A usefull guide for installing arch linux using the command-line.

Overview

Arch Linux is a linux distro that a lot of people say is too hard to install because you have to do everything yourself, but as arch linux has grown the user base has as well and with that, it has become more simple to install.

This guide is aimed at helping you install arch linux on your device. Let’s get to the installation.

Installing Arch Linux

Reqirements

1. Internet (It is recommended to use ethernet, but I will go over using wifi as well)
2. USB Drive for installer.
3. Arch Linux Installer ISO.
4. Another computer for flashing the USB and reading the guide.

Getting Started

Download Balena Etcher to your computer from HERE .

After downloading Balena Etcher install it and download the Arch Linux ISO from HERE .

Open Balena etcher and select the Arch Linux ISO to flash. Select the drive you want to flash the installer to. Then click flash. (Note if you are on MacOS or Linux, it might ask for a password)

After flashing the ISO to you USB drive, plug the drive into your computer and select the drive from your bios menu and boot into the installer.

Installing Arch Linux

after booting into the installer you will be greeted with the command line.

check if you system supports UEFI

# cat /sys/firmware/efi/fw_platform_size

sync the clock with UTC

# timedatectl

list drives

# lsblk

start fdisk

# fdisk /dev/the_disk_to_be_partitioned

Example disk layout

Creating and Formating the partitions

When I type enter hit the return key
n
ENTER
ENTER
ENTER
+512M
ENTER
n
ENTER
ENTER
ENTER
+2G
ENTER
n
ENTER
ENTER
ENTER
p
ENTER
W
ENTER

I will be using EXT4 for this example but you can use any format that is supported though there might be extra setup for BTRFS.

create a root partition

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/root_partition/

create a swap partition

# mkswap /dev/swap_partition

create an efi partition

# mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/efi_system_partition

Mount the file systems

mount the root partition

# mount /dev/root_partition /mnt

mount the efi partition

# mount --mkdir /dev/efi_system_partition /mnt/efi

turn on swap

# swapon /dev/swap_partition

Installation

Install essential packages

packages that you shoul install

• base
• base-devel
• linux
• linux-firmware
• grub
• efibootmgr
• cpu microcode (amd-ucode for amd chips or intel-ucode for intel chips)
• iwd or networkmanager (for wifi)
• git
• zsh
• zsh-autosuggestions
• zsh-completions
• openssh
• python3
• sudo
• man (documentation)
• reflector
• pipewire pipewire-alsa pipewire-pulse pipewire-jack (audio drivers)
• wireplumber (audio manager)
• nano or vim (for text editing)

install packages

# pacstrap -K /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware grub efibootmgr amd-ucode networkmanager git zsh zsh-autosuggestions zsh-completions openssh python3 sudo man reflector pipewire pipewire-alsa pipewire-pulse pipe-wire-jack wireplumber nano

Fstab

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

# cat /mnt/etc/fstab

Chroot

# arch-chroot /mnt

Localization

Edit /etc/locale.gen and uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 and other needed UTF-8 locales. Generate the locales by running:

# locale-gen

Create the locale.conf file, and set the LANG variable accordingly:

/etc/locale.conf
----------------
LANG=en_US.UTF-8

network config

Create the hostname file:

/etc/hostname
----------------
*yourhostname*

Root Password

set the root password:

# passwd

Create a User

add your user:

# useradd -mG wheel yourname

Uncomment the wheel group to allow execution of any command( ie: remove the # from the wheel line below where it says something like: “Uncomment to let members of group wheel execute any action” ). if you want to use nano then write EDITOR=nano instead.

# EDITOR=vim visudo

Grub Config

Install the grub bootloader:

# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/efi --bootloader-id=Arch

Generate the grub config file:

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

Enable ssh and Networking

# systemctl enable sshd

# systemctl enable NetworkManager

Reboot

# reboot

Post Install Configuration

This section is optional but recommended because it gives you a desktop and display manager as well as other useful tools for Arch Linux.

Getting a Desktop environment and Display manager

Here are some Desktop Environments that I recommend.

There are other desktop environments you can choose but the above are what I reccomend if you want to get started.

For the guide I will outline the setup for each DE (desktop environment) and DM (display manager) in the table above.

XFCE

Use the command written below to install XFCE4 and the LightDM display manager:

# sudo pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies xorg-server lightdm

then to enable lightdm:

# sudo systemctl enable --now lightdm

GNOME

Use the command below to install GNOME and the GDM display manager:

# sudo pacman -S gnome gnome-extras gdm

then to enable gdm:

# sudo systemctl enable --now gdm

KDE Plasma

Use the command below to install KDE Plasma and the SDDM display manager:

# sudo pacman -S plasma-meta kde-applications-meta sddm

then to enable sddm:

sudo systemctl enable --now sddm