quicknote of install archlinux

Posted on 2025-03-12 • 921 words • 5 minute read

Tags: arch-install

Pre-installation

Acquire an installation image

Verify signature

pacman-key -v archlinux-version-x86_64.iso.sig
## or
gpg --keyserver-options auto-key-retrieve --verify archlinux-version-x86_64.iso.sig

If the output is Good signature, it is unchanged

Prepare an installation medium

dd bs=4M if=path/to/archlinux-version-x86_64.iso of=/dev/disk/by-id/usb-My_flash_drive conv=fsync oflag=direct status=progress

Boot the live environment

You need to disable Secure Boot to boot the installation medium.

modify the mirrorlist

## Stop the automatic update of the mirror list
systemctl stop reflector.service
## edit it yourself
vim /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

These should be placed at the beginning of the list:

Server = http://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = http://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch

Connect to the internet(WiFi)

# list interfaces
ip link
# wpa_supplicant -- https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Wpa_supplicant
wpa_supplicant -B -i interface -c <(wpa_passphrase MYSSID passphrase)
# or iwd -- https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Iwd
iwctl
# test
ping -c 3 www.ponyofshadows.com

Update the system clock

timedatectl set-ntp true
timedatectl

Partition the disks & Format the partitions

/boot 1G
swap >= computer memory
/ 100G-200G
/home

fdisk -l # or lsblk
fdisk /dev/partition # `m` for help

mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/efi_system_partition # ESP
mkswap /dev/hdb1 # SWAP
mkfs.btrfs -L mylabel /dev/partition_btrfs_root
mkfs.xfs partition_home # /home

Mount the file systems

mount /dev/partition_btrfs_root /mnt
btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@current # /
umount /mnt
mount -o subvol=@current /dev/partition_root /mnt
mount -m /dev/partition_efi /mnt/@current/boot
mount -m /dev/partition_home /mnt/@current/home

genfstab

mkdir /mnt/etc
genfstab -U /mnt > /mnt/etc/fstab
lsblk -o NAME,FSTYPE,UUID | grep swap >> /mnt/etc/fstab
vim /mnt/etc/fstab #edit swap info

swap info:

# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>   <dump>  <pass>
UUID=your_swap_uuid	none    swap 	defaults,discard  	0 0

Install essential packages

# basic packages
pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux linux-headers linux-firmware
# microcode
pacstrap /mnt amd-ucode     #AMD
#pacstrap /mnt intel-ucode   #Intel
# boot
pacstrap /mnt grub efibootmgr
# netwotk,sync,editor
pascstrap /mnt wpa_suppliant dhcpcd rsync wget openssh git neovim
# filesystem utils
pascstrap /mnt btrfs-progs xfsprogs

Prepare for reboot

Chroot

arch-chroot /mnt

boot loader

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

edit /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="loglevel=4 nowatchdog"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="rootflags=subvol=/@current"

mkconfig

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

hostname & users

hostname

open the empty file /etc/hostname, input your hostname
open /etc/hosts and add below:

127.0.0.1   localhost
::1         localhost
127.0.1.1   my_hostname

users

passwd root
useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash wheel_user_name
passwd wheel_user_name

sudo

EDITOR=vim visudo

## Uncomment to allow members of group wheel to execute any command
%wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

## Same thing without a password
%wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

reboot

exit
umount -R  /mnt
reboot

Unplug your flash drive and reboot

Configure the system

Connect network with wpa_cli

wiki-wpa_supplicant

wpa_suppliant connects with wpa_cli

open /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf and append

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel
update_config=1

(connect wpa_cli with wpa_supplicant, allow wheel uesrs to use wpa_cli) 2. create /etc/systemd/system/wpa_supplicant@interface_name.service

[Unit]
Description=Wpa supplicant for %I
Wants=network.target
Before=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStartPre=/bin/sleep 1
ExecStart=/usr/bin/wpa_supplicant -i %I -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=1s

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

enable essential services

sudo systemctl enable --now dhcpcd
sudo systemctl enable --now wpa_supplicant@interface_name.service

run cli

wpa_cli

time sync

sudo timedatectl set-ntp true 
sudo timedatectl set-local-rtc 0
sudo hwclock --systohc

time zome

sudo ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Shanghai /etc/localtime

language

edit /etc/locale.gen,remove the comment symbol # before en_US.UTF-8 and zh_CN.UTF-8.
then, run

locale-gen

package managing

introduce to archlinuxcn

open /etc/pacman.conf and append:

