-
System requirementsArch Linux should run on any i686 compatible
machine with a minimum of 64 MB RAM. A basic installation with all
packages from the base group should take about 500 MB of disk
space. If you are working with limited space, this can be trimmed
down considerably, but you will have to know what you're doing.
Prepare the latest installation mediumThe latest release of the
installation media can be obtained from the Download page. Note
that the single ISO image supports both 32 and 64-bit
architectures. It is highly recommended to always use the latest
ISO image.
Install images are signed and it is highly recommended to verify
their signature before use. Dowload the .sig file from the download
page (or one of the mirrors listed there) to the same directory as
the .iso file. On Arch Linux, use pacman-key -v iso-file.sig as
root; in other environments make use, still as root, of gpg2
directly with gpg2 --verify iso-file.sig. The file integrity
checksums md5 and sha1 are also provided.
Burn the ISO image on a CD or DVD with your preferred software.
On Arch, that's covered in Optical Disc Drive#Burning.
Note: The quality of optical drives and the discs themselves
varies greatly. Generally, using a slow burn speed is recommended
for reliable burns. If you are experiencing unexpected behaviour
from the disc, try burning at the lowest speed supported by your
burner.
Boot the installation medium
First, you may have to change the boot order in your computer's
BIOS. To do this, press a key (usually Delete, F1, F2, F11 or F12)
during the POST phase. This will take you into the BIOS settings
screen where you can set the order in which the system searches for
devices to boot from. Select "Save & Exit" (or your BIOS's
equivalent) and the computer should then complete its normal boot
process. When the Arch menu appears, select "Boot Arch Linux" and
press Enter to enter the live environment where you will run the
actual installation (if booting from a UEFI boot disk, the option
may look more like "Arch Linux archiso x86_64 UEFI").
Once you have booted into the live environment, your shell is
Zsh; this will provide you advanced Tab completion, and other
features as part of the grml config.
Testing if you are booted into UEFI mode
In case you have a UEFI motherboard and UEFI Boot mode is
enabled (and is preferred over BIOS/Legacy mode), the CD/USB will
automatically launch Arch Linux kernel (Kernel EFISTUB via
Gummiboot). To test if you have booted into UEFI mode run: # mount
-t efivarfs efivarfs /sys/firmware/efi/efivars # ignore if already
mounted# efivar -l
If efivar lists the uefi variables properly, then you have
booted in UEFI mode. If not check whether all
-
the requirements listed at Unified Extensible Firmware
Interface#Requirements for UEFI Variables support to work properly
are met.
Troubleshooting boot problems
If you are using an Intel video chipset and the screen goes
blank during the boot process, the problem is likely an issue with
Kernel Mode Setting. A possible workaround may be achieved by
rebooting and pressing e over the entry that you are trying to boot
(i686 or x86_64). At the end of the string type nomodeset and press
Enter. Alternatively, try video=SVIDEO-1:d which, if it works, will
not disable kernel mode setting. You can also try i915.modeset=0.
See the Intel article for more information.
If the screen does not go blank and the boot process gets stuck
while trying to load the kernel, press Tab while hovering over the
menu entry, type acpi=off at the end of the string and press
Enter.
InstallationYou are now presented with a shell prompt,
automatically logged in as root. For editing text files, the
console editor nano is suggested. If you are not familiar with it,
see nano#nano usage.
Change the language
Tip: These are optional for the majority of users. Useful only
if you plan on writing in your own language in any of the
configuration files, if you use diacritical marks in the Wi-Fi
password, or if you would like to receive system messages (e.g.
possible errors) in your own language. Changes here only affect the
installation process.
By default, the keyboard layout is set to us. If you have a
non-US keyboard layout, run: # loadkeys layout
...where layout can be fr, uk, dvorak, be-latin1, etc. See here
for 2-letter country code list. Use the command localectl
list-keymaps to list all available keymaps. The font should also be
changed, because most languages use more glyphs than the 26 letter
English alphabet. Otherwise some foreign characters may show up as
white squares or as other symbols. Note that the name is
case-sensitive, so please type it exactly as you see it: # setfont
Lat2-Terminus16
By default, the language is set to English (US). If you would
like to change the language for the install process (German, in
this example), remove the # in front of the locale you want from
/etc/locale.gen, along with English (US). Please choose the UTF-8
entry. # nano /etc/locale.gen
en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8de_DE.UTF-8 UTF-8
# locale-gen# export LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
-
Establish an internet connection
Warning: As of v197, udev no longer assigns network interface
names according to the wlanX and ethX naming scheme. If you are
coming from a different distribution or are reinstalling Arch and
not aware of the new interface naming style, please do not assume
that your wireless interface is named wlan0, or that your wired
interface is named eth0. You can use the command ip link to
discover the names of your interfaces.
The dhcpcd network daemon starts automatically during boot and
it will attempt to start a wired connection. Try to ping a server
to see if a connection was established. For example, Google's
webservers: # ping -c 3 www.google.com
PING www.l.google.com (74.125.132.105) 56(84) bytes of data.64
bytes from wb-in-f105.1e100.net (74.125.132.105): icmp_req=1 ttl=50
time=17.0 ms64 bytes from wb-in-f105.1e100.net (74.125.132.105):
icmp_req=2 ttl=50 time=18.2 ms64 bytes from wb-in-f105.1e100.net
(74.125.132.105): icmp_req=3 ttl=50 time=16.6 ms
--- www.l.google.com ping statistics ---3 packets transmitted, 3
received, 0% packet loss, time 2003msrtt min/avg/max/mdev =
16.660/17.320/18.254/0.678 ms
If you get a ping: unknown host error, first check if there is
an issue with your cable or wireless signal strength. If not, you
will need to set up the network manually, as explained below. Once
a connection is established move on to Prepare the storage
drive.
