Arch Linux Handbook

Arch Linux Handbook
Retrieved August 27, 2009

Copyright 2009 by Dusty Phillips
Retrieved August 27, 2009 from
http://wiki.archi!u".org/i!de".php/#egi!!ers$%uide
&ermissio! is gra!ted to copy, distri'ute a!d/or modify this
docume!t u!der the terms of the %() *ree +ocume!tatio!
,ice!se, -ersio! ..2 or a!y ater versio! pu'ished 'y the *ree
/oftware *ou!datio!0 with !o 1!varia!t /ectio!s, !o *ro!t2Cover
3e"ts, a!d !o #ack2Cover 3e"ts. A copy of the ice!se is
i!cuded i! the sectio! e!tited 4%() *ree +ocume!tatio!
,ice!se4.
*or i!formatio! o! this 'ooket, pease co!tact +usty &hiips at
dusty5archi!u".ca
Cover and Book Design by Dusty Phillips.
Printed in the United States by Aa!on CreateSpa"e.
Designed in Canada.
#A$%&'( 9)*&++*,99,0-
.SB$%&0( &++*,99,0,
/able o0 Contents
Table of Contents
/able o0 Contents............................................................&
Pre0a"e.............................................................................-
Part .( .nstall the Base Syste........................................9
Step &( 1btain the latest .nstallation edia ...............9
Step 2( Boot Ar"h 2inu3 .nstaller.............................&&
Step '( Start the .nstallation.....................................&2
A( Sele"t an installation sour"e................................&2
B( Set Clo"k..............................................................&-
C( Prepare 4ard Drive..............................................&-
D( Sele"t Pa"kages...................................................2+
#( .nstall Pa"kages....................................................2-
5( Con0igure the Syste...........................................2-
6( .nstall Bootloader................................................+2
4( 7eboot..................................................................++
Part ..( Con0igure8Update the $e9 Ar"h 2inu3 base
syste............................................................................+-
Step &( Con0iguring the net9ork :i0 ne"essary;........+-
Step 2( Update< Syn" and Upgrade the syste 9ith
pa"an......................................................................-&
Step '( Update Syste..............................................,2
Step +( Add a user and setup groups.........................,'
Step -( .nstall and setup Sudo :1ptional;.................,-
Part ...( .nstall = and "on0igure A2SA.........................,)
Step &( Con0igure sound 9ith alsai3er..................,)
Step 2( .nstall =........................................................)0
Step '( Con0igure =..................................................))
Siple baseline = test:i0 ne"essary;.........................*+
Part .>( .nstalling and "on0iguring a Desktop
#nvironent .................................................................*9
Step &( .nstall 5onts..................................................90
Step 2( ?@.3initr" :again;...........................................90
&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
Step '( .nstall a Desktop #nvironent.....................9&
Use0ul Appli"ations.....................................................&0-
Aeb bro9ser...........................................................&0-
100i"e......................................................................&0,
>ideo Player...........................................................&0,
Audio Player...........................................................&09
Code"s and other ultiedia "ontent types :i,*,
only; .......................................................................&&&
CD and D>D Burning............................................&&2
$et9orking.............................................................&&'
/>%Cards.................................................................&&+
Digital Caeras......................................................&&-
USB Beory Sti"ks @ 4ard Disks..........................&&-
An .ntrodu"tion to ABS...............................................&&)
An .ntrodu"tion to /he AU7.......................................&2&
.nstall an AU7 4elper............................................&2'
5ile and dire"tory e3planation.....................................&2-
Ar"h Boot Pro"ess.......................................................&'-
Boot S"ript 1vervie9.............................................&',
agetty and login......................................................&'9
Baintaining the syste...............................................&+&
su.............................................................................&+&
Pa"an...................................................................&+2
/9eaks@5inishing tou"hes...........................................&+9
4A2........................................................................&+9
Ba"kgrounding DA#B1$S on startup..................&+9
/urn o00 Control #"ho in Bash...............................&-0
Beauti0ying 5onts 0or 2CDCs..................................&-0
AdDusting Bouse 0or s"roll 9heel..........................&-0
6et All Bouse Buttons Aorking............................&-0
Con0iguring /ou"hpad 0or 2aptops........................&-0
AdDusting Eeyboard 2ayout...................................&-0
Additional t9eaks 0or laptops.................................&-&
Con0iguring CPU 0reFuen"y s"aling......................&-&
2
/able o0 Contents
P%Utils..................................................................&-2
2aptop%Bode..........................................................&-2
Add additional repositories.....................................&-'
6$U 5ree Do"uentation 2i"ense.............................&--
6$U 5ree Do"uentation 2i"ense........................&--
4o9 to use this 2i"ense 0or your do"uents.........&,+
'
Pre0a"e
Preface
Everything you ever wanted to know about Arch, but were
afraid to ask
6ecome. 3his sef2co!tai!ed docume!t wi guide you through the
process of i!stai!g a!d co!figuri!g Arch ,i!u"0 a simpe, agie
a!d ightweight %()/,i!u" distri'utio!, UNIX2ike operati!g
system. Arch ,i!u" re7uires a certai! eve of i!timate k!owedge
of its co!figuratio! a!d of UNIX2ike system methodoogy a!d for
this reaso!, e"tra e"pa!atory i!formatio! is i!cuded. 3his guide is
aimed at !ew Arch users, 'ut strives to serve as a stro!g refere!ce
a!d i!formative 'ase for a.
