arch-linux-installation-instructions.txt

Generic installation and post-installation instructions for Arch Linux

===========================================================================================================

=======================================
   Installation
=======================================

+++SYSTEM
  
  --- SET UP AND BOOT INSTALLATION MEDIA
   -Download the Arch Linux ISO and copy it to a storage media like a flash drive. (See
    https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/USB_flash_installation_media#In_Windows)

   -Make sure the computer hardware clock is set to UTC time (this will eventually be needed when setting the local
    time).

   -Connect the computer to the internet via ethernet and boot Arch Linux using the storage media.

  --- PREPARE STORAGE DEVICE
   (Note: This is probably the hardest part in the installation guide and may require some extra research).
   -Create the correct partitions using a partitioning tool if not already created (see the Arch Linux wiki for
    partitioning tools; possibly the easiest one to use is fdisk). Print the current partitions on the drive with
    'lsblk -f'. The partitions can be set up as follows for example:

       [Label]         [Mount Point]    [FS Type]        [Size]
       arch-root       /                ext4              30 GB
       arch-swap       [none]           linux-swap         8 GB
       arch-usr-local  /usr/local       ext4              30 GB
       arch-home       /home            ext4              50 GB

   -Print the device name (e.g. sda1) of each partition on the drive:
       >  lsblk -f

   -Set up and activate the swap partition:
       >  mkswap /dev/sdxY
       >  swapon /dev/sdxY

   -Mount the root partition ("/") to the /mnt directory of the live system:
       >  mount /dev/sdxY /mnt

   -Create directories for and mount remaining partitions (order does not matter). For example, run the following for
    the "/home" partition:
       >  mkdir -p /mnt/home
       >  mount /dev/sdxY /mnt/home

  --- INSTALL ARCH LINUX BASE PACKAGE
   -Run the following (use -i option to ensure prompting before package installation):
       >  pacstrap /mnt base base-devel

   -If an error occurs regarding keys, run the following and rerun the previous command:
       >  pacman -Sy archlinux-keyring

  --- CONFIGURATION
    1. FSTAB
     -Generate fstab:
         >  genfstab -U /mnt > /mnt/etc/fstab

    2. CHROOT
     -Chroot to the new system:
         >  arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash

    3. VIM TEXT EDITOR (OPTIONAL; CAN BE USED OVER NANO IN THE NEXT STEPS)
         >  pacman -S vim

    4. LOCALE
     -Edit /etc/locale.gen and uncomment "en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8".

     -Run the following:
         >  locale-gen

     -Add "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" to /etc/locale.conf where LANG is the first column of an uncommented entry in
      /etc/locale.gen:
         >  echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf

    5. TIME
     -Select a time zone:
         >  tzselect

     -Create the symbolic link /etc/localtime, where Zone/Subzone is the TZ value from tzselect:
         >  ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Zone/SubZone /etc/localtime

     -Adjust the time skew and set the time standard to UTC:
         >  hwclock --systohc --utc

    6. GRUB BOOT LOADER
     (To use a specific boot loader for UEFI/GPT, continue to the next step).

     -Install the grub package. To search for other operating systems, also install os-prober:
         >  pacman -S grub os-prober

     -Install the bootloader to the drive Arch was installed to (if this does not work, follow the steps under GRUB
      BOOT LOADER in the TROUBLESHOOTING section):
         >  grub-install --recheck /dev/sda

     -Generate grub.cfg:
         >  grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

    7. ALTERNATE BOOT LOADER FOR UEFI/GPT
     -Run the following:
         >  bootctl install

     -Create a boot entry in /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf, replacing /dev/sda2 with the root partition:
          title          Arch Linux
          linux          /vmlinuz-linux
          initrd         /initramfs-linux.img
          options        root=/dev/sda2 rw

     -Modify /boot/loader/loader.conf to select the default entry (without .conf) suffix:
          timeout 3
          default arch

    8. NETWORK
     -Choose a hostname for the system and add it in /etc/hostname.
         >  echo '<hostname>' > /etc/hostname

     -Append the same hostname to localhost entries in /etc/hosts (i.e. add it after the last "localhost" in each
      line).

     -Get interface device names:
         >  ls /sys/class/net

     -Enable the dhcpcd service for the wired connection:
         >  systemctl enable dhcpcd@<interface>.service

    9. FINISH AND REBOOT
     -Set the root password:
         >  passwd

     -Exit from the chroot environment:
         >  exit

     -Reboot the computer:
         >  reboot

+++TROUBLESHOOTING

   --- GRUB BOOT LOADER
    -Install "efibootmgr" and create the "efi" directory under /boot:
        >  pacman -S efibootmgr && mkdir /boot/efi.

    -Mount the EFI system boot partition on /boot/efi. This partition should be formatted as fat32 (vfat) or fat16.

