Arch Linux - it's really not that complicated
Overview
- 2 partitions: boot (fat32), root (f2fs - encrypted)
- Bootloader: Systemd-boot (formerly gummiboot)
- Desktop Environment: Gnome
Please also consult the official Arch Linux Documentation. The step-by-step instructions can also be found on my Github.
Enter BIOS with F2 and configure:
- "System Configuration" > "SATA Operation": "AHCI"
- "Secure Boot" > "Secure Boot Enable": "Disabled"
Boot from USB
Make sure to boot from USB using UEFI - this is required by systemd-boot!
Set the desired keymap
loadkeys en_US-utf8
(Optional) Connect to wifi
wifi-menu
Once done it can take some seconds - confirm it worked using ping
ping 1.1.1.1
Sync clock
timedatectl set-ntp true
Create two partitions:
- 1000MB EFI partition with hex code ef00
- 100% Linux partition (to be encrypted) with hex code 8300
CAUTION Find the correct disk/partition names for yourself using lsblk. From here on I am using mine as an example. Do not blindly copy and paste these, it might not work or you might destroy partitions you don't want to destroy.
cgdisk /dev/nvme0n1
(Optional) Install f2fs-tools
pacman -S f2fs-tools
Formatting and encryption
Boot partition
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1
Root partition
cryptsetup luksFormat --type=luks2 /dev/nvme0n1p2
cryptsetup open /dev/nvme0n1p2 luks
(choose filesystem - assuming f2fs)
mkfs.f2fs -l luks /dev/mapper/luks
Mount root and boot partition
mount /dev/mapper/luks /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/boot
mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot
Change Pacman mirror priority, move the closer mirrors to the top
vim /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
Install the base system plus a few extra packages
f2fs-tools is needed if you chose f2fs as your partition
With some recent XPS Laptops linux-zen seems to be working better, e.g. resolves screen flickering issues
pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware zsh vim git sudo efibootmgr wpa_supplicant
dialog iw f2fs-tools
Generate fstab
genfstab -L /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
Enter the new system
arch-chroot /mnt
Setup time
rm /etc/localtime
ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc
Generate required locales
vim /etc/locale.gen
locale-gen
Set the desired locale
echo 'LANG=en_US.UTF-8' > /etc/locale.conf
Set desired keymap and font
echo 'KEYMAP=us' > /etc/vconsole.conf
Set the hostname
echo '<hostname>' > /etc/hostname
Add hostname to /etc/hosts:
vim /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
127.0.1.1 <hostname>.localdomain <hostname>
Set password for root
passwd
Add real user
useradd -m -g users -G wheel -s /bin/zsh <username>
passwd <username>
echo '<username> ALL=(ALL) ALL' > /etc/sudoers.d/<username>
Configure mkinitcpio with modules needed for the initrd image
vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
# Optional - for f2fs module crypto-crc32 is required however
MODULES=(crypto-crc32)
# Important - Use the correct order
HOOKS=(base systemd autodetect modconf block keyboard sd-vconsole sd-encrypt filesystems)
Regenerate the initrd image
mkinitcpio -P
Setup systemd-boot
bootctl --path=/boot install
Enable Intel microcode updates
(For AMD replace intel-ucode with amd-ucode in every step that follows)
pacman -S intel-ucode
Create bootloader entry
Get luks-uuid with:
cryptsetup luksUUID /dev/nvme0n1p2
Create the entry:
vim /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /intel-ucode.img
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options rw luks.uuid=<uuid> luks.name=<uuid>=luks root=/dev/mapper/luks
Set default bootloader entry
vim /boot/loader/loader.conf
default arch
(Optional) - Setup Gnome
pacman -S gnome
systemctl enable gdm
Exit, unmount and reboot
exit
umount -R /mnt
reboot