User:Evilgold/arch install notes

Archlinux installation notes

Create Partitions

Create 2 partitions. Allocate 32mb for the boot partition, and the rest for / (dont worry about swap right now)

cfdisk

Encrypting the hard drive

This section isnt needed any more with recent ArchLinux install discs (its part of the installer now!)

Load modules

modprobe dm-crypt
modprobe aes-x86_64

start encryption (choose a good passphrase)

cryptsetup -c aes-xts-plain -y -s 512 luksFormat /dev/sda2

unlock newly encrypted partition

cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda2 root

format the file systems:

If you want to use btrfs

dhcpcd eth0
pacman -Sy btrfs-progs-unstable (not needed unless you intend to use btrfs)

Otherwise continue as normal.

run archlinux installer as normal until configure system menu.

edit rc.conf change these lines:

HOSTNAME="pickaname"
...
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng @network @sshd @crond @netfs @hal @alsa @openntp)

edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf, add encrypt to HOOKS. Also add usb and usbinput if you need to use a usb keyboard, or boot from a usb disk/key.

HOOKS="... usb usbinput ... encrypt ... filesystems ..."

Install grub, modify menu.lst entry to look like this:

# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz26 cryptdevice=/dev/sda2:root root=/dev/mapper/root ro
initrd /kernel26.img

optinally add vga=773 (or whatever) to kernel line.

Reboot into new install

Post installation

Get internets!

dhcpcd eth0

Upgrade everything (if we didnt do a netinstall)

pacman -Syu

(reboot if needed)

Install the basics: openssh, xorg, window maker (or any window manager), hal, alsa-utils, openntpd and links

pacman -S openssh xorg windowmaker hal alsa-utils openntpd mrxvt links

Now is also a good time to install things like your web browser, file manager, and chat client of choice.

Create a new user for yourself

adduser evilgold
Initial group [ users ]: 
Additional groups (comma separated) []: wheel,audio,video,storage,disk,optical,adm

uncomment %wheel from sudoers file

nano /etc/sudoers

# Uncomment to allow people in group wheel to run all commands
%wheel        ALL=(ALL) ALL

log out of root

exit

Graphical

Install a desktop environment

Gnome

sudo pacman -S gnome gnome-extra gdm

sudo nano /etc/rc.conf

add @gdm to DAEMONS=

DAEMONS=(syslog-ng @network @sshd @crond @netfs @hal @alsa @openntp @gdm)

Or..The simple way (no D.E.)

log in as user

setup ~/.xinitrc

nano .xinitrc 

with the line

exec wmaker

startx

Bonus Section

Remove xterm and replace it with mrxvt (or your choice)

pacman -S mrxvt
pacman -R xterm
ln -s /usr/bin/mrxvt /usr/bin/xterm

If you want to use a broadcom wireless card

pacman -S b43-fwcutter
wget http://mirror2.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2
tar xjf broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5.tar.bz2
cd broadcom-wl-4.150.10.5/driver
b43-fwcutter -w "/lib/firmware/" wl_apsta_mimo.o

nvidia graphics

pacman -S nvidia
nvidia-xconfig

OR keep it open source...

pacman -S xf86-video-nouveau