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这篇文档将会指导你安装和配置 ── 一个简洁、轻量级的GNU/Linux发行版，一个类UNIX的操作系统。本文虽然是面向Arch新用户，但也尽力为所有人提供强大的参考资料和信息。本指南将试图讲述该如何获得一个完全配置好的Arch Linux系统(拥有一个图形桌面环境，可以看DVD、上网、发email和听音乐），但显然是不可能涵盖（甚至是预见）所有可能的选择。因此本指南会专注于某些关键性有帮助的步骤，想要进一步深入了解你可以查看或者。同时有兴趣的话你还可以了解一下，它概述了Arch Linux发行版背后的哲学思想。
本文分三大部分：
Please realize that the Arch Linux installation procedure may be very different from other GNU/Linux distributions you have tried, especially if you are a beginner. The Arch Linux system is built by the user from the ncurses installer and base system with nothing more than a bash shell and basic system tools. Unlike most other distributions, there are no default environments nor configurations forced upon the user. From the command line, you will add packages from the Arch repositories using the
tool via your internet connection, until your system is customized to your requirements. This allows for maximum flexibility, choice, and system resource control. Because you build it, you will invariably know the nuts and bolts of your system, and become familiar with what is under the hood.
The Arch Linux system is configured by editing text files. It offers no GUI tools and will not hold your hand during setup and customization, but nor will it get in your way by design.
Remember also, that Arch Linux is aimed at competent GNU/Linux users as well as users who are willing to invest the time to learn about the mechanics of the system.
The design principles behind Arch are aimed at keeping it simple.
Note that 'simple' does not mean 'easy' nor 'user-friendly' in this context, 'without unnecessary additions, modifications, or complications'. I an elegant, minimalist approach.
Following this guide closely is essential in order to successfully install a properly configured Arch Linux system.
You may wish to print out this guide as a 42 page book which will serve as a useful Arch Linux user reference.
If you would like to add to this wiki, please include the "Why" as well as the "How", where appropriate. The best documentation teaches us how, as well as why!
Welcome to Arch! Now, let's get started.
You can obtain Arch's latest official snapshot from .
It is recommended to choose the core-iso since this guide is geared toward the core installation process.
The core-iso contains only the necessary packages to create a minimal GNU/Linux base system. Note that a minimal Base System does not include a GUI. The rest of the Arch Linux system, including a Graphical User interface is built from the command line using i686-binary packages and configuration files. The process is covered in detail below.
Burn the ISO to CD. Generally, using a maximum speed of no more than 16x is recommended for reliable burns.
As you follow these directions, you may find the
helpful as well. In addition,
is available.
Insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive and boot from it. You may have to
change the boot order in your computer BIOS or press a key (usually F11 or F12)
during the BIOS phase.
Some useful options when booting off the Arch Linux CD:
ide-legacy if you have trouble with IDE drives
noapic acpi=off pci=routeirq nosmp if your system hangs during the boot process
memtest86+ if you want to check your memory for errors
lowmem is useful for older machines with limited RAM.
'lowmem' requirements:
MB RAM x86_64 (all packages selected)
MB RAM i686
(all packages selected)
MB RAM i686
(only base packages selected)
Choose "Arch Linux Installation / Rescue System". If you need to change the boot options press e for editing the boot lines.
The system will now boot and present a welcome text with some explanations when ready.
Press enter at the welcome screen. If you have a non-US keyboard layout type
at the prompt and choose the appropriate keymap.
Example(norwegian) for illustrative purposes:
In console keymap screen select
In console font screen select
Choosing "default8x16.psfu.gz" for console font is a safe choice.
/arch/setup
to start the installation.
You will be prompted for an installation source. Choose CD if you are using a core ISO, or choose FTP if you are using the FTP ISO.
Select the first menu entry "Prepare Hard Drive". Beware that "Auto-Prepare" may not be a safe choice because it will erase the entire hard drive.
Here we will manually partition the hard drive. Choose "2. Partition Hard Drives", select the hard drive you want (/dev/sdx), and edit the partition table to your needs.
The Arch Linux installer uses the cfdisk utility to partition the hard drive.
At this point, more advanced GNU/Linux users may wish to skip down to
Partitioning a hard disk drive defines specific areas (the partitions) within the disk, that will each appear and behave as a separate disk and upon which a filesystem may be created (formatted). Partitions are broken up into "Primary", "Extended", and "Logical".
Primary partitions can be bootable, and are limited to 4. Beyond 4 partitions, we are forced to use an extended partition which will contain logical partitions.
Extended partitions are not
they are merely a "container" for logical partitions. A hard disk may contain only on which can then be sub-divided into logical partitions.
When partitioning a disk, one can see this numbering scheme by creating primary partitions sda1-3 followed by creating an extended partition, sda4, and subsequently creating logical partition(s) within th sda5, sda6, and so on.
A swap partition is a place on your hard drive where "virtual ram" resides, allowing the kernel to easily use disk storage for data that does not fit into physical RAM.
Historically, the general rule for swap partition size was 2x the amount of physical RAM. Over time, as computers have gained ever larger memory capacities, this rule has become increasingly deprecated. Generally, on machines with up to 512MB RAM, the 2x rule is usually sufficient. On machines with 1GB RAM, generally a 1x rule is adequate. If you have gratuitous amounts of RAM (more than 1024 MB) it may be possible to completely forgo a swap partition altogether, though this is not recommended. We will create a 1 GB swap partition in this example.
If you plan on using suspend-to-disk, (hibernate) you must have a swap partition at least equal in size to the amount of physical RAM, and some users even recommend oversizing it beyond the amount of physical RAM by 15%.
A disk partitioning scheme is a very personalized preference. Each user's choices will be unique to their own
computing habits and requirements. What you need at the least is one primary partition which contains the root
( / ) and one for swap. Other candidates for separate partitions include /boot (which mainly contains the kernel) /var, and /home (which contains the user data). It is good practice to have / and /home on separate partitions. This makes it possible to reinstall Arch Linux (or even another distro) for any reason, while keeping your data, music, pictures, and desktop environment preferences.
In this example, we will stick with one partition for /, one partition for /home, and a swap partition.
Let's start creating the primary partition that will contain the root, (/) filesystem.
Choose New -& Primary and enter the size you want (something between 4 and 8 GB is a good choice for a full-featured Linux system). Put the partition at the beginning of the disk. Select the newly created partition and choose Bootable to make this partition bootable.
Also choose the Type by designating it as '83 Linux'.
Add another partition for your /home directory. Choose another primary partition and set the size to a value you like. The size really depends on what your users store in their home directories, so I cannot make any suggestions. The size may vary between a few hundred megabytes for some office documents up to hundreds of gigabytes for videos and MP3s. If you want to use the entire remaining space on your hard disc, remember to reserve a quantity for the swap partition. (1 GB, or 1024MB, in our example)
Likewise, select the Type as 83 Linux.
