added arch linux installation blog post

input/blog/2019/2019_09_09_arch_linux.md

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+title: Blog
+post: Arch Linux Installation
+date: 2019-09-09
+comments: true
+---
+
+## {{ page["post"] }}
+<!--%
+from datetime import datetime
+date = datetime.strptime(page["date"], "%Y-%m-%d").strftime("%B %d, %Y")
+print "*Posted at %s.*" % date
+%-->
+
+I've now been running Arch Linux on my Desktop for over a year.
+After exclusively running Mac OS X for many years before, this was my first real step into a Desktop Linux distribution.
+It has been surprisingly painless and I'm very happy with my machine.
+Here are all the steps I've ran to install and setup Arch, with some explanations in between.
+
+Of course, take a look at the [Arch Wiki installation guide](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation_guide) before doing anything.
+
+### Rotating the Virtual Console
+
+At the time of installing Arch, the first monitor output of my machine was connected to a rotated display.
+To be able to work properly, you may want to rotate the Linux virtual console.
+This can be done by adding the argument `fbcon=rotate:1` to the kernel boot options.
+When the system is booted, you can execute the following command.
+Also check out the [kernel documentation](https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/fb/fbcon.txt).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+echo 1 > /sys/class/graphics/fbcon/rotate_all
+</pre>
+
+### Installation
+
+Boot into the Arch Live USB stick environment.
+After getting the time, format your harddisk (see [UEFI & GPT partitioning in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Partitioning#UEFI.2FGPT_example_layout)) and mount the new partitions.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+timedatectl set-ntp true
+fdisk -l
+fdisk /dev/nvme0n1
+mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p3
+mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p4
+mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1
+mkswap /dev/nvme0n1p2
+swapon /dev/nvme0n1p2
+
+mount /dev/nvme0n1p3 /mnt
+mkdir /mnt/boot
+mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot
+mkdir /mnt/home
+mount /dev/nvme0n1p4 /mnt/home
+</pre>
+
+Generate the mirrorlist by speed (see [Mirrorlist in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mirrors#List_by_speed)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+cp /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.backup
+rankmirrors -n 6 /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.backup | tee /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
+</pre>
+
+Bootstrap the new installation.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacstrap /mnt base base-devel
+genfstab -L /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
+arch-chroot /mnt
+</pre>
+
+Start setting up the machine (see [Locale in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation_guide#Locale)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin /etc/localtime
+hwclock --systohc
+vi /etc/locale.gen
+locale-gen
+vi /etc/locale.conf
+vi /etc/hostname
+vi /etc/hosts
+passwd
+</pre>
+
+Install some important stuff.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu sudo vim avahi nss-mdns zsh
+vim /etc/nsswitch.conf
+systemctl enable avahi-daemon.service
+</pre>
+
+Create your new user account.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+useradd -m -G wheel /usr/bin/zsh thomas
+chfn --full-name “Thomas Buck” thomas
+passwd thomas
+visudo
+</pre>
+
+Install systemd-boot and add boot entries (see [systemd-boot in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd-boot#Adding_boot_entries)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+bootctl --path=/boot install
+cat /usr/share/systemd/bootctl/arch.conf > /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
+blkid /dev/nvme0n1p3 >> /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
+vim /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
+</pre>
+
+Configure systemd-boot (also see [systemd-boot in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd-boot#Loader_configuration)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+vim /boot/loader/loader.conf
+</pre>
+
+Add Intel Microcode to systemd-boot (see [Microcode in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Microcode#systemd-boot)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu intel-ucode
+vim /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
+</pre>
+
+Configure automatic systemd-boot update (see [systemd-boot in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd-boot#Automatic_update)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+mkdir /etc/pacman.d/hooks
+vim /etc/pacman.d/hooks/systemd-boot.hook
+</pre>
+
+Install NetworkManager (see [NetworkManager in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NetworkManager)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu networkmanager
+systemctl enable NetworkManager
+</pre>
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+vim /etc/systemd/timedsyncd.conf
+timedatectl set-ntp true
+</pre>
+
+I'm using an nVidia graphics card.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu xorg-server
+pacman -Syu nvidia opencl-nvidia
+
+vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
+vim /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
+# https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA#DRM_kernel_mode_setting
+
+vim /etc/pacman.d/hooks/nvidia.hook
+# https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA#Pacman_hook
+
+mkinitcpio -P
+</pre>
+
+Start installing more stuff.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu sddm
+systemctl enable sddm
+
+systemctl enable nvidia-persistenced.service
+systemctl start nvidia-persistenced.service
+
+pacman -Syu pulseaudio pulseaudio-alsa pulseaudio-bluetooth pulseaudio-zeroconf
+pacman -Syu plasma-meta vlc phonon-qt5-gstreamer phonon-qt5-vlc dolphin dolphin-plugins kdialog kfind ark yakuake
+pacman -Syu nvidia-settings sddm-kcm
+</pre>
+
+All this has been done in the (chrooted) environment of the Live USB stick until now.
