System requirementsArch Linux should run on any i686 compatible machine with a minimum of 64 MB RAM. A basic installation with all packages from the base group should take about 500 MB of disk space. If you are working with limited space, this can be trimmed down considerably, but you will have to know what you're doing.

Prepare the latest installation mediumThe latest release of the installation media can be obtained from the Download page. Note that the single ISO image supports both 32 and 64-bit architectures. It is highly recommended to always use the latest ISO image.

Install images are signed and it is highly recommended to verify their signature before use. Dowload the .sig file from the download page (or one of the mirrors listed there) to the same directory as the .iso file. On Arch Linux, use pacman-key -v iso-file.sig as root; in other environments make use, still as root, of gpg2 directly with gpg2 --verify iso-file.sig. The file integrity checksums md5 and sha1 are also provided.

Burn the ISO image on a CD or DVD with your preferred software. On Arch, that's covered in Optical Disc Drive#Burning.

Note: The quality of optical drives and the discs themselves varies greatly. Generally, using a slow burn speed is recommended for reliable burns. If you are experiencing unexpected behaviour from the disc, try burning at the lowest speed supported by your burner.

Boot the installation medium

First, you may have to change the boot order in your computer's BIOS. To do this, press a key (usually Delete, F1, F2, F11 or F12) during the POST phase. This will take you into the BIOS settings screen where you can set the order in which the system searches for devices to boot from. Select "Save & Exit" (or your BIOS's equivalent) and the computer should then complete its normal boot process. When the Arch menu appears, select "Boot Arch Linux" and press Enter to enter the live environment where you will run the actual installation (if booting from a UEFI boot disk, the option may look more like "Arch Linux archiso x86_64 UEFI").

Once you have booted into the live environment, your shell is Zsh; this will provide you advanced Tab completion, and other features as part of the grml config.

Testing if you are booted into UEFI mode

In case you have a UEFI motherboard and UEFI Boot mode is enabled (and is preferred over BIOS/Legacy mode), the CD/USB will automatically launch Arch Linux kernel (Kernel EFISTUB via Gummiboot). To test if you have booted into UEFI mode run: # mount -t efivarfs efivarfs /sys/firmware/efi/efivars # ignore if already mounted# efivar -l

If efivar lists the uefi variables properly, then you have booted in UEFI mode. If not check whether all

the requirements listed at Unified Extensible Firmware Interface#Requirements for UEFI Variables support to work properly are met.

Troubleshooting boot problems

If you are using an Intel video chipset and the screen goes blank during the boot process, the problem is likely an issue with Kernel Mode Setting. A possible workaround may be achieved by rebooting and pressing e over the entry that you are trying to boot (i686 or x86_64). At the end of the string type nomodeset and press Enter. Alternatively, try video=SVIDEO-1:d which, if it works, will not disable kernel mode setting. You can also try i915.modeset=0. See the Intel article for more information.

If the screen does not go blank and the boot process gets stuck while trying to load the kernel, press Tab while hovering over the menu entry, type acpi=off at the end of the string and press Enter.

InstallationYou are now presented with a shell prompt, automatically logged in as root. For editing text files, the console editor nano is suggested. If you are not familiar with it, see nano#nano usage.

Change the language

Tip: These are optional for the majority of users. Useful only if you plan on writing in your own language in any of the configuration files, if you use diacritical marks in the Wi-Fi password, or if you would like to receive system messages (e.g. possible errors) in your own language. Changes here only affect the installation process.

By default, the keyboard layout is set to us. If you have a non-US keyboard layout, run: # loadkeys layout

...where layout can be fr, uk, dvorak, be-latin1, etc. See here for 2-letter country code list. Use the command localectl list-keymaps to list all available keymaps. The font should also be changed, because most languages use more glyphs than the 26 letter English alphabet. Otherwise some foreign characters may show up as white squares or as other symbols. Note that the name is case-sensitive, so please type it exactly as you see it: # setfont Lat2-Terminus16

By default, the language is set to English (US). If you would like to change the language for the install process (German, in this example), remove the # in front of the locale you want from /etc/locale.gen, along with English (US). Please choose the UTF-8 entry. # nano /etc/locale.gen

en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8de_DE.UTF-8 UTF-8

# locale-gen# export LANG=de_DE.UTF-8

Establish an internet connection

Warning: As of v197, udev no longer assigns network interface names according to the wlanX and ethX naming scheme. If you are coming from a different distribution or are reinstalling Arch and not aware of the new interface naming style, please do not assume that your wireless interface is named wlan0, or that your wired interface is named eth0. You can use the command ip link to discover the names of your interfaces.

The dhcpcd network daemon starts automatically during boot and it will attempt to start a wired connection. Try to ping a server to see if a connection was established. For example, Google's webservers: # ping -c 3 www.google.com

PING www.l.google.com (74.125.132.105) 56(84) bytes of data.64 bytes from wb-in-f105.1e100.net (74.125.132.105): icmp_req=1 ttl=50 time=17.0 ms64 bytes from wb-in-f105.1e100.net (74.125.132.105): icmp_req=2 ttl=50 time=18.2 ms64 bytes from wb-in-f105.1e100.net (74.125.132.105): icmp_req=3 ttl=50 time=16.6 ms

--- www.l.google.com ping statistics ---3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2003msrtt min/avg/max/mdev = 16.660/17.320/18.254/0.678 ms

If you get a ping: unknown host error, first check if there is an issue with your cable or wireless signal strength. If not, you will need to set up the network manually, as explained below. Once a connection is established move on to Prepare the storage drive.

