My personal script to install Arch
- Download archlinux-2023.08.01-x86_64.iso or a newer version
- Burn it to a CD/DVD or create a USB bootable device with it
- Boot your computer with that image
- Download from this repo start_install.sh and make it executable
- Run start_install.sh
This script has been tested on computers having either an AMD or an Intel CPU
This script does not create partitions. You need to have already a partition with enough space. That partition will be formatted with btrfs filesystem.
The choice of apps and packages is my choice. You can change and adjust as needed.
I consciously decided not to encrypt root fileystem. For network, it is configured via DHCP. No static address. I used btrfs as filesystem because I want to use Timeshift to take daily snapshots.
I am not using a swap partition or a swap file. I am using zram.
It is mandatory to have a fat / fat32 partition for grub. In case of dual boot systems (windows / linux) I normally place grub in the EFI partition. I am also mounting a windows partition, but if you don't have it, or don't want to mount it, comment the relevant lines..
The script works also under QEMU (or proxmox).
Double checks the locales. Mine may not work for you.
The script is fundamentally divided in two steps. The "start install" does the basic stuff (such as partitioning), and then it downloads a second script (base_system) that you need to run.
At the end of the second script the system is ready and can be rebooted.
If you want a graphical environment, you can optionally, after the reboot, run (as a user, not as root) the final script (kde_install.sh).
I am aware that some packages that I places in kde_install should have been moved to base_system (and vice versa). Feel free to do the swaps, if you wish to.
Your PC must be booted in UEFI mode, otherwise this script won't work. Here a quick way to determine if your PC is in UEFI boot mode: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface or, more quickly, check if the directory /sys/firmware/efi/ exist.
I also decided not to make checks (for validity, emptiness, etc.) on input. If you don't provide an answer to a question, the script may fail.
This script is a hack! Check it carefully before running on your PC. I am not responsible for any data loss. Run at your own risk!
Do whatever you want with this script. If you improve it, please let me know!