WiredFollow this procedure if you need to set up a wired
connection via a static IP address.
First, disable the dhcpcd service which was started
automatically at boot: # systemctl stop dhcpcd.service
Identify the name of your Ethernet interface. # ip link
1: lo: mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:002: enp2s0f0:
mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN mode DEFAULT qlen 1000 link/ether
00:11:25:31:69:20 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff3: wlp3s0: mtu 1500 qdisc mq
state UP mode DORMANT qlen 1000 link/ether 01:02:03:04:05:06 brd
ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
In this example, the Ethernet interface is enp2s0f0. If you are
unsure, your Ethernet interface is likely to start with the letter
"e", and unlikely to be "lo" or start with the letter "w".
You also need to know these settings:
-
Static IP address. Subnet mask. Gateway's IP address. Name
servers' (DNS) IP addresses. Domain name (unless you are on a local
LAN, in which case you can make it up).
Activate the connected Ethernet interface (e.g. enp2s0f0): # ip
link set enp2s0f0 up
Add the address: # ip addr add ip_address/mask_bits dev
interface_name
For example: # ip addr add 192.168.1.2/24 dev enp2s0f0
For more options, run man ip. Add your gateway like this,
substituting your own gateway's IP address: # ip route add default
via ip_address
For example: # ip route add default via 192.168.1.1
Edit resolv.conf, substituting your name servers' IP addresses
and your local domain name: # nano /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 61.23.173.5nameserver 61.95.849.8search
example.com
Note: Currently, you may include a maximum of three nameserver
lines. In order to overcome this limitation, you can use a locally
caching nameserver like Dnsmasq.
You should now have a working network connection. If you do not,
check the detailed Network Configuration page.
WirelessFollow this procedure if you need wireless connectivity
(Wi-Fi) during the installation process.
First, identify the name of your wireless interface. # iw
dev
phy#0 Interface wlp3s0 ifindex 3 wdev 0x1 addr 00:11:22:33:44:55
type managed
-
In this example, wlp3s0 is the available wireless interface. If
you are unsure, your wireless interface is likely to start with the
letter "w", and unlikely to be "lo" or start with the letter
"e".
Note: If you do not see output similar to this, then your
wireless driver has not been loaded. If this is the case, you must
load the driver yourself. Please see Wireless Setup for more
detailed information.
Bring the interface up with: # ip link set wlp3s0 up
To verify that the interface is up, inspect the output of the
following command: # ip link show wlp3s0
3: wlp3s0: mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DORMANT group
default qlen 1000 link/ether 00:11:22:33:44:55 brd
ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
The UP in is what indicates the interface is up, not the later
state DOWN. Most wireless chipsets require firmware in addition to
a corresponding driver. The kernel tries to identify and load both
automatically. If you get output like SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or
directory, this means you will need to manually load the firmware.
If unsure, invoke dmesg to query the kernel log for a firmware
request from the wireless chipset. For example, if you have an
Intel chipset which requires and has requested firmware from the
kernel at boot: # dmesg | grep firmware
firmware: requesting iwlwifi-5000-1.ucode
If there is no output, it may be concluded that the system's
wireless chipset does not require firmware.
Warning: Wireless chipset firmware packages (for cards which
require them) are pre-installed under /usr/lib/firmware in the live
environment (on CD/USB stick) but must be explicitly installed to
your actual system to provide wireless functionality after you
reboot into it! Package installation is covered later in this
guide. Ensure installation of both your wireless module and
firmware before rebooting! See Wireless Setup if you are unsure
about the requirement of corresponding firmware installation for
your particular chipset.
Next, use netctl's wifi-menu to connect to a network: #
wifi-menu wlp3s0
You should now have a working network connection. If you do not,
check the detailed Wireless Setup page.
Without wifi-menu
Alternatively, use iw dev wlp3s0 scan | grep SSID to scan for
available networks, then connect to a network with: #
wpa_supplicant -B -i wlp3s0 -c
-
wireless password, leaving the quotes around the network name
and password. Finally, you have to give your interface an IP
address. This can be set manually or using the dhcp: # dhcpcd
wlp3s0
If that does not work, issue the following commands: # echo
'ctrl_interface=DIR=/run/wpa_supplicant' >
/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf# wpa_passphrase >>
/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf# ip link set up # May not be needed, but
does no harm in any case# wpa_supplicant -B -D nl80211 -c
/foobar.conf -i # dhcpcd -A
Analog modem, ISDN, or PPPoE DSLFor xDSL, dial-up, and ISDN
connections, see Direct Modem Connection.
Behind a proxy serverIf you are behind a proxy server, you will
need to export the http_proxy and ftp_proxy environment variables.
See Proxy settings for more information.
Prepare the storage drive
Warning: Partitioning can destroy data. You are strongly
cautioned and advised to backup any critical data before
proceeding.
Choose a partition table typeYou have to choose between GUID
Partition Table (GPT) and Master Boot Record (MBR). GPT is more
modern and recommended for new installations.
If you want to setup a system which dual boots with windows,
this must be taken into account as explained in
Partitioning#Choosing between GPT and MBR.
It is recommended to always use GPT for UEFI boot, as some UEFI
firmwares do not allow UEFI-MBR boot.
Some BIOS systems may have issues with GPT. See
http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/8035.html and
http://rodsbooks.com/gdisk/bios.html for more info and possible
workarounds.
Note: If you are installing to a USB flash key, see Installing
Arch Linux on a USB key.
Partitioning toolAbsolute beginners are encouraged to use a
graphical partitioning tool. GParted is a good example, and is
provided as a "live" CD. It is also included on live CDs of most
Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint. A drive should
first be partitioned and afterwards the partitions should be
formatted with a file system.