+Now we reboot into the new installation.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+exit
+umount -R /mnt
+reboot
+</pre>
+
+Installing Synergy so I can comfortably continue writing these commands while in the new installation (see [Synergy in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Synergy#Installation)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu synergy
+cp /etc/synergy.conf.example /etc/synergy.conf
+vim /etc/synergy.conf
+systemctl --user enable --now synergys.service
+</pre>
+
+Of course I need an AVR and Arduino toolchain!
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu arduino arduino-avr-core avr-gcc avr-binutils avr-libc avrdude
+gpasswd -a $USER uucp
+gpasswd -a $USER lock
+</pre>
+
+I'm using the AUR wrapper 'Bauerbill', taken from the creators TU repo.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+vim /etc/pacman.conf
+# https://xyne.archlinux.ca/repos/
+
+pacman -Syu bauerbill
+vim /etc/makepkg.conf # CFLAGS march=native MAKEFLAGS j, no compression
+</pre>
+
+Continue installing even more stuff, like a Webbrowser.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu hunspell hunspell-en hunspell-de firefox
+# Install ublock Origin, set DuckDuckGo, etc.
+</pre>
+
+Install and configure NTP.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu ntp
+vim /etc/ntp.conf
+systemctl --user enable --now ntpd.service
+</pre>
+
+Some more applications.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+bb-wrapper -Syu --aur perl-opengl perl-wx-glcanvas slic3r
+pacman -Syu cura
+pacman -Syu keepassxc
+pacman -Syu mpv youtube-dl
+pacman -Syu libreoffice okular picocom
+</pre>
+
+OpenSSH server needs to be enabled and started after installation.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu openssh
+systemctl enable --now sshd.socket
+</pre>
+
+Fonts may require a call to fc-cache to update the font cache.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu breeze-gtk kde-gtk-config
+pacman -Syu ttf-droid ttf-inconsolata ttf-liberation ttf-roboto
+pacman -Syu ttf-dejavu ttf-bitstream-vera terminus-font
+sudo fc-cache
+</pre>
+
+Some packets need 32bit libs on x64, so enable multilib.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+vim /etc/pacman.conf # enable multilib
+pacman -Syu lib32-nvidia-utils wine steam openscad
+</pre>
+
+Install Redshift to reduce eyestrain in the evenings (see [Redshift in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Redshift#Manual_setup)).
