Arch Linux Installation for Beginners

sha256sum archlinux-2025.05.01-x86_64.iso

cfdisk /dev/sdY

Formats the first partition as FAT32. This is typically used for EFI System Partitions.

mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/sdY1

Formats the second partition (root partition) with the Ext4 filesystem.

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdY2

Formats the 3 partition (home partition) with the Ext4 filesystem.

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdY3

Mounts the second partition (root partition) to /mnt.

mount /dev/sdY2 /mnt

Creates the /boot directory inside /mnt to mount the corresponding partition (EFI partition).

mkdir -vp /mnt/boot

Mounts the EFI system partition at /mnt/boot.

mount /dev/sdY1 /mnt/boot

Creates the /home directory inside /mnt to mount the corresponding partition.

mkdir -vp /mnt/home

Mounts the Home partition at /mnt/home.

mount /dev/sdY3 /mnt/home

Lists the partitions, filesystems, and mount points to verify everything is set up correctly.

lsblk -pf /dev/sdY

pacstrap -K /mnt linux linux-firmware linux-headers base base-devel nano \
		networkmanager grub efibootmgr os-prober bash-completion wpa_supplicant

Tip: You will need to add your CPU microcode package: for Intel, add intel-ucode; for AMD, add amd-ucode.

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• linux – The Linux kernel.
• linux-firmware – Firmware files for various hardware devices.
• linux-headers – Kernel headers for building modules against the kernel.
• base – Essential packages for a minimal Arch Linux system.
• base-devel – Development tools for compiling software (make, gcc, etc.).
• nano – Simple terminal text editor.
• networkmanager – Network management daemon and CLI tools.
• grub – Bootloader to start the OS.
• efibootmgr – EFI boot manager to configure UEFI boot entries.
• os-prober – Detects other OS installations for bootloader configuration.
• bash-completion – Bash completions for core commands.
• wpa_supplicant – Handles Wi-Fi authentication.
• intel-ucode – Microcode updates for Intel CPUs.
• amd-ucode – Microcode updates for AMD CPUs.

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

Enters the new system environment at /mnt, so all following commands affect the installed system, not the live USB.

arch-chroot /mnt

Sets the system name to zombie, Change it to your own hostname, which identifies your computer on networks.

echo "zombie" > /etc/hostname

Use the command with your city name to find your timezone.
You can then use its output in the next command that links your local timezone file to /etc/localtime for correct system time.

timedatectl list-timezones | grep Tokyo

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Japan/Tokyo /etc/localtime

Writes the system time to the hardware clock so it stays accurate after reboots.

hwclock --systohc

Uncomment the locale you want to use by removing the # in this example it's en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 and then save the file.

nano /etc/locale.gen

Generates the locale files specified in /etc/locale.gen.

locale-gen

Change the en_US.UTF-8 to the locale you uncommented in the /etc/locale.gen file.

echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf

Add your own keymap by changing us to your keyboard layout.

echo "KEYMAP=us" > /etc/vconsole.conf

Prompts to set a strong password for the root account.

passwd

Creates the user with a home directory and adds them to the wheel group for administrative privileges.
Replace <yourUserName> with your own username.

useradd -mG wheel <yourUserName>

Sets the password for your new user account.

passwd <yourUserName>

This allows users in the wheel group to use sudo for administrative tasks. Uncomment the line at the bottom of the file by removing the # from: %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL and save the file.

EDITOR=nano visudo

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

--target=x86_64-efi installs GRUB for UEFI systems.
--efi-directory=/boot specifies the EFI system partition.
--bootloader-id=GRUB names the boot entry.
--recheck ensures device detection is refreshed.

Automatically generates the GRUB configuration file, detecting all kernels and operating systems.

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

GRUB Dual Boot (Optional)

Open the GRUB configuration file for editing. This file controls bootloader settings and kernel parameters.

nano /etc/default/grub

This enables GRUB to detect and recognize other operating systems.

GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false     # Uncomment the line by removing the hashtag (#), then save and exit the file

And run:

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

As for Windows, if it’s on another drive, you should be fine.
If it’s on the same drive, you should do the following after finishing/rebooting the installation:

/dev/sda1 or /dev/nvme0n1p1 should be the EFI Windows partition.
To find out which one it is, use lsblk -f.

mkdir -p /mnt/windows-efi
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/windows-efi

After that, run grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg. In the output, you should see Windows being detected.

