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Arch Installation / Encrypted Setup / systemd-boot

Mon, Dec 20, 2021

ARCH INSTALLATION / ENCRYPTED SETUP / systemd-boot

This is LVM on LUKS setup based on Arch’s wiki documentation.

Keyboard

$ loadkeys us

Partition

$ lsblk				# List block devices
$ gdisk /dev/nvme0n1		# To partition /dev/nvme0n1
$ o				# Either new or start over
$ y				# Accept
$ n				# Create new partition
$ Enter				# Accept default partition number
$ Enter				# Accept default first sector
$ +512M				# Allocated 512MB for boot partition
$ EF00				# Set type of partition or L to list
$ n				# Create new partition
$ Enter				# Accept default partition number
$ Enter				# Accept default first sector
$ Enter				# Accept default last sector
$ 8300				# Set partition type to LVM
$ w				# Write change
$ y				# Accept
$ cryptsetup luksFormat --type luks2 /dev/nvme0n1p2	# Create encrypted container
$ cryptsetup open /dev/nvme0n1p2 cryptolvm			# Open container
$ pvcreate /dev/mapper/cryptolvm			# Create physical volume
$ vgcreate MyVol /dev/mapper/cryptolvm			# Create MyVol volume group
$ lvcreate -L 2G MyVol -n swap				# Allocated 2GB for swap
$ lvcreate -l 100%FREE MyVol -n root			# Allocated remaining for root
$ mkswap /dev/mapper/MyVol-swap				# Format swap
$ mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/MyVol-root			# Format root
$ swapon /dev/mapper/MyVol-swap				# Mount swap
$ mount /dev/mapper/MyVol-root /mnt			# Mount root
$ mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1				# Format boot
$ mkdir	/mnt/boot					# Create boot directory
$ mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot			# Mount boot

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Wireless

$ wifi-menu

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Install Base System

$ pacstrap /mnt base base-devel

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Configure System

$ genfstab -pU /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab	# Generate fstab

Edit /mnt/etc/fstab and change relatime to noatime for non-boot partitions.

$ arch-chroot /mnt			# chroot

Add hostname to /etc/hostname and /etc/hosts

/etc/hosts

127.0.0.1	localhost
127.0.0.1	hostname.subdomain.domain	hostname

Set time zone:

$ ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Pacific/Auckland /etc/localtime

Uncomment the locale in /etc/locale.gen

$ locale-gen				# Generate locale

Set locale preference by adding LANG=”en_NZ.UTF-8” to /etc/locale.conf

Configure mkinitcpio

Add ext4 to MODULES

Add encrypt lvm2 resume hooks to /etc/mkinitcpio.conf before filesystems and after udev

HOOKS=(base udev autodetect modconf block encrypt lvm2 resume filesystems keyboard fsck)

mkinitcpio and set root password:

$ mkinitcpio -p linux
$ passwd

Install Boot Loader

$ bootctl --path=/boot install

Edit /boot/loader/loader.conf

default lts.conf
timeout 5
editor 0

Use blkid to find the UUID for /dev/nvme0n1p2 and replace the <UUID> below without the bracket.

Edit /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options cryptdevice=UUID=<UUID>:MyVol root=/dev/mapper/MyVol-root resume=/dev/mapper/MyVol-swap rw

Edit /boot/loader/entries/lts.conf

title LTS
linux /vmlinuz-linux-lts
initrd /initramfs-linux-lts.img
options cryptdevice=UUID=<UUID>:MyVol root=/dev/mapper/MyVol-root resume=/dev/mapper/MyVol-swap rw

Wireless

$ pacman -S dialog wpa_supplicant

Umount and Reboot

$ exit			# Exit from chroot environment
$ umount -R /mnt
$ reboot

Create New User

$ useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash daniel
$ passwd daniel
$ usermod -a -G audio,network,power,scanner,storage,systemd-journal,video daniel

The above creates a new user with home directory, change password and add user to additional groups.

Wireless

$ wifi-menu
$ ls /etc/netctl/			# Find the wifi profile
$ netctl enable profile-name		# profile-name as obtained above

Alternatively, a better approach is as follows rather than enabling profile:

$ sudo pacman -S ifplugd					# Wired
$ sudo systemctl enable netctl-ifplugd@interface.service	# substitute interface with the value obtained from ip a
$ sudo systemctl enable netctl-auto@interface.service		# substitute interface with the value obtained from ip a

References:

netctl: Enabling a profile
netctl: Special systemd units: wired / wireless

Sudo

$ pacman -S sudo

Run visudo, edit it to restrict sudo to specific group or user.

Additional Install

Install yay from AUR.

Audio

$ sudo pacman -S alsa-utils
$ amixer sset Master unmute		# ALSA comes muted by default.

Create /etc/modprobe.d/disablePower.conf

options snd_hda_intel power_save=0

Mesa

Edit /etc/enviroment

MESA_LOADER_DRIVER_OVERRIDE=i965

Restore

Restore home from GFS backup.

SYS backup is available for configuration reference if needed but do not restore straight from it since that will wipe newer configurations for fresh build.

$ sudo pacman -S - < pkglist.txt	# Install all packages from backup list

Do the same for AUR with yay.

Extra Configuration

Bluetooth

Edit /etc/bluetooth/main.conf and add the following line.

AutoEnable=true

$ sudo systemctl enable bluetooth.service

Enable bluetooth service then pair devices.

PulseAudio (Deprecated, replaced by PipeWire)

Left here for reference.

