Arch Linux Automatic Installation

Steps to install Arch Linux via SSH in another machine (guest) automatically:

TL;DR

1. Start the live installation.
2. Ensure you have internet connection in your guest (run wifi-menu and follow the instructions).
3. Connect via SSH from your host to your guest (details here).
4. In your host, clone the installation scripts and execute them:

   git clone git://github.com/dtgoitia/alai
   cd alai
   ./run.sh

Connect via SSH

If you are in VirtualBox, configure it to expose the guest port 22 at host's port 2222:

1. Open Settings > Network > Adapter 1 > Advanced > Port Forwarding

2. Create a new rule:

   Name        | Protocol | Host IP | Host Port | Guest IP | Guest Port
   My SSH rule | TCP      |         | 2222      |          | 22
   

   More info here

3. On the host, if you have rebooted the VM:

   ssh-keygen -R [127.0.0.1]:2222

   This command will remove the old fingerprint

4. On the guest:

   passwd
   systemctl start sshd

5. From the host:

   $ ssh -p 2222 root@127.0.0.1
   The authenticity of host '[127.0.0.1]:2222 ([127.0.0.1]:2222)' can't be established.
   ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:/9MTMlkNq684abDnAIuhJcrT7VYrc2criEAN6GHiDgG.
   Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
   Warning: Permanently added '[127.0.0.1]:2222' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.
   root@127.0.0.1's password: 

6. Type the password set in step 1.

7. If everything went OK, you should be now inside the VM shell. Press Ctrl+D to exit.

8. From the host:

   ./run.sh 2222

9. After rebooting, in the guest, login as root and set the password of the just created user:

   root
   passwd dtg

10. Log out (Ctrl + D) and log in as the user.

Setup WiFi

Installing the base group of packages installs netctl to handle the network connections. I will use the networkmanager package, which should be installed by the installation scripts. There is no need to uninstall netctl as it's very small (95KB).

The script will also automatically disable netctl and enable NetworkManager services. From then on, you can communicate with the NetworkManager service via the nmcli CLI client. This client is enough to manage and connect to WiFi networks.

Setup X resources

Copy all the dotfiles from the host to the guest:

./install_xmonad.sh 2222

Setup XMonad

1. Install required packages:

   sudo pacman -Syu --noconfirm xmonad xmonad-contrib xorg-server xorg-xinit rxvt-unicode

2. Set-up X server-client required files:

   echo 'xmonad' > ~/.xinitrc
   echo 'xmonad' > ~/.xsession

3. Create xmonad configuration file at ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs:

   import XMonad
   
   main = xmonad def
       { terminal = "urxvt"
       }

4. Create ~/.Xresources file to customize rxvt-unicode terminal:

   URxvt*termName:          screen-256color
   URxvt*loginShell:        true
   URxvt*scrollWithBuffer:  false
   URxvt*background:        Black
   URxvt*foreground:        White
   URxvt*scrollBar:         false
   

   Ensure to run xrdb ~/.Xresources when you change the configuration, and then reopen rxvt-unicode.

Incredibly detailed Xresources settings

5. Install xmobar package: xmobar.
6. Add xmobar configuration to ~/.xmobarrc (see example).
7. Configure xmonad to start xmobar on start:

   mport XMonad
   import XMonad.Hooks.DynamicLog
   
   main = xmonad =<< xmobar defaultConfig
   {   modMask = mod4Mask
       { terminal = "urxvt"
       }
   }

XMonad usage

• Open new terminal: Alt+Shift+Enter
• Exit Xmonad: Alt+Shift+Q
• Go to workspace 1, 2...: Alt+1, Alt+2, ...

Troubleshooting

Xresources

Xresources are not being loaded

When you start X using a custom .xinitrc, you need to specify the X config files to be loaded. Otherwise you'll be presented with a plain default settings (white and ugly).

Solution: run xrdb ~/.Xresources. The new settings should be picked up when you open a new terminal. In order to load the custom X configurations on start, add the instruction to your .xinitrc file:

xrdb ~/.Xresources

xmonad

Development

Bear in mind:

• Scripts needs to have 777 permissions: chmod 777 path_to_script.
• Configuration files ending in CRLF can cause problems in Linux (XMonad, etc.).