This wikiHow teaches you how to install Arch Linux (advanced version of Linux) to replace your existing operating system. You can install it on a Windows or Mac computer.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Running the Installer
Step 1. Back up the computer to an external hard drive
The current operating system on your computer will be erased so you'll need to back up any data you want to keep before continuing.
Step 2. Download the Arch installation image
You can download Arch Linux in ISO format, which can be burned onto a blank DVD disc to run on your computer. How to download this image:
- Make sure you have uTorrent or BitTorrent installed.
- Visit https://www.archlinux.org/download/ in a web browser.
- Click the link Torrent located under the "BitTorrent" heading.
- Open the torrent file you just downloaded using uTorrent or BitTorrent.
- Wait for the Arch Linux torrent file to finish downloading.
Step 3. Burn the image you downloaded to a blank DVD disc
Once the Arch Linux ISO file has finished downloading using a torrent client, burn the file onto a blank DVD via the DVD drive on your computer. When finished burning, leave the DVD disc inside the computer.
If the computer does not have a DVD drive, purchase an external DVD drive and connect it to the computer via a USB cable
Step 4. Restart the computer
Click Start
click Power
then click Restart in the menu.
-
On a Mac computer, click menu Apple
Macapple1 choose System Preferences…, click Startup, choose External Drive, then restart the computer by clicking Restart… in the Apple menu, and click Restart when requested.
Step 5. Press the working button to move the boot order
On most new computers, the key used is F12, although the corresponding key will be displayed on the screen when the computer boots. If there is no key to change the boot order, press the key to enter the BIOS (usually the Del, F1, F2, or F10 key).
Skip this step on a Mac
Step 6. Select the installation drive as the primary boot drive
Set the drive (eg " DVD Drive " or " Disk Drive ") containing the Arch Linux DVD as the primary drive. Do this by selecting the drive and pressing the + button until it is at the top of the menu.
- Skip this step on a Mac.
- On some PCs, you may need to go to the "Advanced" tab or select the "Boot Options" section.
Step 7. Save and exit from the "Boot Options" screen
It's at the bottom or in the lower-right corner of the screen. Press this button to save changes and exit the screen. After that, the computer will restart.
Skip this step on a Mac
Step 8. Choose Arch Linux Boot, then press Enter.
The Arch Linux installer will run, and you can continue the process by partitioning your hard drive.
Part 2 of 3: Creating Partitions
Step 1. Check the existing drives on the computer
You will have at least two drives: a computer hard disk and an Arch Linux installation disc. How to check available drives:
- Type fdisk -l, then press Enter.
- Find the name of the hard disk with the largest capacity in the results screen. The name can be " /dev/sda " which is to the right of the " Disk " heading.
Step 2. Go to the partition page
Type cfdisk [drive name], and replace it [drive name] with the name of the computer's hard disk. Next, press Enter, select DOS, then press Enter again.
For example: if the drive is named " /dev/sda ", type cfdisk /dev/sda in the terminal
Step 3. Erase the contents on the hard disk
Select the partition in the middle of the screen, select Delete at the bottom of the screen, press Enter, and repeat this process for the other partitions in the middle of the screen. At the end there will be a line called Pri/Log Free Space.
Step 4. Create a "swap" partition
This partition is used as backup memory on the system when the computer's RAM is used all. How to do it:
- choose New and press Enter key.
- choose Primary and press Enter key.
- Type in the number of megabytes (eg 1024 for 1 gigabyte), then press Enter. As a general rule, create a swap partition that is 2 or 3 times the amount of computer RAM. For example, if your computer's RAM is 4GB, create a swap partition of 8,192 or 12,288 megabytes).
- choose End, then press the Enter key.
Step 5. Create a primary hard disk partition
This partition is used as a place to store the Arch Linux operating system, files, and other information. How to create a partition:
- Make sure you have selected the partition Pri/Log Free Space.
- choose New and press Enter key.
- choose Primary and press Enter key.
- Make sure the number next to the " Size (in MB) " heading is written correctly.
- Press the Enter key.
- Select the primary partition again.
- choose Bootable, then press Enter.
Step 6. Label the partition " swap"
This is to make the partition the system RAM:
- Select the " swap " partition.
- choose Type and press Enter key.
- Type 82, then press Enter.
- With the "swap" partition still selected, select Write and press Enter key.
- Type yes and press Enter key.
Step 7. Write down the partition name
In the " Name " column on the left side of the screen, there is a name (eg " sda1 ") next to the " swap " partition, and another similar name (eg " sda2 ") next to the primary partition. These two names are needed to format the partition.