Arch Linux distribution highlights:
i!"le, UNIX2ike desig! a!d phiosophy
1!depe!de!ty +eveoped Commu!ity distro 'uit from
scratch a!d targeted at compete!t %()/,i!u" users
A packages compied for i#$#%x$#&#'
8ighy customi9a'e system assem'ed 'y the user from the
grou!d up
()&style init scripts, featuri!g o!e ce!trai9ed
co!figuratio! fie
!kinitc"io: a simpe a!d dy!amic i!itramfs creator
*olling *elease mode
Pac!an package ma!ager is fast, writte! i! C, ightweight
a!d agie, with a very modest memory footpri!t
A(: 3he Arch (uid ystem, a ports2ike package
'uidi!g system makes it simpe to create your ow! easiy
i!staa'e Arch packages from source, to use a!d/or share
with the commu!ity o! the A)R
A+*: 3he Arch )ser Repository, offeri!g ma!y thousa!ds
of 'uid scripts for Arch user2provided software packages
-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
),-.T PA-/C 0
3he Arch ,i!u" system is assem'ed 'y the user, from the she,
usi!g 'asic comma!d i!e toos. 3his is The Arch 1ay2 )!ike the
more rigid structures of other distri'utio!s a!d i!staers, there are
!o defaut e!viro!me!ts !or co!figuratio!s chose! for you. *rom
the comma!d i!e, you wi add packages from the Arch repositories
usi!g the pacma! too via your i!ter!et co!!ectio! a!d ma!uay
co!figure your i!staatio! 'y editi!g te"t fies u!ti your system is
customi9ed to your re7uireme!ts. :ou wi aso ma!uay add !o!2
root user;s< a!d ma!age groups a!d permissio!s. 3his method
aows for ma"imum fe"i'iity, choice, a!d system resource co!tro
from the base up.
Arch ,i!u" is aimed at compete!t %()/,i!u" users who desire
mi!ima =code separatio!= from their machi!e.
License
Arch ,i!u", pacma!, docume!tatio!, a!d scripts are copyright
>200222007 'y ?udd -i!et, >200722009 'y Aaro! %riffi! a!d are
ice!sed u!der the %() %e!era &u'ic ,ice!se -ersio! 2.
The Arch 1ay
The design principles behind Arch are aimed at keeping it simple.
=/impe=, i! this co!te"t, sha mea! =without u!!ecessary additio!s,
modificatio!s, or compicatio!s=.. 1!. short0 a! eega!t, mi!imaist
approach.
o!e thoughts to kee" in !ind:
" 'Simple' is defined from a technical standpoint, not a
usability standpoint. It is better to be technically elegant
with a higher learning curve, than to be easy to use and
technically [inferior]." -aron !riffin
"ntia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem or
4@!tities shoud !ot 'e mutipied u!!ecessariy.4 2Accam=s
ra9or. 3he term ra#or refers to the act of shavi!g away
u!!ecessary compicatio!s to arrive at the simpest
e"pa!atio!, method or theory.
,
Pre0a"e
"$he e%traordinary part of [my method] lies in its
simplicity..$he height of cultivation always runs to
simplicity." 2 #ruce ,ee
About This 3uide
3he Arch wiki is a! e"cee!t resource a!d shoud 'e co!suted for
issues first0 1RC ;free!ode Barchi!u"<, a!d the forums are aso
avaia'e if the a!swer ca!!ot 'e fou!d.
-ote: *oowi!g this guide cosey is esse!tia i! order to
successfuy i!sta a propery co!figured Arch ,i!u" system,
so pease read it thoroughy. 1t is stro!gy recomme!ded you
read each sectio! competey 'efore carryi!g out the tasks
co!tai!ed.
/i!ce %()/,i!u" +istri'utio!s are fu!dame!tay =moduar= 'y
desig!, the guide is ogicay divided i!to C mai! compo!e!ts of a
desktop UNIX2ike operati!g system:
Part /: /nstalling the (ase syste!
Part //: Configure4+"date the -ew Arch Linux base syste!
Part ///: /nstalling 5 and configuring ALA
Part /6: /nstalling a )eskto" Environ!ent
Welcome to Arch! Enjoy the installation; take your time and have
fun!
No! let"s get started....
)
Part .( .nstall the Base Syste
Part /: /nstall the (ase yste!
te" 7: ,btain the latest /nstallation !edia
:ou ca! o'tai! Arch=s officia i!staatio! media from
http://archi!u".org/dow!oad/. 3he atest versio! is 2009.0D
#oth the Core i!staer a!d the *3&/833&2dow!oads
provide o!y the !ecessary packages to create a! Arch
Linux base syste!. &ote that the 'ase System does not
include a !(I. It is mainly comprised of the !&(
toolchain )compiler, assembler, lin*er, libraries, shell, and
a few useful utilities+, the ,inu% *ernel, and a few e%tra
libraries and modules.
3he isoi!u" images are provided for peope who
e"perie!ce trou'e usi!g the gru' versio!. 3here are !o
other differe!ces.
3he ArchEC *AF
;http://wiki.archi!u".org/i!de".php/ArchEC$*AF < ca!
hep you chose 'etwee! the G22 a!d EC2'it versio!s.
#$ installer
#ur! the .iso to a C+ with your preferred 'ur!er, a!d co!ti!ue with
/tep 2: #oot Arch ,i!u" 1!staer
-ote: Aptica drives as we as C+ media 7uaity vary greaty,
'ut ge!eray, usi!g a sow 'ur! speed is recomme!ded for
reia'e 'ur!s0 /ome users recomme!d speeds as ow as C" or
2". 1f you are e"perie!ci!g u!e"pected 'ehavior from the C+,
try 'ur!i!g at the mi!imum speed supported 'y your system.
9
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
%&' stick
6ar!i!g: 3his wi irrevoca'y destroy a data o! your )/#
stick.