WiredFollow this procedure if you need to set up a wired connection via a static IP address.

First, disable the dhcpcd service which was started automatically at boot: # systemctl stop dhcpcd.service

Identify the name of your Ethernet interface. # ip link

1: lo: mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:002: enp2s0f0: mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN mode DEFAULT qlen 1000 link/ether 00:11:25:31:69:20 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff3: wlp3s0: mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP mode DORMANT qlen 1000 link/ether 01:02:03:04:05:06 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

In this example, the Ethernet interface is enp2s0f0. If you are unsure, your Ethernet interface is likely to start with the letter "e", and unlikely to be "lo" or start with the letter "w".

You also need to know these settings:

Static IP address. Subnet mask. Gateway's IP address. Name servers' (DNS) IP addresses. Domain name (unless you are on a local LAN, in which case you can make it up).

Activate the connected Ethernet interface (e.g. enp2s0f0): # ip link set enp2s0f0 up

Add the address: # ip addr add ip_address/mask_bits dev interface_name

For example: # ip addr add 192.168.1.2/24 dev enp2s0f0

For more options, run man ip. Add your gateway like this, substituting your own gateway's IP address: # ip route add default via ip_address

For example: # ip route add default via 192.168.1.1

Edit resolv.conf, substituting your name servers' IP addresses and your local domain name: # nano /etc/resolv.conf

nameserver 61.23.173.5nameserver 61.95.849.8search example.com

Note: Currently, you may include a maximum of three nameserver lines. In order to overcome this limitation, you can use a locally caching nameserver like Dnsmasq.

You should now have a working network connection. If you do not, check the detailed Network Configuration page.

WirelessFollow this procedure if you need wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi) during the installation process.

First, identify the name of your wireless interface. # iw dev

phy#0 Interface wlp3s0 ifindex 3 wdev 0x1 addr 00:11:22:33:44:55 type managed

In this example, wlp3s0 is the available wireless interface. If you are unsure, your wireless interface is likely to start with the letter "w", and unlikely to be "lo" or start with the letter "e".

Note: If you do not see output similar to this, then your wireless driver has not been loaded. If this is the case, you must load the driver yourself. Please see Wireless Setup for more detailed information.

Bring the interface up with: # ip link set wlp3s0 up

To verify that the interface is up, inspect the output of the following command: # ip link show wlp3s0

3: wlp3s0: mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000 link/ether 00:11:22:33:44:55 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

The UP in is what indicates the interface is up, not the later state DOWN. Most wireless chipsets require firmware in addition to a corresponding driver. The kernel tries to identify and load both automatically. If you get output like SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory, this means you will need to manually load the firmware. If unsure, invoke dmesg to query the kernel log for a firmware request from the wireless chipset. For example, if you have an Intel chipset which requires and has requested firmware from the kernel at boot: # dmesg | grep firmware

firmware: requesting iwlwifi-5000-1.ucode

If there is no output, it may be concluded that the system's wireless chipset does not require firmware.

Warning: Wireless chipset firmware packages (for cards which require them) are pre-installed under /usr/lib/firmware in the live environment (on CD/USB stick) but must be explicitly installed to your actual system to provide wireless functionality after you reboot into it! Package installation is covered later in this guide. Ensure installation of both your wireless module and firmware before rebooting! See Wireless Setup if you are unsure about the requirement of corresponding firmware installation for your particular chipset.

Next, use netctl's wifi-menu to connect to a network: # wifi-menu wlp3s0

You should now have a working network connection. If you do not, check the detailed Wireless Setup page.

Without wifi-menu

Alternatively, use iw dev wlp3s0 scan | grep SSID to scan for available networks, then connect to a network with: # wpa_supplicant -B -i wlp3s0 -c

wireless password, leaving the quotes around the network name and password. Finally, you have to give your interface an IP address. This can be set manually or using the dhcp: # dhcpcd wlp3s0

If that does not work, issue the following commands: # echo 'ctrl_interface=DIR=/run/wpa_supplicant' > /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf# wpa_passphrase >> /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf# ip link set up # May not be needed, but does no harm in any case# wpa_supplicant -B -D nl80211 -c /foobar.conf -i # dhcpcd -A

Analog modem, ISDN, or PPPoE DSLFor xDSL, dial-up, and ISDN connections, see Direct Modem Connection.

Behind a proxy serverIf you are behind a proxy server, you will need to export the http_proxy and ftp_proxy environment variables. See Proxy settings for more information.

Prepare the storage drive

Warning: Partitioning can destroy data. You are strongly cautioned and advised to backup any critical data before proceeding.

Choose a partition table typeYou have to choose between GUID Partition Table (GPT) and Master Boot Record (MBR). GPT is more modern and recommended for new installations.

If you want to setup a system which dual boots with windows, this must be taken into account as explained in Partitioning#Choosing between GPT and MBR.

It is recommended to always use GPT for UEFI boot, as some UEFI firmwares do not allow UEFI-MBR boot.

Some BIOS systems may have issues with GPT. See http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/8035.html and http://rodsbooks.com/gdisk/bios.html for more info and possible workarounds.

Note: If you are installing to a USB flash key, see Installing Arch Linux on a USB key.

Partitioning toolAbsolute beginners are encouraged to use a graphical partitioning tool. GParted is a good example, and is provided as a "live" CD. It is also included on live CDs of most Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint. A drive should first be partitioned and afterwards the partitions should be formatted with a file system.

