Installing Arch Linux in my computer

Yesterday I installed ArchLinux on my desktop and the installation was basically smooth. But I’d like to record some basic operations just to make a note. Archlinux Installation Guide is very well documented and is recommended to read. I use the balenaEtcher to flash the iso file to my USB disk. I recommend watching this video to learn the installation process. Some of the content in the video is out of date, and you may not be able to boot the system if you follow the video exactly. For example, the

pacstrap /mnt base base-devel

command in the video should now be replaced by

pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware

This is the reason why still recommended reading documentation Archlinux Installation Guide.

Since I’m using Wi-Fi, I need to set up wifi before I can install it. This is also available in the documentation Connecting with wpa_passphrase . Use command to check the network card statues:

ip link

My example is wlan0, and then connect wifi. If the SSID and password are correct, wi-fi will be connected.

# wpa_supplicant -B -i wlan0 -c <(wpa_passphrase My-wifi-SSID ThisisSSIDPassword)

Don’t forget ping example.com to test network.

Here are some recorded commands:

# lsblk

Create partitions. I created the /boot partition /swap partition, and the /system partition use cgdisk command.

# cgdisk

Set ef00 the " Hex core or GUID" to /boot partition. Set 8200 the " Hex core or GUID" to /swap partition. Set 8300 the " Hex core or GUID" to /system partition.

Format the partition. See documentation EFI system partition

# mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/nvme1n1p1

Initialize swap:

# mkswap /dev/nvme1n1p2
# swapon /dev/nvme1n1p2

Formatted with an appropriate file system.

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme1n1p3

Mount the file systems and check with df.

# mount /dev/nvme1n1p3 /mnt
# mkdir /mnt/boot
# mount /dev/nvme1n1p1 /mnt/boot
# df

Move the fastest address in the Mirror to the top before installing the system

# pacman -Sy vim
# vim /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Installation. Install essential packages.

# pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware

Generate an fstab file (use -U or -L to define by UUID or labels, respectively):

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

Change root into the new system:

# arch-chroot /mnt
Set the time zone:

# ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Hongkong /etc/localtime

Run hwclock(8) to generate /etc/adjtime:

# hwclock --systohc

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

# vim /etc/locale.gen
# locale-gen

Create the locale.conf(5) file, and set the LANG variable accordingly:

# echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf

Create the hostname file:

# echo "myhostname" > /etc/hostname

Set the password for root user.

# passwd

Create a user and gave sudo permissions.

# useradd -g users -G wheel,storage,power -m myname
# passwd myname
# pacman -S sudo
# vim /etc/sudoers

Choose and install a Linux-capable boot loader.

# pacman -S grub efibootmgr

Use GRUB to install boot.

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

Use the grub-mkconfig tool to generate /boot/grub/grub.cfg:

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

Important.

Install Wi-Fi manager use command like wifi-menu(netctl) command:

# pacman -S iw wpa_supplicant dialog dhcpcd netctl netctl

Set wifi auto connection after reboot

# ip link
# systemctl enable netctl-auto@wlo1.service

Set Chinese font, otherwise I can’t see Chinese

#pacman -S wqy-microhei wqy-microhei-lite wqy-zenhei wqy-bitmapfont

I have a Bluetooth speaker, so I’ll start bluetooth connectivity by default.

# systemctl enable bluetooth.service