UNIX 8ethod:
1!sert a! empty or e"pe!da'e )/# stick, determi!e its path, a!d
dump the .img to the )/# stick with the /bin/dd program:
dd if=archlinux-2009.08-[core_or_ftp]-i686.img
of=/dev/dx
where if- is the path to the img fie a!d of- is your )/# device.
Hake sure to use /dev/sd% a!d !ot /dev/sd%..
Check !d9su! :o"tional;:
Hake a !ote of the !um'er of records ;'ocks< read i! a!d writte!
out, the! perform the foowi!g check:
dd if=/dev/dx count=number_of_records tatu=noxfer !
md"um
3he mdIsum retur!ed shoud match the mdIsum of the dow!oaded
archi!u" image fie0 they 'oth shoud match the mdIsum of the
image as isted i! the mdIsums fie i! the mirror distri'utio! site.
1indows 8ethod:
+ow!oad +isk 1mager from https://au!chpad.!et/wi!G22image2
writer/Jdow!oad. 1!sert fash media. /tart the +isk 1mager a!d
seect the image fie. /eect the +rive etter associated with the fash
drive. Cick 4write4.
Co!ti!ue with /tep 2: #oot Arch ,i!u" 1!staer
&0
te" <: (oot Arch Linux /nstaller
1!sert the C+ or )/# stick a!d 'oot from it. :ou may have to
cha!ge the 'oot order i! your computer #1A/ or press a key
;usuay +@,, *., *2, *.. or *.2< duri!g the #1A/ &A/3 phase.
Hemory re7uireme!ts:
CAR@ : .E0 H# RAH "DE$EC/iEDE ;a packages seected,
with swap partitio!<
*3& : .E0 H# RAH "DE$EC/iEDE ;a packages seected,
with swap partitio!<
Choose #oot Archive or #oot Archive Kegacy 1+@L if you have
trou'e with i'ata/&A3A.
3o cha!ge 'oot optio!s press e for editi!g the 'oot i!es. Ha!y
users may wish to cha!ge the resoutio! of the frame'uffer, for
more reada'e co!soe output. Appe!d:
vga=##$
to the ker!e i!e, foowed 'y M@(3@RN, for a .02C"7ED
frame'uffer.
8it b to 'oot.
3he system wi !ow 'oot a!d prese!t a ogi! prompt. ,ogi! as
=root= without 7uotes.
1f your system has errors tryi!g to 'oot from the ive C+ or there
are other hardware errors, refer to the 1!staatio! 3rou'eshooti!g
wiki page.
#hanging the keymap
1f you have a !o!2)/ key'oard ayout you ca! i!teractivey choose
your keymap/co!soe fo!t with the comma!d:
&&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
% &m
or use the oadkeys comma!d:
% load&e' layout
;repace layout with your key'oard ayout such as 4fr4 or 4be-
latin14<
$ocumentation
3he officia i!sta guide is avaia'e o! the ive system. 3he officia
guide covers i!staatio! a!d co!figuratio! of the 'ase system o!y.
Cha!ge to vc/2 ;virtua co!soe B2< with MA,3NJ*2 a!d i!voke
/usr/bin/less:
% le /arch/doc/official_intallation_guide_en
less wi aow you to page through the docume!t. Cha!ge 'ack to
vc/. with MA,3NJ*..
Cha!ge 'ack to vc/2 if you !eed to refere!ce the Afficia %uide at
a!y time.
te" =: tart the /nstallation
As root, ru! the i!staer script from vc/.:
% /arch/etup
A: elect an installation source
After a wecome scree!, you wi 'e prompted for a! i!staatio!
source. Choose the appropriate source for the i!staer you are
usi!g.
&2
1f you chose the CAR@ i!staer, co!ti!ue 'eow with C:
&repare 8ard +rive.
*3&/833& o!y: :ou sha 'e prompted to oad ether!et
drivers ma!uay, if desired. )dev is 7uite effective at
oadi!g the re7uired modues, so you may assume it has
aready do!e so. :ou may verify this 'y i!voki!g ifco!fig
2a from vc/G. ;/eect AO to co!ti!ue.<
#onfigure Netork ()T*+,TT*-
Avaia'e 1!terfaces wi 'e prese!ted. 1f a! i!terface a!d 86addr
;Hard1are address< is isted, the! your modue has aready 'ee!
oaded. 1f your i!terface is !ot isted, you may pro'e it from the
i!staer, or ma!uay do so from a!other virtua co!soe.
3he foowi!g scree! wi prompt you to Select the interface, /robe,
or 0ancel. Choose the appropriate i!terface a!d co!ti!ue.
3he i!staer wi the! ask if you wish to use +8C&. Choosi!g :es
wi ru! dhc"cd to discover a! avaia'e gateway a!d re7uest a! 1&
address0 Choosi!g (o wi prompt you for your static 1&, !etmask,
'roadcast, gateway +(/ 1&, 833& pro"y, a!d *3& pro"y. ,asty,
you wi 'e prese!ted with a! overview to e!sure your e!tries are
correct.
1ireless >uickstart ?or the Live Environ!ent :/f you need
wireless connectivity during the installation "rocess;
3he wireess drivers a!d utiities are !ow avaia'e to you i! the ive
e!viro!me!t of the i!staatio! media. A good k!owedge of your
wireess hardware wi 'e of key importa!ce to successfu
co!figuratio!. (ote that the foowi!g 7uickstart procedure wi
i!itiai9e your wireess hardware for use in the live environment.
3he 'asic procedure wi 'e:
/witch to a free virtua co!soe, e.g.: MA,3NJ*G
@!sure udev has oaded the driver, a!d that the driver has
created a usa'e wireess ker!e i!terface with
/usr/sbin/iwconfig:
&'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
% i(config
;Autput shoud show a! avaia'e wireess i!terface<
#ri!g the i!terface up with /sbin/ifconfig
<interface> up.