Tip: When using Gparted, selecting the option to create a new partition table gives an "msdos" partition table by default. If you are intending to follow the advice to create a GPT partition table then you need to choose "Advanced" and then select "gpt" from the drop-down menu.

While gparted may be easier to use, if you just want to create a few partitions on a new disk you can get the job done quickly by just using one of the fdisk variants which are included on the install medium. In the next section short usage instructions for both gdisk and fdisk follow.

Partition schemeYou can decide into how many partitions the disk should be split, and for which directory each partition should be used in the system. The mapping from partitions to directories (frequently called 'mount points') is the Partition scheme. The simplest, and not a bad choice, is to make just one huge / partition. Another popular choice is to have a / and a /home partition. Additional required partitions:

If you have a UEFI motherboard, you will need to create an extra EFI System Partition. If you have a BIOS motherboard (or plan on booting in BIOS compatibility mode) and you

want to setup GRUB on a GPT-partitioned drive, you will need to create an extra BIOS Boot Partition of size 1 or 2 MiB and EF02 type code. Syslinux does not need one.

If you have a requirement for a Disk encryption of the system itself, this must be reflected in your partition scheme. It is unproblematic to add encrypted folders, containers or home directories after the system is installed.

If you are planning to use any filesystem for root filesystem different than ext4 (-3,-2) , you should check first if GRUB supports it. If it is not supported you need to create a GRUB compatible partition (such as ext4) and use it for /boot.

See Swap for details if you wish to set up a swap partition or swap file. A swap file is easier to resize than a partition and can be created at any point after installation, but cannot be used with a Btrfs filesystem.

Considerations for dualbooting with WindowsIf you have an existing OS installation, please keep in mind that if you were to just write a completely new partition table to disk then all the data which was previously on disk would be lost.

The recommended way to setup a Linux/Windows dual booting system is to first install Windows, only using part of the disk for its partitions. When you have finished the Windows setup, boot into the Linux install environment where you can create additional partitions for Linux while leaving the existing Windows partitions untouched.

Some newer computers come pre-installed with Windows 8 which will be using Secure Boot. Arch Linux currently does not support Secure Boot, but some Windows 8 installations have been seen not to boot if Secure Boot is turned off in the BIOS. In some cases it is necessary to turn off both Secure Boot as well as Fastboot in the BIOS options in order to allow Windows 8 to boot without Secure Boot. However there are potential security risks in turning off Secure Boot for booting up Windows 8. Therefore, it may be a better option to keep the Windows 8 install intact and have an independent hard drive for the Linux install - which can then be partitioned from scratch using a GPT partition table. Once that is done, creating several ext4/FAT32/swap partitions on the second drive may be a better way forward if the computer has two drives available. This is often not easy or possible on a small laptop. Currently, Secure Boot is still not in a fully stable state for reliable operation, even for Linux distributions that support it.

Warning: Windows 8 includes a new feature called Fast Startup, which turns shutdown operations into suspend-to-disk operations. The result is that filesystems shared between Windows 8 and any

other OS are almost certain to be damaged when booting between the two OSes. Even if you don't intend to share filesystems, the EFI System Partition is likely to be damaged on an EFI system. Therefore, you should disable Fast Startup, as described here, before you install Linux on any computer that uses Windows 8.

If you have already created your partitions, proceed to #Create filesystems.

Otherwise, see the following example.

ExampleThe Arch Linux install media includes the following partitioning tools: fdisk, gdisk, cfdisk, cgdisk, parted.

Tip: Use the lsblk command to list the hard disks attached to your system, along with the sizes of their existing partitions. This will help you to be confident you are partitioning the right disk.

The example system will contain a 15 GB root partition, and a home partition for the remaining space. Choose either MBR or GPT. Do not choose both!

It should be emphasized that partitioning is a personal choice and that this example is only for illustrative purposes. See Partitioning.

Using cgdisk to create GPT partitions

# cgdisk /dev/sda

Root

Choose New (or press N) Enter for the first sector (2048) type in 15G Enter for the default hex code (8300) Enter for a blank partition name.

Home

Press the down arrow a couple of times to move to the larger free space area. Choose New (or press N) Enter for the first sector Enter to use the rest of the drive (or

you could type in the desired size; for example 30G) Enter for the default hex code (8300) Enter for a blank partition name.

Here is what it should look like: Part. # Size Partition Type Partition Name---------------------------------------------------------------- 1007.0 KiB free space 1 15.0 GiB Linux filesystem 2 123.45 GiB Linux filesystem

Double check and make sure that you are happy with the partition sizes as well as the partition table layout before continuing.

If you would like to start over, you can simply select Quit (or press Q) to exit without saving changes and then restart cgdisk. If you are satisfied, choose Write (or press Shift+W) to finalize and to write the partition table to the

drive. Type yes and choose Quit (or press Q) to exit without making any more changes.

Using fdisk to create MBR partitions

Note: There is also cfdisk, which is similar in UI to cgdisk, but it currently does not automatically align the first partition properly. That is why the classic fdisk tool is used here.