At last we create a third partition for swap. Select a size between 512 MB and 1 GB and change the Type to 82 (Linux swap / Solaris).
This is what your Layout should look like (size may vary depending on your decisions):
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(4096 - 8192)
Linux swap / Solaris
(512 - 1024)
Choose Write and type 'yes'. Beware that this operation may destroy data on your disk if you deleted partitions. Choose Quit to leave the partitioner.
Choose Done to leave this menu and continue with "Set Filesystem Mountpoints".
Since the latest developments of the Linux kernel which include the libata and PATA modules, all IDE, SATA and SCSI drives have adopted the sdx naming scheme. This is perfectly normal and should not be a concern.
Technically, and for accuracy, a filesystem is a data format, for information throughput, whereas a "file system" (notice the space) is a term referring to the layout of all files and directories on a given system. Therefore, when you are asked if you want to create a filesystem, you are being asked if you want to format the particular partition... but when you are asked for mount points, you are providing where the given partition will reside in your Arch Linux "file system".
First you will be asked for your swap partition. Choose the appropriate partition (sda3 in this example). You will be asked if you want to crea select yes. Next, choose where to mount the / (root) directory (sda1 in the example). You will be asked what kind of filesystem you want.
Again, a filesystem type is a very subjective matter which comes down to personal preference. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages. Here is a very brief overview of supported filesystems:
1. ext2 - Old, reliable GNU/Linux filesystem. Very stable, but without journaling support. May be inconvenient due to very long fsck's. An ext2 filesystem can easily be converted to ext3.
2. ext3 - Essentially the ext2 system, but with journaling support. Generally perceived as slightly slower than other filesystems, but extremely stable and by far the most widely used, supported and developed GNU/Linux FS.
3. ReiserFS - Hans Reiser's high-performance journaling FS uses a very interesting method of data throughput. ReiserFS is very fast, especially when dealing with many small files. ReiserFS is very slow at mounting. Quite well established and stable. ReiserFS isn't actively developed at this time (Reiser4 is the new Reiser filesystem).
4. JFS - IBM's Journaled FileSystem. JFS is very fast and uses the least CPU resources of any filesystem. Very fast at mounting and fsck's, and very good all-around performance, especially in conjunction with the deadline scheduler. (See .) Not as widely supported as ext or ReiserFS.
5. XFS - Very fast journaling filesystem which is best suited for large files. Slower with small files. Very fast at mounting. May not be an ideal choice for the /var partition, since pacman deals with many small files. The only available GNU/Linux FS with online defragmentation ability. Not as widely supported as ext or ReiserFS.
A major difference is
(something similar to transaction logs in database environments). All filesystems except ext2 use journaling. ext3 is completely compatible with ext2, so you can mount it even with very-old rescue CDs. A safe choice for the root partition is ext3. ReiserFS, XFS, and JFS are also OK to use because GRUB (the boot manager which we will install later) can boot from them too. Create the filesystem (format the partition) by selecting yes. You will now be prompted to add any additional partitions. In our example, only sda2 is remaining. Choose a filesystem type and mount it as /home. Again, create the filesystem and choose Done. Return to main menu.
Now we shall select packages to install in our system. Choose CD as source and select the appropriate CD drive if you have more than one.
Package selection is split into two stages. First, you will select package categories, then you will be presented will the full lists of packages in the selected categories, allowing you to fine-tune your selections. The space bar selects and unselects the categories.
BASE: Contains the just enough for a barebones system.
SUPPORT: Additional packages for networking and filesystems, etc, such as gpm, fuse, dnsutils, wireless drivers, ndiswrapper, ntfs-3g, and so forth.
DEVEL: Software building tools such as GCC, autoconf, automake and make.
LIB: Various libraries such as gmp, lebelf, libevent, etc.
Choose 'yes' for 'Select all packages by default', for now.
The next screen will present you with the selected packages within your selected categories. Leaving all selected is a safe choice for beginners, while more experienced users will wish to trim a few unnecessary packages. (For instance, an unneeded filesystem type utility, unneeded drivers, etc.)
Next, choose 'Install Packages'. You will be asked if you wish to keep the packages in pacman cache. If you choose 'yes', you will have the flexability to downgrade to the corresponding package versions in the future,
so this is recommended. (You may always clear the cache in the future.) The installer script will now install the selected packages to your system. The packages are binary i686-optimized and total only ~100MB, so they install quite expediently.
You will be asked if you want to choose
to gather information for your configuration. Beginners should choose 'yes'.
Advanced users who are thoroughly familiar with their hardware, required modules, and who are able to manually configure /etc/mkinitcpio and /etc/fstab from scratch may wish to choose 'no'. (Needless to say, this option is very involved, beyond the scope of this guide, and therefore is not covered.)
Next, you will be asked if you need support for booting from USB devices, FireWire devices, PCMCIA devices, NFS shares, software RAID arrays, LVM2 volumes, and encrypted volumes. Choos in our example nothing is needed.
Beginners should also choose to use the
results for /etc/mkinitcpio/kernel26-fallback.conf. This ensures consistent ordering of your hard disk controllers.
Now you will be asked which text ed choose
if you are not familiar with . You will be presented with a menu including the most important config files for your system. If you want to look up the available options as stated in /etc/rc.conf just press Alt+F2 to get a shell, look it up, and switch back to the installer with Alt+F1.
Arch Linux follows in the FreeBSD tradition of utilizing /etc/rc.conf as the principal location for system configuration. This one file contains a wide range of configuration information, principally used at system startup. As its name directly implies, it also contains settings for the /etc/rc* files, and is sourced by these files. /etc/rc.conf offers a simple, elegant method of streamlining system resource configuration by encompassing a wide range of control, readily accessible for the Arch user.
LOCALIZATION section
LOCALE=: This sets your system locale, which will be used by all i18n-aware applications and utilities. You can get a list of the available locales by running locale -a from the command line. This setting's default is fine for US English users. (This locale must coincide with /etc/locale.gen, .)
HARDWARECLOCK=: Specifies whether the hardware clock, which is synchronized on bootup and on shutdown, stores UTC time, or the localtime. UTC makes sense because it greatly simplifies changing timezones and daylight savings time. localtime is necessary if you dual boot with an operating system such as Windows, that only stores localtime to the hardware clock.
TIMEZONE=: Specify your TIMEZONE. (All available zones are under /usr/share/zoneinfo/).
The available keymaps are in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps. Please note that this setting is only valid for your TTYs, not any graphical window managers or X!
CONSOLEFONT=: Available console fonts reside under /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/ if you must change.
CONSOLEMAP=: Defines the console map to load with the setfont program on bootup. Possible maps are found in /usr/share/kbd/consoletrans, if needed.
USECOLOR=: Select "yes" if you have a color monitor.