Tip: When using Gparted, selecting the option to create a new
partition table gives an "msdos" partition table by default. If you
are intending to follow the advice to create a GPT partition table
then you need to choose "Advanced" and then select "gpt" from the
drop-down menu.
-
While gparted may be easier to use, if you just want to create a
few partitions on a new disk you can get the job done quickly by
just using one of the fdisk variants which are included on the
install medium. In the next section short usage instructions for
both gdisk and fdisk follow.
Partition schemeYou can decide into how many partitions the disk
should be split, and for which directory each partition should be
used in the system. The mapping from partitions to directories
(frequently called 'mount points') is the Partition scheme. The
simplest, and not a bad choice, is to make just one huge /
partition. Another popular choice is to have a / and a /home
partition. Additional required partitions:
If you have a UEFI motherboard, you will need to create an extra
EFI System Partition. If you have a BIOS motherboard (or plan on
booting in BIOS compatibility mode) and you
want to setup GRUB on a GPT-partitioned drive, you will need to
create an extra BIOS Boot Partition of size 1 or 2 MiB and EF02
type code. Syslinux does not need one.
If you have a requirement for a Disk encryption of the system
itself, this must be reflected in your partition scheme. It is
unproblematic to add encrypted folders, containers or home
directories after the system is installed.
If you are planning to use any filesystem for root filesystem
different than ext4 (-3,-2) , you should check first if GRUB
supports it. If it is not supported you need to create a GRUB
compatible partition (such as ext4) and use it for /boot.
See Swap for details if you wish to set up a swap partition or
swap file. A swap file is easier to resize than a partition and can
be created at any point after installation, but cannot be used with
a Btrfs filesystem.
Considerations for dualbooting with WindowsIf you have an
existing OS installation, please keep in mind that if you were to
just write a completely new partition table to disk then all the
data which was previously on disk would be lost.
The recommended way to setup a Linux/Windows dual booting system
is to first install Windows, only using part of the disk for its
partitions. When you have finished the Windows setup, boot into the
Linux install environment where you can create additional
partitions for Linux while leaving the existing Windows partitions
untouched.
Some newer computers come pre-installed with Windows 8 which
will be using Secure Boot. Arch Linux currently does not support
Secure Boot, but some Windows 8 installations have been seen not to
boot if Secure Boot is turned off in the BIOS. In some cases it is
necessary to turn off both Secure Boot as well as Fastboot in the
BIOS options in order to allow Windows 8 to boot without Secure
Boot. However there are potential security risks in turning off
Secure Boot for booting up Windows 8. Therefore, it may be a better
option to keep the Windows 8 install intact and have an independent
hard drive for the Linux install - which can then be partitioned
from scratch using a GPT partition table. Once that is done,
creating several ext4/FAT32/swap partitions on the second drive may
be a better way forward if the computer has two drives available.
This is often not easy or possible on a small laptop. Currently,
Secure Boot is still not in a fully stable state for reliable
operation, even for Linux distributions that support it.
Warning: Windows 8 includes a new feature called Fast Startup,
which turns shutdown operations into suspend-to-disk operations.
The result is that filesystems shared between Windows 8 and any
-
other OS are almost certain to be damaged when booting between
the two OSes. Even if you don't intend to share filesystems, the
EFI System Partition is likely to be damaged on an EFI system.
Therefore, you should disable Fast Startup, as described here,
before you install Linux on any computer that uses Windows 8.
If you have already created your partitions, proceed to #Create
filesystems.
Otherwise, see the following example.
ExampleThe Arch Linux install media includes the following
partitioning tools: fdisk, gdisk, cfdisk, cgdisk, parted.
Tip: Use the lsblk command to list the hard disks attached to
your system, along with the sizes of their existing partitions.
This will help you to be confident you are partitioning the right
disk.
The example system will contain a 15 GB root partition, and a
home partition for the remaining space. Choose either MBR or GPT.
Do not choose both!
It should be emphasized that partitioning is a personal choice
and that this example is only for illustrative purposes. See
Partitioning.
Using cgdisk to create GPT partitions
# cgdisk /dev/sda
Root
Choose New (or press N) Enter for the first sector (2048) type
in 15G Enter for the default hex code (8300) Enter for a blank
partition name.
Home
Press the down arrow a couple of times to move to the larger
free space area. Choose New (or press N) Enter for the first sector
Enter to use the rest of the drive (or
you could type in the desired size; for example 30G) Enter for
the default hex code (8300) Enter for a blank partition name.
Here is what it should look like: Part. # Size Partition Type
Partition
Name----------------------------------------------------------------
1007.0 KiB free space 1 15.0 GiB Linux filesystem 2 123.45 GiB
Linux filesystem
Double check and make sure that you are happy with the partition
sizes as well as the partition table layout before continuing.
If you would like to start over, you can simply select Quit (or
press Q) to exit without saving changes and then restart cgdisk. If
you are satisfied, choose Write (or press Shift+W) to finalize and
to write the partition table to the
-
drive. Type yes and choose Quit (or press Q) to exit without
making any more changes.
Using fdisk to create MBR partitions
Note: There is also cfdisk, which is similar in UI to cgdisk,
but it currently does not automatically align the first partition
properly. That is why the classic fdisk tool is used here.