Launch fdisk with: # fdisk /dev/sda

Create the partition table:

Command (m for help): type o and press Enter Then create the first partition:

1. Command (m for help): type n and press Enter 2. Partition type: Select (default p): press Enter 3. Partition number (1-4, default 1): press Enter 4. First sector (2048-209715199, default 2048): press Enter 5. Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (2048-209715199....., default 209715199): type +15G and press Enter

Then create a second partition:

1. Command (m for help): type n and press Enter 2. Partition type: Select (default p): press Enter 3. Partition number (1-4, default 2): press Enter 4. First sector (31459328-209715199, default 31459328): press Enter 5. Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (31459328-209715199....., default 209715199): press Enter

Now preview the new partition table:

Command (m for help): type p and press Enter Disk /dev/sda: 107.4 GB, 107374182400 bytes, 209715200 sectorsUnits = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk identifier: 0x5698d902

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System/dev/sda1 2048 31459327 15728640 83 Linux/dev/sda2 31459328 209715199 89127936 83 Linux

Then write the changes to disk:

Command (m for help): type w and press Enter If everything went well fdisk will now quit with the following message: The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.Syncing disks.

In case this does not work because fdisk encountered an error, you can use the q command to exit.

Create filesystemsSimply partitioning is not enough; the partitions also need a filesystem. To format the partitions with an ext4 filesystem:

Warning: Double check and triple check that it is actually /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 that you want to format. You can use lsblk to help with this.

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2

If you have made a partition dedicated to swap (code 82), do not forget to format and activate it with: # mkswap /dev/sdaX# swapon /dev/sdaX

For UEFI, you should format the EFI System Partition (for example /dev/sdXY) with: # mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdXY

Mount the partitionsEach partition is identified with a number suffix. For example, sda1 specifies the first partition of the first drive, while sda designates the entire drive. To display the current partition layout: # lsblk /dev/sda

Note: Do not mount more than one partition to the same directory. And pay attention, because the mounting order is important.

First, mount the root partition on /mnt. Following the example above (yours may be different), it would be: # mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

Then mount the home partition and any other separate partition (/boot, /var, etc), if you have any: # mkdir /mnt/home# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/home

In case you have a UEFI motherboard, mount the EFI System Partition at your preferred mountpoint (/boot used for example): # mkdir -p /mnt/boot# mount /dev/sdXY /mnt/boot

Select a mirrorBefore installing, you may want to edit the mirrorlist file and place your preferred mirror first. A copy of this file will be installed on your new system by pacstrap as well, so it is worth getting it

right. # nano /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

#### Arch Linux repository mirrorlist## Sorted by mirror score from mirror status page## Generated on 2012-MM-DD##

Server = http://mirror.example.xyz/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch...

If you want, you can make it the only mirror available by deleting all other lines, but it is usually a good idea to have a few more, in case the first one goes offline.

Tip:

Use the Mirrorlist Generator to get an updated list for your country. HTTP mirrors are faster than FTP, because of something called keepalive. With FTP, pacman has to send out a signal each time it downloads a package, resulting in a brief pause. For other ways to generate a mirror list, see Sorting mirrors and Reflector.

Arch Linux MirrorStatus reports various aspects about the mirrors such as network problems with mirrors, data collection problems, the last time mirrors have been synced, etc.

Note:

Whenever in the future you change your mirrorlist, refresh all package lists with pacman -Syy, to ensure that the package lists are updated consistently. See Mirrors for more information.

If you are using an older installation medium, your mirrorlist might be outdated, which might lead to problems when updating Arch Linux (see FS#22510). Therefore it is advised to obtain the latest mirror information as described above.

Some issues have been reported in the Arch Linux forums regarding network problems that prevent pacman from updating/synchronizing repositories (see [1] and [2]). When installing Arch Linux natively, these issues have been resolved by replacing the default pacman file downloader with an alternative (see Improve Pacman Performance for more details). When installing Arch Linux as a guest OS in VirtualBox, this issue has also been addressed by using "Host interface" instead of "NAT" in the machine properties.

Install the base systemThe base system is installed using the pacstrap script. The -i switch can be omitted if you wish to install every package from the base group without prompting. You may also want to include base-devel, as you will need these packages should you want to build from the AUR. # pacstrap -i /mnt base

Note:

If pacman fails to verify your packages, stop the process with Ctrl+C and check the system time with cal. If the system date is invalid (e.g. it shows the year 2010), signing keys will be considered expired (or invalid), signature checks on packages will fail and installation will be interrupted. Make sure to correct the system time, using the command ntpd -qg, and retry running the pacstrap command. Refer to Time page for more information on correcting system time.

If pacman complains that error: failed to commit transaction (invalid or corrupted package), run the following command:

# pacman-key --init && pacman-key --populate archlinux

This will give you a basic Arch system. Other packages can be installed later using pacman.

Generate an fstabGenerate an fstab file with the following command. UUIDs will be used because they have certain advantages (see fstab#Identifying filesystems). If you would prefer to use labels instead, replace the -U option with -L. # genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab# nano /mnt/etc/fstab

Warning: The fstab file should always be checked after generating it. If you encounter errors running genfstab or later in the install process, do not run genfstab again; just edit the fstab file.

A few considerations:

The last field determines the order in which partitions are checked at start up: use 1 for the (non-btrfs) root partition, which should be checked first; 2 for all other partitions you want checked at start up; and 0 means 'do not check' (see fstab#Field definitions).

All btrfs partitions should have 0 for this field. Normally, you will also want your swap partition to have 0.

Chroot and configure the base systemNext, chroot into your newly installed system: # arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash

Note: Leave out /bin/bash to chroot into the sh shell.

At this stage of the installation, you will configure the primary configuration files of your Arch Linux base system. These can either be created if they do not exist, or edited if you wish to change the defaults.

Closely following and understanding these steps is of key importance to ensure a properly configured system.