A! e"ampe, usi!g a! atheros card a!d madwifi driver:
% ifconfig ath0 up
;Remem'er, your i!terface may 'e !amed somethi!g ese,
depe!di!g o! your modue ;driver< a!d chipset: wa!0, eth., etc.<
/pecify the id of the wireess !etwork with iwco!fig
Mi!terfaceN essid 4MyouressidN4 key MyourwepkeyN ;give
the essid ;the =!etwork !ame=< of the !etwork i! 7uotes<.
A! e"ampe usi!g 6@&:
% i(config ath0 eid )lin&') &e' 02*+,af$*c
A! e"ampe usi!g a! u!secured !etwork:
% i(config ath0 eid )lin&')
Re7uest a!d ac7uire a! 1& address with /sbin/dhcpcd
<interface> . e.g.:
% dhcpcd ath0
@!sure you ca! route usi!g /bin/ping:
% ping -c $ (((.google.com
+o!e.
&+
-ote: 1! additio! to the wireess modue, some wireess
chipsets, ike ipw2.00 a!d ipw2200, re7uire correspo!di!g
firmware i!staatio!. 3he firmware packages must 'e
e"picity i!staed to your actua system to provide wireess
fu!ctio!aity after you re'oot i!to your i!staed system. ;+ue
to the firmware i!staatio! re7uireme!t, these chipsets may !ot
work i! the ive e!viro!me!t.< &ackage seectio! a!d
i!staatio! is covered 'eow. @!sure i!staatio! of 'oth your
wireess modue a!d firmware duri!g the package seectio!
stepP /ee 6ireess /etup if you are u!sure a'out the
re7uireme!t of correspo!di!g firmware i!staatio! for your
particuar chipset. 3his is a very commo! error.
After the i!itia Arch i!staatio! is compete, you may wish to refer
to 6ireess /etup to e!sure a perma!e!t co!figuratio! soutio! for
your i!staed system.
Retur! to vc/. with MA,3NJ*.. Co!ti!ue with C: &repare 8ard
+rive
(: et Clock
)3C 2 Choose )3C if ru!!i!g o!y UNIX2ike operati!g
system;s<.
ocatime 2 Choose oca if muti2'ooti!g with a Hicrosoft
6i!dows A/.
C: Pre"are Hard )rive
1arning: &artitio!i!g hard drives ca! destroy data. :ou are
stro!gy cautio!ed a!d advised to 'ackup your critica data if
appica'e.
-erify curre!t disk ide!tities a!d ayout 'y i!voki!g
/sbin/fdisk with the -l ;ower2case ,< switch.
Ape! a!other virtua co!soe ;MA,3NJ*G< a!d e!ter:
&-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
% fdi& -l
3ake !ote of the disk;s</partitio!;s< to utii9e for the Arch
i!staatio!.
/witch 'ack to the i!staatio! script with MA,3NJ*.
/eect the first me!u e!try 4&repare 8ard +rive4.
Aptio! .: Auto &repare
Auto2&repare divides the disk i!to the foowi!g co!figuratio!:
e"t2 /'oot partitio!, defaut si9e G2H#. 1ou will be
prompted to modify the si#e to your re2uirement.
swap partitio!, defaut si9e 2IEH#. 1ou will be prompted
to modify the si#e to your re2uirement.
A /eparate / a!d /home partitio!, ;si9es ca! aso 'e
specified<. Avaia'e fiesystems i!cude e"t2, e"tG, e"tC,
reiserfs, "fs a!d Qfs, 'ut !ote that both 3 and 3home shall
share the same fs type if choosi!g the Auto &repare optio!.
#e war!ed that Auto2prepare wi competey erase the chose! hard
drive. Read the war!i!g prese!ted 'y the i!staer very carefuy,
a!d make sure the correct device is a'out to 'e partitio!ed.
Aptio! 2: :*eco!!ended; &artitio! 8ard +rives ;with
cfdisk<
3his optio! wi aow for the most ro'ust a!d customi9ed
partitio!i!g soutio! for your perso!a !eeds.
t this point, more advanced !&(3,inu% users who are familiar
and comfortable with manually partitioning may wish to s*ip down
to $. &elect *ackages below.
-ote: 1f you are i!stai!g to a )/# fash key, see 41!stai!g
Arch ,i!u" o! a )/# key4.
&,
*artition ,ard $rives
Partition /nfo
&artitio!i!g a hard disk drive defi!es specific areas ;the partitio!s<
withi! the disk, that wi each appear a!d 'ehave as a separate disk
a!d upo! which a fiesystem may 'e created ;formatted<.
3here are G types of disk partitio!s:
.. &rimary
2. @"te!ded
G. ,ogica
Pri!ary partitio!s ca! 'e 'oota'e, a!d are imited to C partitio!s
per disk or raid voume. 1f a partitio!i!g scheme re7uires more tha!
C partitio!s, a! extended partitio! which wi co!tai! logical
partitio!s wi 'e re7uired.
@"te!ded partitio!s are !ot usa'e 'y themseves0 they are merey a
4co!tai!er4 for ogica partitio!s. 1f re7uired, a hard disk sha
co!tai! o!y o!e e"te!ded partitio!0 which sha the! 'e su'2divided
i!to ogica partitio!s.
