Arch Linux is a Minimalistic Linux distribution. Therefore to experience Core Linux, Arch Linux is the best Linux distribution. Judd Vinet Launched this project in march 2002. After that, Initial releases of Arch Linux were based on x86 architecture but later ported for x86_64 architecture. Moreover, there were Versions for i686 architecture but support for those CPU has already ended in 2017. An Arch 32 version is released by the community that you can install for i686 based CPUs.
Arch Linux is a popular Linux distribution. Its flexibility and customizability make it popular. You can do whatever you want by customizing Arch Linux to your needs. Besides, Arch Linux contains repositories that have libre and nonfree software and the default kernel contains a nonfree propriety blob. That’s why Arch Linux is not released under the GNU license.
Guide To Installing Arch Linux In Your PC
Installing Arch Linux little different than other Linux distributions. You will find a graphical user interface in other Linux Distros but that is not the case in Arch Linux. In Arch Linux, There is a full command-based installation. But no need to worry. It isn’t difficult as it sounds. Besides, if you are a beginner and want to install Arch Linux then you have landed in the right place.
Sometimes even experienced Linux users might forget some steps and stuck in installation. therefore in this article, I will explain a complete guide to install Arch Linux in your machine.
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Before You Start:
Before starting, keep these things in mind
- At least 512 MB of ram. ( 2 GB recommended)
- Minimum 1 GB hard disk space for a minimal installation. ( 20 GB if you want to install more features.)
- A USB drive with at least 2 GB of space.
- An internet connection.
- Knowledge of typing commands
So let us get started.
Preparing Installation Media:
- Get the latest version of Arch Linux from its official website.
Get It Here: https://www.archlinux.org/download/
- Now install Rufus and open it.
- Select USB drive then downloaded ISO.
- After that click on start and wait for the process to complete
Installing Arch Linux:
After you have created a bootable USB drive, you can start installing Arch Linux, Just follow the following steps.
- Now turn on your PC and press the hotkeys which let you into boot into BIOS or UEFI boot order Menu. It will be different for different motherboard or laptop manufacturers.
- In the Menu select USB. It will boot through USB
- Now you will see a menu after booting.
- Select boot “boot Arch Linux (x86_64)
After successful booting, you will see a terminal interface. The First Thing you do is set up a network connection. You can use wired or a wireless connection to start from. after that, update date and time with the following command
timedatectl set-ntp true
After updating the time, the real part of the installation starts. You will need to gather information about disks in your machine. so follow these commands.
- First, list the disks:
fdisk -l
- After that create a new disk
fdisk /dev/sda
- Now in the terminal type ‘n’ without quotes to create a new partition.
- Then type ‘p’ to make the new partition primary.
Taking care of partitions and installing the system files
Keep in mind this partition will be used as root partition so allocate the size accordingly. Now type fdisk-l to list disk and partitions. Then allocate the size for the first and last partitions. Again, repeat the above steps to create another partition to be used as SWAP.
Now, Its time to create a filesystem and mount the partitions. A filesystem is necessary for the Arch Linux installation. Arch Linux will be installed on ext4 partition and a SWAP partition will also be created.
Type following commands in terminal to make root and swap partitions.
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
mkswap /dev/sda2
After creating the partitions, mount them with the following command:
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
swapon /dev/sda2
Now you have successfully created and mounted partitions where you will install Arch Linux.
- Install base minimal Arch Linux
pacstrap /mnt base base-devel
- Set-up fstab File:
genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
After all of this, you have moved Arch Linux system files to local storage.
But that’s not it. There are some adjustments left to cover up. So lets us get on to it without wasting any time.
Doing the Aftermath:
- Shift the boot to the newly installed Arch Linux.
arch-chroot /mnt
- Generate local files
locale-gen
And
echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.con
- Now create a host file
echo "HOSTNAME" > /etc/hostname
- Setup DHCP
systemctl enable dhcpcd
Now you need to install a bootloader or you won’t be able to boot after a restart.
- First
Pacman –S grub os-prober
- Then
grub-install /dev/sda
- Finally
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Video Step By Step Guide To Install Arch Linux
Wrapping it Up!!
Now you are all set. You have successfully installed Arch Linux in your machine. I know it is different and a bit difficult from other graphical installation methods. But it is not so difficult when you start installing it while following this tutorial.