Arch Linux Installation steps

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Instaling the OS

Copy arch in a usb with

dd if=/path/to/iso.iso of=/path/to/usb status="progress"

Set timedate

timedatectl set-ntp true

Pluggin usb in pc and enter arch to create partitions

lsblk	#check partitons
fdisk /dev/sda
p #print partitions
n #new partition

#boot partition +200M
#swap partition +{1.5xRAM}
#root partition +15G or more
#home partition +open

w #write to disk

check the new partitons

lsblk

make filesystems

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
mkswap /dev/sda2
swapon /dev/sda2

mount the root partitions in the system

mount /dev/sda3 /mnt

create folder for the rest of the partitions

mkdir /mnt/home
mkdir /mnt/boot

mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/home

use pacstrap to install arch in the mounted drive with the some extra tools

pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux vim 

create an fstab file with all the partitions to be auto loaded on startup

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

jump inside the arch installation files in your drive

arch-chroot /mnt

install a network manager, arch does not install it so no internet after reboot

pacman -S networkmanager

make the system start network manager on boot

systemctl enable NetworkManager

install grub to manage the linux OS's

pacman -S grub
grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

If you have a system with EFI you will need to do this instead:

# install the efibootmgr package
sudo pacman -S grub efibootmgr
# Mount the EFI partition in /boot/efi (default grub loction for efi files)
sudo mount /dev/sda2 /boot/efi
# If this is the first time setting EFI do this:
sudo grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --bootloader-id=GRUB --efi-directory=/boot/efi --removable
# Else check the EFI/Grub config i ok
sudo grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=GRUB --recheck
# Build/apply your grub config
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
# Reboot your machine

setup password

passwd

exit chroot and reboot

exit
reboot

setup locals

vim /etc/locale.gen #uncomment the your locals
vim /etc/locale.conf #set the LANG variable
#LANG=en_US.UTF-8
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/<country>/<timezone> /etc/localtime
#ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Mexico/BajaNorte /etc/localtime

locale-gen

set a hostname

vim /etc/hostname #write the name

reboot

exit #go to the usb system
umount -R /mnt #unmount everything
reboot #and then remove the usb

Update pacman

pacman -Syu

install fonts

pacman -S noto-fonts
pacman -S noto-fonts-extra
pacman -S noto-fonts-cjk
pacman -S noto-fonts-emoji
# pacman -S ttf-emojione 

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Creating a sudo user

useradd -m -g wheel <username>
#useradd -m -g wheel ruben
passwd <username>
#passwd ruben

Give the user sudo access

vim /etc/sudoers
#uncomment the lines
%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL

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Installing and configuring Window Manager

Install Xorg server

pacman -S xorg-server xorg-xinit

Install i3 window manager, status bar, terminal and menu

pacman -S i3-gaps i3-status rxvt-unicode dmenu

Create the xinit file in the home of the user

vim ~/.xinitrc
#write the code that will run the graphic environment
exec i3

Once i3 is started it will allow you to create a config file. Edit the created config file saved in ~/.config/i3/config

vim ~/.config/i3/config
# add gaps with
gaps inner <px>
gaps outer <px>
# check the config file to see the keybinding

Install a web browser

The two mayor web browsers in the official arch community repo are

• chromium
• Firefox

sudo pacman -S chromiun 
sudo pacman -S firefox

Install display manager

sudo pacman -S lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter
sudo systemctl enable lightdm.service

Install Variety Wallpaper Manager

vim ~/.bashrc
## Add the system variable to tell you are using i3 if not defined already
export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=i3

# save and install variety, feh is needed by variety
sudo pacman -S feh variety
# if using display manager you need to start variety with the xserver
vim ~/.xprofile
# add variety to the xprofile
variety &   #<--- the & is necesary