In this video, the viewer is shown how to create a custom installation of Arch Linux with EFI, LVM, and Encryption.
Considerations
- If you plan to use UEFI, make sure that UEFI is enabled in the BIOS before you boot into the Arch installer
Prepare a flash drive
Download usbimager: https://gitlab.com/bztsrc/usbimager Use usbimager to turn your flash drive into Arch Linux installation media. Once that’s finished, boot your computer with that flash drive. Note: The process will erase everything on the drive.
Check if there is an Internet connection (if on wired)
ip addr show
For WiFi, you can use iwctl
Access the iwd prompt:
iwctl
Obtain a list of Wifi devices in your system:
device list
Take note of the device name for your WiFi device, we’ll need it later.
Note: If you don’t see a Wifi device there, and you’re sure you do have WiFi capability, you shouldn’t proceed any further with installing Arch. You’ll want to check hardware compatibility with your Wifi card and Linux, and then resume installation at a later date.
Scan for wireless access points:
station <device> scan
View a list of detected networks:
station <device> get-networks
Connect to a wireless network:
station <device> connect <wireless-network-name>
Preparing the hard disk (standard, no-UEFI)
See partitions/drives on the system (find the name of your hard drive)
fdisk -l
Start the partitioner (fdisk)
fdisk /dev/<DEVICE> (substitute <DEVICE> for your device name, example: /dev/sda or /dev/nvme0n1)
Show current partitions
p
Create LVM partition
o (to create an empty non-gpt partition table) n enter enter enter enter t enter 8e
Show current partitions again
p
Finalize partition changes
w
Set up lvm
pvcreate --dataalignment 1m /dev/<DEVICE NAME> vgcreate volgroup0 /dev/<DEVICE NAME> lvcreate -L 30GB volgroup0 -n lv_root lvcreate -l 100%FREE volgroup0 -n lv_home (or use something like "-L 250GB" if you want to make the volume size lower) modprobe dm_mod vgscan vgchange -ay
Format the root partition
mkfs.ext4 /dev/volgroup0/lv_root
Mount the root partition
mount /dev/volgroup0/lv_root /mnt
Format the home partition
mkfs.ext4 /dev/volgroup0/lv_home
Create the home partition mount point
mkdir /mnt/home
Mount the home volume
mount /dev/volgroup0/lv_home /mnt/home
Create the /etc dirctory
mkdir /mnt/etc
Create the /etc/fstab file
genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
Check the /etc/fstab file
cat /mnt/etc/fstab
Preparing the hard disk (UEFI)
See partitions/drives on the system (find the name of your hard drive)
fdisk -l
== Start the partitioner (fdisk)
fdisk /dev/<DEVICE> (substitute <DEVICE> for your device name, example: /dev/sda or /dev/nvme0n1)
Show current partitions
p
Create EFI partition
g (to create an empty GPT partition table) n enter enter +500M t 1 (for EFI)
Create LVM partition
n enter enter enter t enter 30 (for Linux LVM)
Show current partitions again
p
Finalize partition changes
w
Format the EFI partition
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1 (or whatever the device name of the first partition is)
Set up lvm
pvcreate --dataalignment 1m /dev/sda2 (or whatever the device name is of the second partition) vgcreate volgroup0 /dev/sda2 (or whatever the device name is of the second partition) lvcreate -L 30GB volgroup0 -n lv_root lvcreate -l 100%FREE volgroup0 -n lv_home (or use something like "-L 250GB" if you want to make the volume size lower) modprobe dm_mod vgscan vgchange -ay
Format the root partition
mkfs.ext4 /dev/volgroup0/lv_root
Mount the root partition
mount /dev/volgroup0/lv_root /mnt
Format the home partition
mkfs.ext4 /dev/volgroup0/lv_home
Create the home partition mount point
mkdir /mnt/home
Mount the home volume
mount /dev/volgroup0/lv_home /mnt/home
Create the /etc dirctory
mkdir /mnt/etc
Create the /etc/fstab file
genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
Check the /etc/fstab file
cat /mnt/etc/fstab
Preparing the hard disk (UEFI with encryption)
See partitions/drives on the system (find the name of your hard drive)
fdisk -l
Start the partitioner (fdisk)
fdisk /dev/<DEVICE> (substitute <DEVICE> for your device name, example: /dev/sda or /dev/nvme0n1)
Show current partitions
p
Create EFI partition
g (to create an empty GPT partition table) n enter enter +500M t 1 (For EFI)