Edit /etc/pulse/system.pa and add the following lines.

load-module module-bluetooth-policy
load-module module-bluetooth-discover

Edit /etc/pulse/default.pa and add the following line.

load-module module-switch-on-connect

If cookie not found then cp ~/.pulse-cookie ~/.config/pulse/cookie

CUPS

Install, enable and start CUPS

$ sudo pacman -S cups
$ sudo systemctl enable org.cups.cupsd.service
$ sudo systemctl start org.cups.cupsd.service

Run sudo usermod -a -G lp daniel to add to lp group.
Run sudo usermod -a -G cups daniel to add to cups group.

Append wheel to SystemGroup sys root in /etc/cups/cups-files.conf

At this point, re-logon for the permission to be effective.

$ yay -S brother-mfc-l2713dw
$ yay -S brscan4

Install printer and scanner drivers.

Browse to http://localhost:631, go to Administration -> Add Printer
Select LPD/LPR Host or Printer
Enter lpd://(Your printer’s IP address)/binary_p1
Select Brother
Select the printer driver, which should already be automatically selected. It’s the CUPS version.
Name the printer.

Then go to Printers, select the printer, drop down Administration and select Set Default Options, set A4, Plain Paper, 600dpi, Tray1, DuplexNoTumble, Toner Save to Off. And again drop down Administration and select Set As Server Default.

For scanning:

$ brsaneconfig4 -a name=(name your device) model=(model name) ip=xx.xx.xx.xx

Use gscan2pdf:

Untick OCR scanned pages
Select All pages
Leave Mode as default
Change Geometry from Manual to A4

gscan2pdf will need yay -S pdftk-bin

Even though org.cups.cupsd.service has been enabled, it won’t auto start on boot.
Just do a test print, that will activate the auto start on boot.

NTP

$ sudo systemctl enable ntpd.service

Optional

iOS

$ usbmuxd -f -v
$ idevice_id -l
$ ideviceinfo
$ ideviceinstaller -l
$ ifuse ~/iPhone
$ umount ~/iPhone

Power Management

Desktop

$ pacman -S thermald
$ sudo systemctl enable thermald.service

Laptop

$ yay -S powertop thermald cpupower mbpfan-git tlp
$ powertop --calibrate
$ sudo systemctl enable powertop.service
$ sudo systemctl enable thermald.service
$ sudo systemctl enable cpupower.service
$ sudo systemctl enable mbpfan.service
$ sudo systemctl enable tlp.service
$ sudo systemctl enable tlp-sleep.service

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2022-05-31 [1]
2022-06-16 [1] [2]

For BCM4360 wireless network adapter, install broadcom-wl-dkms and linux-headers. Then reboot before trying wifi-menu.

Suspend works out of the box.

References:

Broadcom wireless
WiFi
Suspend
Mid 2013

Notes

2021-12-20

[1] Partition

For dual boot, in my case, tested working with Macbook Air.

sda1 EFI /boot # This is Mac's EFI, sharing it with Linux)
sad2 MAC
sda3 EFI       # Left blank
sda4 LUKS
|-MyVol
  |- MyVol-swap [SWAP]
  |- MyVol-root /

[2] Wireless

netctl is no longer included by default. Use ethernet or install netctl package.

$ pacman -S netctl

[3] Install Base System

Edit /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist so that the preferred mirror is on top of the list.

$ pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware mkinitcpio lvm2 netctl \
	dhcpcd

linux, linux-firmware, mkinitcpio lvm2 and netctl are no longer included by default so have to install them explicitly.

[4] Laptop

$ yay -S powertop laptop-mode-tools cpupower thermald mbpfan-git
$ sudo pacman -S acpi acpid
$ powertop --calibrate

Edit /etc/systemd/system/powertop.service

[Unit]
Description=Powertop tunings

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/powertop --auto-tune

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

$ sudo systemctl enable powertop.service

Edit /etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf

ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_ON_AC=1
ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_WHEN_LID_CLOSED=1

Edit /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/cpufreq.conf

CONTROL_CPU_FREQUENCY=0

Edit /etc/laptop-mode/conf.d/intel_pstate.conf

CONTROL_INTEL_PSTATE=0

$ sudo systemctl enable laptop-mode.service
$ sudo systemctl enable acpid.service

Edit /etc/default/cpupower

governor='powersave'
max_freq="1.3GHz"

$ sudo systemctl enable cpupower.service
$ sudo systemctl enable thermald.service

Edit /usr/lib/systemd/system/mbpfan.service

ExecStart=/usr/sbin/mbpfan -f

$ sudo systemctl enable mbpfan.service
$ sudo pacman -S broadcom-wl-dkms linux-headers # linux-headers package is not required but installed it anyway
$ sudo rmmod b43 ssb bcma wl                    # Either this or reboot
$ sudo modprobe wl

2022-05-31

[1] Desktop / Laptop

power-profile-daemon simplifies power management.

$ pacman -S thermald power-profiles-daemon upower
$ sudo systemctl enable thermald.service
$ sudo systemctl enable power-profiles-daemon.service
$ sudo systemctl enable upower.service

2022-06-16

[1] Nvidia

$ pacman -S nvidia nvidia-lts nvidia-utils nvidia-settings nvidia-prime \
	mesa-utils virtualgl

Use nvidia-smi to check offloading and wattage.
Use prime-run if need to explicitly use nvidia.
Some programs will do that automatically such as mpv.
Otherwise, they default to the integrated GPU.
For Intel, that’s i915.

[2] Slock

Lock on suspend

Create /etc/systemd/system/slock@.service

[Unit]
Description=Lock X session using slock for user %i
Before=sleep.target

[Service]
User=%i
Environment=DISPLAY=:0
ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/xset dpms force suspend
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/slock

[Install]
WantedBy=sleep.target

$ sudo systemctl enable slock@user.service

Substitute user with value from echo $USER