Installing Arch Linux

Introduction

Hello, here I will share how I installed Arch Linux on a new PC I got. Obviously the installation varies on numerous factors but I will share my method and hopefully it helps you (and future me).

Installation

First you need to download the Arch Linux ISO file which can be found here:
https://archlinux.org/download/

Next if your installing on a PC you will need to create a bootable media, if your using a virtual environment this is not necessary but the steps to do this can be found here:
https://dev.to/ethand91/how-to-create-a-bootable-usb-device-on-macos-3bke

Setting the keyboard layout

The default layout is US, but if your like me and need to change the keyboard layout you can do so via the following commands:

# List the available layoutsls /usr/share/kbd/keymaps/**/*.map.gz# Set the keyboard layoutloadkeys jp106

Connecting to the internet

This will vary depending on if your using a ethernet cable, in my case I'm using Wifi so I use the following to connect to the internet:

iwctl[iwctl] device list[iwctl] station wlan0 scan[iwctl] station wlan0 get-networks[iwctl] station wlan0 connect [network name]# You can check if you're connected via:ping google.com

Updating the system clock

You can update the system clock via:

timedatectl set-ntp true

Partitioning the disks

The devices can be found in /dev directory.
Partitioning can be done via the fdisk command:

# List the devicesfdisk -l# Create the EFI partition (NOTE: you do not need to do this if a EFI partition is already available)[fdisk] n[fdisk] ENTER[fdisk] +300M[fdisk] ENTER# Create the swap partition[fdisk] n[fdisk] ENTER[fdisk] +1G[fdisk] ENTER# Create the root partition, here we will use all the remaining space[fdisk] n[fdisk] ENTER[fdisk] ENTER# Finally save the partitions and exit fdisk via Ctrl-D[fdisk] w

Format the partitions

Now that the partitions have been created we need to format them:

# Format the EFI partition (NOTE: only do this if you created the partition in the above step)mkfs.fat -F 32 [EFI]# Initialize the swap partitionmkswap [swap]# Create an Ext4 file systemmkfs.ext4 [root]

Mount the file systems

Next we need to mount the root volume and enable the swap volume:

mount [root] /mntswapon [swap]

Installing the required packages

Next we need to install the essential packages and some optional ones, I prefer vim but you can use any IDE you want.

pacstrap /mnt base linux-lts linux-lts-headers linux-firmware vim wget

Configure the system

Next we need to generate an fstab file and change root into the new system.

genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab (NOTE: check the fstab file for errors)arch-chroot /mnt

Setting the timezone

The timezone can be configured via the following commands:

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Japan /etc/localtimehwclock --systohc

Localization

Next we need to generate the locales and keymap.

# Uncomment any need locales from the following file:vim /etc/locale.gen (LANG=ja_JP.UTF-8)# Set the keyboard layoutvim /etc/vconsole.conf (KEYMAP=jp106)

Network Configuration

Create the following file and give the machine a unique name.

vim /etc/hostname

Setting the root password

The root password can be changed via the following simple command

passwd

Installing and configuring the boot loader

Next we need to install and configure a bootloader, for this I will be using GRUB and machine has an Intel CPU you will need to enable the AMD microcode updates if you have an AMD CPU.

pacman -S intel-ucodepacman -S grub efibootmgr# Configure EFIgrub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/mnt/efi --bootloader-id=GRUBgrub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Creating the users

Next we need to create a user that will use the machine, we will also install sudo and add the user to the sudoers list.

useradd -m [user]passwd [user]usermod -aG wheel [user]# Install and enable sudopacman -S sudovim /etc/sudoers (Uncomment wheel)

Setting up the Graphical User Interface

Next we need to setup the Graphical User Interface.

pacman -S xorg xorg-serverpacman -S gnome gnome-tweaks# Enable the servicesystemctl enable gdm

(Optional) Enabling Japanese Fonts

Since I'm using a Japanese keyboard etc the fonts also need to be installed and configured, if you do not need them please skip to the next step.

pacman -S adobe-source-han-sans-jp-fontspacman -S fcitx-im fcitx-configtool fcitx-mozc fcitxvim /home/[user]/.xprofileexport GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitxexport QT_IM_MODULE=fcitxexport XMODIFIERS="@im=fcitx"

Installing the Network Manager

Next we need to install and enable the network manager

pacman -S networkmanagersystemctl enable NetworkManager

Installing misc packages

pacman -S networkmanagersystemctl enable NetworkManagerpacman -S nvidia-ltspacman -S base-develpacman -S bluezsystemctl enable bluetooth

Now we can finally install any optional packages, since I have a Nvidia Graphics card I will also install the drivers.

# Graphic card driverspacman -S nvidia-lts# Development packagespacman -S base-devel# Bluetoothpacman -S bluezsystemctl enable bluetooth

Feel free to add any other packages you may need.

Conclusion

Here I have shown how I install Arch Linux, feel free to use it as a reference and if you have any improvements please let me know.

Also side note I'm still working on my WebRTC Android Tutorial, however the API has changed slightly and my schedule is hectic. Please wait a little longer if you are following my WebRTC tutorial.

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