HowTo Install Arch Linux
Initializing the Disk
Install/reinitialize GPT (Guid Partition Table) on the disk`
sgdisk --zap /dev/vda
Create partition one, leave 2048 sectors blank for the syslinux bootloader, and consuming the rest of the drive.
sgdisk --new 1:2048: /dev/vda
For Partition 1, set the bootable flag, (flag 2)
sgdisk --attributes=1:set:2 /dev/vda
Now that you have a partition, it will show as /dev/vda1. Format The partition as ext4
mkfs.ext4 /dev/vda1 -F
Mount The partiton, so that we can install arch onto it.
mount /dev/vda1 /mnt
Install Arch
Install Arch to /mnt
pacstrap /mnt
Now that arch is isntalled, build a partition to mount point table, and write it to /mnt/etc/fstab
genfstab /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
Change Root (chroot) to Arch
Switch into the arch installtion.
arch-chroot /mnt
Set time Timezone
ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Chicago /etc/localtime
Set dhcpd to start at boot
systemctl enable dhcpcd
Set sshd to start at boot.
systemctl enable sshd
Prepraring to Boot
Create your initial ramdisk - The initial file system before the real one boots
mkinitcpio -p linux
Install syslinux
pacman -S syslinux
Prepare the /boot folder with syslinux's micro programs.
ln -s /usr/lib/syslinux/bios/*.c32 /boot/syslinux/
extlinux --install /boot/syslinux
Install syslinux's GPT MBR (Master Boot Record) to the root of MBR. This will sit in the 2048 of reserved space from when we partitioned the drive.
dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/gptmbr.bin of=/dev/vda
By default, syslinux tries to boot /dev/sda3. Change it to boot /dev/vda1
sed -i 's#/dev/sda3#/dev/vda1#' /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg
Reboot
exit
reboot
When Something Goes Wrong
If something goes wrong with rebooting and you end up back on the live cd, you don't need to start over. Running the following 2 commands will bring you back to your Arch Linux Environment
mount /dev/vda1 /mnt
arch-chroot /mnt
Once you are back in the Arch environment, Check the following:
- You set the bootable flag on the partions
- You setup the syslinux boot loader correctly.
Flavor
pacman -S salt-zmq
systemctl start salt-minion
salt-call state.highstate