LOCALE="en_US.utf8"
HARDWARECLOCK="localtime"
TIMEZONE="US/Eastern"
KEYMAP="us"
CONSOLEFONT=
CONSOLEMAP=
USECOLOR="yes"
HARDWARE section
MOD_AUTOLOAD=: Setting this to "yes" will utilize udev to automatically probe hardware and load the appropriate modules at boot-up, (convenient with the default modular kernel). Setting this to "no" will rely on the user's ability to specify this information.
MOD_BLACKLIST=:Specify any blacklisted modules. In the following example, the IPv6 module as well as the pcspeaker are blacklisted.
MODULES=:Specify additional MODULES if you know that an important module is missing, (hwdetect should have filled in the most important modules):
# Scan hardware and load required modules at bootup
MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes"
# Module Blacklist - modules in this list will never be loaded by udev
MOD_BLACKLIST=(net-pf-10 pcspkr)
MODULES=(e100 eepro100 mii slhc snd-ac97-codec snd-intel8x0 soundcore)
NETWORKING section
HOSTNAME=:Set your HOSTNAME to your liking.
lo=: Leave this line alone.
eth0=: Adjust the interface IP address, netmask and broadcast address if you are using static IP. Set eth0="dhcp" if you want to use DHCP
INTERFACES=: Specify any/all interfaces here. If you do not use DHCP to configure a device, just keep in mind that the value of the variable (whose name must be equal to the name of the device which is supposed to be configured) equals the line which would be appended to the ifconfig command if you were to configure the device manually in the shell.
gateway=: If you are using static IP, set the gateway address to your router's IP. If you are using DHCP, comment this line out with a hash (#).
ROUTES=: If you are using static IP, remove the ! in front of 'gateway'. Leave this entry alone if using DHCP.
Example, using DHCP:
HOSTNAME="arch"
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
#eth0="eth0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255"
eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(lo eth0)
#gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)
DAEMONS section
This array simply lists the names of those scripts contained in /etc/rc.d/ which are to be started during the boot process.
If a script name is prefixed with a bang (!), it is not executed.
If a script is prefixed with an "at" symbol (@), then it will be execut the startup sequence will not wait for successful completion of each daemon before continuing to the next.
Edit this array whenever new system services are installed, if starting them automatically during bootup is desired.
This 'BSD-style' init, (one simple file vs an entire directory), is the Arch way of handling what others handle with various symlinks to an init.d directory.
You don't have to change the
line at this time, but it is useful to explain what daemons are, because we need them later in this guide.
Analogous to a Windows service, a daemon is a program that runs in the background, waiting for events to occur and offering services. A good example is a webserver that waits for a request to deliver a page or an SSH server waiting for someone trying to log in. While these are full-featured applications, there are daemons whose work is not that visible. Examples are a daemon which writes messages into a log file (e.g. syslog, metalog), a daemon which lowers your CPU's frequency if your system has nothing to do (e.g.:cpufreq), and a daemon which offers you a graphical login (e.g.: gdm, kdm). All these programs can be added to the daemons line and will be started when the system boots. Useful daemons will be presented during this guide.
Use Ctrl+X to leave the editor.
The fstab (for file systems table) is part of the system configuration listing all available disks and disk partitions, and indicating how they are to be initialized or otherwise integrated into the overall system's file system. The /etc/fstab file is most commonly used by the mount command, which reads /etc/fstab file to determine which options should be used when mounting the specified device.
An example /etc/fstab:
# /etc/fstab: static file system information
# &file system&
&dump& &pass&
#/dev/cdrom
/mnt/cdrom
ro,user,noauto,unhide
ro,user,noauto,unhide
user,noauto
defaults,noatime,nodiratime 0
defaults,noatime,nodiratime 0
Hwdetect should have effectively configured a usable fstab, but briefly checking it is recommended.
If you plan on using hal to automount media such as DVD's, you may wish to comment out the cdrom and dvd entries in preparation for hal, which will be installed later in this guide.
The 'noatime' and 'nodiratime' options may safely be appended to / and /home regardless of your specified filesystem type for increased speed, performance, and power efficiency, for laptops as well as desktops.
Expanded information available in the
wiki entry.
We shouldn't need to edit these configurations at this point. mkinitcpio.conf configures the ramdisk (e.g. booting from RAID, encrypted volumes) modprobe.conf can be used to set special configuration options for the kernel modules and kernel26-fallback.conf is for the initramfs fallback configuration).
If you are using DHCP, you may safely ignore this file, as by default, it will be dynamically created and destroyed by the dhcpcd daemon.
If you use a static IP, set your DNS servers in /etc/resolv.conf
(nameserver &ip-address&). You may have as many as you wish.
If you are using a router, you will probably want to specify your DNS servers in the router itself, and merely point to it from your resolv.conf, using your router's IP (which is also your gateway from /etc/rc.conf), e.g.:
nameserver 192.168.1.1
Alternatively, add your preferred servers one by one, e.g.:
nameserver 4.2.2.1
nameserver 4.2.2.2
If using DHCP, you may also specify your DNS servers in the router, or allow automatic assignment from your ISP, if your ISP is so equipped.
Add the desired hostname, coinciding with the one specified in /etc/rc.conf, so that it looks like this:
localhost.localdomain
localhost yourhostname
This format, including the 'localhost' entries, is required for program compatibility! Errors in this syntax may cause poor network performance and/or certain programs to open very slowly, or not work at all. This is a very common error for beginners.
For most users, simply adding the yourhostname entry to the end of the default line will work, however, some users recommend using the following syntax:
yourhostname.domain.org localhost.localdomain
yourhostname
If you use a static IP, add another line using the syntax: &static-ip& hostname.domainname.org
192.168.1.100 yourhostname.domain.org
yourhostname
Modify these configurations according to your needs if you plan on using . The default configuration will reject all incoming connections, not only ssh connections. Edit your /etc/hosts.allow file and add:
This will allow all incoming ssh connections.
If you do not plan on using , leave this file at the default, (empty), for added security.
The locale-gen command reads from /etc/locale.gen to generate specific locales. They can then be used by glibc and any other locale-aware program or library for rendering "peculiar" text, correctly displaying regional monetary values, time and date formats, alphabetic idiosyncrasies, and other locale-specific standards. The ability to setup a default locale is a great built-in privilege of using a UNIX-like operating system.
By default /etc/locale.gen is an empty file with commented documentation. Once edited, the file won't get touched again. locale-gen runs on every glibc upgrade, generating all the locales specified in /etc/locale.gen.
Choose the locale(s) you need (remove the # in front of the lines you want), e.g.:
en_US ISO-8859-1
en_US.UTF-8
(Your locale(s) must coincide with the one specified in /etc/rc.conf above.)
The installer will now run the locale-gen script, which will generate the locales you specified. You may change your locale in the future by editing /etc/locale.gen and subsequently running 'locale-gen' as root.
Note that if you do not choose your locale, this will lead to a "The current locale is invalid..." error. This is perhaps the most common mistake by new Arch users, and also leads to the most commonly asked questions on the forum.
Finally, set a root password and make sure that you remember it later. Return to the main menu and continue with installing bootloader.
