Installation guide - ArchWiki

# Installation guide

From ArchWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

This document is a guide for installing Arch Linux from the live system booted with the official installation image. Before installing, it would be advised to view the FAQ. For conventions used in this document, see Help:Reading. In particular, code examples may contain placeholders (formatted in `italics`) that must be replaced manually.

For more detailed instructions, see the respective ArchWiki articles or the various programs' man pages, both linked from this guide. For interactive help, the IRC channel and the forums are also available.

Arch Linux should run on any x86_64-compatible machine with a minimum of 512 MiB RAM. A basic installation with all packages from the base group should take less than 800 MiB of disk space. As the installation process needs to retrieve packages from a remote repository, this guide assumes a working internet connection is available.

## Pre-installation

The installation media and their GnuPG signatures can be acquired from the Download page.

### Verify signature

It is recommended to verify the image signature before use, especially when downloading from an HTTP mirror, where downloads are generally prone to be intercepted to serve malicious images.

On a system with GnuPG installed, do this by downloading the PGP signature (under Checksums) to the ISO directory, and verifying it with:

    $ gpg --keyserver-options auto-key-retrieve --verify archlinux-version-x86_64.iso.sig

Alternatively, from an existing Arch Linux installation run:

    $ pacman-key -v archlinux-version-x86_64.iso.sig

Note:

- The signature itself could be manipulated if it is downloaded from a mirror site, instead of from archlinux.org as above. In this case, ensure that the public key, which is used to decode the signature, is signed by another, trustworthy key. The `gpg` command will output the fingerprint of the public key.
- Another method to verify the authenticity of the signature is to ensure that the public key's fingerprint is identical to the key fingerprint of the Arch Linux developer who signed the ISO-file. See Wikipedia:Public-key cryptography for more information on the public-key process to authenticate keys.

### Boot the live environment

The live environment can be booted from a USB flash drive, an optical disc or a network with PXE. For alternative means of installation, see Category:Installation process.

- Pointing the current boot device to a drive containing the Arch installation media is typically achieved by pressing a key during the POST phase, as indicated on the splash screen. Refer to your motherboard's manual for details.
- When the Arch menu appears, select Boot Arch Linux and press `Enter` to enter the installation environment.
- See README.bootparams for a list of boot parameters, and packages.x86_64 for a list of included packages.
- You will be logged in on the first virtual console as the root user, and presented with a Zsh shell prompt.

To switch to a different console—for example, to view this guide with ELinks alongside the installation—use the `Alt+arrow` shortcut. To edit configuration files, nano, vi and vim are available.

### Set the keyboard layout

The default console keymap is US. Available layouts can be listed with:

    # ls /usr/share/kbd/keymaps/**/*.map.gz

To modify the layout, append a corresponding file name to loadkeys(1), omitting path and file extension. For example, to set a German keyboard layout:

    # loadkeys de-latin1

Console fonts are located in `/usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/` and can likewise be set with setfont(8).

### Verify the boot mode

If UEFI mode is enabled on an UEFI motherboard, Archiso will boot Arch Linux accordingly via systemd-boot. To verify this, list the efivars directory:

    # ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

If the directory does not exist, the system may be booted in BIOS or CSM mode. Refer to your motherboard's manual for details.

### Connect to the internet

To set up a network connection, go through the following steps:

1. Ensure your network interface is listed and enabled, for example with ip-link(8):

       # ip link

2. Connect to the network. Plug in the Ethernet cable or connect to the wireless LAN.
3. Configure your network connection:
   - Static IP address
   - Dynamic IP address: use DHCP.
     Note: The installation image enables dhcpcd (`dhcpcd@interface.service`) for wired network devices on boot.
4. The connection may be verified with ping:

       # ping archlinux.org

### Update the system clock

Use timedatectl(1) to ensure the system clock is accurate:

    # timedatectl set-ntp true

To check the service status, use `timedatectl status`.

### Partition the disks

When recognized by the live system, disks are assigned to a block device such as `/dev/sda` or `/dev/nvme0n1`. To identify these devices, use lsblk or fdisk.

    # fdisk -l

Results ending in `rom`, `loop` or `airoot` may be ignored.

The following partitions are required for a chosen device:

- One partition for the root directory `/`.
- If UEFI is enabled, an EFI system partition.

If you want to create any stacked block devices for LVM, system encryption or RAID, do it now.