[archlinuxcn]
Server = https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/archlinuxcn/$arch

trust GPG key of farseerfc and install the keyring:

sudo pacman-key --lsign-key "farseerfc@archlinux.org"
sudo pacman -Sy archlinuxcn-keyring

sudo pacman -S paru

Chinese fonts

sudo pacman -S noto-fonts-cjk noto-fonts-emoji noto-fonts-extra ttf-jetbrains-mono ttf-jetbrains-mono-nerd ttf-noto-sans-mono-cjk-vf

prevent fallback: create /etc/fonts/local.conf:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
  <alias>
    <family>monospace</family>
    <prefer>
      <family>JetBrains Mono</family>
      <family>Noto Sans Mono CJK SC</family>
    </prefer>
  </alias>
</fontconfig>

run:

fc-cache -fv
fc-match monospace

package list

# shell
bash-completion fzf powerline powerline-fonts
# language servers
ccls jedi-language-server rust-analyzer
cmake-language-server fortls
# papers
papis
# webpage
hugo
# desktop
wayland hyprland kitty wofi waybar
thunar tumbler ffmpegthumbnailer thunar-archive-plugin thunar-media-tags-plugin thunar-volman 
xorg-xwayland xwayland-satellite
xdg-desktop-portal-wlr
grim wl-clipboard slurp
brightnessctl
# sound
pipewire pipewire-pulse pavucontorl
# input method
fcitx5 fcitx5-rime fcitx5-configtool fcitx5-qt fcitx5-gtk
rime-flypy
# daliy softwares
firefox okular libreoffice-stable zathura zathura-pdf-mupdf tesseract-data-eng tesseract-data-chi_sim nomacs mpv gimp
# better DNS
dnsmasq
# socket
v2ray openbsd-netcat
v2raya-bin
# battery manager
tlp
tlpui
# small tools
zip unzip p7zip tree man-db tldr
# develop
pip npm jupyter-notebook rust gdb git-lfs
docker
python-openai
gradle
# latex
texlab texlive texlive-langchinese texlive-langgreek
# message
linuxqq-nt-bwrap wechat-universal-bwrap
# bluetooth
bluez bluez-utils blueman
# virtualbox - virtualbox-host-modules-arch for default linux kernel
virtualbox
# minecraft
## jdk21-openjdk jdk17-openjdk
## hmcl-bin
# work with libretranslate
jq

other configuration

configurconfigurationn_file list

# tlp
sudo systemctl enable --now tlp.service
sudo systemctl mask --now systemd-rfkill.service
sudo systemctl mask --now systemd-rfkill.socket
### battery-warning on hyprland
systemctl --user enable --now battery-warning.timer 
# git config
git config --global user.name "your name"
git config --global user.email "your email"
git lfs install
## github ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "youremail@example.com"
# npm mirrror
npm config set registry https://registry.npmmirror.com
sudo npm config set registry https://registry.npmmirror.com
# ray
### sudo systemctl enable --now v2ray
## edit `~/.ssh/config` for git ssh (openbsd-netcat is needed):
###Host proxyhost
###  HostName 127.0.0.1
###  Port 20170
###  ProxyCommand nc -x 127.0.0.1:20170 %h %p
## run these for http & https:
git config --global http.proxy "socks5h://127.0.0.1:20170"
git config --global https.proxy "socks5h://127.0.0.1:20170"

# dns
### sudo systemctl enable --now dnsmasq

# volume
systemctl --user enable --now pipewire-pulse.service

# bluetooth (if you need)
# sudo systemctl start bluetooth.service

# steam
#** 1. edit /etc/pacman.conf:
#** [multilib]
#** Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
#** 2. install steam
#sudo pacman -Sy steam

# docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
## edit `/etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/http-proxy.conf` if you have access to legal socket:
### [Service]
### Environment="HTTP_PROXY=socks5h://127.0.0.1:20170"
### Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=socks5h://127.0.0.1:20170"
### Environment="NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1"
sudo systemctl enable --now docker

# libretranslate
## see: www.ponyofshadows.com//posts/arch/Linux上超快的本地翻译/

Pony of Shadows

Uncertainty is Fascinating.