Choose a mirror repository for pacman. Remember that archlinux.org is throttled, limiting downloads to 50KB/s.
If you are unfamiliar with the presented mirrors and their respective locations in relation to your location, choose any mirror. You will have the opportunity to run the rankmirrors script later in this guide, to automatically configure the closest mirrors.
Return to the main menu.
Because we have no secondary operating system in our example, we will need a bootloader.
is the recommended bootloader. Alternatively, you may choose . The shown GRUB configuration (/boot/grub/menu.lst) should be sufficient. The only thing you may want to alter is the resolution of the console. Add
a vga=&number& to the first kernel line. (A table of resolutions and the corresponding numbers is printed in the menu.lst.)
Arch Linux (Main)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26.img
The "vga=773" argument will give a
framebuffer with 256 color depth.
Install the GRUB bootloader to the master boot record, (sda in our example).
Exit the install, eject the installer CD, and type the magic word:
Your new Arch Linux system will boot up and finish with a login prompt (you may want to change the boot order in your BIOS back to booting from hard disk).
Congratulations, and welcome to your shiny, new Arch Linux base system!
Your new Arch Linux base system is now a functional GNU/Linux environment ready for customization. From here, you may build this elegant set of tools into whatever you wish or require for your purposes.
Let's begin.
Login with your root account. We will configure pacman and update the system as root, then add a normal user.
This section will assist you in configuring most types of networks, if the installer script auto-configurations are not working for you.
If everything went fine, you should have a working network. Try to ping www.google.com to verify this.
ping -c 3 www.google.com
If you have successfully established a network connection, continue with .
If, after trying to ping www.google.com, you get an "unknown host" error, you may conclude that your network is not properly configured. You may choose to double-check the following files for integrity and proper settings:
/etc/rc.conf # Specifically, check your HOSTNAME= and NETWORKING section for typos and errors.
/etc/hosts
# Double-check your format. (See above.)
/etc/resolv.conf # If you are using a static IP. If you are using DHCP, this file will be dynamically created and destroyed by default, but can be changed to your preference. (See .)
Advanced instructions for configuring the network can be found in the
Check your Ethernet with
where you should see an entry for eth0. If required, you can set a new static IP with
ifconfig eth0 &ip address& netmask &netmask& up
and the default gateway with
route add default gw &ip address of the gateway&
Check to see if /etc/resolv.conf contains your DNS server and add it if it is missing.
Check your network again with ping www.google.de. If everything is working now, adjust /etc/rc.conf as described above for static IP. If you have a DHCP server/router in your network try
dhcpcd eth0
If this is working, adjust /etc/rc.conf as described above, for dynamic IP.
Detailed setup guide:
To be able to use a Hayes-compatible, external, analog modem, you need to at least have the ppp package installed. Modify the file /etc/ppp/options to suit your needs and according to man pppd. You will need to define a chat script to supply your username and password to the ISP after the initial connection has been established. The manpages for pppd and chat have examples in them that should suffice to get a connection up and running if you're either experienced or stubborn enough. With udev, your serial ports usually are /dev/tts/0 and /dev/tts/1.
Tip: Read .
Instead of fighting a glorious battle with the plain pppd, you may opt to install wvdial or a similar tool to ease the setup process considerably. In case you're using a so-called WinModem, which is basically a PCI plugin card working as an internal analog modem, you should indulge in the vast information found on the
Setting up ISDN is done in three steps:
Install and configure hardware
Install and configure the ISDN utilities
Add settings for your ISP
The current Arch stock kernels include the necessary ISDN modules, meaning that you won't need to recompile your kernel unless you're about to use rather odd ISDN hardware. After physically installing your ISDN card in your machine or plugging in your USB ISDN-Box, you can try loading the modules with modprobe. Nearly all passive ISDN PCI cards are handled by the hisax module, which needs two parameters: type and protocol. You must set protocol to '1' if your country uses the 1TR6 standard, '2' if it uses EuroISDN (EDSS1), '3' if you're hooked to a so-called leased-line without D-channel, and '4' for US NI1.
Details on all those settings and how to set them is included in the kernel documentation, more specifically in the isdn subdirectory, and available online. The type parameter
a list of all possible types can be found in the README.HiSax kernel documentation. Choose your card and load the module with the appropriate options like this:
modprobe hisax type=18 protocol=2
This will load the hisax module for my ELSA Quickstep 1000PCI, being used in Germany with the EDSS1 protocol. You should find helpful debugging output in your /var/log/everything.log file, in which you should see your card being prepared for action. Please note that you will probably need to load some USB modules before you can work with an external USB ISDN Adapter.
Once you have confirmed that your card works with certain settings, you can add the module options to your /etc/modprobe.conf:
alias ippp0 hisax
options hisax type=18 protocol=2
Alternatively, you can add only the options line here, and add hisax to your MODULES array in the rc.conf. It's your choice, really, but this example has the advantage that the module will not be loaded until it's really needed.
That being done, you should have working, supported hardware. Now you need the basic utilities to actually use it!
Install the isdn4k-utils package, and read the it'll get you started. Further down in the manpage you will find explanations on how to create a configuration file that can be parsed by isdnctrl, as well as some helpful setup examples. Please note that you have to add your SPID to your MSN setting separated by a colon if you use US NI1.
After you have configured your ISDN card with the isdnctrl utility, you should be able to dial into the machine you specified with the PHONE_OUT parameter, but fail the username and password authentication. To make this work add your username and password to /etc/ppp/pap-secrets or /etc/ppp/chap-secrets as if you were configuring a normal analogous PPP link, depending on which protocol your ISP uses for authentication. If in doubt, put your data into both files.
If you set up everything correctly, you should now be able to establish a dial-up connection with
isdnctrl dial ippp0
as root. If you have any problems, remember to check the logfiles!
These instructions are relevant to you only if your PC itself is supposed to manage the connection to your ISP. You do not need to do anything but define a correct default gateway if you are using a separate router of some sort to do the grunt work.
Before you can use your DSL online connection, you will have to physically install the network card that is supposed to be connected to the DSL-Modem into your computer. After adding your newly installed network card to the modules.conf/modprobe.conf or the MODULES array, you should install the rp-pppoe package and run the pppoe-setup script to configure your connection. After you have entered all the data, you can connect and disconnect your line with
/etc/rc.d/adsl start
/etc/rc.d/adsl stop
respectively. The setup usually is rather easy and straightforward, but feel free to read the manpages for hints. If you want to automatically dial in on boot-up, add adsl to your DAEMONS array.
Now we will update the system using .
is the package manager of Arch Linux. Pacman is written in C and is fast, simple, and extremely powerful. It manages your entire package system and handles installation, removal, package downgrade (through cache), custom compiled package handling, automatic dependency resolution, remote and local searches and much more. We will use pacman to download software packages from remote repositories and install them onto your system.
Pacman is the most important tool in your Arch Linux toolbox for building the core system into whatsoever you please.