LocaleLocales are used by glibc and other locale-aware programs or libraries for rendering text, correctly

displaying regional monetary values, time and date formats, alphabetic idiosyncrasies, and other locale-specific standards.

There are two files that need editing: locale.gen and locale.conf.

Uncomment as many lines as needed. Remove the # in front of the line(s) you want to use. Using UTF-8 is highly recommended over ISO-8859: # nano /etc/locale.gen

#en_PH.UTF-8 UTF-8#en_PH ISO-8859-1#en_SG.UTF-8 UTF-8#en_SG ISO-8859-1en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8#en_US ISO-8859-1#en_ZA.UTF-8 UTF-8#en_ZA ISO-8859-1

Note: The locale.gen file has everything commented out by default.

Generate the locale(s) specified in /etc/locale.gen: # locale-gen

Note: This will also run with every update of glibc.

Create the /etc/locale.conf file substituting your chosen locale: # echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf

Note: The locale specified in the LANG variable must be uncommented in /etc/locale.gen.

Export substituting your chosen locale: # export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

Tip: To use other locales for other LC_* variables, run locale to see the available options and add them to locale.conf. It is not recommended to set the LC_ALL variable. See Locale#Setting system-wide locale for details.

Console font and keymapIf you set a keymap at the beginning of the install process, load it now, as well, because the environment has changed. For example: # loadkeys de-latin1# setfont Lat2-Terminus16

To make them available after reboot, edit vconsole.conf (create it if it does not exist):

# nano /etc/vconsole.conf

KEYMAP=de-latin1FONT=Lat2-Terminus16

KEYMAP Please note that this setting is only valid for your TTYs, not any graphical window managers or Xorg.

FONT Available alternate console fonts reside in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/. The default (blank) is safe, but some foreign characters may show up as white squares or as other symbols. It is recommended that you change it to Lat2-Terminus16, because according to /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/README.Lat2-Terminus16, it claims to support "about 110 language sets".

Possible option FONT_MAP Defines the console map to load at boot. Read man setfont. Removing it or leaving it blank is safe.

See Fonts#Console fonts and man vconsole.conf for more information.

Time zoneAvailable time zones and subzones can be found in the /usr/share/zoneinfo// directories. To view the available , check the directory /usr/share/zoneinfo/: # ls /usr/share/zoneinfo/

Similarly, you can check the contents of directories belonging to a : # ls /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe

Create a symbolic link /etc/localtime to your zone file /usr/share/zoneinfo// using this command: # ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo// /etc/localtime

Example: # ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Minsk /etc/localtime

Hardware clockSet the hardware clock mode uniformly between your operating systems. Otherwise, they may overwrite the hardware clock and cause time shifts.

You can generate /etc/adjtime automatically by using one of the following commands: UTC (recommended)

Note: Using UTC for the hardware clock does not mean that software will display time in UTC.

# hwclock --systohc --utc

localtime (discouraged; used by default in Windows)

Warning: Using localtime may lead to several known and unfixable bugs. However, there are no plans to drop support for localtime.

# hwclock --systohc --localtime

Tip: If you have (or plan on having) a dual boot setup with Windows:

Recommended: Set both Arch Linux and Windows to use UTC. A quick registry fix is needed. Also, be sure to prevent Windows from synchronizing the time on-line, because the hardware clock will default back to localtime.

Not recommended: Set Arch Linux to localtime and disable any time-related services, like NTPd . This will let Windows take care of hardware clock corrections and you will need to remember to boot into Windows at least two times a year (in Spring and Autumn) when DST kicks in. So please do not ask on the forums why the clock is one hour behind or ahead if you usually go for days or weeks without booting into Windows.

Kernel modules

Tip: This is just an example, you do not need to set it. All needed modules are automatically loaded by udev, so you will rarely need to add something here. Only add modules that you know are missing.

For kernel modules to load during boot, place a *.conf file in /etc/modules-load.d/, with a name based on the program that uses them. # nano /etc/modules-load.d/virtio-net.conf

# Load 'virtio-net.ko' at boot.

virtio-net

If there are more modules to load per *.conf, the module names can be separated by newlines. A good example are the VirtualBox Guest Additions.

Empty lines and lines starting with # or ; are ignored.

HostnameSet the hostname to your liking (e.g. arch): # echo myhostname > /etc/hostname

Note: There is no need to edit /etc/hosts.

Configure the networkYou need to configure the network again, but this time for your newly installed environment. The procedure and prerequisites are very similar to the one described above, except we are going to make it persistent and automatically run at boot.

Note:

For more in-depth information on network configration, visit Network Configuration and Wireless Setup.

If you would like to use the old interface naming scheme (ie. eth* and wlan*) you can accomplish this by creating an empty file at /etc/udev/rules.d/80-net-name-slot.rules which will mask the file of the same name located under /usr/lib/udev/rules.d.

Wired

Dynamic IP

Using dhcpcd

If you only use a single fixed wired network connection, you do not need a network management service and can simply enable the dhcpcd service: # systemctl enable dhcpcd.service

Note: If it does not work, use: # systemctl enable dhcpcd@interface_name.service

Using netctl

Copy a sample profile from /etc/netctl/examples to /etc/netctl: # cd /etc/netctl# cp examples/ethernet-dhcp my_network

Edit the profile as needed (update Interface from eth0 to match network adapter ID as shown by running ip link): # nano my_network

Enable the my_network profile: # netctl enable my_network

Note: You will get the message "Running in chroot, ignoring request.". This can be ignored for now.