Launch fdisk with: # fdisk /dev/sda
Create the partition table:
Command (m for help): type o and press Enter Then create the
first partition:
1. Command (m for help): type n and press Enter 2. Partition
type: Select (default p): press Enter 3. Partition number (1-4,
default 1): press Enter 4. First sector (2048-209715199, default
2048): press Enter 5. Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G}
(2048-209715199....., default 209715199): type +15G and press
Enter
Then create a second partition:
1. Command (m for help): type n and press Enter 2. Partition
type: Select (default p): press Enter 3. Partition number (1-4,
default 2): press Enter 4. First sector (31459328-209715199,
default 31459328): press Enter 5. Last sector, +sectors or
+size{K,M,G} (31459328-209715199....., default 209715199): press
Enter
Now preview the new partition table:
Command (m for help): type p and press Enter Disk /dev/sda:
107.4 GB, 107374182400 bytes, 209715200 sectorsUnits = sectors of 1
* 512 = 512 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512
bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk
identifier: 0x5698d902
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System/dev/sda1 2048 31459327
15728640 83 Linux/dev/sda2 31459328 209715199 89127936 83 Linux
Then write the changes to disk:
Command (m for help): type w and press Enter If everything went
well fdisk will now quit with the following message: The partition
table has been altered!
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.Syncing disks.
-
In case this does not work because fdisk encountered an error,
you can use the q command to exit.
Create filesystemsSimply partitioning is not enough; the
partitions also need a filesystem. To format the partitions with an
ext4 filesystem:
Warning: Double check and triple check that it is actually
/dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 that you want to format. You can use lsblk
to help with this.
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
If you have made a partition dedicated to swap (code 82), do not
forget to format and activate it with: # mkswap /dev/sdaX# swapon
/dev/sdaX
For UEFI, you should format the EFI System Partition (for
example /dev/sdXY) with: # mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdXY
Mount the partitionsEach partition is identified with a number
suffix. For example, sda1 specifies the first partition of the
first drive, while sda designates the entire drive. To display the
current partition layout: # lsblk /dev/sda
Note: Do not mount more than one partition to the same
directory. And pay attention, because the mounting order is
important.
First, mount the root partition on /mnt. Following the example
above (yours may be different), it would be: # mount /dev/sda1
/mnt
Then mount the home partition and any other separate partition
(/boot, /var, etc), if you have any: # mkdir /mnt/home# mount
/dev/sda2 /mnt/home
In case you have a UEFI motherboard, mount the EFI System
Partition at your preferred mountpoint (/boot used for example): #
mkdir -p /mnt/boot# mount /dev/sdXY /mnt/boot
Select a mirrorBefore installing, you may want to edit the
mirrorlist file and place your preferred mirror first. A copy of
this file will be installed on your new system by pacstrap as well,
so it is worth getting it
-
right. # nano /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
#### Arch Linux repository mirrorlist## Sorted by mirror score
from mirror status page## Generated on 2012-MM-DD##
Server =
http://mirror.example.xyz/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch...
If you want, you can make it the only mirror available by
deleting all other lines, but it is usually a good idea to have a
few more, in case the first one goes offline.
Tip:
Use the Mirrorlist Generator to get an updated list for your
country. HTTP mirrors are faster than FTP, because of something
called keepalive. With FTP, pacman has to send out a signal each
time it downloads a package, resulting in a brief pause. For other
ways to generate a mirror list, see Sorting mirrors and
Reflector.
Arch Linux MirrorStatus reports various aspects about the
mirrors such as network problems with mirrors, data collection
problems, the last time mirrors have been synced, etc.
Note:
Whenever in the future you change your mirrorlist, refresh all
package lists with pacman -Syy, to ensure that the package lists
are updated consistently. See Mirrors for more information.
If you are using an older installation medium, your mirrorlist
might be outdated, which might lead to problems when updating Arch
Linux (see FS#22510). Therefore it is advised to obtain the latest
mirror information as described above.
Some issues have been reported in the Arch Linux forums
regarding network problems that prevent pacman from
updating/synchronizing repositories (see [1] and [2]). When
installing Arch Linux natively, these issues have been resolved by
replacing the default pacman file downloader with an alternative
(see Improve Pacman Performance for more details). When installing
Arch Linux as a guest OS in VirtualBox, this issue has also been
addressed by using "Host interface" instead of "NAT" in the machine
properties.
Install the base systemThe base system is installed using the
pacstrap script. The -i switch can be omitted if you wish to
install every package from the base group without prompting. You
may also want to include base-devel, as you will need these
packages should you want to build from the AUR. # pacstrap -i /mnt
base
Note:
-
If pacman fails to verify your packages, stop the process with
Ctrl+C and check the system time with cal. If the system date is
invalid (e.g. it shows the year 2010), signing keys will be
considered expired (or invalid), signature checks on packages will
fail and installation will be interrupted. Make sure to correct the
system time, using the command ntpd -qg, and retry running the
pacstrap command. Refer to Time page for more information on
correcting system time.
If pacman complains that error: failed to commit transaction
(invalid or corrupted package), run the following command:
# pacman-key --init && pacman-key --populate
archlinux
This will give you a basic Arch system. Other packages can be
installed later using pacman.
Generate an fstabGenerate an fstab file with the following
command. UUIDs will be used because they have certain advantages
(see fstab#Identifying filesystems). If you would prefer to use
labels instead, replace the -U option with -L. # genfstab -U -p
/mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab# nano /mnt/etc/fstab
Warning: The fstab file should always be checked after
generating it. If you encounter errors running genfstab or later in
the install process, do not run genfstab again; just edit the fstab
file.
A few considerations:
The last field determines the order in which partitions are
checked at start up: use 1 for the (non-btrfs) root partition,
which should be checked first; 2 for all other partitions you want
checked at start up; and 0 means 'do not check' (see fstab#Field
definitions).
All btrfs partitions should have 0 for this field. Normally, you
will also want your swap partition to have 0.
Chroot and configure the base systemNext, chroot into your newly
installed system: # arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash
Note: Leave out /bin/bash to chroot into the sh shell.