Initially, you may be prompted to update pacman itself, depending on how old the installation media is:
pacman -Syu
Allow pacman to update.
Occasionally, configuration changes may take place r read the upgrade output for any pertinent information.
pacman will attempt to read /etc/pacman.conf each time it is invoked.
This configuration file is divided into sections, or repositories.
a package repository that pacman can use when searching for packages. The exception
is the options section, which defines global options.
nano -w /etc/pacman.conf
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
#[unstable]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
#Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[community]
# Add your preferred servers here, they will be used first
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
Enable all desired repositories (remove the # in front of the 'Include =' and '[repository]' lines).
The "Server =" lines, if uncommented, will force the specified server to be searched first and foremost. Further configuration for repos are under /etc/pacman.d/
TIP: You may safely include the [Unstable] repository, as packages on your system from all other repositories can peacefully co-exist with [Unstable] packages.
* Note: When choosing repos, be sure to uncomment both the repository header lines in [brackets] as well as the 'Include =' lines. Failure to do so will result in the selected repository being omitted! This is a very common error.
Faster mirrors will dramatically improve pacman performance, and your overall Arch Linux experience.
The rankmirrors script will rank the mirrors automatically by latency.
Edit /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist:
nano /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
Remove all mirrors which are not on your continent, or are extremely distant. (Using nano, you may use CTRL-K to cut each unneeded line.) Save the file and exit.
Rankmirrors is a python script.
Install python:
pacman -S python
Then, use the rankmirrors script to rank the mirrors in order of latency:
rankmirrors -v /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
The output will list all mirrors and their corresponding latency, (ping) e.g.:
# United States
... unreachable
The script will then order the mirrors from lowest latency to highest and print the output:
Note that this should serve as a loose guide for you mirrors closest to you, or with the lowest latency may not necessarily be the best choice. (You gain nothing with a quick-responding, but out-of-date mirror, or a mirror with low latency but poor bandwidth).
Edit /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist by placing the best mirror at the top of the list. You may want to return to this configuration file to experiment with various mirrors. Choose wisely.
Update, sync, and upgrade your entire new system with:
pacman -Syu
pacman will now fetch the latest information about available packages and perform all available upgrades.
(You may be prompted to upgrade pacman itself at this point. If so, say yes, and then reissue the pacman -Syu command when finished.)
Keep in mind that Arch is a rolling release distribution. This means there is never a reason to reinstall or perform elaborate system rebuilds to upgrade to the newest version. Simply issuing pacman -Syu periodically keeps your entire system up-to-date and on the bleeding edge. At the end of this upgrade, your system is completely current.
Pacman is the Arch user's best friend. It is highly recommended to study and learn how to use the pacman tool. Try:
man pacman
Check out the bottom of this article, and look up the
wiki entries at your leisure.
You should not do your everyday work using the root account. It is mor it is dangerous. Root is for administrative tasks. Instead, add a normal user account using:
While most default options are safe to use, you may want to add storage, audio, video, optical, and wheel to your additional groups- especially if you are planning on having a full-featured desktop environment.
Groups and users thereof are defined in /etc/group.
They include:
audio - for tasks involving sound card and related software
wheel - for using sudo
storage - for managing storage devices
video - for
video tasks and 3d acceleration
optical - for managing tasks pertaining to the optical drive(s)
floppy - for access to a floppy if applicable
lp - for managing printing tasks
article to understand what groups you need to be a member of.
You may also add your user to the desired groups like so, (as root):
usermod -aG audio,video,floppy,lp,optical,network,storage,wheel,dbus,hal USERNAME
Check the man pages for usermod and gpasswd for more information.
The Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (known by the acronym ALSA) is a Linux kernel component intended to replace the original Open Sound System (OSS) for providing device drivers for sound cards. Besides the sound device drivers, ALSA also bundles a user space library for application developers who want to use driver features with a higher level API than direct interaction with the kernel drivers.
udev will automatically probe your hardware on boot-up, loading the corresponding module for your audio card. Your sound should already be working, but you can't hear anything because it is muted by default.
The alsa-utils package contains alsamixer, which will allow us to configure the sound device from the console. (You may also run alsamixer from an X environment later.)
Install the alsa-utils package:
pacman -S alsa-utils
Did you add your normal user to the audio group? If not, now would be a good time. As root do:
gpasswd -a yourusername audio
As normal user, do:
Unmute the Master and PCM channels by scrolling to them with cursor left/right and pressing M. Increase the volume levels with the cursor-up key. (70-90 Should be a safe range.) Leave alsamixer by pressing ESC.
Test your sound configuration as normal user using aplay:
aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/Front_Center.wav
You should hear a very eloquent woman say, "Front, center."
Then run alsactl as root:
alsactl store
This will create '/etc/asound.state', saving the alsamixer settings.
Also, add the alsa daemon to your DAEMONS section in /etc/rc.conf to automatically restore the mixer settings on boot-up.
nano /etc/rc.conf
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network crond alsa)
Note that the alsa daemon merely restores your volume mixer levels on boot up. It is separate from the alsa audio library (and kernel level API).
Expanded information available in the
wiki entry.
The X Window System (commonly X11, or just simply X) is a networking and display protocol which provides windowing on bitmap displays. It provides the standard toolkit and protocol to build graphical user interfaces (GUIs) on UNIX-like operating systems.
X provides the basic framework, or primitives, for building GUI environments: drawing and moving windows on the screen and interacting with a mouse and/or keyboard. X does not mandate the user interface — individual client programs handle this.
X is so named because it was preceded by the W Window System, originally developed at Stanford University.
Note: If you plan on using an open-source video driver, and need 3d acceleration, it is recommended to install the libgl library before installing Xorg:
pacman -S libgl
(Proprietary video drivers provide their own gl library implementations.)
Now we will install the base Xorg packages using pacman.
This is the first step in building a GUI.
pacman -S xorg
3d utilities such as glxgears are included in the mesa package:
pacman -S mesa
Now we have the base packages we need for running the X Server. You should add the driver for your graphics card now (e.g. xf86-video-&name&). The easiest way to configure X.org is by installing the correct driver packages first, and then generating /etc/X11/xorg.conf using an autoconfiguration script, like Xorg -configure.