+To autostart on boot, run `redshift-gtk` in the GUI and click on autostart there.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu python-gobject redshift
+vim ~/.config/redshift.conf
+</pre>
+
+Generate new SSH keys for GitHub etc. and also configure git.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+ssh-keygen -t ecdsa -b 521
+# generate as many as needed, one for github, one for webserver, one for home use, …
+git config --global user.name “Thomas Buck”
+git config --global user.email xythobuz@xythobuz.de
+pacman -Syu meld
+vim ~/.gitconfig # set meld as merge and diff, enable color
+</pre>
+
+Install more stuff.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu nmap wget konversation
+
+sh -c "$(wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/master/tools/install.sh -O -)"
+vim ~/.zshrc
+
+pacman -Syu gvim
+curl http://j.mp/spf13-vim3 -L -o - | sh
+# http://vim.spf13.com/
+</pre>
+
+Install VirtualBox.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu virtualbox virtualbox-host-modules-arch virtualbox-guest-iso
+bb-wrapper -Syu --aur virtualbox-ext-oracle
+gpasswd -a $USER vboxusers
+</pre>
+
+If you are using an SSD, maybe think about enabling TRIM (see [SSD TRIM in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Solid_State_Drive#Periodic_TRIM)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+sudo systemctl enable fstrim.timer
+
+pacman -Syu thermald cpupower
+vim /etc/default/cpupower
+sudo systemctl enable cpupower.service
+</pre>
+
+I was also trying out Opera, but have now settled on Firefox.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu opera opera-ffmpeg-codecs
+bb-wrapper -Syu --aur opera-adblock-complete
+mkdir .opera
+ln -s /usr/share/opera-adblock-complete/urlfilter.ini ~/.opera/urlfilter.ini
+</pre>
+
+To get Bluetooth to work you may need some firmware (see [StackExchange Question](https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/421946/bluetooth-is-not-working-no-adapter-available-arch-linux-kde)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+bb-wrapper -Syu --aur bcm20702a1-firmware
+systemctl enable --now bluetooth.service
+</pre>
+
+For monitoring needs (in conky), install hddtemp (see [Hddtemp in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Hddtemp#Daemon)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu hddtemp
+systemctl edit hddtemp.service
+systemctl enable --now hddtemp.service
+</pre>
+
+Install conky, a very cool monitoring tool (see [Conky in Wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Conky#Autostart)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+bb-wrapper -Syu --aur conky-lua-nv
+conky -C > ~/.conkyrc
+vim ~/.conkyrc
+</pre>
+
+This is my conkyrc at the moment:
+
+    -- vim: ts=4 sw=4 noet ai cindent syntax=lua
+    --[[
+    Conky, a system monitor, based on torsmo
+
+    Any original torsmo code is licensed under the BSD license
+
+    All code written since the fork of torsmo is licensed under the GPL
+
+    Please see COPYING for details
+
+    Copyright (c) 2004, Hannu Saransaari and Lauri Hakkarainen
+    Copyright (c) 2005-2012 Brenden Matthews, Philip Kovacs, et. al. (see AUTHORS)
+    All rights reserved.
+
+    This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+    (at your option) any later version.
+
+    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+    GNU General Public License for more details.
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+    ]]
+
+    conky.config = {
+        alignment = 'bottom_right',
+        xinerama_head = 2,
+        background = false,
+        border_width = 1,
+        cpu_avg_samples = 2,
+        default_color = 'white',
+        default_outline_color = 'black',
+        default_shade_color = 'white',
+        draw_borders = false,
+        draw_graph_borders = true,
+        draw_outline = true,
+        draw_shades = false,
+        use_xft = true,
+        font = 'DejaVu Sans Mono:size=12',
+        gap_x = 10,
+        gap_y = 10,
+        minimum_height = 5,
+        minimum_width = 5,
+        net_avg_samples = 2,
+        no_buffers = true,
+        out_to_console = false,
+        out_to_stderr = false,
+        extra_newline = false,
+        own_window = true,
+        own_window_class = 'Conky',
+        own_window_transparent = true,
+        own_window_argb_visual = true,
+        own_window_type = 'dock',