6he! partitio!i!g a disk, o!e ca! o'serve this !um'eri!g scheme
'y creati!g primary partitio!s sda.2G foowed 'y creati!g a!
e"te!ded partitio!, sdaC, a!d su'se7ue!ty creati!g ogica
partitio!;s< withi! the e"te!ded partitio!0 sdaI, sdaE, a!d so o!.
wa" Partition
A swap partitio! is a pace o! the drive where virtua ram resides,
aowi!g the ker!e to easiy use disk storage for data that does !ot
fit i!to physica RAH.
8istoricay, the ge!era rue for swap partitio! si9e was 2" the
amou!t of physica RAH. Aver time, as computers have gai!ed
ever arger memory capacities, this rue has 'ecome i!creasi!gy
deprecated. %e!eray, o! machi!es with up to I.2H# RAH, the 2"
rue is usuay 7uite sufficie!t. A! machi!es with .%# RAH,
ge!eray a ." rue is ade7uate. 1f the i!staatio! machi!e provides
gratuitous amou!ts of RAH ;more tha! .02C H#< it may 'e
&)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
possi'e to competey forget a swap partitio! atogether, though
this is !ot recomme!ded. A . %# swap partitio! wi 'e used i! this
e"ampe.
-ote: 1f usi!g suspe!d2to2disk, ;hi'er!ate< a swap partitio! at
east e@ual i! si9e to the amou!t of physica RAH is re7uired.
/ome Arch users eve! recomme!d oversi9i!g it 'eyo!d the
amou!t of physica RAH 'y .02.IR, to aow for possi'e 'ad
sectors.
Partition che!e
A disk partitio!i!g scheme is a very perso!ai9ed prefere!ce. @ach
user=s choices wi 'e u!i7ue to their ow! computi!g ha'its a!d
re7uireme!ts.
*iesystem ca!didates for separate partitio!s i!cude:
% ;root< $he root filesystem is the primary filesystem from which all
other filesystems stem4 the top of the hierarchy. ll files and
directories appear under the root directory "3", even if they are
stored on different physical devices. $he contents of the root
filesystem must be ade2uate to boot, restore, recover, and3or repair
the system.
%boot $his directory contains the *ernel and ramdis* images as well
as the bootloader configuration file, and bootloader stages. 3boot
also stores data that is used before the *ernel begins e%ecuting
userspace programs. $his may include saved master boot sectors
and sector map files.
%ho!e (ser data and user specific configuration files for
applications are stored in each user's home directory in a file that
starts with the '.' character )a "dot file"+.
%usr 5hile root is the primary filesystem, 3usr is the secondary
hierarchy, for user data, containing the ma6ority of )multi-+user
utilities and applications. 3usr is shareable, read-only data. $his
means that 3usr shall be shareable between various hosts and must
not be written to, e%cept in the case of system update3upgrade. ny
&*
information that is host-specific or varies with time is stored
elsewhere.
%t!" directory for programs that re2uire temporary files
%var contains variable data4 spool directories and files,
administrative and logging data, pacman's cache, the 'S tree, etc.
-ote: #esides /'oot, directories esse!tia for 'ooti!g are: =/'i!=,
=/dev=, =/etc=, =/i'=, =/proc= a!d =/s'i!=. 3herefore, they must !ot
reside o! a separate partitio! from /.
There are several advantages for using discrete filesystems! rather
than combining all into one partition:
/ecurity: @ach fiesystem may 'e co!figured i! /etc/fsta' as
=!osuid=, =!odev=, =!oe"ec=, =reado!y=, etc.
/ta'iity: A user, or mafu!ctio!i!g program ca!
competey fi a fiesystem with gar'age if they have write
permissio!s for it. Critica programs, which reside o! a
differe!t fiesystem remai! u!affected.
/peed: A fiesystem which gets writte! to fre7ue!ty may
'ecome somewhat fragme!ted. ;A! effective method of
avoidi!g fragme!tatio! is to e!sure that each fiesystem is
!ever i! da!ger of fii!g up competey.< /eparate
fiesystems remai! u!affected, a!d each ca! 'e
defragme!ted separatey as we.
1!tegrity: 1f o!e fiesystem 'ecomes corrupted, separate
fiesystems remai! u!affected.
-ersatiity: /hari!g data across severa systems 'ecomes
more e"pedie!t whe! i!depe!de!t fiesystems are used.
/eparate fiesystem types may aso 'e chose! 'ased upo!
the !ature of data a!d usage.
1! this e"ampe, we sha use separate partitio!s for /, /var, /home,
a!d a swap partitio!.
&9
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
-ote: /var co!tai!s ma!y sma fies. 3his shoud 'e take! i!to
co!sideratio! whe! choosi!g a fiesystem type for it, ;if
creati!g its ow! separate partitio!<.
How big should !y "artitions beA
3his 7uestio! is 'est a!swered 'ased upo! i!dividua !eeds. :ou
may wish to simpy create one "artition for root and one
"artition for swa" or only one root "artition without swa" or
refer to the foowi!g e"ampes a!d co!sider these guidei!es to
provide a frame of refere!ce:
3he root fiesystem ;/< i! the e"ampe wi co!tai! the /usr
directory, which ca! 'ecome moderatey arge, depe!di!g
upo! how much software is i!staed. .I220 %# shoud 'e
sufficie!t for most users.
3he /var fiesystem wi co!tai!, amo!g other data, the
A#/ tree a!d the pacma! cache. Oeepi!g cached packages
is usefu a!d versatie0 it provides the a'iity to dow!grade
packages if !eeded. /var te!ds to grow i! si9e0 the pacma!
cache ca! grow arge over o!g periods of time, 'ut ca! 'e
safey ceared if !eeded. A!other adva!tage of havi!g a
dedicated /var partitio! is if you=re usi!g a! //+. ,ocate
your /var o! a! 8++ a!d keep the / a!d /home partitio!s o!
your //+ to avoid !eedess read/writes to the //+. E2D
%igs o! a desktop system shoud therefore 'e sufficie!t
for /var. /ervers te!d to have e"tremey arge /var
fiesystems.