At this stage of the installation, you will configure the
primary configuration files of your Arch Linux base system. These
can either be created if they do not exist, or edited if you wish
to change the defaults.
Closely following and understanding these steps is of key
importance to ensure a properly configured system.
LocaleLocales are used by glibc and other locale-aware programs
or libraries for rendering text, correctly
-
displaying regional monetary values, time and date formats,
alphabetic idiosyncrasies, and other locale-specific standards.
There are two files that need editing: locale.gen and
locale.conf.
Uncomment as many lines as needed. Remove the # in front of the
line(s) you want to use. Using UTF-8 is highly recommended over
ISO-8859: # nano /etc/locale.gen
#en_PH.UTF-8 UTF-8#en_PH ISO-8859-1#en_SG.UTF-8 UTF-8#en_SG
ISO-8859-1en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8#en_US ISO-8859-1#en_ZA.UTF-8
UTF-8#en_ZA ISO-8859-1
Note: The locale.gen file has everything commented out by
default.
Generate the locale(s) specified in /etc/locale.gen: #
locale-gen
Note: This will also run with every update of glibc.
Create the /etc/locale.conf file substituting your chosen
locale: # echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
Note: The locale specified in the LANG variable must be
uncommented in /etc/locale.gen.
Export substituting your chosen locale: # export
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
Tip: To use other locales for other LC_* variables, run locale
to see the available options and add them to locale.conf. It is not
recommended to set the LC_ALL variable. See Locale#Setting
system-wide locale for details.
Console font and keymapIf you set a keymap at the beginning of
the install process, load it now, as well, because the environment
has changed. For example: # loadkeys de-latin1# setfont
Lat2-Terminus16
To make them available after reboot, edit vconsole.conf (create
it if it does not exist):
-
# nano /etc/vconsole.conf
KEYMAP=de-latin1FONT=Lat2-Terminus16
KEYMAP Please note that this setting is only valid for your
TTYs, not any graphical window managers or Xorg.
FONT Available alternate console fonts reside in
/usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/. The default (blank) is safe, but some
foreign characters may show up as white squares or as other
symbols. It is recommended that you change it to Lat2-Terminus16,
because according to
/usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/README.Lat2-Terminus16, it claims to
support "about 110 language sets".
Possible option FONT_MAP Defines the console map to load at
boot. Read man setfont. Removing it or leaving it blank is
safe.
See Fonts#Console fonts and man vconsole.conf for more
information.
Time zoneAvailable time zones and subzones can be found in the
/usr/share/zoneinfo// directories. To view the available , check
the directory /usr/share/zoneinfo/: # ls /usr/share/zoneinfo/
Similarly, you can check the contents of directories belonging
to a : # ls /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe
Create a symbolic link /etc/localtime to your zone file
/usr/share/zoneinfo// using this command: # ln -s
/usr/share/zoneinfo// /etc/localtime
Example: # ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Minsk
/etc/localtime
Hardware clockSet the hardware clock mode uniformly between your
operating systems. Otherwise, they may overwrite the hardware clock
and cause time shifts.
You can generate /etc/adjtime automatically by using one of the
following commands: UTC (recommended)
Note: Using UTC for the hardware clock does not mean that
software will display time in UTC.
# hwclock --systohc --utc
localtime (discouraged; used by default in Windows)
-
Warning: Using localtime may lead to several known and unfixable
bugs. However, there are no plans to drop support for
localtime.
# hwclock --systohc --localtime
Tip: If you have (or plan on having) a dual boot setup with
Windows:
Recommended: Set both Arch Linux and Windows to use UTC. A quick
registry fix is needed. Also, be sure to prevent Windows from
synchronizing the time on-line, because the hardware clock will
default back to localtime.
Not recommended: Set Arch Linux to localtime and disable any
time-related services, like NTPd . This will let Windows take care
of hardware clock corrections and you will need to remember to boot
into Windows at least two times a year (in Spring and Autumn) when
DST kicks in. So please do not ask on the forums why the clock is
one hour behind or ahead if you usually go for days or weeks
without booting into Windows.
Kernel modules
Tip: This is just an example, you do not need to set it. All
needed modules are automatically loaded by udev, so you will rarely
need to add something here. Only add modules that you know are
missing.
For kernel modules to load during boot, place a *.conf file in
/etc/modules-load.d/, with a name based on the program that uses
them. # nano /etc/modules-load.d/virtio-net.conf
# Load 'virtio-net.ko' at boot.
virtio-net
If there are more modules to load per *.conf, the module names
can be separated by newlines. A good example are the VirtualBox
Guest Additions.
Empty lines and lines starting with # or ; are ignored.
HostnameSet the hostname to your liking (e.g. arch): # echo
myhostname > /etc/hostname
Note: There is no need to edit /etc/hosts.
Configure the networkYou need to configure the network again,
but this time for your newly installed environment. The procedure
and prerequisites are very similar to the one described above,
except we are going to make it persistent and automatically run at
boot.
Note:
-
For more in-depth information on network configration, visit
Network Configuration and Wireless Setup.
If you would like to use the old interface naming scheme (ie.
eth* and wlan*) you can accomplish this by creating an empty file
at /etc/udev/rules.d/80-net-name-slot.rules which will mask the
file of the same name located under /usr/lib/udev/rules.d.
Wired
Dynamic IP
Using dhcpcd
If you only use a single fixed wired network connection, you do
not need a network management service and can simply enable the
dhcpcd service: # systemctl enable dhcpcd.service
Note: If it does not work, use: # systemctl enable
dhcpcd@interface_name.service
Using netctl
Copy a sample profile from /etc/netctl/examples to /etc/netctl:
# cd /etc/netctl# cp examples/ethernet-dhcp my_network
Edit the profile as needed (update Interface from eth0 to match
network adapter ID as shown by running ip link): # nano
my_network
Enable the my_network profile: # netctl enable my_network
Note: You will get the message "Running in chroot, ignoring
request.". This can be ignored for now.
