Arch Linux Installation and Configuration on UEFI Machines

Short guide to install Arch Linux.

boot live arch distro and connect to wifi

# wifi-menu
# ping -c 3 www.tuke.sk

prepare disks

# cgdisk /dev/nvme0n1

• 300M - EFI System - ef00
• 460G - Linux filesystem - 8300
• 16G - Linux swap - 8200

create file system

# mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p2
# mkswap /dev/nvme0n1p3
# swapon /dev/nvme0n1p3
let’s check
# lsblk /dev/nvme0n1

mount the root partition

# mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt

choose mirror

choose the mirror closest to your location
copy the link of the locations closest to you and past it on top of the list
# vi /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

enable Arch Multilib support for the live system by uncommenting the following lines from /etc/pacman.conf file:

[multilib]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

install the base packages

# pacstrap -i /mnt base base-devel

if there is issue with signiture of some packages run:
# pacman -Sy archlinux-keyring

configure fstab

# genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
let’s check
# cat /mnt/etc/fstab
chroot into your newly installed system to configure it
# arch-chroot /mnt

language and location settings

# vi /etc/locale.gen

uncoment:

en_US.UTF-8
de_DE.UTF-8
sk_SK.UTF-8

generate the locals:
# locale-gen
# echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
# export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

let’s set the time

first find the correct zone
# ls /usr/share/zoneinfo/
so right now it will be
# ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin /etc/localtime
let’s configure hardware clock
# hwclock --systohc --utc
hostname
# echo shami > /etc/hostname

configure repositories

for 64bit system we need enable the appropriate repositories
# vi /etc/pacman.conf
uncoment the ‘multilib’ repo:

[multilib]  
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

now it’s the best time to update repositories
# pacman -Sy

create users

first let’s set up password for root
# passwd
now we will create new user
# useradd -mg users -G wheel,storage,power -s /bin/bash bendo
let’s set him password
# passwd bendo
now we will give him sudo superpowers
# pacman -S sudo
probably sudo is already instaled
# EDITOR=vi visudo
uncoment this line
%wheel ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL
nice to have
# pacman -S bash-completion

install boot loader

# pacman -S grub efibootmgr dosfstools os-prober mtools
# mkdir /boot/EFI
# mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /boot/EFI #Mount FAT32 EFI partition
# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --bootloader-id=grub_uefi --recheck
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

set up internet

# pacman -S dialog
# pacman -S netctl
# pacman -S wpa_supplicant

let’s reboot

exit from chroot environment:
# exit
unmount the root
# umount -R /mnt
and reboot
# reboot

after boot

for reboot without sudo install polkit

install some apps:
# pacman -S xorg
# pacman -S xorg-server
# pacman -S xorg-xinit
# pacman -S vim
# pacman -S scrot
# pacman -S xloadimage
# pacman -S imagemagick
# pacman -S rxvt-unicode
# pacman -S dmenu
# pacman -S mplayer
# pacman -S mc
# pacman -S gedit
# pacman -S zathura

aur:
google-chrome, ttf-font-awesome-4, xbanish, xkb-switch, spotify, boostnote

to sync time:
ntp -> start and enable ntpd

check: .xinitrc, bin/status-keyboard, bin/status-vol, .xmobarrc, .vimrc

copy dotfiles (.bashrc, .xinitrc …)