Arch Linux Installation & Setup

2. Installation & Setup

archinstall CLI Wizard

Arch’s official installer is the archinstall script — a curses-based CLI wizard.

# From Arch live ISO
archinstall

It handles:

• Disk partitioning (with LUKS encryption option)
• Bootloader selection (systemd-boot or GRUB)
• Profile selection (minimal, desktop, server, etc.)
• Kernel selection (linux, linux-lts, linux-zen)
• User creation

Profiles available:

• desktop (with Gnome/KDE/Xfce)
• server
• minimal
• hardened

Manual partitioning is recommended even with archinstall — use the guided option but review before confirming.

Manual Partitioning

UEFI + GPT (Modern Standard)

lsblk                                   # Identify disk (e.g., /dev/sda)
cgdisk /dev/sda                         # Partition editor (curses)
 
# Partitions:
# /dev/sda1  512M   EFI System       # Boot/ESP (flag: boot, esp)
# /dev/sda2  Rest   Linux filesystem  # Root partition (flag: linux)

# Format EFI partition
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1
 
# Format root partition
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
 
# Mount
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot /mnt/boot/efi -p
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi

BIOS + MBR (Legacy)

cgdisk /dev/sda
# /dev/sda1  100%   Linux filesystem  (type: 83)
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

With LUKS Encryption

# Create encrypted container
cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sda2
 
# Open container
cryptsetup open /dev/sda2 cryptroot
 
# Format inside container
mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/cryptroot
 
# Mount
mount /dev/mapper/cryptroot /mnt
 
# Add to /etc/crypttab for unlock at boot

Boot Loaders

systemd-boot (UEFI only, simpler)

bootctl install
 
# Create loader entry /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
cat > /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf << EOF
title   Arch Linux
linux   /vmlinuz-linux
initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
options root=UUID=<uuid> rw
EOF

GRUB (UEFI + BIOS)

pacman -S grub
 
# UEFI
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=GRUB
 
# BIOS
grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda
 
# Generate config
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Post-Installation Base Setup

# Install base packages
pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware nano sudo networkmanager
 
# Generate fstab
genfstab -U /mnt >> /etc/fstab
 
# Chroot into new system
arch-chroot /mnt
 
# Set timezone
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Region/City /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc
 
# Localization
nano /etc/locale.gen   # Uncomment en_US.UTF-8
locale-gen
echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf
 
# Hostname
echo "archhost" > /etc/hostname
 
# Enable NetworkManager
systemctl enable NetworkManager
 
# Set root password
passwd

Manjaro Editions

Edition	Desktop	Target
Manjaro Gnome	GNOME 45+	Modern, feature-rich
Manjaro KDE	Plasma 5.x/6	Customizable, familiar
Manjaro Xfce	Xfce 4.18	Lightweight, older hardware
Manjaro Cinnamon	Cinnamon 6	Traditional desktop feel
Manjaro Architect	CLI/TUI	Build your own environment

Manjaro-Specific Tools

# Manjaro Hardware Detection (install drivers)
mhwd
 
# Install LTS kernel
mhwd-kernel -i linux61
 
# List available kernels
mhwd-kernel -l
 
# Remove kernel
sudo mhwd-kernel -r linux61
 
# Manjaro Settings Manager (GUI)
manjaro-settings-manager

Disk Encryption with LUKS + LVM

Full-disk encryption setup:

# Partition
cgdisk /dev/sda
# /dev/sda1  512M EFI   (ef00 type)
# /dev/sda2  Rest Linux (8e00 type)
 
# Encrypt root partition
cryptsetup luksFormat --type luks2 /dev/sda2
cryptsetup open /dev/sda2 cryptroot
 
# Create LVM
pvcreate /dev/mapper/cryptroot
vgcreate vg0 /dev/mapper/cryptroot
lvcreate -L 40G vg0 -n root
lvcreate -L 16G vg0 -n swap
lvcreate -l 100%FREE vg0 -n home
 
# Format
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/vg0/root
mkswap /dev/vg0/swap
mkfs.ext4 /dev/vg0/home
 
# Mount
mount /dev/vg0/root /mnt
mkdir /mnt/home
mount /dev/vg0/home /mnt/home
swapon /dev/vg0/swap

mkinitcpio config (/etc/mkinitcpio.conf):

HOOKS=(base udev autodetect keyboard keymap encrypt lvm2 resume filesystems)

Then run mkinitcpio -P after arch-chroot.

DE/WM Installation After Base

GNOME

pacman -S gnome gnome-extra gdm
systemctl enable gdm

KDE Plasma

pacman -S plasma sddm
systemctl enable sddm

Xfce

pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies lightdm
systemctl enable lightdm

i3 (tiling WM)

pacman -S i3 dmenu i3status i3lock terminator

Common Post-Install Steps

# Add user
useradd -m -G wheel,audio,video,storage -s /bin/bash darshan
passwd darshan
 
# Enable sudo
EDITOR=nano visudo
# Uncomment: %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL
 
# Install common tools
pacman -S git curl wget base-devel \
  neovim bash-completion \
  man-db man-pages texinfo