+        own_window_hints = 'below',
+        stippled_borders = 0,
+        update_interval = 1.0,
+        uppercase = false,
+        use_spacer = 'none',
+        show_graph_scale = false,
+        show_graph_range = false,
+        double_buffer = true
+    }
+
+    conky.text = [[
+    ${texeci 60 curl --silent esp-e33750.fritz.box/values | tidy | grep -A1 -E 'PM10|PM2.5|Temperatur' | grep td | sed 's/<[^>]*>//g' | sed 's/&nbsp;/ /g' | sed 's/PM2.5/PM2.5\t/g' | sed 's/PM10/PM10\t/g' | sed '$!N;s/\n/\t\t/' }
+    ${texeci 60 curl --silent esp-e33750.fritz.box/values | tidy | grep -A1 -E 'Luftfeuchte|Luftdruck|Signal' | grep td | sed 's/<[^>]*>//g' | sed 's/&nbsp;/ /g' | sed 's/rel. //g' | sed 's/Signal/Signal\t/g' |sed '$!N;s/\n/\t\t/' }
+    $hr
+    ${texeci 30 nmap -sn 192.168.178.1/24 -R --dns-servers 192.168.178.1 | awk -F "[ ()]+" '/Nmap scan report for/{print $6 "\t" $5}' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//'}
+    $hr
+    ${time %F %T %A}
+    $sysname $kernel on $machine
+    $hr
+    ${color grey}Uptime:$color $uptime
+    ${color grey}CPU Usage:$color ${freq_g}GHz ${cpu}% ${alignr}${cpubar 8,130}
+    ${color grey}RAM Usage:$color $mem $memperc% ${alignr}${membar 8,130}
+    ${color grey}Swap Usage:$color $swap $swapperc% ${alignr}${swapbar 8,130}
+    $hr
+    ${cpugraph cpu1 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF} ${cpugraph cpu2 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF} ${cpugraph cpu3 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF} ${cpugraph cpu4 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF}
+    ${cpugraph cpu5 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF} ${cpugraph cpu6 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF} ${cpugraph cpu7 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF} ${cpugraph cpu8 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF}
+    $hr
+    ${color grey}CPU:${color} ${hwmon 1 temp 1}°C ${hwmon 1 temp 2}°C ${hwmon 1 temp 3}°C ${hwmon 1 temp 4}°C ${hwmon 1 temp 5}°C
+    ${color grey}HDD:${color} ${exec hddtemp /dev/sda | awk '{print $(NF-1)}'}°C ${exec hddtemp /dev/sdb | awk '{print $(NF-1)}'}°C ${exec hddtemp /dev/sdc | awk '{print $(NF-1)}'}°C ${exec hddtemp /dev/sdd | awk '{print $(NF-1)}'}°C ${exec hddtemp /dev/sde | awk '{print $(NF-1)}'}°C ${exec hddtemp /dev/sdf | awk '{print $(NF-1)}'}°C
+    ${color grey}GPU:${color} ${nvidia temp}°C ${nvidia gpufreq}MHz ${nvidia memfreq}MHz
+    $hr
+    ${color grey}File systems:
+    ${color grey} /     ${color}${fs_used_perc /}% ${fs_bar 8 /}
+    ${color grey} /home ${color}${fs_used_perc /home}% ${fs_bar 8 /home}
+    $hr
+    ${color grey}Networking:  Download ${alignr}Upload
+    ${color grey}eno1        $color ${downspeed eno1} ${alignr}${upspeed eno1}
+    ${color grey}enp3s0      $color ${downspeed enp3s0} ${alignr}${upspeed enp3s0}
+    $hr
+    ${downspeedgraph eno1 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF} ${upspeedgraph eno1 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF} ${downspeedgraph enp3s0 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF} ${upspeedgraph enp3s0 40,82 7F7F7F FFFFFF}
+    $hr
+    ${color grey}Processes:$color $processes ${alignr}${color grey}Running:$color $running_processes
+    ${color grey}Name               PID   CPU%   MEM%
+    ${color}${top name 1} ${top pid 1} ${top cpu 1} ${top mem 1}
+    ${color}${top name 2} ${top pid 2} ${top cpu 2} ${top mem 2}
+    ${color}${top name 3} ${top pid 3} ${top cpu 3} ${top mem 3}
+    ${color}${top name 4} ${top pid 4} ${top cpu 4} ${top mem 4}
+    ${color}${top name 5} ${top pid 5} ${top cpu 5} ${top mem 5}
+    $hr
+    ]]
+
+Some nVidia graphics related settings.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+sudo nvidia-settings # enable full composition pipeline, store x config
+sudo vim /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf # remove unneeded stuff, add triple buffering
+sudo vim /etc/profile.d/kwin.sh # enable triple buffering
+# https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA/Troubleshooting#Avoid_screen_tearing
+
+# Fix DPI, D0: 96x98, D1: 91x90 --> 96x96
+# https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xorg#Proprietary_NVIDIA_driver
+</pre>
+
+I had a BluRay I wanted to rip but couldn't up to this point, because my Desktop is my only device with a BluRay reader.
