Arch Linux VM Setup

arch_linux_vm_setup.md

Arch Linux VM Setup

Beginner's Guide

Following the steps found on the Arch wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_Guide

• set font

  setfont Lat2-Terminus16

• set up locale

  vi /etc/locale.gen

  • un comment line with "en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8"

• test network

  ping -c 3 www.google.com

• check interface

  ip link

  • copy down name of interface (enp0s3)

• partition drive

  cgdisk /dev/sda

• format partition

  mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1

• mount partiton

  mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

• install the base

  pacstrap -i /mnt base

• Generate an fstab

  genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab 
  vi /mnt/etc/fstab

• Chroot and configure the base system

  arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash

  vi /etc/locale.gen

  • un comment line with "en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8"

  echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
  export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

  vi /etc/vconsole.conf

  • Add FONT=Lat2-Terminus16

  ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/CST6CDT /etc/localtime

  hwclock --systohc --utc

• Hostname

  echo arch-vm > /etc/hostname

• Configure the network (Wired using netctl)

  #systemctl enable dhcpcd.service
  systemctl enable dhcpcd@enp0s3.service
  
  #cd /etc/netctl
  #cp examples/etherenet-static my-network
  #vi my-network  # didn't need anything
  #netctl enable my-network

• Create an initial ramdisk environment

  mkinitcpio -p linux

• Set the root password

  passwd

  • (1 to 2)

• Install and configure a bootloader

  pacman -S gptfdisk syslinux
  syslinux-install_update -i -a -m

  • Above causes "FAILED to set attribute Legacy BIOS Bootable on /dev/sdaX" unless gdisk is installed.

• edit syslinux.cfg and change /dev/sda3 to /dev/sda1

  vi /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

    ...
      LABEL arch
        ...
          APPEND root=/dev/sda1 ro
          ...
    

• Unmount the partitions and reboot (remove media from virtual dvd)

  exit
  umount /mnt
  reboot

Install the Guest Additions (VirtualBox)

• Download at: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VirtualBox#Arch_Linux_guests

  pacman -S virtualbox-guest-utils
  modprobe -a vboxguest vboxsf vboxvideo

  vi /etc/modules-load.d/virtualbox.conf

  • Add the following to the above file

    vboxguest
    vboxsf
    vboxvideo
    

• keep date and time in sync

  systemctl enable vboxservice.service
  systemctl start vboxservice.service

Sound setup

• Install ALSA Utils

  pacman -S alsa-utils

• More info here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Advanced_Linux_Sound_Architecture#Unmuting_the_channels

• Configure sound

  • bring up ALSA Mixer in terminal

    alsa-mixer

  • right and left arrows select channels

  • unmute Master and PCM channels (MM = mute, OO = open) by pressing "m"

  • run up volume all the way with up arrow

  • hit esc

• Test sound

speaker-test -c 2

Install X Windows

pacman -S xorg-server xorg-server-utils xorg-xinit
pacman -S xorg-twm xorg-xclock xterm

Add User

useradd -m -g users -s /bin/bash pete
passwd pete

• petu...
• setup sudo

  • Based on: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sudo

    pacman -S sudo
    visudo

    • add the following in visudo

      pete ALL=(ALL) ALL

    • login as new user on another virtual terminal

    • setup X for user

       cp /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc ~/.xinitrc
       vi ~/.xinitrc

    • Add the following line to the top of ~/.xinitrc above any exec options. This adds VirtualBox functionality to X so the vm window can be resized, etc.

      /usr/bin/VBoxClient-all

    • change last few lines

      twm &
      exec xterm -geometry 30x30+0+0 -name login

Update everything

  pacman -Syu

Install xfce

Based on: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xfce

• Install xfce

  sudo pacman -S xfce4

  • hit enter to default to installing all packages

  • select mesa-libgl

  • test it

    startxfce4

Setup to build/install AUR packages

sudo pacman -Su fakeroot
sudo pacman -Su binutils	

Install vim

sudo pacman -Su gvim

Add the following to .bashrc

export TERM=xterm-256color

Install Fonts

• Xorg fonts

  sudo pacman -Su xorg-fonts-type1

• Google fonts

  curl "https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/tt/ttf-google-fonts-git/ttf-google-fonts-git.tar.gz" > ttf-google-fonts-git.tar.gz
  tar -xzvf ttf-google-fonts-git.tar.gz
  cd ttf-google-fonts-git
  makepkg -s
  sudo pacman -U ttf-google-fonts-git-20131111-1-any.pkg.tar.xz 

Installed

sudo pacman -Syu
sudo pacman -Su emacs
sudo pacman -Su git
sudo pacman -Su firefox
sudo pacman -Su openssh
sudo pacman -Su net-tools
sudo pacman -Su gvim
ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "pete@simpli.fi"