Install Arch Linux in VirtualBox VM

INSTALL.md

Install Arch Linux in VirtualBox

Quick install guide for Arch -- if you're looking for an automated installer, consider Arch Anywhere.

Download

Download the latest version from: https://www.archlinux.org/download/

Verify checksums.

Prepare VM

Create a new VM, choose type Linux and version Arch Linux (64-bit). Allocate a reasonable amount of RAM and create a new hard disk.

Make sure the VM has two network adapters enabled: Adapter 1 attached to NAT and Adapter 2 attached to Host-only adapter vboxnet0 if you have multiple VMs inside a host-only network.

Attach the ISO image to your VM and boot into Arch's live system.

Pre-flight checks

Check network: ping archlinux.org

Installation

Partition the disk:

1. fdisk /dev/sda
2. n -- new partition
3. (enter) (p -- primary disk)
4. (enter) (1 -- partition number)
5. (enter) set first sector
6. (enter) set last sector (use whole disk)
7. w -- write partition table and quit

Format partition:
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1

Mount the filesystem:
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

Install the base packages:
pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware base-devel

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

Change root to the newly created system:
arch-chroot /mnt

Set the timezone, e.g.:
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Los_Angeles /etc/localtime

Generate /etc/adjtime:
hwclock --systohc

Enable locale:

1. Uncomment your preferred locale (e.g. en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8) in /etc/locale.gen using vi.
2. Run locale-gen.
3. Put the corresponding LANG variable (e.g. LANG=en_US.UTF-8) in /etc/locale.conf:
   echo 'LANG=en_US.UTF-8' >/etc/locale.conf

Set hostname (e.g. arch):
echo arch >/etc/hostname

Enable DHCP client daemon:
systemctl enable dhcpcd

Set root password:
passwd
(your password)
(your password)

Install GRUB:

1. pacman -S grub
2. grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda
3. grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Reboot:

1. exit
2. umount -R /mnt
3. reboot

Now boot from the first hard disk.

Post-installation steps

Login as root using your password.

Add non-root user with sudo permissions and Zsh as the default shell:

1. Install sudo and Zsh:
   pacman -S sudo zsh
2. Add user (e.g. John):
   useradd -m -g users -s /usr/bin/zsh john
3. Set password:
   passwd john
(your password)
(your password)
4. Edit /etc/sudoers using EDITOR=vi visudo and add permissions, e.g.:
   john ALL=(ALL) ALL

Setup swap:

1. Install systemd-swap:
   pacman -S systemd-swap
2. Enable the swap daemon:
   systemctl enable systemd-swap

Install X11:

1. Install required packages:
   pacman -S xorg-server xorg-server-utils xorg-xinit xorg-apps xterm
2. Install video driver:
   pacman -S xf86-video-vesa
3. Install default terminal:
   pacman -S xterm
4. Install some popular fonts:
   pacman -S ttf-dejavu ttf-droid ttf-inconsolata

Update the system:
pacman -Syu

Optional steps

• Install your window manager of choice.
• Activate bi-directional clipboard in the VM settings and install the Guest Additions.
• Switch to linux-lts kernel.