+So the point came to install and use the necessary software.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+# MakeMKV BluRay support
+# http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=5&amp;t=1053
+bb-wrapper -Syu --aur lib32-glibc makemkv makemkv-libaacs
+sudo sh -c “echo sg > /etc/modules-load.d/sg.conf“
+modprobe sg
+</pre>
+
+At this point of the installation, I needed to change the keyboard layout of my Ergodox.
+So I had to install some more development tools.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu arm-none-eabi-binutils arm-none-eabi-gcc arm-none-eabi-newlib dfu-util
+pacman -Syu --needed git cmake ninja python libusb ctags gcc lsb-release
+pacman -Syu --needed avr-binutils avr-gcc avr-libc
+</pre>
+
+Still more stuff to be installed.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu bind-tools
+pacman -Syu pcsx2
+pacman -Syu xorg-xev
+pacman -Syu lsof strace htop
+pacman -Syu fuse2 fuseiso
+pacman -Syu spectacle
+bb-wrapper -Syu --aur opentx-companion betaflight-configurator
+bb-wrapper -Syu --aur libspnav spacenavd blender
+</pre>
+
+Install CUPS so we can print stuff.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+pacman -Syu cups cups-pdf print-manager system-config-printer
+systemctl enable --now org.cups.cupsd.service
+sudo gpasswd -a $USER sys
+</pre>
+
+Enable Color Emojis (see [this Reddit Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/9q8dlj/how_to_better_enable_color_emojis/)).
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+sudo pacman -S noto-fonts-emoji
+sudo vim /etc/fonts/conf.avail/75-noto-color-emoji.conf
+sudo ln -sf /etc/fonts/conf.avail/75-noto-color-emoji.conf /etc/fonts/conf.d/
+</pre>
+
+Automatically remove old versions of packages in local cache.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+sudo pacman -S pacman-contrib
+sudo systemctl enable --now paccache.timer
+</pre>
+
+Some more stuff that could be useful:
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+# fix for nextcloud aur build error
+export LC_ALL=C
+
+# nas mounts in /etc/fstab
+192.168.0.5:/mnt/Excelsus/Media   /mnt/nas_media   nfs noauto,x-systemd.automount,x-systemd.device-timeout=30,_netdev
+192.168.0.5:/mnt/Excelsus/Misc    /mnt/nas_misc    nfs noauto,x-systemd.automount,x-systemd.device-timeout=30,_netdev
+192.168.0.5:/mnt/Excelsus/Dashcam /mnt/nas_dashcam nfs noauto,x-systemd.automount,x-systemd.device-timeout=30,_netdev
+
+# Auto-update pacman mirrorlist
+# https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/9xmw3a/what_archlinux_tricks_do_you_know_that_you_wish/
+</pre>
+
+This is a nice little tool enabling auto-suggestion of packets when running a command that does not exist.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+sudo bb-wrapper -Syu --aur pkgfile
+sudo pkgfile -u
+sudo systemctl enable --now pkgfile-update.timer
+echo "source /usr/share/doc/pkgfile/command-not-found.zsh" > ~/.zsh
+</pre>
+
+If you want to keep the kernel modules of the currently running kernel after updating it with pacman, run these commands.
+They will add a hook to pacman that copies the modules to a safe location on updates.
+This way, you will still be able to use for example new USB devices without having rebooted after an update.
+
+<pre class="sh_sh">
+sudo bb-wrapper -Syu --aur kernel-modules-hook
+sudo systemctl daemon-reload
+sudo systemctl enable linux-modules-cleanup
+</pre>
+