This project is deprecated and unmaintained.
If you're looking for a guided/automated Arch Linux installer, use the official archinstall project.
A bash script I made to automate my Arch Linux VMs installations.
It is easy to adapt to your needs/preferences (guide down below).
An internet connection is needed to use this script (which is required to install Arch Linux anyway).
WARNING
Disk partitioning is NOT currently handled by this script.
It may be handled in the future, if I find a good implementation for that feature.
For now, you'll need to create your own partitions AND filesystems BEFORE using this script (refer to the "Disk partitioning example" section down below).
Also, keep in mind that this script is meant to install Arch-Linux on a UEFI/EFI system.
Type the following command in your terminal :
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Antiz96/Arch-Linux-Install-Script/main/install-arch-linux.sh -O && chmod +x install-arch-linux.sh
To configure the script according to your needs/preferences, you just have to edit it with your preferred text editor (vi, vim, nano, etc...) :
vim install-arch-linux.sh
All you need to do is to edit the different variables that are defined from line 28 to line 70, according to your needs/preferences.
Here's a recap board of all the variables that you can (and should) edit :
| Variable Name | Line | Default Value | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROOT_PART | 32 | /dev/sda3 | Defines the disk partition on which the system will be installed. You can list your current partitions with the "fdisk -l" command. |
| BOOT_PART | 35 | /dev/sda1 | Defines the disk partition on which the bootloader (GRUB) will be installed. You can list your current partitions with the "fdisk -l" command. |
| KERNEL | 38 | linux | Defines the linux kernel that will be installed on your system. You can choose between "linux" (latest linux kernel) or "linux-lts" (long term support linux kernel). |
| TIMEZONE | 41 | Europe/Paris | Defines the timezone to configure in the system. You can list available timezones in the directory tree located in "/usr/share/zoneinfo". |
| LANGUAGE | 44 | fr_FR.UTF-8 | Defines the language to configure in the system. You can list available languages by reading the "/etc/locale.gen" file. You need to get rid of the last "*space* UTF-8" at the end. Example : fr_FR.UTF-8 |
| KEYMAP | 47 | fr | Defines the keyboard layout to configure in the system. You can list available keyboard layouts with the "localectl list-keymaps" command. |
| HOSTNAME | 50 | Arch-Linux | Defines the hostname to apply to your computer. |
| ROOT_PWD | 53 | 123456 | Defines the password for the root user. |
| USER_NAME | 56 | user1 | Defines the username of your user. |
| USER_PWD | 59 | 1234 | Defines the password of your user. |
| CPU | 62 | intel-ucode | Defines the CPU driver to install. You can choose between "intel-ucode" (for Intel CPU) or "amd-ucode" (for AMD CPU). |
| GPU | 65 | nvidia | Defines the GPU driver to install. You can choose between "nvidia" (for Nvidia GPU and Linux kernel), "nvidia-lts" (for Nvidia GPU and Linux-lts kernel) or "mesa" (for AMD GPU or Intel graphics). |
| PACKAGES | 69 | networkmanager vim base-devel linux-headers bash-completion xorg gnome | Defines the additional packages to install (such as useful packages for the system, Desktop environment, display manager, etc... Don't forget to modify the "systemctl enable" part depending on your choices. If you don't know what to put in this variable, just leave it as default. The default value contains necessary and useful packages for the system and the Gnome Desktop environment. |
Once you edited the variables according to your needs/preferences, you can launch the script by typing the following command :
./install-arch-linux.sh
Once the script has launched, you just need to press "enter" after you read the displayed information. The script will take care of the rest.
If you haven't configured the script or did the disk partitioning/filesystem part yet, you can press "ctrl + c" to quit the script and do so before relaunching it.
Disk partitioning is NOT currently handled by this script.
It may be handled in the future, if I find a good implementation for that feature.
For now, you'll need to create your own partitions AND filesystems BEFORE using this script.
Also, keep in mind that this script is meant to install Arch-Linux on a UEFI/EFI system.
I will not write a full tutorial on how to create your partitions and filesystem (resources are available all over the internet), but I'll show you how I personally do it.
I usually create 3 partitions :
| Partition Number | Size | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 550M | Boot Partition to install the GRUB bootloader on it. |
| 2 | 4G | Swap Partition. This partition is not mandatory, although I recommend doing it. The size of this partition may differ depending on the size of your RAM. Check this link for more details. |
| 3 | All left free space | Root Partition to install my system on it, software, etc... |
Listing my disk(s) to select the one I want to install Arch Linux on :
root@archiso ~ # fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 50 GiB, 53687091200 bytes, 104857600 sectors --> The disk I want to install Arch Linux on is called "/dev/sda". You might have more than one disk ("/dev/sdb", "/dev/sdc", etc...) depending on your configuration, so make sure you selected the right one. Also, your disk can have a different name pattern. For instance, SSD NVME are usually called "/dev/nvme0n1".