Use this only if you have another OS and want to dual boot between Arch Linux and that OS. You can skip this step if you don’t want to set up dual booting.

Option 1 (Recommended): Using NetworkManager

NetworkManager handles wired, wireless, and VPN connections.
It also manages DNS automatically.

systemctl enable NetworkManager

After installing the system and rebooting, to add your Wi-Fi network, just run sudo nmtui and select your Wi-Fi.

Option 2: Using systemd-networkd

systemctl enable systemd-networkd
systemctl enable systemd-resolved

systemd-networkd manages network interfaces automatically.
systemd-resolved provides DNS resolution and caching.

Ethernet Configuration

nano /etc/systemd/network/en.network

[Match]
Name=en*

[Network]
DHCP=yes

Replace en* with your Ethernet interface if needed (e.g., enp3s0).
To find the interface name, use ip a or ip link.
It's fine to use en*.
This setup automatically obtains IP, gateway, and DNS from DHCP.

Wi-Fi Configuration

Create a wpa_supplicant config for your Wi-Fi interface (replace wlp3s0 with your interface):

nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlp3s0.conf

ctrl_interface=DIR=/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1

network={
	ssid="YourWiFiSSID"
	psk="YourWiFiPassword"
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

Replace YourWiFiSSID (WiFi Name) and YourWiFiPassword with your Wi-Fi credentials.

Enable wpa_supplicant for the interface:

systemctl enable wpa_supplicant@wlp3s0

Wi-Fi networkd config (DHCP)

nano /etc/systemd/network/wl.network

[Match]
Name=wl*

[Network]
DHCP=yes

systemd-networkd handles IP, gateway, and DNS after wpa_supplicant connects.

Edit /etc/hosts with nano and add:

127.0.0.1   localhost
::1         localhost
127.0.1.1   YourHostName.localdomain   YourHostName

Replace YourHostName with your system’s hostname.
Maps hostnames to IP addresses locally, ensuring your system can resolve its own hostname without querying DNS.

pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter network-manager-applet \
	  bluez bluez-utils wget curl git xdg-utils gvfs openssh alsa-utils \
	  pipewire pipewire-pulse pavucontrol wireplumber unzip ntfs-3g rsync \
	  noto-fonts-emoji noto-fonts-cjk noto-fonts-extra chromium reflector cups

These packages install XFCE, essential utilities, audio/video support, network management, Bluetooth, and common CLI tools for daily usage.

• xfce4 – XFCE desktop environment.
• xfce4-goodies – Additional XFCE plugins and tools.
• lightdm – Display manager for graphical login.
• lightdm-gtk-greeter – GTK-based login screen for LightDM.
• network-manager-applet – GUI for managing network connections.
• bluez – Bluetooth protocol stack.
• bluez-utils – Bluetooth utilities for managing devices.
• wget – Command-line file downloader.
• curl – Command-line tool for transferring data with URLs.
• git – Version control system.
• neofetch – Displays system information in terminal.
• xdg-utils – Desktop integration utilities.
• gvfs – Virtual filesystem support for desktop apps.
• openssh – SSH client and server.
• alsa-utils – ALSA audio utilities.
• pipewire – Multimedia server for audio/video.
• pipewire-pulse – PulseAudio compatibility layer for PipeWire.
• pavucontrol – GUI volume control for PulseAudio/PipeWire.
• wireplumber – PipeWire session manager.
• unzip – Extract ZIP archives.
• ntfs-3g – NTFS filesystem support.
• rsync – File synchronization tool.
• noto-fonts – Much-needed fonts to include extra characters for different languages.
• arch-install-scripts – Scripts to aid in installing Arch Linux on other systems.
• gparted – A Partition Magic clone
• reflector – Updates/optimizes Arch Linux mirrors for faster package downloads.
• cups – A Printing system

Starts the display manager automatically at boot, providing a login screen.

systemctl enable lightdm

Starts the Bluetooth service automatically at boot for device pairing and management.

systemctl enable bluetooth

Starts the printing service automatically at boot

systemctl enable cups

Leaves the chroot environment, returning to the live installer system.

exit

Recursively unmounts all partitions mounted under /mnt, ensuring no filesystems are left mounted before shutdown.

umount -R /mnt

Shuts down the installer system safely. After this, you can remove the installation media and boot your new system.

poweroff