Using netctl-ifplugd
Warning: You cannot use this method in conjunction with
explicitly enabling profiles, such as netctl enable .
Alternatively, you can use netctl-ifplugd, which gracefully
handles dynamic connections to new networks:
Install ifplugd, which is required for netctl-ifplugd: # pacman
-S ifplugd
Then enable for interface that you want:
-
# systemctl enable [email protected]
Tip: Netctl also provides netctl-auto, which can be used to
handle wired profiles in conjunction with netctl-ifplugd.
Static IP
Manual connection at boot using netctl
Copy a sample profile from /etc/netctl/examples to /etc/netctl:
# cd /etc/netctl# cp examples/ethernet-static my_network
Edit the profile as needed (modify Interface, Address, Gateway
and DNS): # nano my_network
Notice the /24 in Address which is the CIDR notation of a
255.255.255.0 netmask Enable above created profile to start it at
every boot: # netctl enable my_network
Manual connection at boot using systemd
See Network Configuration#Manual connection at boot using
systemd.
Wireless
Note: If your wireless adapter requires a firmware (as described
in the above Establish an internet connection section and also
here), install the package containing your firmware. Most of the
time, the linux-firmware package will contain the needed firmware.
Though for some devices, the required firmware might be in its own
package. For example: # pacman -S zd1211-firmware
See Wireless Setup#Installing driver/firmware for more info.
Install iw and wpa_supplicant which you will need to connect to
a network: # pacman -S iw wpa_supplicant
Adding wireless networks
Using wifi-menu
Install dialog, which is required for wifi-menu: # pacman -S
dialog
After finishing the rest of this installation and rebooting, you
can connect to the network with wifi-menu interface_name (where
interface_name is the interface of your wireless chipset).
-
# wifi-menu interface_name
Warning: This must be done *after* your reboot when you are no
longer chrooted. The process spawned by this command will conflict
with the one you have running outside of the chroot. Alternatively,
you could just configure a network profile manually using the
following templates so that you do not have to worry about using
wifi-menu at all.
Using manual netctl profiles
Copy a network profile from /etc/netctl/examples to /etc/netctl:
# cd /etc/netctl# cp examples/wireless-wpa my-network
Edit the profile as needed (modify Interface, ESSID and Key): #
nano my-network
Enable above created profile to start it at every boot: # netctl
enable my-network
Connect automatically to known networks
Warning: You cannot use this method in conjunction with
explicitly enabling profiles, such as netctl enable .
Install wpa_actiond, which is required for netctl-auto: # pacman
-S wpa_actiond
Enable the netctl-auto service, which will connect to known
networks and gracefully handle roaming and disconnects: # systemctl
enable netctl-auto@interface_name.service
Tip: Netctl also provides netctl-ifplugd, which can be used to
handle wired profiles in conjunction with netctl-auto.
Analog modem, ISDN or PPPoE DSLFor xDSL, dial-up and ISDN
connections, see Direct Modem Connection.
Create an initial ramdisk environment
Tip: Most users can skip this step and use the defaults provided
in mkinitcpio.conf. The initramfs image (from the /boot folder) has
already been generated based on this file when the linux package
(the Linux kernel) was installed earlier with pacstrap.
Here you need to set the right hooks if the root is on a USB
drive, if you use RAID, LVM, or if /usr is on a separate
partition.
-
Edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf as needed and re-generate the
initramfs image with: # mkinitcpio -p linux
Note: Arch VPS installations on QEMU (e.g. when using
virt-manager) may need virtio modules in mkinitcpio.conf to be able
to boot.
# nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
MODULES="virtio virtio_blk virtio_pci virtio_net"
Set the root passwordSet the root password with: # passwd
Install and configure a bootloader
For BIOS motherboardsFor BIOS systems, several boot loaders are
available, see Boot Loaders for a complete list. Choose one as per
your convenience. Here, two of the possibilities are given as
examples:
Syslinux is (currently) limited to loading only files from the
partition where it was installed. Its configuration file is
considered to be easier to understand. An example configuration can
be found here.
GRUB is more feature-rich and supports more complex scenarios.
Its configuration file(s) is more similar to 'sh' scripting
language, which may be difficult for beginners to manually write.
It is recommended that they automatically generate one.
Syslinux
If you opted for a GUID partition table (GPT) for your hard
drive earlier, you need to install the gptfdisk package now for the
installation of syslinux to work. # pacman -S gptfdisk
Install the syslinux package and then use the
syslinux-install_update script to automatically install the
bootloader (-i), mark the partition active by setting the boot flag
(-a), and install the MBR boot code (-m): # pacman -S syslinux#
syslinux-install_update -i -a -m
Configure syslinux.cfg to point to the right root partition.
This step is vital. If it points to the wrong partition, Arch Linux
will not boot. Change /dev/sda3 to reflect your root partition (if
you partitioned your drive as in the example, your root partition
is /dev/sda1). Do the same for the fallback entry. # nano
/boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg
-
...LABEL arch ... APPEND root=/dev/sda3 rw ...
For more information on configuring and using Syslinux, see
Syslinux.
GRUB
Install the grub package and then run grub-install to install
the bootloader: # pacman -S grub# grub-install --target=i386-pc
--recheck /dev/sda
Note:
Change /dev/sda to reflect the drive you installed Arch on. Do
not append a partition number (do not use sdaX).
For GPT-partitioned drives on BIOS motherboards, you also need a
"BIOS Boot Partition". See GPT-specific instructions in the GRUB
page.
