This guide is for installing arch linux (UEFI) with Wayland, Hyprland, SDDM, Paru, BTRFS, Snapshots, Qemu, KVM, and Gaming.

Install ISO to USB:

After downloading the latest Arch ISO you will need to install it to a usb using a program like Balena Etcher. Plug the usb into the machine you want to install arch to and boot into the usb.

Base Install

Update Keyring and Archinstall

Once booted into the arch live ISO you need to update the keyring and archinstall packages:

pacman -Sy archlinux-keyring archinstall

Set Pacman Confs

Use nano or vim to edit the /etc/pacman.conf file:

Color # Uncomment this line
ParallelDownloads = 5 # Uncomment this line

Run Archinstall Script

Run the built in archinstall script:

archinstall

The Basics

Archinstall base

In the installer setup the base system:

  • Pick your local mirror
  • Setup your locale
  • Set the disk configuration, use best effort default with btrfs and subvolumes
  • Choose the bootloader
  • Setup swap
  • Set the host name
  • Set the root password
  • Create a user account
  • Select the pipewire audio May have an issue due to a bug in older install scripts
  • Select the kernel
  • Set the network config
  • Set the time zone
  • Set the time sync
  • Enable the multilib repository in optional repositories

Profile

AMD/Intel:

If you aren’t using an Nvidia gpu you can set the profile to Desktop-Hyprland:

Archinstall hyprland profile

Nvidia:

If you have an Nvidia gpu we need to select a minimal profile and install the nvidia version of hyprland:

Archinstall minimal profile

NVIDIA ONLY Then under additional packages add the following:

qt5-wayland qt6-wayland dunst xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland nvidia nvidia-dkms nvidia-utils nvidia-settings polkit sddm qt5ct libva

Additional Packages

Add the following packages to the base install:

  • rofi is the modal package.
  • wezterm is the terminal package.
  • thunar is the file explorer package.
  • neovim is the terminal editor package.
  • fish is a shell.
  • gvfs is the mounting and trash package.
  • tumbler is the thumbnail package.
  • grim is the wayland screenshot package.
  • python-pywal is the colour scheme package.
  • swappy is the screenshot package.
  • lsd is the upgraded ls package.
  • rustup is the rust updater package.
  • iwd is the wireless networking package.
  • gnome-keyring is needed for nextcloud-client.
  • libsecret is needed for nextcloud-client.
rofi git wezterm thunar neovim code firefox thunderbird fish bash-completion base-devel gvfs tumbler grim ttf-liberation wl-clipboard python-pywal swayidle swappy cliphist rustup lsd networkmanager iwd dhcpcd gnome-keyring libsecret

Finish Installer

Once everything is setup to your needs select the install option.

Post Install

After the installer finishes choose the option to chroot into the new system before restarting to finish up the install:

Archinstall completed

Make sure to switch to user level:

su [username]

Fish

Change default shell to fish:

chsh -s /bin/fish

Rustup

Rust will be needed to compile paru:

rustup toolchain install stable
rustup default stable

Paru

Installing Paru will allow access to the AUR, make sure to have switched to the user level first:

cd /tmp
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/paru.git
cd paru
makepkg -si
cd ~
paru -Syu

Install VM & AUR Packages

Install final packages, select Y to replace iptables:

sudo pacman -S pacman-contrib swtpm virt-manager virt-viewer vde2 iptables-nft dnsmasq bridge-utils libvirt libvpx libde265 virtiofsd xvidcore winetricks vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader eza freerdp thunar-volman thunar-archive-plugin thunar-media-tags-plugin lib32-nvidia-utils libreoffice-still godot blender gimp inkscape keepassxc obs-studio lutris steam discord nerd-fonts kdenlive file-roller pavucontrol mpv nextcloud-client rofi-calc nfs-utils ttf-font-awesome ttf-fira-sans ttf-fira-code ttf-firacode-nerd linux-zen-headers wireplumber neofetch starship cpupower acpi

If the machine is a VM install the agents:

sudo pacman -S qemu-guest-agent spice-vdagent

Install the rest of the packages from the AUR:

paru -S jellyfin-media-player arc-icon-theme mangohud jmtpfs hyprland-nvidia waybar-hyprland swww sddm-sugar-dark wlogout ant-dracula-gtk-theme trizen libva-nvidia-driver-git ovmf qemu-arch-extra ebtables bibata-cursor-theme xfce-polkit

Setup Nvidia:

sudo systemctl enable nvidia-persistenced.service

Setup SDDM:

sudo systemctl enable sddm
sudo mkdir /etc/sddm.conf.d
sudo cp /usr/lib/sddm/sddm.conf.d/default.conf /etc/sddm.conf.d/sddm.conf
sudo nvim /etc/sddm.conf.d/sddm.conf

Change the theme value:

[Theme]
Current=sugar-dark

Setup VM:

sudo systemctl enable libvirtd
sudo systemctl enable virtlogd.socket
sudo usermod -aG kvm,libvirt [user_name]

Setup Git:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "youremail@yourdomain.com"

Nvidia BS For Hyprland

Nvidia is notoriously garbage for Linux and will need several tweaks:

  • Update systemd-boot by adding nvidia_drm.modeset=1 to the end of /boot/loader/entries/[ENTRY_NAME].conf:
sudo nvim /boot/loader/entries/[ENTRY_NAME].conf
  • Update mkinit by adding nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm to the MODULES section of /etc/mkinitcpio.conf:
sudo nvim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

MODULES=(btrfs nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm)

then running the generator:

mkinitcpio -p linux-zen
#sudo mkinitcpio --config /etc/mkinitcpio.conf --generate /boot/initramfs-custom.img
  • Add options nvidia-drm modeset=1 to the end of /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf, create the file if non existant:
sudo nvim /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf

options nvidia-drm modeset=1

Remote Setup

sudo pacman -S freerdp
paru -S xrdp
sudo systemctl enable xrdp.service

Config Hyprland With Dotfiles:

If using dotfiles:

git clone https://github.com/rassweiler/dotfiles.git
cd dotfiles
git checkout arch-hyprland
./install
./init.sh

Complete and Exit

exit
exit
reboot

First Boot

Log into the machine and open the terminal

Login Screen

Finish Setup

Config Hyprland Without Dotfiles:

Since we aren’t using kitty or dolphin we need to change some config options before boot:

cp /usr
nvim ~/.config/hypr/hyperland.conf

Comment out the warning:

#autogenerated = 1

Uncomment and modify the following:

exec-once = waybar

bind = $mainMod, Q, exec, wezterm
bind = $mainMod, E, exec, thunar

Set Themes

Set the GTK themes if NOT using my configs:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "Dracula"
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme "Dracula"
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme "Dracula"
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme "prefer-dark"

VM

sudovirsh net-autostart default

Pywal If Not Using Dotfiles

pywal -i [path_to_image]

REFERENCES