3he /home fiesystem is typicay where user data,
dow!oads, a!d mutimedia reside. A! a desktop system,
/home is typicay the argest fiesystem o! the drive 'y a
arge margi!. Remem'er that if you chose to rei!sta Arch,
a the data o! your /home partitio! wi 'e u!touched ;so
o!g as you have a separate /home partitio!<.
20
A! e"tra 2IR of space added to each fiesystem wi
provide a cushio! for u!foresee! occurre!ce, e"pa!sio!,
a!d serve as a preve!tive agai!st fragme!tatio!.
)rom the guidelines above! the e/ample system shall contain a
0123' root (+- partition! 043' +var! 13' sap! and a +home
containing the remaining disk space.
Create Partition:cfdisk
/tart 'y creati!g the primary partitio! that wi co!tai! the root, ;/<
fiesystem.
Choose -ew 2N &rimary a!d e!ter the desired si9e for root ;/<. &ut
the partitio! at the 'egi!!i!g of the disk.
Aso choose the Type 'y desig!ati!g it as =DG ,i!u"=. 3he created /
partitio! sha appear as sda. i! our e"ampe.
(ow create a primary partitio! for /var, desig!ati!g it as Type DG
,i!u". 3he created /var partitio! sha appear as sda2
(e"t, create a partitio! for swap. /eect a! appropriate si9e a!d
specify the Type as D2 ;,i!u" swap / /oaris<. 3he created swap
partitio! sha appear as sdaG.
,asty, create a partitio! for your /home directory. Choose a!other
primary partitio! a!d set the desired si9e.
,ikewise, seect the Type as DG ,i!u". 3he created /home partitio!
sha appear as sdaC.
@"ampe:
-ame .lag /art 0'pe .1 0'pe [2a,el] 1i3e 4567
--------------------------------------------------------
da+ /rimar' 2inux +"**0 %root
da2 /rimar' 2inux 62"6 %/var
da$ /rimar' 2inux (ap +02* %(ap
da* /rimar' 2inux +*0*80 %/home
Choose 1rite a!d type =yes.. #eware that this operatio! may
destroy data o! your disk. Choose >uit to eave the partitio!er.
2&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
Choose +o!e to eave this me!u a!d co!ti!ue with 4/et *iesystem
Hou!tpoi!ts4.
-ote: /i!ce the atest deveopme!ts of the ,i!u" ker!e which
i!cude the i'ata a!d &A3A modues, a 1+@, /A3A a!d
/C/1 drives have adopted the sd" !ami!g scheme. 3his is
perfecty !orma a!d shoud !ot 'e a co!cer!.
&et )ilesystem 5ountpoints
*irst you wi 'e asked for your swap partitio!. Choose the
appropriate partitio! ;sdaG i! this e"ampe<. :ou wi 'e asked if
you wa!t to create a swap fiesystem0 seect yes. (e"t, choose
where to mou!t the / ;root< directory ;sda. i! the e"ampe<. At this
time, you wi 'e asked to specify the fiesystem type.
?ilesyste! Ty"es
Agai!, a fiesystem type is a very su'Qective matter which comes
dow! to perso!a prefere!ce. @ach has its ow! adva!tages,
disadva!tages, a!d u!i7ue idiosy!crasies. 8ere is a very 'rief
overview of supported fiesystems:
.. ext< Second "%tended 7ilesystem2 Ad, reia'e %()/,i!u"
fiesystem. -ery sta'e, 'ut without 6ournaling support. Hay 'e
i!co!ve!ie!t for root ;/< a!d /home, due to very o!g fsck=s. n e%t8
filesystem can easily be converted to e%t9. %e!eray regarded as a
good choice for /'oot/.
2. ext= $hird "%tended 7ilesystem2 @sse!tiay the e"t2 system, 'ut
with Qour!ai!g support. e"tG is competey compati'e with e"t2.
"%tremely sta'e, mature, a!d 'y far the most widey used,
supported a!d deveoped %()/,i!u" */.
High Perfor!ance ?ilesyste!s:
G. ext' 7ourth "%tended 7ilesystem2 #ackward compati'e with
e"t2 a!d e"tG, 1!troduces support for voumes with si9es up to .
e"a'yte a!d fies with si9es up to .E tera'yte. 1!creases the G2,000
22
su'directory imit i! e"tG to EC,000. Affers o!i!e defragme!tatio!
a'iity.
-ote: e"tC is a !ew fiesystem a!d may have some 'ugs.
C. *eiser? ;-G<2 8a!s Reiser=s high2performa!ce Qour!ai!g */
uses a very i!teresti!g method of data throughput 'ased o! a!
u!co!ve!tio!a a!d creative agorithm. Reiser*/ is touted as very
fast, especiay whe! deai!g with ma!y sma fies. Reiser*/ is fast
at formatti!g, yet comparativey sow at mou!ti!g. Fuite mature
a!d sta'e. Reiser*/ is !ot activey deveoped at this time ;ReiserC
is the !ew Reiser fiesystem<. %e!eray regarded as a good choice
for /var/.
I. B? 2 1#H=s Bour!aed ?ieystem2 3he first fiesystem to offer
Qour!ai!g. ?*/ had ma!y years of use i! the 1#H A1ST A/ 'efore
'ei!g ported to ,i!u". ?*/ curre!ty uses the east C&) resources of
a!y %()/,i!u" fiesystem. -ery fast at formatti!g, mou!ti!g a!d
fsck=s, a!d very good a2arou!d performa!ce, especiay i!
co!Qu!ctio! with the deadi!e 1/A scheduer. ;/ee ?*/.< (ot as
widey supported as e"t or Reiser*/, 'ut very mature a!d sta'e.