    -Install grub:
        >  grub-install --root-directory=/ --efi-directory=/boot/efi --recheck /dev/sda

    -Unmount /boot/efi and delete it:
        >  umount /boot/efi && rm -Rf /boot/efi

=======================================
   Post-installation
=======================================

+++PART 1: SYSTEM INITIALIZATION

  --- SET UP
   -Edit /etc/pacman.conf and uncomment the following lines:
         #[multilib]
         #Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

   -Download and refresh package databases from the server:
       >  pacman -Syy

   -Change permissions for /etc/sudoers:
       >  chmod 660 /etc/sudoers

   -Edit /etc/sudoers by finding and uncommenting the following lines to allow the 'sudo' command to work without a
    password (optional):
         # %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL
         ... ... ...
         # %wheel ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

   -Disable the PC speaker from making loud beeps (optional; reboot is required):
       >  echo 'blacklist pcspkr' > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

   -Create the primary system user:
       >  useradd -m -G storage,power,wheel <username>

   -Set the primary system user's password:
       >  passwd <user>

  --- INITIAL APPLICATIONS AND DRIVERS
   -Install the following basic applications (Estimated time: 4 minutes):
       >  pacman -S gedit xclip wget rfkill chromium

   -Install the graphics driver needed using 'pacman -S':
      -mesa (any graphics card but does not have the best performance)
      -xf86-video-ati (AMD/ATI graphic cards)
      -xf86-video-nouveau (NVIDIA graphics card; consider also the proprietary driver)

+++PART 2: GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE

  --- XORG AND XFCE4
   -Install Xorg:
       >  pacman -S xorg-server xorg-xinit alsa-utils

   (Note: At this point, 'startx' will start the generic Xorg desktop environment. These are additional Xorg components
   that can be installed: xorg-twm xorg-xclock).

   -Install the xterm terminal emulator:
       >  cd /tmp && wget ftp://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.tar.gz && tar xzf xterm.tar.gz && cd xterm-* && sudo cd $PWD && ./configure --prefix=/usr --enable-256-color --enable-88-color --enable-wide-chars --enable-sixel-graphics && sudo make -C $PWD install

   -Install the xfce4 desktop environment:
       >  pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies xfce4-notifyd

   -Install some common system fonts:
       >  pacman -S terminus-font ttf-freefont ttf-anonymous-pro adobe-source-code-pro-fonts ttf-inconsolata ttf-hack ttf-fira-sans

   -Reboot the computer.

   -Sign in as regular user and run 'startxfce4'.

   -Open a terminal emulator; this can be done from the applications menu or right clicking on the desktop.

  --- DEVICE MOUNTING AND AUTOMOUNTING
   -Install device mounting and automounting software:
       >  pacman -S --noconfirm udisks2 udiskie

+++PART 3: SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

  --- RAISE KERNEL INOTIFY WATCH LIMIT (OPTIONAL)
   -Log in as root (with 'sudo -i') and run the following:
       >  echo 524288 | tee /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches

+++PART 4: SYSTEM SOFTWARE

  --- BYPASS GRUB MENU ON BOOT (OPTIONAL; THIS ALLOWS GRUB TO INSTANTLY BOOT TO ARCH LINUX AND SKIP THE MENU)
   -Run the following as a regular (non-root) user:
       >  cd /tmp && wget https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/snapshot/grub-holdshift.tar.gz && tar -xzf grub-holdshift.tar.gz && cd grub-holdshift && makepkg -s && sudo pacman -U --noconfirm $PWD/grub-holdshift-*-any.pkg.tar.xz && sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

  --- YAOURT (Yet AnOther User Repository Tool)
   -Install package-query first (run as regular user):
       >  cd /tmp && wget https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/snapshot/package-query.tar.gz && tar -xzf package-query.tar.gz && cd package-query/ && makepkg -s --noconfirm && sudo pacman -U --noconfirm $PWD/package-query-*-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

   -Install yaourt (run as regular user):
       >  cd /tmp && wget https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/snapshot/yaourt.tar.gz && tar -xzf yaourt.tar.gz && cd yaourt/ && makepkg -s && sudo pacman -U --noconfirm $PWD/yaourt-*-any.pkg.tar.xz

  --- JDK
   -Install JDK 7:
       >  yaourt -S --noconfirm jdk7

   -Install JDK 8:
       >  cd /tmp && wget https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/snapshot/jdk.tar.gz && tar -xf jdk.tar.gz && cd jdk && makepkg -s --noconfirm && sudo pacman -U --noconfirm $PWD/jdk-8*-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

   -Change default Java environment to JDK 7 (or JDK 8 if preferred):
       >  archlinux-java set java-7-jdk

  --- PYTHON
   -Install python pip package management system:
     >  pacman -S --noconfirm python-pip

  --- NETWORKING
   -Install basic network applications and utilities:
       >  pacman -S --noconfirm wpa_supplicant networkmanager network-manager-applet

   -Enable Network Manager's service (run as root):
       >  systemctl enable NetworkManager.service && systemctl start NetworkManager.service

+++PART 5: DRIVER INSTALLATION (EXAMPLES ONLY)

  --- TP-LINK AC1200 WI-FI ADAPTER
   -Install the Realtek 8812au chipset driver:
       >  yaourt -S --noconfirm rtl8812au

  --- INTEL® DUAL BAND WIRELESS-N 7265 CARD
   -Run the following as root:
       >  cd /tmp && wget https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/_media/en/users/drivers/iwlwifi-3160-ucode-25.17.12.0.tgz && tar -zxf iwlwifi-3160-ucode-25.17.12.0.tgz && cd iwlwifi-3160-ucode-25.17.12.0 && cp iwlwifi-*.ucode /lib/firmware

+++PART 6: TROUBLESHOOTING

  --- LAPTOP TOUCHPAD (SYNAPTICS INTERFACE) NOT WORKING
   -Run the following as root:
       >  pacman -S --noconfirm xf86-input-synaptics
   -See the Arhc Linux synaptic wiki page on setting up the following file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf

  --- SOUND NOT WORKING
   -Create file "/etc/modprobe.d/alsa.conf" and add the following lines:
        options snd_hda_intel enable=0,1
        options snd slots=snd_hda_intel,thinkpad_acpi
        options snd_hda_intel index=0
        options thinkpad_acpi index=1