

15. Install and configure GRUB:

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

Hardware-Specific Configurations

After basic installation, you may need to install additional drivers and configurations based on your hardware:

Microcode for CPU

• Intel CPUs: sudo pacman -S intel-ucode
• AMD CPUs: sudo pacman -S amd-ucode
• After installation, regenerate GRUB config with: sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Graphics Drivers

• Intel Integrated: sudo pacman -S xf86-video-intel mesa
• NVIDIA:
  • For newer cards: sudo pacman -S nvidia nvidia-utils
  • For older cards: sudo pacman -S nvidia-390xx-dkms nvidia-390xx-utils
• AMD: sudo pacman -S xf86-video-amdgpu mesa
• After installation, consider adding nvidia or amdgpu to /etc/mkinitcpio.conf HOOKS if using dedicated GPU

Audio Configuration

• Install audio system: sudo pacman -S alsa-utils pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa
• Add your user to audio group: sudo usermod -a -G audio Ren

Security Configurations

For basic system security, consider implementing these measures:

Firewall Setup

• Install UFW: sudo pacman -S ufw
• Enable UFW: sudo systemctl enable --now ufw
• Set default policies: sudo ufw default deny incoming and sudo ufw default allow outgoing
• Enable firewall: sudo ufw enable

SSH Configuration (if needed)

• Install SSH: sudo pacman -S openssh
• Enable SSH service: sudo systemctl enable --now sshd
• Configure SSH: Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config to disable root login and change default port if needed
• Restart SSH: sudo systemctl restart sshd

Post-Installation Essentials

After your first boot into the new system, consider installing these additional packages:

AUR Helper (Optional but Recommended)

• Install Git: sudo pacman -S git
• Download and build an AUR helper like yay:

  git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
  cd yay
  makepkg -si

Additional Repositories

• Enable multilib repository by uncommenting [multilib] section in /etc/pacman.conf
• Update package database: sudo pacman -Sy

Commonly Used Utilities

• System monitoring: sudo pacman -S htop bpytop iotop
• File management: sudo pacman -S ranger
• Network tools: sudo pacman -S wget curl dnsutils
• Text editor: sudo pacman -S vim
• Compression: sudo pacman -S p7zip unrar zip unzip

Additional Fonts and Theming

• TTF fonts: sudo pacman -S ttf-dejavu ttf-liberation noto-fonts
• Emoji support: sudo pacman -S noto-fonts-emoji

Finalizing Installation

16. Exit chroot and reboot:

    exit
    umount -a
    reboot

Installing KDE Plasma (Optional)

17. Install KDE Plasma:

    sudo pacman -S plasma sddm kde-applications
    sudo systemctl enable --now sddm

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues during or after installation, try these solutions:

Boot Issues

• If system won't boot, enter BIOS/UEFI settings and ensure the correct drive/OS is set as default boot option
• Boot from installation media and chroot into your system to reinstall GRUB: grub-install and grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Network Issues

• Check NetworkManager status: systemctl status NetworkManager
• Restart NetworkManager: sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager
• If using WiFi, install and use iwctl for connection setup

Audio Issues

• Check if audio services are running: systemctl status alsa-state.service
• Start audio service: sudo systemctl start alsa-state.service

Display/Graphic Issues

• Reinstall graphics drivers if experiencing display problems
• Check Xorg logs for errors: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
• For NVIDIA systems, ensure nouveau driver is blacklisted if using proprietary driver

Additional Resources

• ArchWiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/
• Arch Forums: https://bbs.archlinux.org/
• IRC: #archlinux on Libera.Chat