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Arch Linux Installation Guide

Arch Linux Manual Installation

This document describes a pure CLI-based Arch Linux installation for servers and homelabs.

  • No GUI
  • No installer scripts
  • No shortcuts
  • Everything is explicit and reproducible

Info

Follow these instructions carefully when performing a fresh bare-metal Arch Linux installation.

Why Manual Install?

  • Learn Linux internals
  • Minimal system footprint
  • Full control over packages and services

Steps Overview

  1. Boot ISO
  2. Partition disk
  3. Mount filesystems
  4. Install base
  5. Install bootloader
  6. Create users
flowchart TD ISO[Boot Arch ISO] --> Prep[Prepare System] Prep --> Disk[Partition Disk] Disk --> FS[Format & Mount] FS --> Base[Install Base System] Base --> Config[System Configuration] Config --> Boot[Bootloader Setup] Boot --> Reboot[Reboot into Arch]

Step 1 — Boot & Preparation

Boot using the official Arch Linux ISO.

Verify UEFI mode:

ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

Enable NTP and set keyboard layout:

loadkeys us
timedatectl set-ntp true

Step 2 — Disk Partitioning (CLI)

List available disks:

lsblk

Example Partition Scheme: 

Disk: /dev/sda
├─ EFI   512 MB   FAT32   /boot
└─ Root  Remaining  ext4  /

Partition using cfdisk: 

cfdisk /dev/sda

Create: - EFI System Partition (/dev/sda1) - Linux filesystem partition (/dev/sda2)

Step 3 — Format & Mount

mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2

mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

Step 4 — Install Base System

pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware vim sudo

Generate fstab: 

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

Chroot into system:

arch-chroot /mnt

Step 5 — Core Configuration

Timezone & Clock: 

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc

Locale setup: 

vim /etc/locale.gen

Uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 in /etc/locale.gen, then generate: 

locale-gen
echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf

Step 6 — Networking (CLI)

Install NetworkManager: 

pacman -S networkmanager
systemctl enable NetworkManager

Note

NetworkManager is used for stable CLI networking and recovery.

Step 7 — Users & Privileges

Set root password: 

passwd

Create admin user: 

useradd -m -G wheel terrich
passwd terrich

Enable sudo: 

EDITOR=vim visudo

Uncomment: 

%wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

Step 8 — Bootloader (systemd-boot, CLI)

Install bootloader: 

bootctl install

Edit /boot/loader/loader.conf: 

default arch
timeout 3
editor no

Create boot entry /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf: 

title   Arch Linux
linux   /vmlinuz-linux
initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
options root=UUID=<ROOT_UUID> rw

Get root UUID using blkid.

Step 9 — Reboot

exit
umount -R /mnt
reboot

Maintenance & Recovery

Maintenance Policy (CLI)

System Updates: 

pacman -Syu

Rules: - Update regularly - Read output carefully - Never interrupt upgrades

Failure Handling Model

flowchart LR Failure --> OS{OS Broken?} OS -->|Yes| Reinstall[Reinstall Arch] OS -->|No| Service{Service Issue?} Service -->|Yes| Redeploy[Redeploy Service] Service -->|No| Disk{Disk Failure?} Disk -->|Yes| Restore[Restore Backup]

Recovery Rule

System failures must result in automated redeployment, not manual patching.