Arch Linux reinstall script

Thu, Feb 14, 2019

To suit my personal preferences and diverting package choices compared to stock arch linux I have created a simple reinstall script to suit my needs.

goal

The goal is to have a somewhat uniform way of installing my machines and have full disk encryption for root. Here the unlock key is stored on a portable usb device for additional security. You can argue about the added value over a password, but I like it this way.

The script should also enable me to install a new machine fairly quickly without having to do all the things manually. So if I want to use Deepin desktop, Plasma desktop, i3 or fluxbox, I want to get a working set of packages which I can start working with. Eventually there might be packages I need to do something extra, but I just tried to have a sane default for myself.

choices

I made some choices for myself how I want to install my machines.

• filesystem: xfs or btrfs
• bootloader: grub
• default user: ike
• keyboard layout: belgian

My preferred filesystems are xfs and btrfs. For a default install I will probably use xfs, but if I want to have snapshots and other customizability I will pick btrfs. Before I was using syslinux or refind as bootloader, but because this added additional complexity I switched back to grub, this allows for installs on msdos (bios) or gpt (EFI) the same way.

How to use

Prepare

• download the iso somewhere
• put the iso on a usb or cd
• boot your system with the iso

Basic live env setup

keyboard setup

If you need to change your keyboard layout like me, first thing to run is

$ loadkeys be-latin1

Or loadkeys with your keymap.

wifi

Configure wifi if needed

$ wifi-menu

prepare usb ‘key’ device

If you have an empty device you also have to format it.

$ mkfs.ext2 -L keydrive /dev/sdb1

Make the /media/usb directory.

$ mkdir -p /media/usb

And then mount the usb ‘key’ device to /media/usb

$ mount /dev/sdb1 /media/usb

Installation

Check some things

• what will be my root disk (sda, nvme1)
• will I do EFI boot or BIOS boot

get the archlinux-reinstall repo

We need git to get the archlinux-reinstall repo

$ pacman -Sy git

clone the repo

$ git clone https://github.com/BlackIkeEagle/archlinux-reinstall.git

Go into the new folder and run ‘a’ installer (see installer types)

$ cd archlinux-reinstall
$ ./install.sh

The script will ask 6 questions and then run almost until you can reboot.

• Which blockdevice (pass it without leading /dev/)
• efi or legacy boot
• btrfs or xfs
• nvme disk? (nvme disks add a ‘p’ for the partitions)
• checkblocks (do you first want to run checkblocks on the device)
• root password (at the end of the run)

If you run as described above you will get a minimal install of archlinux with my preferred kernel and configuration.

reboot and post install

Reboot and remove the installation medium.

when logged in as root, first run ./post-install-first-run.sh. And then continue configuring whatever you want. The inital password for the ike user is set expired so you have to pick a new password on first login. Also this first login should better be done before trying to login with a display manager.

installer types

install.sh

This is just a minimal working system with xfs or btrfs.

install-plasma.sh

Install Plasma desktop with the required packages to have a nice working Plasma environment.

install-deepin.sh

Install Deepin desktop the way I think it works properly without installing everything of the deepin group.

install-i3.sh

Installs i3 with some extra packages for desktopish operation. This comes without display manager because I use it with startx.

install-fluxbox.sh

Installs fluxbox with extra packages for desktop use.

Closing

I made this just for me, if you find it usefull feel free to use it. You might need to to some customizations to suit your needs.