E. 5? 2 A!other eary Qour!ai!g fiesystem origi!ay deveoped
'y /iico! %raphics for the 1R1S A/ a!d ported to ,i!u". S*/
offers very fast throughput o! arge fies a!d arge fiesystems. -ery
fast at formatti!g a!d mou!ti!g. %e!eray 'e!chmarked as sower
with ma!y sma fies, i! compariso! to other fiesystems. S*/ is
very mature a!d offers o!i!e defragme!tatio! a'iity.
?*/ a!d S*/ fiesystems ca!!ot 'e shrun* 'y disk utiities
;such as gparted or parted magic<
A note on Bournaling
A a'ove fiesystems, e"cept e"t2, use Qour!ai!g. ?our!ai!g fie
systems are faut2resiie!t fie systems that use a Qour!a to og
cha!ges 'efore they are committed to the fie system to avoid
metadata corruptio! i! the eve!t of a crash. (ote that !ot a
Qour!ai!g tech!i7ues are aike0 specificay, o!y e"tG a!d e"tC
offer data-mode 6ournaling, ;though, !ot 'y defaut<, which Qour!as
2'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
both data and meta2data ;'ut with a sig!ifica!t speed pe!aty<. 3he
others o!y offer ordered-mode 6ournaling, which Qour!as meta2
data o!y. 6hie a wi retur! your fiesystem to a vaid state after
recoveri!g from a crash, data-mode 6ournaling offers the greatest
protectio! agai!st fie system corruptio! a!d data oss 'ut ca! suffer
from performa!ce degradatio!, as a data is writte! twice ;first to
the Qour!a, the! to the disk<. +epe!di!g upo! how importa!t your
data is, this may 'e a co!sideratio! i! choosi!g your fiesystem
type.
5oving on...
Choose a!d create the fiesystem ;format the partitio!< for / 'y
seecti!g yes. :ou wi !ow 'e prompted to add a!y additio!a
partitio!s. 1! our e"ampe, sda2 a!d sdaC remai!. *or sda2, choose a
fiesystem type a!d mou!t it as /var. *i!ay, choose the fiesystem
type for sdaC, a!d mou!t it as /home. Retur! to mai! me!u.
): elect Packages
(ow we sha seect packages to i!sta i! our system.
Core 1/A: Choose C+ as source a!d seect the appropriate
C+ drive if you have more tha! o!e.
*3& 1/A: /eect a! *3&/833& mirror. &ote that
archlinu%.org is throttled to :;<'3s.
&ackage seectio! is spit i!to two stages. *irst, seect the package
category:
-ote: *or e"pedie!ce, a packages i! 'ase are seected 'y
defaut
(ase: 3he mi!ima 'ase e!viro!me!t. lways select it and
only remove pac*ages that you don't use.
(ase&devel: @"tra toos such as !ake, auto!ake a!d
wireless&tools as we as wireess firmwares. =ost
beginners should choose to install it, and will probably
need it later.
2+
After category seectio!, you wi 'e prese!ted with the fu ists of
packages, aowi!g you to fi!e2tu!e your seectio!s. )se the space
'ar to seect a!d u!seect.
-ote: 1f you are goi!g to re7uire co!!ectio! to a wireess
!etwork with 6&A e!cryptio!, co!sider i!stai!g !etcfg2 ;as
we as wireess$toos<, which wi e!a'e you to do so.
A!ce you=re do!e seecti!g the packages you !eed, eave the
seectio! scree! a!d co!ti!ue to the !e"t step, 1!sta &ackages.
E: /nstall Packages
(e"t, choose =1!sta &ackages=. :ou wi 'e asked if you wish to
keep the packages i! the pacma! cache. 1f you choose =yes=, you wi
have the fe"i'iity to dow!grade to previous package versio!s i!
the future, so this is recomme!ded ;you ca! aways cear the cache
i! the future<. 3he i!staer script wi !ow i!sta the seected
packages, as we as the defaut Arch 2.E ker!e, to your system.
*3& 1/A: 3he &acma! package ma!ager wi !ow
dow!oad a!d i!sta your seected packages. ;/ee vc/I for
output, vc/. to retur! to the i!staer<
CAR@ 1/A: 3he packages wi 'e i!staed from the C+.
?: Configure the yste!
0losely following and understanding these steps is of *ey
importance to ensure a properly configured system.
At this stage of the i!staatio!, you wi co!figure the primary
co!figuratio! fies of your Arch ,i!u" 'ase system.
&revious versio!s of the i!staer i!cuded hwdetect to gather
i!formatio! for your co!figuratio!. 3his has 'ee! deprecated, a!d
udev shoud ha!de most modue oadi!g automaticay at 'oot.
2-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
The initramfs
3he i!itia ram fiesystem, or i!itramfs, is a temporary fie system
used 'y the ker!e duri!g 'oot. 1t is used for maki!g preparatio!s,
ike hardware detectio! a!d modue oadi!g, 'efore the rea root fie
system ca! 'e mou!ted. 3herefore, a! i!itramfs aows for the use
of a ge!eric moduar ker!e for a wide variety of hardware, a!d
without the !eed to compie a custom ker!e for each e!d user.
:ou wi 'e prompted 'y a series of 7uestio!s reated to the
co!figuratio! of your i!itramfs. :ou wi 'e asked if you !eed
support for 'ooti!g from )/# devices, *ire6ire devices, &CHC1A
devices, (*/ shares, software RA1+ arrays, ,-H2 voumes,
e!crypted voumes, a!d +/+3 support. Choose yes if you !eed it0
i! our e"ampe !othi!g is !eeded. Choosi!g =yes= for a!y of the
a'ove wi cause the i!staer script to pace the appropriate hook;s<
withi! the /etc/mkinitcpio.conf fie.
