# Arch Linux Setup
This documentation assumes you've booted in to the arch ISO using a USB drive or some other method.

### Connect to Wi-Fi (if needed)

# Verify no internet access
ping -c 2 google.com

# Connect to wifi using iwctl
iwctl
device list
station wlan0 scan
station wlan0 get-networks
station wlan0 connect <ssid>
station wlan0 show
exit

# Verify internet access
ping -c 2 google.com

### Partitioning / Install

# Verify you have EFI
ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

# Use fdisk to create partitions
#
# EXISTING:
# /dev/nvme0n1p1    (windows EFI)            vfat
# 
# CREATE:
# /dev/nvme0n1p5    (~50% of RAM)            swap
# /dev/nvme0n1p6    (40GB for linux)         ext4
# /dev/nvme0n1p7    (Remaining for /home)    ext4

# Final product
lsblk
NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
nvme0n1     259:0    0 476.9G  0 disk 
├─nvme0n1p1 259:1    0   260M  0 part /boot
├─nvme0n1p2 259:2    0    16M  0 part 
├─nvme0n1p3 259:3    0 114.6G  0 part 
├─nvme0n1p4 259:4    0  1000M  0 part 
├─nvme0n1p5 259:5    0     8G  0 part [SWAP]
├─nvme0n1p6 259:6    0    40G  0 part /
└─nvme0n1p7 259:7    0 313.1G  0 part /home

# Setup swap and filesystems
mkswap /dev/nvme0n1p5
mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p6
mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p7

# Enable swap and mount partitions
swapon /dev/nvme0n1p5
mount /dev/nvme0n1p6 /mnt

mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot

mkdir /mnt/home
mount /dev/nvme0n1p7 /mnt/home

# Install arch along with some important packages
pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware vim

# Save mounted drives to automate on boot
genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

### Boot Loader
Install `bootctl` along-side EFI in `/boot`:

arch-chroot /mnt
bootctl install

You'll need the UUID for the root linux partition. For example, if the root linux partition is `/dev/sda2`, you can acquire the UUID by running `blkid /dev/sda2`. Place the UUID in a boot loader entry file like so:

# /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options root="UUID=<uuid_without_brackets>" rw

Lastly, create a loader config file to set the new entry to the default:

# /boot/loader/loader.conf

timeout 3
default arch.conf

NOTE: You might need to reinstall the kernel `pacman -S linux` if you've installed to the `/boot` mount before:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=235590

### General Setup

# If not already:
arch-chroot /mnt

# Set root password
passwd

# Auto-detect network devices
pacman -S networkmanager
systemctl enable NetworkManager

# Set a hostname
vim /etc/hostname

# Setup locales by uncommenting "en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8"
vim /etc/locale.gen

# Generate locales and configure its use
locale-gen
echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf

# Set timezone
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime

exit
reboot

### Setup user account
You should now be able to boot in to arch and login as the `root` user. You should setup your own user. For example, to create a user called `chris`:

pacman -S sudo
useradd -m chris
passwd chris
usermod -aG wheel chris
vim /etc/sudoers
# Uncomment
%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL

### Installing a desktop environment
There are several different avenues you can go. This example installs the `cinnamon` desktop environment and uses the GNOME Display Manager (`gdm`):

# Install cinnamon and a file browser like nemo
sudo pacman -S cinnamon nemo-preview

# Install a terminal. For example:
sudo pacman -S guake

# Install / start the display manager
sudo pacman -S gdm
sudo systemctl enable gdm
sudo systemctl start gdm

***NOTE**: For laptops with both a dedicated NVIDIA card and integrated Intel card, you'll want to leverage the [PRIME](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PRIME) technology for hybrid graphics to allow simultaneous use of the HDMI output and laptop monitor. As such, you'll want to use a patched version of `gdm` called `gdm-prime`*:

# Uninstall gdm if neccessary
sudo pacman -R gdm

# For those needing hybrid graphics
sudo pacman -S gdm-prime optimus-manager-git optimus-manager-qt-git
sudo systemctl enable gdm-prime
sudo systemctl start gdm-prime

### Configuring Mirrors

# Install rankmirrors
sudo pacman -S pacman-contrib

# Backup original mirrorlist
cd /etc/pacman.d
sudo mv mirrorlist mirrorlist.orig

Create a new empty `mirrorlist` with the following content

##
## Arch Linux repository mirrorlist
## Filtered by mirror score from mirror status page
## Generated on 2022-04-28
##

## United States

Fetch the top 5 up-to-date mirrors in the US using `rankmirrors`:

MIRRORS_URL="https://archlinux.org/mirrorlist/?country=US&protocol=https&use_mirror_status=on"

# Append top 5 mirrors
sudo sh -c "curl -s '$MIRRORS_URL' | \
  sed -e 's/^#Server/Server/' -e '/^#/d' | \
  rankmirrors -n 5 - >> mirrorlist"

It should look something like this:

cat mirrorlist 
##
## Arch Linux repository mirrorlist
## Filtered by mirror score from mirror status page
## Generated on 2022-04-28
##

## United States
Server = https://plug-mirror.rcac.purdue.edu/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirror.pit.teraswitch.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://ord.mirror.rackspace.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirror2.sandyriver.net/pub/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirrors.mit.edu/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch

You can force the mirrors to sync and install any updates via:

sudo pacman -Syyu

### Some important packages

# Network cli / gui
sudo pacman -S net-tools network-manager-applet

# Audio drivers
sudo pacman -S pipewire pipewire-pulse

# Video player / image editor
sudo pacman -S vlc gimp

# VSCode
sudo pacman -S gnome-keyring visual-studio-code-bin

# Fonts
sudo pacman -S ttf-ms-fonts ttf-dejavu noto-fonts-emoji noto-fonts-cjk

### Install `yay` for AUR packages
https://www.tecmint.com/install-yay-aur-helper-in-arch-linux-and-manjaro

Once installed, you can now use `yay` in lieu of `sudo pacman`. All AUR packages will now be available.

### Some useful AUR packages

# Browser
yay -S brave-bin

# Zoom
yay -S zoom

# Tool for setting background image on login screen
# Also checkout: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/GDM#Login_screen_background_image
yay -S loginized

### Configuring `docker` data root
Installing `docker` is the easy part, but you'll probably want to configure it to store resources on the home partition instead of the root partition.

If you already have docker resources in the default data root of `/var/lib/docker`, you'll want to stop the service and move them to the home partition to somewhere like `/home/<user>/.docker/data`. The following assumes a username of `chris`:

sudo systemctl stop docker
sudo mv /var/lib/docker /home/chris/.docker/data

Then to configure docker to use the new location:

# /etc/docker/daemon.json
{
  "data-root": "/home/chris/.docker/data"
}

Now you can safely restart the service:

sudo systemctl start docker

### Setting up `zsh`

# Install zsh
yay -S zsh
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

ZSH_CUSTOM=~/.oh-my-zsh/custom

# Install plugins
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions


# Install theme
git clone https://github.com/spaceship-prompt/spaceship-prompt.git $ZSH_CUSTOM/themes/spaceship-prompt --depth=1
ln -s "$ZSH_CUSTOM/themes/spaceship-prompt/spaceship.zsh-theme" "$ZSH_CUSTOM/themes/spaceship.zsh-theme"