Installing Arch Linux Manually
Many years ago, around 2020, I decided that I wanted to try out Arch Linux. I eventually managed to install Arch Linux completely by hand, manually using Terminal.
I don't recall if the Arch Installer even existed at that time.
Anyway, after many, many attempts.... I managed it.
Fast-forward to 2025: Arch now has an installer, and it works very well, although it's not as pretty as some other Linux flavours have. But having a new PC to build, I used it to once again install Arch, and it installed it far better (and faster) than anything I could have done manually or in my post below.
So this post, in a sense, isn't of any use. It was just fun to try and do it again
At the beginning of 2026, I wanted to try installing Arch manually on yet another PC, but for fun, and again by hand. As it teaches me more about using Linux. So I dug out my old notes, checked some things with ChatGPT (Yes, I do use AI to help me), which didn't exist in the old days, and rewrote and cleaned it up a bit. This time, though, I wanted to install systemd and not GRUB.
Once again, I managed to install Arch using Terminal
Below are my notes, in case anyone out there wants to try the same.
Note, I run a French keyboard, using English Language and Xfce as my DE, so certain details will need changing, depending on your language, keyboard and DE.
Firstly, you need to download the Arch ISO from HERE
From here on, I'm assuming the SSD/HDD to be used will be sda. Obviously your might be different. Change the sda to sdb, sdc, etc (double, triple check yours)
Copy the Iso to a USB using Terminalsudo cp path/archlinux-2026.01.01-x86_64.iso /dev/sda
Change the path as needed, change the archlinux-2026.01.01-x86_64.iso to the version you have downloaded it.
Boot into the USB. Often, F8 will let you choose the boot device.
Once inside the Arch TTY, you can start.
As I said above, I run a French keyboard, so I needed to change the keyboard layout on the TTY, as mine is AZERTY and not QWERTY.
If you are running a QWERTY keyboard, ignore loadkeys.fr, and later, some changes will be needed if you are not running a French system or keyboard
1 -loadkeys fr
You now need to partition and format the SDD / HDD
2 -fdisk /dev/sda
g
n # new partition
<enter> # default partition number (1)
<enter> # default first sector
+512M # last sector (size)
t # change partition type
1 # EFI System
So that was: g n enter enter +512 t 1
Then do
n # new partition
<enter> # default partition number (2)
<enter> # default first sector
<enter> # default last sector (use rest of disk)
# leave type as default (Linux filesystem)
w (Write changes and exit:)
So that was: n enter enter enter w
The partitions are done, and we now need to format the disk
3 -mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1
4 -mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
Formatting done, let's get started
5 -mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
6 -mkdir -p /mnt/boot
7 -mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
8 -pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware nano intel-ucode sudo which ufw gufw chromium
Here I installed at the same time: nano + intel-ucode (If you use AMD change it to amd-ucode) + sudo + which (needed for gufw to work) + ufw + gufw (firewall for Arch). I use nano, as I don't like vim and it's far easier to use.
9 -genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
Jump into chroot
10 -arch-chroot /mnt
11 -ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Paris /etc/localtime
Europe/Paris change for your country/region
12 -hwclock --systohc
13 -nano /etc/locale.conf
LANG=en_GB.UTF-8 (I run an English language system, but with a French keyboard
Ctr+O, Ctr+X to write and save changes
14 -nano /etc/vconsole.conf
KEYMAP=fr
Ctr+O, Ctr+X to write and save changes
15 -nano /etc/locale.gen
Uncomment the following
en_GB.UTF-8 UTF-8 (Change this to your country's needs)
fr_FR.UTF-8 UTF-8 (if not using a French keyboard, don't do this)
Ctr+O, Ctr+X to write and save changes
16 -locale-gen
17 -nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/00-keyboard.conf
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "system-keyboard"
MatchIsKeyboard "on"
Option "XkbLayout" "fr"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbOptions" "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"
EndSection
Ctr+O, Ctr+X to write and save changes
18 -nano /etc/hostname
Enter the name of the machine you want, arch_linux26 for example
Ctr+O, Ctr+X to write and save changes
19 -nano /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
127.0.1.1 arch_linux26.localdomain arch_linux26
Here in the last line, you use the name used in 18 -
Ctr+O, Ctr+X to write and save changes
20 -mkinitcpio -P
21 -pacman -S networkmanager
22 -systemctl enable NetworkManager
(attention N and M in caps)
23 -pacman -S network-manager-applet
(gives you the applet to choose between Wifi and Ethernet)
24 -passwd
Type your root password: xxxx
25 -bootctl install
26 -mkdir -p /boot/loader/entries
mkdir -p /boot/EFI/BOOT
27 -blkid /dev/sda2
Retrieve the UUID
28 -echo "options root=UUID=$(blkid -s UUID -o value /dev/sda2) rw" >> /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
This will copy the UUID into the arch.conf file
29 -nano /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /intel-ucode.img (if use AMD change this)
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options root=UUID=xxx xxxx xxx xxx rw
This will have been filled in from the previous command that you did, echo ......
30 -nano /boot/loader/loader.conf
default arch.conf
timeout 3
editor no
31 -pacman -S xorg xfce4 xfce4-goodies lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter
32 -systemctl enable lightdm
I use Xfce. If you use a different DE, you will need to change the two commands above
33 -useradd -m yourname
34 -usermod -a -G wheel yourname
30 -nano /etc/sudoers
%wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL ( delete the # at the front of this line)
35 -passwd yourname
Type your user password xxxx
36 -exit (to quit chroot)
37 -reboot
All being well, your PC will now start in Arch
Hip hip hurrah.
Notes to help you along: Note that this installation installs ARCH in a very minimal state, so you will need to add the standard programs using the sudo pacman -S command. I added Chromium, but you could change that for Firefox
1 - You only need loadkeys if you want another language other than the US, For English: loadkeys uk, German: loadkeys de
8 - For the pacstrap, you can add: which, ufw, gufw, chromium, later after the installation if you prefer; they are not required straight away.
11 - Europe/Paris change for your country/region, Germany Europe/Berlin, UK Europe/London
13 - Use LANG=de_DE.UTF-8 If you are running a German language system, for example.
14 - KEYMAP=de If you are running a German keyboard
15 - German uncomment de_DE.UTF-8 UTF-8 or Spanish es_ES.UTF-8 UTF-8
17 - Change to Option "XkbLayout" "de" for the X11 keyboard German, only needed if running Xfce
31 - This is for Xfce only; If you are using another desktop environment, you will need to check what packages and services it requires.
32 - Same as 31 -
Final note
This guide is intentionally manual, and I did it just for fun
If you just want a fast, working Arch system, the official Arch installer is now excellent.
If you want to learn how Arch works, this method is still worth doing.
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