Using netctl-ifplugd

Warning: You cannot use this method in conjunction with explicitly enabling profiles, such as netctl enable .

Alternatively, you can use netctl-ifplugd, which gracefully handles dynamic connections to new networks:

Install ifplugd, which is required for netctl-ifplugd: # pacman -S ifplugd

Then enable for interface that you want:

# systemctl enable netctl-ifplugd@.service

Tip: Netctl also provides netctl-auto, which can be used to handle wired profiles in conjunction with netctl-ifplugd.

Static IP

Manual connection at boot using netctl

Copy a sample profile from /etc/netctl/examples to /etc/netctl: # cd /etc/netctl# cp examples/ethernet-static my_network

Edit the profile as needed (modify Interface, Address, Gateway and DNS): # nano my_network

Notice the /24 in Address which is the CIDR notation of a 255.255.255.0 netmask Enable above created profile to start it at every boot: # netctl enable my_network

Manual connection at boot using systemd

See Network Configuration#Manual connection at boot using systemd.

Wireless

Note: If your wireless adapter requires a firmware (as described in the above Establish an internet connection section and also here), install the package containing your firmware. Most of the time, the linux-firmware package will contain the needed firmware. Though for some devices, the required firmware might be in its own package. For example: # pacman -S zd1211-firmware

See Wireless Setup#Installing driver/firmware for more info.

Install iw and wpa_supplicant which you will need to connect to a network: # pacman -S iw wpa_supplicant

Adding wireless networks

Using wifi-menu

Install dialog, which is required for wifi-menu: # pacman -S dialog

After finishing the rest of this installation and rebooting, you can connect to the network with wifi-menu interface_name (where interface_name is the interface of your wireless chipset).

# wifi-menu interface_name

Warning: This must be done *after* your reboot when you are no longer chrooted. The process spawned by this command will conflict with the one you have running outside of the chroot. Alternatively, you could just configure a network profile manually using the following templates so that you do not have to worry about using wifi-menu at all.

Using manual netctl profiles

Copy a network profile from /etc/netctl/examples to /etc/netctl: # cd /etc/netctl# cp examples/wireless-wpa my-network

Edit the profile as needed (modify Interface, ESSID and Key): # nano my-network

Enable above created profile to start it at every boot: # netctl enable my-network

Connect automatically to known networks

Warning: You cannot use this method in conjunction with explicitly enabling profiles, such as netctl enable .

Install wpa_actiond, which is required for netctl-auto: # pacman -S wpa_actiond

Enable the netctl-auto service, which will connect to known networks and gracefully handle roaming and disconnects: # systemctl enable netctl-auto@interface_name.service

Tip: Netctl also provides netctl-ifplugd, which can be used to handle wired profiles in conjunction with netctl-auto.

Analog modem, ISDN or PPPoE DSLFor xDSL, dial-up and ISDN connections, see Direct Modem Connection.

Create an initial ramdisk environment

Tip: Most users can skip this step and use the defaults provided in mkinitcpio.conf. The initramfs image (from the /boot folder) has already been generated based on this file when the linux package (the Linux kernel) was installed earlier with pacstrap.

Here you need to set the right hooks if the root is on a USB drive, if you use RAID, LVM, or if /usr is on a separate partition.

Edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf as needed and re-generate the initramfs image with: # mkinitcpio -p linux

Note: Arch VPS installations on QEMU (e.g. when using virt-manager) may need virtio modules in mkinitcpio.conf to be able to boot.

# nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

MODULES="virtio virtio_blk virtio_pci virtio_net"

Set the root passwordSet the root password with: # passwd

Install and configure a bootloader

For BIOS motherboardsFor BIOS systems, several boot loaders are available, see Boot Loaders for a complete list. Choose one as per your convenience. Here, two of the possibilities are given as examples:

Syslinux is (currently) limited to loading only files from the partition where it was installed. Its configuration file is considered to be easier to understand. An example configuration can be found here.

GRUB is more feature-rich and supports more complex scenarios. Its configuration file(s) is more similar to 'sh' scripting language, which may be difficult for beginners to manually write. It is recommended that they automatically generate one.

Syslinux

If you opted for a GUID partition table (GPT) for your hard drive earlier, you need to install the gptfdisk package now for the installation of syslinux to work. # pacman -S gptfdisk

Install the syslinux package and then use the syslinux-install_update script to automatically install the bootloader (-i), mark the partition active by setting the boot flag (-a), and install the MBR boot code (-m): # pacman -S syslinux# syslinux-install_update -i -a -m

Configure syslinux.cfg to point to the right root partition. This step is vital. If it points to the wrong partition, Arch Linux will not boot. Change /dev/sda3 to reflect your root partition (if you partitioned your drive as in the example, your root partition is /dev/sda1). Do the same for the fallback entry. # nano /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

...LABEL arch ... APPEND root=/dev/sda3 rw ...

For more information on configuring and using Syslinux, see Syslinux.

GRUB

Install the grub package and then run grub-install to install the bootloader: # pacman -S grub# grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck /dev/sda

Note:

Change /dev/sda to reflect the drive you installed Arch on. Do not append a partition number (do not use sdaX).

For GPT-partitioned drives on BIOS motherboards, you also need a "BIOS Boot Partition". See GPT-specific instructions in the GRUB page.

A sample /boot/grub/grub.cfg gets installed as part of the grub package, and subsequent grub-* commands may not over-write it. Ensure that your intended changes are in grub.cfg, rather than in grub.cfg.new or some such file.