Create boot partition
n enter enter +500M
Create LVM partition
n enter enter enter t enter 30
Show current partitions again
p
Finalize partition changes
w
Format the EFI partition
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/<DEVICE PARTITION 1> (for example: /dev/sda1)
Format the boot partition
mkfs.ext4 /dev/<DEVICE PARTITION 2> (for example: /dev/sda2)
Set up encryption
cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/<DEVICE PARTITION 3> cryptsetup open --type luks /dev/<DEVICE PARTITION 3> lvm
Set up lvm
pvcreate --dataalignment 1m /dev/mapper/lvm vgcreate volgroup0 /dev/mapper/lvm lvcreate -L 30GB volgroup0 -n lv_root lvcreate -L 250GB volgroup0 -n lv_home (or instead of "-L 250GB", use "-l 100%FREE" to use all the remaining space). modprobe dm_mod vgscan vgchange -ay
Format the root partition
mkfs.ext4 /dev/volgroup0/lv_root
Mount the root partition
mount /dev/volgroup0/lv_root /mnt
Create the boot partition mount directory
mkdir /mnt/boot
Mount the boot partition
mount /dev/<DEVICE PARTITION 2> /mnt/boot
Format the home partition
mkfs.ext4 /dev/volgroup0/lv_home
Create the home partition mount point
mkdir /mnt/home
Mount the home volume
mount /dev/volgroup0/lv_home /mnt/home
Create the /etc dirctory
mkdir /mnt/etc
Create the /etc/fstab file
genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
Check the /etc/fstab file
cat /mnt/etc/fstab
Install Arch Linux
Install Arch Linux base packages
pacstrap -i /mnt base
Access the in-progress Arch installation
arch-chroot /mnt
Install a kernel and headers
pacman -S linux linux-headers
For LTS:
pacman -S linux-lts linux-lts-headers
Or both:
pacman -S linux linux-lts linux-headers linux-lts-headers
Install a text editor
pacman -S nano
Install optional packages
pacman -S base-devel openssh
Enable OpenSSH if you’ve installed it
systemctl enable sshd
Install packages for networking
pacman -S networkmanager wpa_supplicant wireless_tools netctl
Install dialog (required for wifi-menu)
pacman -S dialog
Enable networkmanager
systemctl enable NetworkManager
Add LVM support
pacman -S lvm2
Edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
On the “HOOKS” line, add support for lvm2 and optionally encryption.
unencrypted hard disk:
Add “lvm2” in between “block” and “filesystems”
encrypted hard disk:
Add “encrypt lvm2” in between “block” and “filesystems”
It should look similar to the following (don’t copy this line in case they change it, but just add the required new items):
HOOKS=(base udev autodetect modconf block encrypt lvm2 filesystems keyboard fsck)
Create the initial ramdisk for the main kernel
mkinitcpio -p linux
Create the initial ramdisk for the LTS kernel (if you installed it)
mkinitcpio -p linux-lts
Uncomment the line from the /etc/locale.gen file that corresponds to your locale
nano /etc/locale.gen (uncomment en_US.UTF-8)
Generate the locale
locale-gen
Set the root password
passwd
Create a user for yourself
useradd -m -g users -G wheel <username>
Set your password
passwd <username>
Install sudo (may already be installed)
pacman -S sudo
Allow users in the ‘wheel’ group to use sudo
EDITOR=nano visudo
Uncomment:
%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL
Setting up GRUB
GRUB is the bootloader that was used in the video. Follow ONE of the following sections, depending on whether you are using UEFI, encryption, etc
Installing GRUB for non-UEFI, with no encryption
Install the required packages for GRUB:
pacman -S grub dosfstools os-prober mtools
Install GRUB:
grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck /dev/sda
Create the locale directory for GRUB
mkdir /boot/grub/locale
Copy the locale file to locale directory
cp /usr/share/locale/en\@quot/LC_MESSAGES/grub.mo /boot/grub/locale/en.mo
Generate GRUB’s config file
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Installing GRUB for UEFI, with no encryption
Install the required packages for GRUB:
pacman -S grub efibootmgr dosfstools os-prober mtools
Create the EFI directory:
mkdir /boot/EFI
Mount the EFI partition:
mount /dev/<DEVICE PARTITION 1> /boot/EFI
Install GRUB:
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --bootloader-id=grub_uefi --recheck
Create the locale directory for GRUB
mkdir /boot/grub/locale
Copy the locale file to locale directory
