Arch install on MBR with LVM on LUKS

arch-mbr.md

Arch Linux MBR with LVM on LUKS

Document is from mjnaderi

Warning: This document is only intended for myself as documentation of the steps I took when installing Arch Linux in BIOS/MBR mode with LVM on LUKS, without ethernet, using wifi only.

Please use the official guide when installing on your system,

Note: the boot partition is not encrypted with this approach.

Installation

/dev/sda is the system disk, and /dev/sdb is the USB.

Flash the USB drive:

	# dd if=arch.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync

Set boot mode to "Legacy" in BIOS and boot from USB.

Used iwd to connect to wifi from live USB:

	# iwctl
	(iwd) device list
	(iwd) station device scan
	(iwd) station device get-networks
	(iwd) station device connect SSID
	ctrl+c to send EOF and exit

Update system clock

	# timedatectl set-ntp true 

Partitioning with fdisk

    # fdisk /dev/sda

Create an empty MBR partition table (**WARNING:** This will erase entire disk)

    (fdisk) o

Create 2 primary partitions (/dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2).

    (fdisk) n
    (fdisk) p
    (fdisk) 1
    (fdisk) <Enter>
    (fdisk) +256M
    (fdisk) t
    (fdisk) 83
    
    (fdisk) n
    (fdisk) p
    (fdisk) 2
    (fdisk) <Enter>
    (fdisk) <Enter>
    (fdisk) t
    (fdisk) 83        
 
    (fdisk) w (Write Changes)

Format boot partition:

    mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1

Setup encryption

    # cryptsetup -c aes-xts-plain64 -y --use-random luksFormat /dev/sda2
    # cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda2 luks

Create LVM partitions with one volume group

    # pvcreate /dev/mapper/luks
    # vgcreate vg0 /dev/mapper/luks
    # lvcreate -L 8G vg0 -n swap
    # lvcreate -L 80G vg0 -n root
    # lvcreate -l +100%FREE vg0 -n home

Format LVM partitions

    # mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/vg0-root
    # mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/vg0-home
    # mkswap /dev/mapper/vg0-swap

Mount the new system

    # mount /dev/mapper/vg0-root /mnt
    # mkdir /mnt/boot
    # mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
    # swapon /dev/mapper/vg0-swap

Install base system and some useful packages for a first run, especially for wifi

    # pacstrap -i /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware openssh vim git iwd nano man-db man-pages lvm2 sudo dhcpcd

Generate /etc/fstab.

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

Enter the new system

    # arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash

Set TimeZone

    See available timezones:
    # ls /usr/share/zoneinfo/
    
    Set timezone:
    # ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Stockholm /etc/localtime

Set Locale and Keymap

    # nano /etc/locale.gen (uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 and sv_SE.UTF-8 UTF-8)
    # locale-gen
    # echo LANG=sv_SE.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
	# export LANG=sv_SE.UTF-8
	# echo KEYMAP=sv-latin1 > /etc/vconsole.conf

Set the hardware clock mode

    # hwclock --systohc --utc

Set hostname

    # echo myhostname > /etc/hostname

Add it to /etc/hosts:

    127.0.0.1	localhost
    ::1			localhost
    127.0.1.1	myhostname.localdomain	myhostname

Create User

    # useradd -m -g users -G wheel -s /bin/bash myusername
    # passwd myusername
    # EDITOR=nano visudo
    uncomment %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL

Configure mkinitcpio with modules needed for the initrd image

    # vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
    Add 'ext4' to MODULES
    Add 'encrypt' and 'lvm2' to HOOKS before 'filesystems'
	Add 'keymap' to HOOKS after 'keyboard'

Regenerate initrd image

    # mkinitcpio -p linux

Setup grub

    # pacman -S grub
    # grub-install --target=i386-pc --recheck /dev/sda
    
In /etc/default/grub edit the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX to:
    
    GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="cryptdevice=/dev/sda2:luks:allow-discards"
	
[Tip] To automatically search for other operating systems on your computer,
install os-prober (pacman -S os-prober) before running the next command.
	
    # grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Exit new system and unmount all partitions

    # exit
    # umount -R /mnt
    # swapoff -a

Reboot into the new system

    # reboot

Connect to internet

Start and enable iwd.service and connect again with iwct

Create file `/etc/systemd/network/20-wired.network`:

    [Match]
    Name=en*
    Name=eth*
    
    [Network]
    DHCP=yes

Create file `/etc/systemd/network/25-wireless.network`:

	[Match]
	Name=wlan0

	[Network]
	DHCP=yes

Restart `systemd-networkd` and `systemd-resolved`:

    # systemctl restart systemd-networkd systemd-resolved
    # ping archlinux.org

Restart `systemd-networkd` and `systemd-resolved` again if required

System is installed, time for DE.

Install Xorg server

    # pacman -S xorg-server

Install graphics driver (Arch wiki). My graphics driver was xf86-video-intel

    # pacman -S xf86-video-intel

Install Gnome Display Manager and Gnome Desktop.

    # pacman -S gnome gdm
    # pacman -S gnome-extra

Enable GDM service

    # systemctl enable gdm

Reboot!