A sample /boot/grub/grub.cfg gets installed as part of the grub
package, and subsequent grub-* commands may not over-write it.
Ensure that your intended changes are in grub.cfg, rather than in
grub.cfg.new or some such file.
While using a manually created grub.cfg is absolutely fine, it
is recommended that beginners automatically generate one:
Tip: To automatically search for other operating systems on your
computer, install os-prober (pacman -S os-prober) before running
the next command.
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
For more information on configuring and using GRUB, see
GRUB.
For UEFI motherboardsFor UEFI systems, several boot loaders are
available, see Boot Loaders for a complete list. Choose one as per
your convenience. Here, two of the possibilities are given as
examples:
gummiboot is a minimal UEFI Boot Manager which basically
provides a menu for EFISTUB kernels and other UEFI applications.
This is recommended UEFI boot method.
GRUB is a more complete bootloader, useful if you run into
problems with Gummiboot.
Note: For UEFI boot, the drive needs to be GPT-partitioned and
an EFI System Partition (512 MiB or larger, gdisk type EF00,
formatted with FAT32) must be present. In the following examples,
this partition is assumed to be mounted at /boot. If you have
followed this guide from the beginning, you have already done all
of these.
Gummiboot
First install the gummiboot package and then run gummiboot
install to install the bootloader
-
to the EFI System Partition: # mount -t efivarfs efivarfs
/sys/firmware/efi/efivars # ignore if already mounted# pacman -S
gummiboot# gummiboot install
You will need to manually create a configuration file to add an
entry for Arch Linux to the gummiboot manager. Create
/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf and add the following contents,
replacing /dev/sdaX with your root partition, usually /dev/sda2: #
nano /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
title Arch Linuxlinux /vmlinuz-linuxinitrd
/initramfs-linux.imgoptions root=/dev/sdaX rw
For more information on configuring and using gummiboot, see
gummiboot.
GRUB
Install the grub and efibootmgr packages and then run
grub-install to install the bootloader: # mount -t efivarfs
efivarfs /sys/firmware/efi/efivars # ignore if already mounted#
pacman -S grub efibootmgr# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi
--efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=arch_grub --recheck
Next, while using a manually created grub.cfg is absolutely
fine, it is recommended that beginners automatically generate
one:
Tip: To automatically search for other operating systems on your
computer, install os-prober before running the next command.
However os-prober is not known to properly detect UEFI OSes.
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
For more information on configuring and using GRUB, see
GRUB.
Unmount the partitions and rebootExit from the chroot
environment: # exit
Since the partitions are mounted under /mnt, use the following
command to unmount them: # umount -R /mnt
Reboot the computer: # reboot
Tip: Be sure to remove the installation media, otherwise you
will boot back into it.
-
Post-installationYour new Arch Linux base system is now a
functional GNU/Linux environment ready to be built into whatever
you wish or require for your purposes. If you are new to Linux, it
might be useful to take a look at the Core Utilities included with
your new system.
User managementAdd any user accounts you require besides root,
as described in User management. It is not good practice to use the
root account for regular use, or expose it via SSH on a server. The
root account should only be used for administrative tasks.
Package managementPacman is the Arch Linux package manager. See
pacman and FAQ#Package Management for answers regarding installing,
updating, and managing packages.
Because of The Arch Way#Code-correctness over convenience it is
imperative to keep up to date with changes in Arch Linux that
require manual intervention before upgrading your system. Subscribe
to the arch-announce mailing list or check the front page Arch news
every time before you update. Alternatively, you may find it useful
to subscribe to this RSS feed or follow @archlinux on Twitter.
If you installed Arch Linux x86_64, you may want to enable the
[multilib] repository if you plan on using 32-bit applications.
See Official Repositories for details about the purpose of each
repository.
Service managementArch Linux uses systemd as init, which is a
system and service manager for Linux. For maintaining your Arch
Linux installation, it is a good idea to learn the basics about it.
Interaction with systemd is done through the systemctl command.
Read systemd#Basic systemctl usage for more information.
SoundALSA usually works out-of-the-box. It just needs to be
unmuted. Install alsa-utils (which contains alsamixer) and follow
these instructions. ALSA is included with the kernel and it is
recommended. If it does not work, OSS is a viable alternative. If
you have advanced audio requirements, take a look at Sound system
for an overview of various articles.
Graphical User Interface
Install XThe X Window System (commonly X11, or X) is a
networking and display protocol which provides windowing on bitmap
displays. It provides the standard toolkit and protocol to build
graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
-
To install the base Xorg packages: # pacman -S xorg-server
xorg-server-utils xorg-xinit
Install mesa for 3D support: # pacman -S mesa
Install a video driver
Note: If you installed Arch as a VirtualBox guest, you do not
need to install a video driver. See Arch Linux guests for
installing and setting up Guest Additions, and jump to the
configuration part below.
The Linux kernel includes open-source video drivers and support
for hardware accelerated framebuffers. However, userland support is
required for OpenGL and 2D acceleration in X11.
If you do not know which video chipset is available on your
machine, run: $ lspci | grep VGA
For a complete list of open-source video drivers, search the
package database: $ pacman -Ss xf86-video | less
The vesa driver is a generic mode-setting driver that will work
with almost every GPU, but will not provide any 2D or 3D
acceleration. If a better driver cannot be found or fails to load,
Xorg will fall back to vesa. To install it: # pacman -S
xf86-video-vesa
In order for video acceleration to work, and often to expose all
the modes that the GPU can set, a proper video driver is required.
See Xorg#Driver installation for a table of most frequently used
video drivers.
Install input driversUdev should be capable of detecting your
hardware without problems. The evdev driver (xf86-input-evdev) is
the modern hot-plugging input driver for almost all devices, so in
most cases, installing input drivers is not needed. At this point,
evdev has already been installed as a dependency of the xorg-server
package.