While using a manually created grub.cfg is absolutely fine, it is recommended that beginners automatically generate one:

Tip: To automatically search for other operating systems on your computer, install os-prober (pacman -S os-prober) before running the next command.

# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

For more information on configuring and using GRUB, see GRUB.

For UEFI motherboardsFor UEFI systems, several boot loaders are available, see Boot Loaders for a complete list. Choose one as per your convenience. Here, two of the possibilities are given as examples:

gummiboot is a minimal UEFI Boot Manager which basically provides a menu for EFISTUB kernels and other UEFI applications. This is recommended UEFI boot method.

GRUB is a more complete bootloader, useful if you run into problems with Gummiboot.

Note: For UEFI boot, the drive needs to be GPT-partitioned and an EFI System Partition (512 MiB or larger, gdisk type EF00, formatted with FAT32) must be present. In the following examples, this partition is assumed to be mounted at /boot. If you have followed this guide from the beginning, you have already done all of these.

Gummiboot

First install the gummiboot package and then run gummiboot install to install the bootloader

to the EFI System Partition: # mount -t efivarfs efivarfs /sys/firmware/efi/efivars # ignore if already mounted# pacman -S gummiboot# gummiboot install

You will need to manually create a configuration file to add an entry for Arch Linux to the gummiboot manager. Create /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf and add the following contents, replacing /dev/sdaX with your root partition, usually /dev/sda2: # nano /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

title Arch Linuxlinux /vmlinuz-linuxinitrd /initramfs-linux.imgoptions root=/dev/sdaX rw

For more information on configuring and using gummiboot, see gummiboot.

GRUB

Install the grub and efibootmgr packages and then run grub-install to install the bootloader: # mount -t efivarfs efivarfs /sys/firmware/efi/efivars # ignore if already mounted# pacman -S grub efibootmgr# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=arch_grub --recheck

Next, while using a manually created grub.cfg is absolutely fine, it is recommended that beginners automatically generate one:

Tip: To automatically search for other operating systems on your computer, install os-prober before running the next command. However os-prober is not known to properly detect UEFI OSes.

# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

For more information on configuring and using GRUB, see GRUB.

Unmount the partitions and rebootExit from the chroot environment: # exit

Since the partitions are mounted under /mnt, use the following command to unmount them: # umount -R /mnt

Reboot the computer: # reboot

Tip: Be sure to remove the installation media, otherwise you will boot back into it.

Post-installationYour new Arch Linux base system is now a functional GNU/Linux environment ready to be built into whatever you wish or require for your purposes. If you are new to Linux, it might be useful to take a look at the Core Utilities included with your new system.

User managementAdd any user accounts you require besides root, as described in User management. It is not good practice to use the root account for regular use, or expose it via SSH on a server. The root account should only be used for administrative tasks.

Package managementPacman is the Arch Linux package manager. See pacman and FAQ#Package Management for answers regarding installing, updating, and managing packages.

Because of The Arch Way#Code-correctness over convenience it is imperative to keep up to date with changes in Arch Linux that require manual intervention before upgrading your system. Subscribe to the arch-announce mailing list or check the front page Arch news every time before you update. Alternatively, you may find it useful to subscribe to this RSS feed or follow @archlinux on Twitter.

If you installed Arch Linux x86_64, you may want to enable the [multilib] repository if you plan on using 32-bit applications.

See Official Repositories for details about the purpose of each repository.

Service managementArch Linux uses systemd as init, which is a system and service manager for Linux. For maintaining your Arch Linux installation, it is a good idea to learn the basics about it. Interaction with systemd is done through the systemctl command. Read systemd#Basic systemctl usage for more information.

SoundALSA usually works out-of-the-box. It just needs to be unmuted. Install alsa-utils (which contains alsamixer) and follow these instructions. ALSA is included with the kernel and it is recommended. If it does not work, OSS is a viable alternative. If you have advanced audio requirements, take a look at Sound system for an overview of various articles.

Graphical User Interface

Install XThe X Window System (commonly X11, or X) is a networking and display protocol which provides windowing on bitmap displays. It provides the standard toolkit and protocol to build graphical user interfaces (GUIs).

To install the base Xorg packages: # pacman -S xorg-server xorg-server-utils xorg-xinit

Install mesa for 3D support: # pacman -S mesa

Install a video driver

Note: If you installed Arch as a VirtualBox guest, you do not need to install a video driver. See Arch Linux guests for installing and setting up Guest Additions, and jump to the configuration part below.

The Linux kernel includes open-source video drivers and support for hardware accelerated framebuffers. However, userland support is required for OpenGL and 2D acceleration in X11.

If you do not know which video chipset is available on your machine, run: $ lspci | grep VGA

For a complete list of open-source video drivers, search the package database: $ pacman -Ss xf86-video | less

The vesa driver is a generic mode-setting driver that will work with almost every GPU, but will not provide any 2D or 3D acceleration. If a better driver cannot be found or fails to load, Xorg will fall back to vesa. To install it: # pacman -S xf86-video-vesa

In order for video acceleration to work, and often to expose all the modes that the GPU can set, a proper video driver is required. See Xorg#Driver installation for a table of most frequently used video drivers.

Install input driversUdev should be capable of detecting your hardware without problems. The evdev driver (xf86-input-evdev) is the modern hot-plugging input driver for almost all devices, so in most cases, installing input drivers is not needed. At this point, evdev has already been installed as a dependency of the xorg-server package.

