Support #207
Updated by Daniel Curtis over 9 years ago
{{>toc}}
I decided to finally try Arch Linux out, and found it to be fast and highly configurable. As such I will document what I did to get a Base installation for Arch. I booted Arch up from its live ISO and was dumped to a root shell.
This guide will use GRUB with a Master Boot Record; this is an older setup, but still useful.
h1. Partition Hard Drive
* Use fdisk to setup the initial partition map:
<pre>
fdisk /dev/sda
n
p
+1G
n
p
[Enter]
w
</pre>
* Make file system and swap
<pre>
mkswap /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
</pre>
* Mount the new file system
<pre>
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
</pre>
* Bootstrap the base system installation
<pre>
pacstrap /mnt base base-devel openssh grub
</pre>
h1. Configure Base System
* Generate A File System Configuration
<pre>
genfstab -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
</pre>
* Chroot Into The Base System
<pre>
arch-chroot /mnt
</pre>
* Create a static ethernet connection
<pre>
cp /etc/netctl/examples/ethernet-static /etc/netctl/wired
netctl enable wired
</pre>
#* *NOTE*: Edit @/etc/netctl/wired@ to the correct network settings
* Set host name
<pre>
vi /etc/hostname
</pre>
* Set the local time
<pre>
ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Los_Angeles /etc/localtime
</pre>
* Create initial ram disk
<pre>
mkinitcpio -p linux
</pre>
* Change root password
<pre>
passwd
</pre>
* Install grub boot files
<pre>
grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck --debug /dev/sda
</pre>
* Generate grub config file
<pre>
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
</pre>
* Exit The Chroot Environment
<pre>
exit
</pre>
h1. Finalize The Install
At this point Arch is ready for use, however you can install packages for the new Base system before restarting the machine:
<pre>
pacman -S gnome
</pre>
#* NOTE: Setting up Xorg or a Desktop Environment is outside the scope of this guide.
When all packages are finished installing unmount the Base system partition and reboot
<pre>
umount /dev/sda1
reboot
</pre>