If you need a list of all open-source video drivers, do:
pacman -Ss xf86-video | less
If you don't know what graphics card you are using, do:
lspci | grep VGA
Here is a list of open source drivers, and corresponding video chipsets.
xf86-video-apm
Alliance ProMotion video driver
xf86-video-ark
ark video driver
xf86-video-ati
ati video driver
xf86-video-chips
Chips and Technologies video driver
xf86-video-cirrus
Cirrus Logic video driver
xf86-video-dummy
dummy video driver
xf86-video-fbdev
framebuffer video driver
xf86-video-glint
GLINT/Permedia video driver
xf86-video-i128
Number 0 i128 video driver
xf86-video-i740
Intel i740 video driver
xf86-video-i810
Intel i810/i830/i9xx video drivers (deprecated - use -intel)
xf86-video-intel
Newer Version of Intel i810/i830/i9xx video drivers
xf86-video-imstt
Integrated Micro Solutions Twin Turbo vidoe driver
xf86-video-mga
mga video driver
(Matrox Graphics Adapter)
xf86-video-neomagic
neomagic video driver
xf86-video-nv
nvidia nv video driver
xf86-video-rendition
Rendition video driver
xf86-video-s3
S3 video driver
xf86-video-s3virge
S3 Virge video driver
xf86-video-savage
savage video driver
xf86-video-siliconmotion
siliconmotion video driver
xf86-video-sis
SiS video driver
xf86-video-sisusb
SiS USB video driver
xf86-video-tdfx
tdfx video driver
xf86-video-trident
Trident video driver
xf86-video-tseng
tseng video driver
xf86-video-unichrome
Unichrome video drivers
xf86-video-v4l
v4l video driver
xf86-video-vesa
vesa video driver
xf86-video-vga
VGA 16 color video driver
xf86-video-via
via video driver
xf86-video-vmware
vmware video driver
xf86-video-voodoo
voodoo video driver
Note that the vesa driver is the most generic, and should work with almost any modern video chipset. If you cannot find a suitable driver for your video chipset, vesa should work.
If you have an nVIDIA or ATI video adapter, you may wish to install the proprietary nVIDIA or ATI drivers. Installing proprietary video drivers is covered .
Use pacman to install the appropriate video driver for your video card/onboard video. e.g.:
pacman -S xf86-video-savage
(for the Savage driver.)
If you still don't know which video driver to install, you may install the whole video driver group package, and allow the Xorg -configure script to specify the driver in xorg.xonf:
pacman -S xorg-video-drivers
/etc/X11/xorg.conf is the main configuration file for your X Window System, the foundation of your Graphical User Interface. It is a plain text file ordered into sections and subsections. Important sections are Files, InputDevice, Module, Monitor, Modes, Screen, Device, and ServerLayout. Sections can appear in any order and there may be more than one section of each kind, for example, if you have more than one monitor, or if your laptop has a trackpoint as well as a mouse.
By default, you will not have an Xorg config file, and with the newest versions of Xorg, you don't need one if the autodetection works satisfactorily and you don't need to turn on features such as aiglx and so on.
Most people will still find that they need to generate a config file, however.
Use the Xorg -configure script to make a basic config file. As root, do:
Xorg -configure
This will create a config file at /root/xorg.conf.new
To test the server, run:
X -config /root/xorg.conf.new
X should start with the white hollow vector X in the center of the screen, which should respond to mouse, trackpoint or touchpad movement. Use CTRL-Alt-Backspace to exit X.
Inspect your config file in case of errors:
nano /root/xorg.conf.new
Ensure the Xorg -configure script has correctly specified your video driver. e.g.:
Section "Device"
Ensure there are horizontal sync and vertical refresh specs under section "Monitor". If not, add them:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier
"Monitor0"
VendorName
"Monitor Vendor"
"Monitor Model"
30.0 - 130.0 # Safe for LCD's
VertRefresh
50.0 - 100.0 # Safe for LCD's and most CRT's.
EndSection
(If you do not know these specs, consult your monitor's documentation.)
Specify your default color depth under section "Screen":
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
"Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
(Typically, this will be set to 24 for true color.)
Also add your desired Modes to your "Display" subsection, at least under the Depth 24 header, e.g.:
SubSection "Display"
Modes "" "800x600" "640x480"
Try your config again, after modifying:
X -config /root/xorg.conf.new
Ensure an X session opens, without errors, and move the generated config file to /etc/X11:
mv /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Detailed instructions in the
Continue with
You may choose to use the proprietary video drivers from nVIDIA or ATI.
The nVIDIA proprietary drivers are generally considered to be of excellent quality, and offer superior 3D performance.
Before you configure your Graphics Card you will need to know which driver fits. Arch currently has 3 different driver packages that each match a certain subset of Cards:
1. nvidia-71xx for very old Cards like TNT and TNT2
2. nvidia-96xx slightly newer cards up to the GF 4
newest GPUs after the GF 4
Consult the nVIDIA-Homepage to see which one is for you. The difference is only
Configuration works the same with every driver.
Select and install the appropriate nVIDIA driver for your card, e.g.:
pacman -S nvidia-96xx
The nVIDIA package has a utility for updating your existing /etc/X11/xorg.conf for use with the nVIDIA driver:
nvidia-xconfig
It also has several options which will further specify the contents and options of the xorg.conf file.
For example,
nvidia-xconfig --composite --add-argb-glx-visuals
For more detailed information, see nvidia-xconfig(1).
Some useful tweaking options in the device section are (beware that these may not work on your system):
"RenderAccel" "true"
"NoLogo" "true"
"AGPFastWrite" "true"
"EnablePageFlip" "true"
Make sure all instances of DRI are commented out:
Double check your /etc/X11/xorg.conf to make sure your default depth, horizontal sync, vertical refresh, and resolutions are acceptable.
Update kernel module dependencies:
Advanced instructions for nvidia configuration can be found in the
Continue with
ATI owners have two options for drivers. If you are unsure which driver to use, please try the open-source one first. The open-source driver will suit most needs along with being generally less problematic.
Install the proprietary ATI Driver with
pacman -S catalyst
Use the aticonfig tool to modify the xorg.conf. Note: The proprietary driver does not support . To use
with this driver you would need to use .
Install the open-source ATI Driver with
pacman -S xf86-video-ati
Currently, the performance of the open-source driver is not on par with that of the proprietary one. It also lacks TV-out, dual-link DVI support, and possibly other features. On the other hand, it supports Aiglx and has better dual-head support.
Advanced instructions for ATI configuration can be found in the .
At this point, you should have xorg installed, with a suitable video driver and an /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration file. If you want to test your configuration quickly, before installing a complete desktop environment, do so by invoking xterm. Xterm is a very simple terminal emulator which runs in the X S it is installed as part of the base xorg packages. Xterm will allow us to effectively test if your video driver and /etc/X11/xorg.conf are properly configured. (Alternatively, you may wish to test if the X autodetection works satisfactorily, in the absence of /etc/X11/xorg.conf.)
This file dictates what X Server event is invoked with the 'startx' command:
su yourusername
nano ~/.xinitrc
exec xterm
So that it looks like this:
# ~/.xinitrc
# Executed by startx (run your window manager from here)
exec xterm
# exec wmaker
# exec startkde
# exec icewm
# exec blackbox
# exec fluxbox
Be sure to have only one uncommented exec line in your ~/.xinitrc Below, we shall edit this file again to specify the appropriate desktop environment of your choice.
If you do not have ~/.xinitrc, simply create one with the above information, or copy the sample file from /etc/skel/ to your home directory:
cp /etc/skel/.xinitrc ~/
NOTE: In the absence of file ~/.xinitrc, /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc will be used as a fallback, which defaults to using TWM and Xterm.