Step 8. Exit the "cfdisk" utility
Do this by selecting Quit and press Enter.
Step 9. Format the main partition
This is necessary so that the partition can be used by the operating system. To do this, type mkfs.ext4 /dev/[name of primary partition] and press Enter.
If the partition name is " sda2 ", then you should type mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2 here
Step 10. Mount the formatted partition
Type mount /dev/[partition name] /mnt and press Enter. Doing so will make the partition a usable drive.
Step 11. Add the swap file to the " swap " partition
Type mkswap /dev/[partition name] and press Enter, then type swapon /dev/sda1 and press Enter again. Once you've completed these steps, continue with the process to install Arch Linux.
For example, if the " swap " partition is named " sda1 ", you would type mkswap /dev/sda1, then swapon /dev/sda1 here
Part 3 of 3: Installing Linux
Step 1. Set up a Wi-Fi connection
Skip this step if you are using Ethernet to connect your computer to your router. Using Ethernet is better than Wi-Fi.
- Type ip link, then press Enter key to specify the network adapter interface name.
- Type pacman -S iw wpa_supplicant, then press Enter key to install the required program.
- Type pacman -S in the dialog, then press Enter to enter the Wi-Fi menu.
- Type pacman -S wpa_actiond, and then press Enter to install a program that will allow your computer to automatically connect to known networks.
- Type systemctl enable [email protected] to enable the automatic connection service on the wireless adapter.
- After this, every time the computer restarts, type wifi-menuinterfacename to access the wireless menu for the adapter. After the computer is connected to the network for the first time, it will automatically connect you for the next boot. Do not enter this now as you will not be able to access the network.
Step 2. Install the base system
Type pacstrap /mnt base base-devel, then press Enter. The system will begin to install into the computer.
This process usually takes 15 to 30 minutes depending on internet speed
Step 3. Open "chroot" access
Type arch-chroot /mnt and press Enter. This lets you change aspects of the root directory, including the password.
Step 4. Set a password
This password is used to log into the root account. How to do it:
- Type passwd, then press Enter.
- Type in the password, then press Enter.
- Re-enter the password, then press Enter.
Step 5. Set the language
How to do it:
- Type nano /etc/locale.gen and press Enter.
- Scroll down the screen and select the desired language.
- Select the letter directly in front of the "#" symbol behind the selected language, then press the Del key.
- Remove the "#" symbol for other versions of your chosen language (e.g. all versions other than " en_US ").
- Press Ctrl+O (or Command+O for Mac), then press Enter.
- Exit by pressing Ctrl+X (Windows) or Command+X (Mac).
- Type locale-gen and press Enter key to finish setting the language.
Step 6. Define the time zone
How to do it:
- Type cd usr/share/zoneinfo, then press Enter.
- Type ls, then press Enter.
- Find your country or region, then type cd usr/share/zoneinfo/ country (eg Indonesia) and press Enter.
- Type ls again and press Enter.
- Find the time zone you want to select, then type ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/country/timezone /etc/localtime and press Enter.
Step 7. Set a hostname for your computer
Do this by typing echo name > /etc/hostname, then pressing Enter.
For example, to name your computer "Home", you would type echo Home > /etc/hostname here
Step 8. Download the GRUB bootloader
This is the program used to install Arch Linux. How to do it:
- Type pacman -S grub-bios, then press Enter.
- Type y and press Enter.
- Wait for GRUB to finish downloading.
Step 9. Install GRUB
When doing this, make sure you mount it on the actual hard drive (eg " sda "), not in a partition (eg " sda1 "). How to install GRUB:
Type grub-install /dev/ drive name (eg grub-install /dev/sda and press Enter
Step 10. Create an " init " file
This file is used to store information about the computer hardware, which makes it usable by Linux. To do this, type mkinitcpio -p linux and press Enter.
Step 11. Create a configuration file for GRUB
Do this by typing grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg and pressing Enter.
Step 12. Create a " fstab " file
Type genfstab /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab, then press Enter. By doing so, Arch Linux can recognize the filesystem partition.
Step 13. Restart the computer
To do this, type umount /mnt and press Enter, then type reboot and press Enter again. Remove the installation disc from the computer and wait for the system to finish restarting.
Step 14. Log in to your account
Type root into the " login " field, then press Enter. Enter the password and press Enter key. Now you have successfully installed and running Arch Linux on your computer.
