Arch Linux dotfiles and setup

Installing Arch on a new machine

DISCLAIMER: These guidelines were written specifically for my machine and might not work on yours. Always follow the official Installation guide.

First check if you booted in UEFI mode:

ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

Check internet connection:

ping google.com

Update clock:

timedatectl set-ntp true
timedatectl status

Erase disk and create 3 new partitions.

• sdx1 EFI partition (about 260-512 MB, code ef00)
• sdx2 swap partition (more than 512 MB, code 8200)
• sdx3 root partition (code 8304)

  cgdisk /dev/sdx

Format the boot partition:

mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdx1

Activate the swap partition:

mkswap /dev/sdx2
swapon /dev/sdx2

Format the data partition and mount it:

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdx3
mount /dev/sdx3 /mnt

Mount the boot partition:

mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sdx1 /mnt/boot

Install the base and base-devel packages:

pacstrap /mnt base base-devel

Generate fstab:

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

Chroot in the new environment:

arch-chroot /mnt

Set the time zone:

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Bucharest /etc/localtime

Run hwclock:

hwclock --systohc

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

nano /etc/locale.gen

Export the language (LANG=en_US.UTF-8):

nano /etc/locale.conf

Create the hostname:

nano /etc/hostname
nano /etc/hosts

Set root password:

passwd

Install and configure the boot loader:

pacman -S grub efibootmgr intel-ucode
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=grub
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Exit and reboot:

exit
reboot

Install sudo:

pacman -S sudo

Create user and grant sudo:

useradd -m -G wheel MY_USERNAME
passwd MY_USERNAME
export EDITOR=nano && visudo

Logout and login into the new user:

logout

Install xorg and check it:

sudo pacman -S xorg xorg-xinit xterm
startx

Follow General recommendations, install i3-gaps, polybar, Office Code Pro font and more.