Start X Server as normal user, with:
You should have an xterm session open up. You can exit the X Server with Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, or by typing "exit". If you have problems starting X, you can look for errors in the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file and on the console output of the console you started X from.
Advanced instructions for Xorg configuration can be found in the
While The X Window System provides the basic framework for building a graphical user interface (GUI), a Desktop Environment (DE), works atop and in conjunction with X, to provide a completely functional and dynamic GUI. A DE typically provides icons, applets, windows, toolbars, folders, wallpapers, applications and abilities like drag and drop. The particular functionalities and designs of each DE will uniquely affect your overall environment and experience. Therefore, choosing a DE is a very subjective and personal decision. Choose the best environment for your needs.
If you want something
full-featured and similar to Windows and Mac OSX,
is a good choice
If you want something slightly more minimalist, which follows the K.I.S.S. principle more closely,
is a good choice
is generally perceived as similar to GNOME, but lighter and less demanding on system resources, yet still visually pleasing and providing a very complete environment.
If you have an older machine, or desire a lighter, less demanding GUI, you may choose to simply install a Window Manager, or WM. A WM controls the placement and appearance of application windows in conjunction with the X Window System but does NOT provide such additions as panels, applets, icons, etc.
Lightweight WM's include: openbox, fluxbox, fvwm2, windowmaker and twm.
If you need something completely different, try ion, wmii, or dwm.
At this point, you may want to install some good-looking fonts, before installing a desktop environment/window manager. Dejavu and bitstream-vera are nice font sets. For websites, you may want to have the Microsoft fonts too. Install with:
pacman -S ttf-ms-fonts ttf-dejavu ttf-bitstream-vera
As normal user, edit your /home/username/.xinitrc to utilize the DE you wish to use:
nano ~/.xinitrc
Uncomment or add the 'exec ..' line of the appropriate desktop environment/window manager. For example:
exec startxfce4
(For the Xfce4 desktop environment.)
Remember to have only one uncommented exec line in your ~/.xinitrc.
Continue below, installing the DE/WM of your choice.
The GNU Network Object Model Environment. The GNOME project provides two things: The GNOME desktop environment, an intuitive and attractive desktop for end-users, and the GNOME development platform, an extensive framework for building applications that integrate into the rest of the desktop.
Install the complete GNOME environment
pacman -S gnome gnome-extra
It's safe to choose all packages shown.
Alternatively, you may wish to install a more basic, stripped-down GNOME:
pacman -S gnome
Recall from above that a daemon is a program that runs in the background, waiting for events to occur and offering services. The hal daemon, among other things, will automate the mounting of disks, optical drives, and USB drives/thumbdrives for use in the GUI. The fam daemon will allow real-time representation of file alterations in the GUI, allowing instant access to recently installed programs, or changes in the file system. Both hal and fam make life easier for the GNOME user. The hal and fam packages are installed when you install GNOME, but must be invoked to become useful.
You may want to install a graphical login manager. For GNOME, the gdm daemon is a good choice.
pacman -S gdm
You will almost certainly want the hal and fam daemons.
Start hal and fam:
/etc/rc.d/hal start
/etc/rc.d/fam start
Add them to your /etc/rc.conf DAEMONS section, so they will be invoked on bootup:
nano /etc/rc.conf
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network crond alsa hal fam gdm)
(If you prefer to log into the console and manually start X in the 'Slackware tradition', leave out gdm.)
As normal user, start X:
You may want to install a terminal and an editor. I would recommend gnome-terminal (part of the group gnome-extra) and geany:
pacman -S geany gnome-terminal
Advanced instructions for installing and configuring GNOME can be found in the
Congratulations! Welcome to your GNOME desktop environment on your new Arch Linux system! You may wish to continue by viewing , or the rest of the information below. You may also be interested in the
wiki article.
You may find the default GNOME theme and icons not very attractive. A nice gtk theme is murrine. Install it with
pacman -S gtk-engine-murrine
and select it with System-&Preferences-&Theme. You can find more themes, icons, and wallpaper at .
The K Desktop Environment. KDE is a powerful Free Software graphical desktop environment for GNU/Linux and UNIX workstations. It combines ease of use, contemporary functionality, and outstanding graphical design with the technological superiority of UNIX-like operating systems.
Arch offers several versions of kde: kde, kdebase, and KDEmod. Choose one of the following, and continue below with :
1.) Package kde is the complete, vanilla KDE, ~300MB.
pacman -S kde
2.) Package kdebase is a slimmed-down version with less applications, ~80MB.
pacman -S kdebase
3.) Lastly, KDEmod is an Arch Linux exclusive, community-driven system which is modified for extreme performance and modularity. The KDEmod project website can be found at . KDEmod is extremely fast, lightweight and responsive, with a pleasing, customized theme.
KDE will require the hal (Hardware Abstraction Layer) and fam (File Alteration Monitor) daemons. The kdm daemon is the K Display Manager, which provides a graphical login, if desired.
Recall from above that a daemon is a program that runs in the background, waiting for events to occur and offering services. The hal daemon, among other things, will automate the mounting of disks, optical drives, and USB drives/thumbdrives for use in the GUI. The fam daemon will allow real-time representation of file alterations in the GUI, allowing instant access to recently installed programs, or changes in the file system.. Both hal and fam make life easier for the KDE user. The hal, fam and kdm packages
are installed when you install KDE, but must be invoked to become useful.
Start hal and fam:
/etc/rc.d/hal start
/etc/rc.d/fam start
NOTE: The hal daemon relies on, and will automatically start, the dbus daemon.
Edit your DAEMONS section in /etc/rc.conf:
nano /etc/rc.conf
Add hal and fam to your DAEMONS section, to invoke them on bootup. If you prefer a graphical login, add kdm as well:
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network crond alsa hal fam kdm)
This method will start the system at runlevel 3, (/etc/inittab default, multiuser mode), and then start KDM as a daemon.
Some users prefer an alternative method of starting a display manager like KDM on bootup by utilizing the /etc/inittab method and starting the system at runlevel 5. See
If you prefer to log into the console at runlevel 3, and manually start X in the 'Slackware tradition', leave out kdm, or comment it out with an exclamation. ( ! )
Now try starting your X Server as normal user:
Advanced instructions for installing and configuring KDE can be found in the
Congratulations! Welcome to your KDE desktop environment on your new Arch Linux system! You may wish to continue by viewing , or the rest of the information below. You may also be interested in the
wiki article.
The cholesterol-free environment. Xfce is a Desktop Environment, like GNOME or KDE, that aims to be fast and lightweight, while still being visually appealing and easy to use. It contains a suite of apps like a root window app, window manager, file manager, panel, etc. Xfce is written using the GTK2 toolkit (like GNOME) and contains its own development environment (libraries, daemons, etc) similar to other big DEs. Unlike GNOME or KDE, Xfce is lightweight and designed more around CDE than Windows or Mac. It has a much slower development cycle, but is very stable and extremely fast. Xfce is great for older hardware, and will fly with especially great speed on newer machines as well.