cp /usr/share/locale/en\@quot/LC_MESSAGES/grub.mo /boot/grub/locale/en.mo
Generate GRUB’s config file
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Installing GRUB for UEFI, with LUKS disk encryption
Install the required packages for GRUB:
pacman -S grub efibootmgr dosfstools os-prober mtools
Create the EFI directory:
mkdir /boot/EFI
Mount the EFI partition:
mount /dev/<DEVICE PARTITION 1> /boot/EFI
Install GRUB:
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --bootloader-id=grub_uefi --recheck
Create the locale directory for GRUB
mkdir /boot/grub/locale
Copy the locale file to locale directory
cp /usr/share/locale/en\@quot/LC_MESSAGES/grub.mo /boot/grub/locale/en.mo
Set up GRUB to be able to unlock the disk
Open the defaulg config file for GRUB:
nano /etc/default/grub
Uncomment:
GRUB_ENABLE_CRYPTODISK=y
Add cryptdevice=<PARTUUID>:volgroup0 to the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT line If using standard device naming, the option will look similar this (be sure to adjust the device name):
cryptdevice=/dev/sda3:volgroup0:allow-discards quiet
Generate GRUB’s config file
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Testing the installation
Check the /etc/fstab file to make sure it includes all the right partitions
cat /etc/fstab
You should have a mountpoint for all of the partitions that were created.
Moment of truth: Reboot your machine
Exit the chroot environment
exit
Unmount everything (some errors are okay here)
umount -a
Reboot the machine
reboot
Post-Install Tweaks/Enhancements
Create swap file
dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=2048 status=progress chmod 600 /swapfile mkswap /swapfile
Back up the /etc/fstab file
cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.bak
Add the swap file to the /etc/fstab file
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | tee -a /etc/fstab
Set time zone
List time zones:
timedatectl list-timezones
Set your time zone:
timedatectl set-timezone America/Detroit
Enable time synchronization via systemd:
systemctl enable systemd-timesyncd
Set the hostname
Consider setting the hostname of your new installation. You can do so with the following command:
hostnamectl set-hostname myhostname
Also, make the same change in /etc/hosts:
nano /etc/hosts
Example lines to add:
127.0.0.1 localhost 127.0.1.1 myhostname
Install CPU Microde files (AMD CPU)
pacman -S amd-ucode
Install CPU Microde files (Intel CPU)
pacman -S intel-ucode
Install Xorg if you plan on having a GUI
pacman -S xorg-server
Install 3D support for Intel or AMD graphics
If you have an Intel or AMD GPU, install the mesa package:
pacman -S mesa
Install Nvidia Driver packages if you have an Nvidia GPU
pacman -S nvidia nvidia-utils
Note: Install nvidia-lts if you’ve installed the LTS kernel:
pacman -S nvidia-lts
Install Virtualbox guest packages
If you’re installing Arch inside a Virtualbox virtual machine, install these packages:
pacman -S virtualbox-guest-utils xf86-video-vmware
Installing a Desktop Environment
GNOME
To install GNOME, install the gnome package:
sudo pacman -S gnome
Also consider installing GNOME Tweaks:
sudo pacman -S gnome-tweaks
To enable the login screen to appear automatically at boot, run:
sudo systemctl enable gdm
Note: At first login, one or more GNOME apps may fail to start. You might see a spinning circle or equivelant, and then the app never appears. To prevent this situation, you should first open GNOME’s settings, then “Region and Language”, and set your info there
Plasma
To install Plasma, install the plasma package:
sudo pacman -S plasma-meta kde-applications
Enable the login manager to start automatically at boot:
sudo systemctl enable sddm
Xfce
To install xfce, install the following packages:
sudo pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies
Install and enable lightdm, for a graphical logon screen at boot:
sudo pacman -S lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter sudo systemctl enable lightdm
MATE
To install the MATE desktop environment, install the following packages:
sudo pacman -S mate mate-extra
Install and enable lightdm, for a graphical logon screen at boot:
sudo pacman -S lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter sudo systemctl enable lightdm