#### Example layouts

BIOS with MBR
Mount point | Partition | Partition type | Suggested size
--- | --- | --- | ---
`/mnt` | `/dev/sdX1` | Linux | Remainder of the device
[SWAP] | `/dev/sdX2` | Linux swap | More than 512 MiB
UEFI with GPT
Mount point | Partition | Partition type | Suggested size
`/mnt/boot` or `/mnt/efi` | `/dev/sdX1` | EFI system partition | 260–512 MiB
`/mnt` | `/dev/sdX2` | Linux x86-64 root (/) | Remainder of the device
[SWAP] | `/dev/sdX3` | Linux swap | More than 512 MiB

See also Partitioning#Example layouts.

Note:

- Use fdisk or parted to modify partition tables, for example `fdisk /dev/sdX`.
- Swap space can be set on a swap file for file systems supporting it.

### Format the partitions

Once the partitions have been created, each must be formatted with an appropriate file system. For example, if the root partition is on `/dev/sdX1` and will contain the `ext4` file system, run:

    # mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1

If you created a partition for swap, initialize it with mkswap:

    # mkswap /dev/sdX2
    # swapon /dev/sdX2

See File systems#Create a file system for details.

### Mount the file systems

Mount the file system on the root partition to `/mnt`, for example:

    # mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt

Create any remaining mount points (such as `/mnt/efi`) and mount their corresponding partitions.

genfstab will later detect mounted file systems and swap space.

## Installation

### Select the mirrors

Packages to be installed must be downloaded from mirror servers, which are defined in `/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist`. On the live system, all mirrors are enabled, and sorted by their synchronization status and speed at the time the installation image was created.

The higher a mirror is placed in the list, the more priority it is given when downloading a package. You may want to edit the file accordingly, and move the geographically closest mirrors to the top of the list, although other criteria should be taken into account.

This file will later be copied to the new system by pacstrap, so it is worth getting right.

### Install the base packages

Use the pacstrap script to install the base package group:

    # pacstrap /mnt base

This group does not include all tools from the live installation, such as btrfs-progs or specific wireless firmware; see packages.x86_64 for comparison.

To install packages and other groups such as base-devel, append the names to pacstrap (space separated) or to individual pacman commands after the #Chroot step.

## Configure the system

### Fstab

Generate an fstab file (use `-U` or `-L` to define by UUID or labels, respectively):

    # genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

Check the resulting file in `/mnt/etc/fstab` afterwards, and edit it in case of errors.

### Chroot

Change root into the new system:

    # arch-chroot /mnt

### Time zone

Set the time zone:

    # ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Region/City /etc/localtime

Run hwclock(8) to generate `/etc/adjtime`:

    # hwclock --systohc

This command assumes the hardware clock is set to UTC. See System time#Time standard for details.

### Localization

Uncomment `en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8` and other needed locales in `/etc/locale.gen`, and generate them with:

    # locale-gen

Create the locale.conf(5) file, and set the `LANG` variable accordingly:

    /etc/locale.conf

    LANG=en_US.UTF-8

If you set the keyboard layout, make the changes persistent in vconsole.conf(5):

    /etc/vconsole.conf

    KEYMAP=de-latin1

### Network configuration

Create the hostname file:

    /etc/hostname

    myhostname

Add matching entries to hosts(5):

    /etc/hosts

    127.0.0.1	localhost
    ::1		localhost
    127.0.1.1	myhostname.localdomain	myhostname

If the system has a permanent IP address, it should be used instead of `127.0.1.1`.

Complete the network configuration for the newly installed environment.

### Initramfs

Creating a new initramfs is usually not required, because mkinitcpio was run on installation of the linux package with pacstrap.

For LVM, system encryption or RAID, modify mkinitcpio.conf(5) and recreate the initramfs image:

    # mkinitcpio -p linux

### Root password

Set the root password:

    # passwd

### Boot loader

Choose and install a Linux-capable boot loader. If you have an Intel or AMD CPU, enable microcode updates in addition.

## Reboot

Exit the chroot environment by typing `exit` or pressing `Ctrl+d`.

Optionally manually unmount all the partitions with `umount -R /mnt`: this allows noticing any "busy" partitions, and finding the cause with fuser(1).

Finally, restart the machine by typing `reboot`: any partitions still mounted will be automatically unmounted by systemd. Remember to remove the installation media and then login into the new system with the root account.

## Post-installation

See General recommendations for system management directions and post-installation tutorials (like setting up a graphical user interface, sound or a touchpad).

For a list of applications that may be of interest, see List of applications.

Category:

- Installation process