Install a complete xfce environment with themes and extras:
pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies gtk2-themes-collection
If you use kdm or gdm a new xfce session should have appeared. Alternatively, you can use
startxfce4
Advanced instructions for installing and configuring Xfce can be found in the
Congratulations! Welcome to your Xfce desktop environment on your new Arch Linux system! You may wish to continue by viewing , or the rest of the information below. You may also be interested in the
wiki article.
Fluxbox (C) is yet another windowmanager for X.
It's based on the Blackbox 0.61.1 code. Fluxbox looks like blackbox and handles styles, colors, window placement and similar things exactly like blackbox (100% theme/style compability).
Install Fluxbox using
pacman -S fluxbox fluxconf
If you use gdm/kdm a new fluxbox session will be automatically added. Otherwise, you should modify your user's .xinitrc and add this to it:
exec startfluxbox
More information is available in the
Openbox is a standards compliant, fast, light-weight, extensible window manager.
Openbox works with your applications, and makes your desktop easier to manage. This is because the approach to its development was the opposite of what seems to be the general case for window managers. Openbox was written first to comply with standards and to work properly. Only when that was in place did the team turn to the visual interface.
Openbox is fully functional as a stand-alone working environment, or can be used as a drop-in replacement for the default window manager in the GNOME or KDE desktop environments.
Install openbox using
pacman -S openbox obconf obmenu
Once openbox is installed you will get a message to move menu.xml & rc.xml to ~/.config/openbox/ in your home directory:
mkdir -p ~/.config/openbox/
cp /etc/xdg/openbox/rc.xml ~/.config/openbox/
cp /etc/xdg/openbox/menu.xml ~/.config/openbox/
In the file "rc.xml" you can change various settings for Openbox (or you can use OBconf). In "menu.xml" you can change your right-click menu.
To be able to log into openbox you can either go via graphical login using KDM/GDM or startx, in which case you will need to edit your ~/.xinitrc (as user) and add the following:
exec openbox
For KDM there i openbox is listed in the sessions menu in KDM.
Useful programs for openbox are:
PyPanel or LXpanel if you want a panel
feh if you want to set the background
ROX if you want a simple file manager and desktop icons
More information is available in the
FVWM is an extremely powerful ICCCM-compliant multiple virtual desktop window manager for the X Window system. Development is active, and support is excellent.
Install fvwm2 with
pacman -S fvwm
fvwm will automatically be listed in kdm/gdm in the sessions menu. Otherwise, add
to your user's .xinitrc.
Note that this stable version of fvwm is a few years old. If you want a more recent version of fvwm, there is a fvwm-devel package in the unstable repo.
Since you have now installed a desktop environment, and if you did not do so earlier, now would be a good time to also install HAL. HAL allows plug-and-play for your mobile phone, your iPod, your external HD's, etc. It will mount the device and make a nice visual icon on your desktop and/or in 'My Computer', allowing you to access the device after you have plugged it in instead of having to manually configure the /etc/fstab file or udev rules for each and every new device.
KDE, GNOME and XFCE all use HAL.
The installation procedure is described in the
article. Some information can also be found at
To speed up system start up procedure, background your DAEMONS in /etc/rc.conf by prefixing them with a '@' e.g.:
DAEMONS=(@syslog-ng @network crond @alsa @hal @fam @kdm)
This will enable daemons to load in the background, without waiting for the preceding daemon to load first.
Prefix any daemons which you do not need with a bang (!) e.g.:
DAEMONS=(@syslog-ng @network !crond @alsa @hal @fam @kdm)
Alternatively, you may also simply remove unneeded daemons.
While your mouse should be working out of the box, you may want to use your scroll wheel. Add this to your Input Section (mouse0):
"ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
You may want to change your keyboard layout. To do this edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add these lines in the Input Section (keyboard0) (the example shows a German keyboard layo alter this to fit your needs).
"XkbLayout"
"XkbVariant"
"nodeadkeys"
ACPI support is needed if you want to use some special functions on your notebook (e.g. sleep, sleep when lid is closed, special keys...). Install acpid
pacman -S acpid
and add it to the daemons in /etc/rc.conf (acpid). Start it with
/etc/rc.d/acpid start
More-specific information about Arch Linux on various Laptops can be found at
Modern processors can decrease their frequency and voltage to reduce heat and power consumption. Less heat leads Laptop users will definitely want this, but even a desktop system will benefit from it. Install cpufrequtils with
pacman -S cpufrequtils
and add cpufreq to your daemons in /etc/rc.conf. Edit the config file /etc/conf.d/cpufreq and change
governor="conservative"
which dynamically increases the CPU frequency if needed (which is a safe choice on desktop systems too). Alter min_freq and max_freq to match your system's CPU spec. If you don't know the frequencies, run cpufreq-info after loading one of the frequency scaling modules. You can also comment out or delete the min_freq and max_freq lines: things will work automatically. Add the frequency scaling modules to your /etc/rc.conf modules line. Most modern notebooks and desktops can simply use the acpi-cpufreq driver, however other options include the p4-clockmod, powernow-k6, powernow-k7, powernow-k8, and speedstep-centrino drivers. Load the module with
modprobe &modulname&
and start cpufreq with
/etc/rc.d/cpufreq start
For more details, see
This section will never be complete. It just shows some good applications for the everyday user.
KDE users NOTE: Since KDE resides in /opt, you will most likely have to log out and in after initial installation to update your PATH before these programs can be used.
The ever-popular Firefox web browser is available through pacman, although it doesnt have its official branding, so the program appears when opened as Bon Echo. Install with:
pacman -S firefox
Be sure and install 'flashplugin', 'mplayer', 'mplayer-plugin', and the 'codecs' packages for a complete web experience:
pacman -S flashplugin mplayer mplayer-plugin codecs
(The codecs package contains codecs for Quicktime and Realplayer content.)
Thunderbird is useful for managing your emails. If you are using GNOME you may want to take a look at Epiphany and E if you are using KDE Konqueror and KMail could be your choice. If you want something completely different you can still use Opera.
Finally, if you are working on the system console - or in a terminal session - you could use various text-based browsers like ELinks, Links and Lynx, and manage your emails with . Pidgin (previously known as Gaim) and Kopete are good instant messengers for GNOME and KDE, respectively. PSI and Gajim are perfect if you are using only Jabber or Google Talk.
OpenOffice is a complete office suite (similar to Microsoft Office). Abiword is a good, small alternative word processor, and Gnumeric an Excel replacement for the GNOME desktop. KOffice is a complete office suite for the KDE Desktop. GIMP (or GIMPShop) is a pixel-based graphics program (similar to Adobe Photoshop), while Inkscape is a vector-based graphics program (like Adobe Illustrator). And, of course, Arch comes with a full set of LaTeX Programs:
tetex has been popular for