Laptop users (or users with a tactile screen) will need the xf86-input-synaptics package for the touchpad/touchscreen to work: # pacman -S xf86-input-synaptics

For instructions on fine tuning or troubleshooting touchpad issues, see the Touchpad Synaptics article.

Configure X

Warning: Proprietary drivers usually require a reboot after installation. See NVIDIA or AMD Catalyst for details.

Xorg features auto-detection and therefore can function without an xorg.conf. If you still wish to

manually configure X Server, please see the Xorg wiki page.

You may need to configure keyboard layout if you do not use a standard US keyboard.

Note: The XkbLayout key may differ from the keymap code you used with the loadkeys command. A list of many keyboard layouts and variants can be found in /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/base.lst (after the line beginning with ! layout). For instance, the layout gb corresponds to "English (UK)", whereas for the console it was loadkeys uk.

Test X

Tip: These steps are optional. Test if you are installing Arch Linux for the first time, or if you are installing on new and unfamiliar hardware.

Note: If your input devices are not working during this test, install the needed driver from the xorg-drivers group, and try again. For a complete list of available input drivers, invoke a pacman search (press Q to exit): $ pacman -Ss xf86-input | less

You only need xf86-input-keyboard or xf86-input-mouse if you plan on disabling hot-plugging, otherwise, evdev will act as the input driver (recommended).

Install the default environment: # pacman -S xorg-twm xorg-xclock xterm

If Xorg was installed before creating the non-root user, there will be a template .xinitrc file in your home directory that needs to be either deleted or commented out. Simply deleting it will cause X to run with the default environment installed above. $ rm ~/.xinitrc

Note: X must always be run on the same tty where the login occurred, to preserve the logind session. This is handled by the default /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc.

To start the (test) Xorg session, run: $ startx

A few movable windows should show up, and your mouse should work. Once you are satisfied that X installation was a success, you may exit out of X by issuing the exit command into the prompts until you return to the console. $ exit

If the screen goes black, you may still attempt to switch to a different virtual console (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+F2), and blindly log in as root. You can do this by typing "root" (press Enter after typing it) and entering the root password (again, press Enter after typing it). You may also attempt to kill the X server with: # pkill X

If this does not work, reboot blindly with: # reboot

Troubleshooting

If a problem occurs, look for errors in Xorg.0.log. Be on the lookout for any lines beginning with (EE) which represent errors, and also (WW) which are warnings that could indicate other issues. $ grep EE /var/log/Xorg.0.log

If you are still having trouble after consulting the Xorg article and need assistance via the Arch Linux forums or the IRC channel, be sure to install and use wgetpaste by providing the links from: # pacman -S wgetpaste$ wgetpaste ~/.xinitrc$ wgetpaste /etc/X11/xorg.conf$ wgetpaste /var/log/Xorg.0.log

Note: Please provide all pertinent information (hardware, driver information, etc) when asking for assistance.

FontsYou may wish to install a set of TrueType fonts, as only unscalable bitmap fonts are included by default. However, if you use a full featured Desktop Environment like KDE , this step may not be necessary. DejaVu is a set of high quality, general-purpose fonts with good Unicode coverage: # pacman -S ttf-dejavu

Refer to Font Configuration for how to configure font rendering and Fonts for font suggestions and installation instructions.

Choose and install a graphical interfaceThe X Window System provides the basic framework for building a graphical user interface (GUI).

Note: Choosing your DE or WM is a very subjective and personal decision. Choose the best environment for your needs. You can also build your own DE with just a WM and the applications of your choice.

Window Managers (WM) control the placement and appearance of application windows in conjunction with the X Window System.

Desktop Environments (DE) work atop and in conjunction with X, to provide a completely functional and dynamic GUI. A DE typically provides a window manager, icons, applets, windows, toolbars, folders, wallpapers, a suite of applications and abilities like drag and drop.

Instead of starting X manually with startx from xorg-xinit, see Display Manager for instructions on using a display manager, or see Start X at Login for using an existing virtual terminal as an equivalent to a display manager.

AppendixFor a list of applications that may be of interest, see List of Applications.

See General Recommendations for post-installation tutorials like setting up a touchpad or font rendering.

System requirementsPrepare the latest installation mediumBoot the installation mediumTesting if you are booted into UEFI mode

Troubleshooting boot problems

InstallationChange the languageEstablish an internet connectionWiredWirelessWithout wifi-menu

Analog modem, ISDN, or PPPoE DSLBehind a proxy server

Prepare the storage driveChoose a partition table typePartitioning toolPartition schemeConsiderations for dualbooting with WindowsExampleUsing cgdisk to create GPT partitionsUsing fdisk to create MBR partitions

Create filesystems

Mount the partitionsSelect a mirrorInstall the base systemGenerate an fstabChroot and configure the base systemLocaleConsole font and keymapTime zoneHardware clockKernel modulesHostname

Configure the networkWiredDynamic IPStatic IP

WirelessAdding wireless networksConnect automatically to known networks

Analog modem, ISDN or PPPoE DSL

Create an initial ramdisk environmentSet the root passwordInstall and configure a bootloaderFor BIOS motherboardsSyslinuxGRUB

For UEFI motherboardsGummibootGRUB

Unmount the partitions and reboot

Post-installationUser managementPackage managementService managementSoundGraphical User InterfaceInstall XInstall a video driverInstall input driversConfigure XTest XTroubleshooting

FontsChoose and install a graphical interface

Appendix