Arch Linux "LVM on LUKS" setup

INSTALL_Arch_cryptsetup.md

Arch Linux "LVM on LUKS" setup

• Download ISO and verify signatures.

• Boot and select "Boot Arch Linux (x86_64)".

• If you're on a WiFi-only network, connect via iwctl:

iwctl
device list
station <device> scan
station <device> get-networks
station <device> connect "<SSID>"
quit

• Make sure network is available:

ping archlinux.org

• Enable NTP:

timedatectl set-ntp true

• Check available disks:

lsblk

• Create partitions for boot and encryption (replace /dev/sda with the desired disk!):

fdisk /dev/sda
p
[If needed, use d to delete any old partitions.]
n
p
1
<Enter>
+200M
[If needed, confirm signature deletion with y.]
n
p
2
<Enter>
<Enter>
w

• Create encrypted LUKS container (replace /dev/sda with the desired disk!):

cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sda2
cryptsetup open /dev/sda2 cryptlvm

• Create LVM volumes (adjust volume sizes to available space!):

pvcreate /dev/mapper/cryptlvm
vgcreate Linux /dev/mapper/cryptlvm
lvcreate -L 24G Linux -n swap
lvcreate -L 100G Linux -n root
lvcreate -l 100%FREE Linux -n home

• Format and mount volumes:

mkswap /dev/Linux/swap
mkfs.ext4 /dev/Linux/root
mkfs.ext4 /dev/Linux/home

swapon /dev/Linux/swap
mount /dev/Linux/root /mnt
mkdir /mnt/home
mount /dev/Linux/home /mnt/home

• Prepare boot partition (replace /dev/sda with the desired disk!):

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

• Install essential packages:

pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware

• Generate file system table:

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

• Switch to newly installed system:

arch-chroot /mnt

• Install manpages:

pacman -S man-db man-pages texinfo

• Install text editor:

pacman -S vim

• Set up timezone if needed:

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc

• Edit /etc/locale.gen and uncomment desired locales:

vim /etc/locale.gen

• Generate locale(s):

locale-gen

• Set desired default locale, e.g.:

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

• Set desired hostname, e.g.:

echo arch >/etc/hostname

• Add hosts entries:

echo 127.0.0.1 localhost >>/etc/hosts
echo ::1 localhost >>/etc/hosts
echo 127.0.1.1 arch >>/etc/hosts

• Set up DHCP if desired:

pacman -S dhcpcd
systemctl enable dhcpcd

• For WiFi, consider installing wifi-menu, too:

pacman -S netctl dialog wpa_supplicant

• Install and load modules required for cryptsetup in initial ramdisk:

pacman -S lvm2
vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

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

• Apply initramfs configuration:

mkinitcpio -P

• Install GRUB (replace /dev/sda with the desired disk!):

pacman -S grub
grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda

• Set GRUB defaults and create configuration (replace <device-uuid> with the UUID of the second partition of the desired disk according to lsblk -f!):

vim /etc/default/grub
...
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="cryptdevice=UUID=<device-uuid>:cryptlvm root=/dev/Linux/root"
...

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

• Set the root password:

passwd

• Boot into the new system (remove install medium):

exit
reboot

(Log in as root.)

• If you're on a WiFi-only network, connect via wifi-menu.

• Make sure network is available:

ping archlinux.org

• Add sudo user:

useradd -m -g wheel arch
passwd arch

• Install sudo:

pacman -S sudo
EDITOR=vim visudo

...
%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL
...

• Install alternative shell if desired:

pacman -S zsh
chsh -s /usr/bin/zsh root
chsh -s /usr/bin/zsh arch

• Install X, fonts and terminal emulator if desired:

pacman -S xorg-server xorg-xinit
# pacman -S ttf-linux-libertine ttf-inconsolata
pacman -S noto-fonts noto-fonts-emoji
pacman -S alacritty

• Install window manager, e.g. bspwm:

pacman -S bspwm sxhkd
mkdir -p ~/.config/bspwm
mkdir -p ~/.config/sxhkd
cp /usr/share/doc/bspwm/examples/bspwmrc ~/.config/bspwm
cp /usr/share/doc/bspwm/examples/sxhkdrc ~/.config/sxhkd
sed -i s/urxvt/alacritty/ ~/.config/sxhkd/sxhkdrc
echo exec bspwm >~/.xinitrc

• Run X:

exec startx -- -nolisten tcp

• Useful basic packages:

pacman -S git openssh base-devel

• yay for installing AUR packages:

https://github.com/Jguer/yay#installation

• Browser, e.g.:

yay -S brave-bin

• For building dwm:

pacman -S libxinerama
yay -S libxft-bgra