Laptop users (or users with a tactile screen) will need the
xf86-input-synaptics package for the touchpad/touchscreen to work:
# pacman -S xf86-input-synaptics
For instructions on fine tuning or troubleshooting touchpad
issues, see the Touchpad Synaptics article.
Configure X
Warning: Proprietary drivers usually require a reboot after
installation. See NVIDIA or AMD Catalyst for details.
Xorg features auto-detection and therefore can function without
an xorg.conf. If you still wish to
-
manually configure X Server, please see the Xorg wiki page.
You may need to configure keyboard layout if you do not use a
standard US keyboard.
Note: The XkbLayout key may differ from the keymap code you used
with the loadkeys command. A list of many keyboard layouts and
variants can be found in /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/base.lst (after
the line beginning with ! layout). For instance, the layout gb
corresponds to "English (UK)", whereas for the console it was
loadkeys uk.
Test X
Tip: These steps are optional. Test if you are installing Arch
Linux for the first time, or if you are installing on new and
unfamiliar hardware.
Note: If your input devices are not working during this test,
install the needed driver from the xorg-drivers group, and try
again. For a complete list of available input drivers, invoke a
pacman search (press Q to exit): $ pacman -Ss xf86-input | less
You only need xf86-input-keyboard or xf86-input-mouse if you
plan on disabling hot-plugging, otherwise, evdev will act as the
input driver (recommended).
Install the default environment: # pacman -S xorg-twm
xorg-xclock xterm
If Xorg was installed before creating the non-root user, there
will be a template .xinitrc file in your home directory that needs
to be either deleted or commented out. Simply deleting it will
cause X to run with the default environment installed above. $ rm
~/.xinitrc
Note: X must always be run on the same tty where the login
occurred, to preserve the logind session. This is handled by the
default /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc.
To start the (test) Xorg session, run: $ startx
A few movable windows should show up, and your mouse should
work. Once you are satisfied that X installation was a success, you
may exit out of X by issuing the exit command into the prompts
until you return to the console. $ exit
If the screen goes black, you may still attempt to switch to a
different virtual console (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+F2), and blindly log in as
root. You can do this by typing "root" (press Enter after typing
it) and entering the root password (again, press Enter after typing
it). You may also attempt to kill the X server with: # pkill X
-
If this does not work, reboot blindly with: # reboot
Troubleshooting
If a problem occurs, look for errors in Xorg.0.log. Be on the
lookout for any lines beginning with (EE) which represent errors,
and also (WW) which are warnings that could indicate other issues.
$ grep EE /var/log/Xorg.0.log
If you are still having trouble after consulting the Xorg
article and need assistance via the Arch Linux forums or the IRC
channel, be sure to install and use wgetpaste by providing the
links from: # pacman -S wgetpaste$ wgetpaste ~/.xinitrc$ wgetpaste
/etc/X11/xorg.conf$ wgetpaste /var/log/Xorg.0.log
Note: Please provide all pertinent information (hardware, driver
information, etc) when asking for assistance.
FontsYou may wish to install a set of TrueType fonts, as only
unscalable bitmap fonts are included by default. However, if you
use a full featured Desktop Environment like KDE , this step may
not be necessary. DejaVu is a set of high quality, general-purpose
fonts with good Unicode coverage: # pacman -S ttf-dejavu
Refer to Font Configuration for how to configure font rendering
and Fonts for font suggestions and installation instructions.
Choose and install a graphical interfaceThe X Window System
provides the basic framework for building a graphical user
interface (GUI).
Note: Choosing your DE or WM is a very subjective and personal
decision. Choose the best environment for your needs. You can also
build your own DE with just a WM and the applications of your
choice.
Window Managers (WM) control the placement and appearance of
application windows in conjunction with the X Window System.
Desktop Environments (DE) work atop and in conjunction with X,
to provide a completely functional and dynamic GUI. A DE typically
provides a window manager, icons, applets, windows, toolbars,
folders, wallpapers, a suite of applications and abilities like
drag and drop.
Instead of starting X manually with startx from xorg-xinit, see
Display Manager for instructions on using a display manager, or see
Start X at Login for using an existing virtual terminal as an
equivalent to a display manager.
-
AppendixFor a list of applications that may be of interest, see
List of Applications.
See General Recommendations for post-installation tutorials like
setting up a touchpad or font rendering.
System requirementsPrepare the latest installation mediumBoot
the installation mediumTesting if you are booted into UEFI mode
Troubleshooting boot problems
InstallationChange the languageEstablish an internet
connectionWiredWirelessWithout wifi-menu
Analog modem, ISDN, or PPPoE DSLBehind a proxy server
Prepare the storage driveChoose a partition table
typePartitioning toolPartition schemeConsiderations for dualbooting
with WindowsExampleUsing cgdisk to create GPT partitionsUsing fdisk
to create MBR partitions
Create filesystems
Mount the partitionsSelect a mirrorInstall the base
systemGenerate an fstabChroot and configure the base
systemLocaleConsole font and keymapTime zoneHardware clockKernel
modulesHostname
Configure the networkWiredDynamic IPStatic IP
WirelessAdding wireless networksConnect automatically to known
networks
Analog modem, ISDN or PPPoE DSL
Create an initial ramdisk environmentSet the root
passwordInstall and configure a bootloaderFor BIOS
motherboardsSyslinuxGRUB
For UEFI motherboardsGummibootGRUB
Unmount the partitions and reboot
Post-installationUser managementPackage managementService
managementSoundGraphical User InterfaceInstall XInstall a video
driverInstall input driversConfigure XTest XTroubleshooting
FontsChoose and install a graphical interface
Appendix