josh@thinkpad:~$

One does indeed simply install Arch Linux

A guide to installing Arch Linux without losing your marbles.

An arch with a person walking towards some stairs.

Sun Nov 19 2023 - Written by: Joshua Byrd

A poll I ran on Mastodon recently forced me, against my will, to attempt an install of Arch Linux again.

…Multiple hours of frustration later…

Here’s how to install Arch the easy way.

  1. Download and make a bootable USB of the Arch Linux ISO.
  2. DON’T FOLLOW THE INSTALL GUIDE.
  3. Boot into the USB and run iwctl and follow these instructions to connect — basically device list, station <device> scan, station <device> get-networks, station <device> connect <SSID> — you can tab-complete devices and SSIDs.
  4. (OR simply plug in an ethernet cable.)
  5. Run archinstall and follow the prompts.
  6. Hit “Install” then run reboot when it’s done.

That’s it. You’re done. You have a working Arch Linux install.

Of course, it won’t actually do much just yet, but it’s a start. Here’s a good place to continue your journey: https://wiki.archlinux.org.

Good luck out there!