Disk model: VBOX HARDDISK
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop0: 662.07 MiB, 694231040 bytes, 1355920 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Partitioning my disk :
You can press "m" at any time in fdisk to display the help. Changes will only be applied when you'll press "w". You can press "q" at any time to discard changes.
The following steps will completely erase all data on the selected disk, so make sure you have a valid save of things you want to keep.
root@archiso ~ # fdisk /dev/sda
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.37.1).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
Device does not contain a recognized partition table.
Created a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0xfc97131c.
Command (m for help): o --> Delete all current partitions.
Created a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0xc4767950.
Command (m for help): g --> Create a new GTP partition table.
Created a new GPT disklabel (GUID: BEEE4FE3-5DC8-9743-917C-94F934651527).
Command (m for help): n --> Create a new partition.
Partition number (1-128, default 1): --> Creation of the first partition, which is the one selected by default. You can either type "1" to specify the partition number, or press "enter" to use the default value (which is the same here).
First sector (2048-104857566, default 2048): --> Leave this as default by pressing "enter".
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (2048-104857566, default 104857566): +550M --> Select the size of the partition by typing "+" followed by the value and the unit. Here, we're creating a 550 megabytes partition.
Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 550 MiB.
Command (m for help): n --> Create a new partition.
Partition number (2-128, default 2): --> Creation of the second partition, which is the one selected by default. You can either type "2" to specify the partition number, or press "enter" to use the default value (which is the same here).
First sector (1128448-104857566, default 1128448): --> Leave this as default by pressing "enter".
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (1128448-104857566, default 104857566): +4G --> Select the size of the partition. Here, we're creating a 4 gigabytes partition.
Created a new partition 2 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 4 GiB.
Command (m for help): n --> Create a new partition.
Partition number (3-128, default 3): --> Creation of the third partition, which is the one selected by default. You can either type "3" to specify the partition number, or press "enter" to use the default value (which is the same here).
First sector (9517056-104857566, default 9517056): --> Leave this as default by pressing "enter".
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (9517056-104857566, default 104857566): --> As we want to assign all the left space available to this partition, press "enter" to leave this as default.
Created a new partition 3 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 45.5 GiB.
Command (m for help): t --> The three partitions are now created, we will assign them a specific type by typing "t".
Partition number (1-3, default 3): 1 --> Select partition "1" by typing "1".
Partition type or alias (type L to list all): 1 --> Select the code associated to the type you want (you can display them by typing "L"). The boot partition has to have an "EFI" type, which is associated to code 1. Type "1".
Changed type of partition 'Linux filesystem' to 'EFI System'.
Command (m for help): t --> Press "t" once again to change the partition "2" type.
Partition number (1-3, default 3): 2 --> Select partition "2" by typing "2".
Partition type or alias (type L to list all): 19 --> The swap partition has to have a "swap" type, which is associated to code 19. Type "19"
Changed type of partition 'Linux filesystem' to 'Linux swap'.
Command (m for help): p --> We do not need to change the partition 3 type as the default type is "Linux filesystem" (code 20) which is the one we want for the third partition. Now we're gonna print the result to check if everything is ok by typing "p".
Disk /dev/sda: 50 GiB, 53687091200 bytes, 104857600 sectors
Disk model: VBOX HARDDISK
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: BEEE4FE3-5DC8-9743-917C-94F934651527
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 1128447 1126400 550M EFI System
/dev/sda2 1128448 9517055 8388608 4G Linux swap
/dev/sda3 9517056 104857566 95340511 45.5G Linux filesystem
Command (m for help): w --> If everything is ok, type "w" to save and apply changes. If you didn't set your partitions correctly, press "q" to quit without saving the changes and redo this whole part again.
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
Creating the filesystems
root@archiso ~ # mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1 --> Creating the "FAT32" filesystem for the boot partition.
mkfs.fat 4.2 (2021-01-31)
root@archiso ~ # mkswap /dev/sda2 --> Creating the "swap" filesystem for the swap partition.
Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 4 GiB (4294963200 bytes)
no label, UUID=c18a338d-4047-46f7-b08c-04e8709e8123
root@archiso ~ # swapon /dev/sda2 --> Activating the swap partition.
root@archiso ~ # mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3 --> Creating the "ext4" filesystem (which is the "default" one on Linux) for the root partition.
mke2fs 1.46.3 (27-Jul-2021)
Creating filesystem with 11917563 4k blocks and 2981888 inodes
Filesystem UUID: a3e46736-f2fb-4c35-9dd5-2b3bfc681dca
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
4096000, 7962624, 11239424
Allocating group tables: done
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (65536 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
You are now ready to launch the script, it will take care of the rest !
Don't forget to edit the "ROOT_PART" and "BOOT_PART" variables in the script according to the way you did your disk partitioning.
This script has been entirely written with bash.
An internet connection is needed to use this script (which is required to install Arch Linux anyway).
The disk partitioning part is not currently handled by this script, so you need to do your disk partitioning and filesystems yourself before using it.