0. Creating backups and bootable USB
Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome to The Unofficial Arch Linux Installation Guide. This guide assumes you are at least somewhat comfortable with the command line.
WARNING: This guide does not cover installing Arch Linux side by side with other operating systems like Windows or Mac OS.
Prerequisites:
- An x86_64 compatible machine
- At least 512 MB of RAM (Recommended: 2 GB)
- An internet connection (Recommended: Wired)
- A USB stick
Create backups
Before booting into the installation media, make a backup and host it on git or your backup server/drive. Here is the list of things you might consider to backup:
Linux
- RC files (like .xinitrc, .bashrc, .vimrc, .muttrc, .mailcap, etc.)
- .Xmodmap
- .ssh directory
- .vim directory
- .vifm directory
- .config directories (IM profile, Notification deamon, Compositor, sxiv, etc.)
- GPG Keys
- Suckless utilities (dwm, dmenu, st, dwmblocks)
- Scripts directory
- Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, Mail, etc.
- etc.
Windows and Mac
- Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, etc.
Get the installation image
Download the ISO form the official source:
Write the image onto USB
Linux
Insert the USB and get its name with “lsbk” command. Make sure you got the name right. Then, run:
sudo dd if=archlinux-version-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdx bs=1M status=progress
Where “/dev/sdx” is the name of your USB drive.
Windows and Mac
Download balenaEtcher:
Use it to flash your USB drive with the previously aquired ISO image.