What are the steps for installing ArchLinux?

1 year ago
Benjamin Taylor
3 minutes

You can install Arch Linux by following these steps:

  1. Download the ISO image file of Arch Linux. It can be downloaded from the official website or mirror sites.
  2. Create a boot disk. You can use tools like Etcher to write the ISO file to a USB flash drive or DVD disc.
  3. Insert the boot disk and restart the computer.
  4. Access the BIOS/UEFI settings on the computer and set the boot order to prioritize booting from a USB flash drive or DVD disc first.
  5. When the computer boots up, you will enter the Arch Linux startup screen. Select “Arch Linux” and press the Enter key to start.
  6. After entering the command line interface of Arch Linux, you can use commands like lspci and lsusb to view hardware information of the system.
  7. If you need to connect to the internet, you can use the wifi-menu command to connect to a Wi-Fi network, or use the ip link and dhcpcd commands to connect to a wired network.
  8. Partition the hard drive using commands like fdisk or parted, create a root partition (/), as well as other partitions such as /boot, /home, etc.
  9. Format the partition using commands such as mkfs.ext4 or mkfs.fat.
  10. Mount the file system by using the mount command to mount the root partition to the /mnt directory.
  11. Install basic software packages using the pacstrap command. For example: pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware.
  12. Generate the fstab file. Use the genfstab command to write partition information to the /mnt/etc/fstab file: genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab.
  13. Switch to the newly installed system. Use the arch-chroot command to switch to the newly installed Arch Linux system: arch-chroot /mnt.
  14. Set the time zone by creating a symbolic link from the time zone file in the /system/zoneinfo directory to /etc/localtime using the ln command: ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Zone/SubZone /etc/localtime.
  15. Create a locale configuration. Use the sed command to uncomment the necessary language configuration in the /etc/locale.gen file: sed -i ‘s/#en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8/en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8/’ /etc/locale.gen, then run the locale-gen command to generate the locale.
  16. Create a hostname. Use the echo command to write the hostname into the /etc/hostname file: echo MyHostname > /etc/hostname.
  17. Set up the network. Edit the /etc/hosts file to add mapping relationships between hostnames and IP addresses.
  18. Set the root password by using the passwd command for the root user.
  19. Install and configure a bootloader. You can use GRUB or another bootloader, following the instructions in the official documentation for installation and configuration.
  20. Exit the chroot environment and reboot the computer. Use the exit command to leave the chroot environment, then unmount the mounted partition with: umount -R /mnt. Finally, reboot the computer.

After completing the steps above, your computer will install and run the Arch Linux operating system.

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