(ow you wi 'e asked which te"t editor you wa!t to use0 choose
!a!o or, if you are famiiar with it, vim. :ou wi 'e prese!ted with
a me!u i!cudi!g the mai! co!figuratio! fies for your system.
-ote: 1t is very importa!t at this poi!t to edit, or at east verify
'y ope!i!g, every co!figuratio! fie. 3he i!staer script reies
o! your i!put to create these fies o! your i!staatio!. A
commo! error is to skip over these critica steps of
co!figuratio!.
Can the installer handle this !ore auto!aticallyA
8idi!g the process of system co!figuratio! is i! direct oppositio! to
3he Arch 6ay. 6hie it is true that rece!t versio!s of the ker!e
a!d hardware pro'i!g toos offer e"cee!t hardware support a!d
auto2co!figuratio!, Arch prese!ts the user a perti!e!t
co!figuratio! fies duri!g i!staatio! for the purposes of
transparency and system resource control. #y the time you have
fi!ished modifyi!g these fies to your specificatio!s, you wi have
ear!ed the simpe method of ma!ua Arch ,i!u" system
co!figuratio! a!d 'ecome more famiiar with the 'ase structure,
2,
eavi!g you 'etter prepared to use a!d mai!tai! your !ew
i!staatio! productivey.
+etc+rc.conf
Arch ,i!u" uses the fie %etc%rc2conf as the pri!cipa ocatio! for
system co!figuratio!. 3his o!e fie co!tai!s a wide ra!ge of
co!figuratio! i!formatio!, pri!cipay used at system startup. As its
!ame directy impies, it aso co!tai!s setti!gs for a!d i!vokes the
/etc/rcU fies, a!d is, of course, sourced by these fies.
L,CAL/CAT/,- section
L,CALEV: 3his sets your system ocae, which wi 'e
used 'y a i.D!2aware appicatio!s a!d utiities. :ou ca!
get a ist of the avaia'e ocaes 'y ru!!i!g =ocae 2a= from
the comma!d i!e. 3his setti!g=s defaut is fi!e for )/
@!gish users.
HA*)1A*ECL,CDV: /pecifies whether the hardware
cock, which is sy!chro!i9ed o! 'oot a!d o! shutdow!,
stores +TC time, or the localti!e. )3C makes se!se
'ecause it greaty simpifies cha!gi!g time9o!es a!d
dayight savi!gs time. ocatime is !ecessary if you dua
'oot with a! operati!g system such as 6i!dows, that o!y
stores ocatime to the hardware cock.
+E)/*ECT/A: )se direct 1/A re7uest i!stead of
/dev/rtc for hwcock
T/8EC,-EV: /pecify your 31H@WA(@. ;A avaia'e
9o!es are u!der /usr/share/9o!ei!fo/<.
DEE8APV: 3he avaia'e keymaps are i!
/usr/share/k'd/keymaps. &ease !ote that this setti!g is o!y
vaid for your 33:s, !ot a!y graphica wi!dow ma!agers
or 5.
C,-,LE?,-TV: Avaia'e co!soe fo!ts reside
u!der /usr/share/k'd/co!soefo!ts/ if you must cha!ge. 3he
defaut ;'a!k< is safe.
C,-,LE8APV: +efi!es the co!soe map to oad with
the setfo!t program at 'oot. &ossi'e maps are fou!d i!
2)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
/usr/share/k'd/co!soetra!s, if !eeded. 3he defaut ;'a!k<
is safe.
+EC,L,*V: /eect 4yes4 if you have a coor mo!itor
a!d wish to have coors i! your co!soes.
289:2;=)en_<1.utf8)
=:>?@:>;9289A=)localtime)
<1;?B>;90B1:=)no)
0B5;C8-;=)<1/;atern)
A;D5:/=)u)
98-182;.8-0=
98-182;5:/=
<1;9828>=)'e)
HA*)1A*E ection
8,)FA+T,L,A)V: /etti!g this to 4yes4 wi use udev
to automaticay pro'e hardware a!d oad the appropriate
modues duri!g 'oot2up, ;co!ve!ie!t with the defaut
moduar ker!e<. /etti!g this to 4!o4 wi rey o! the user=s
a'iity to specify this i!formatio! ma!uay, or compie
their ow! custom ker!e a!d modues, etc.
8,)F(LACDL/TV: 3his has 'ecome deprecated i!
favor of addi!g 'ackisted modues directy to the
8,)+LEG i!e 'eow.
8,)+LEV: /pecify additio!a HA+),@/ if you k!ow
that a! importa!t modue is missi!g. 1f your system has a!y
foppy drives, add 4foppy4. 1f you wi 'e usi!g oop'ack
fiesystems, add 4oop4. Aso specify a!y 'ackisted
modues 'y prefi"i!g them with a 'a!g ;P<. )dev wi 'e
forced (A3 to oad 'ackisted modues. 1! the e"ampe,
the 1&vE modue as we as the a!!oyi!g pcspeaker are
'ackisted.
2*
% 1can hard(are and load reEuired module at ,oot
58?_:<0828:?=)'e)
% 5odule 6lac&lit - ?eprecated
58?_62:9A2B10=47
%
58?<2;1=4Fnet-pf-+0 Fnd_pcp Fpcp&r loop7
-ET1,*D/-3 ection
H,T-A8EV:/et your 8A/3(AH@ to your iki!g.
ethHV: =@ther!et, card 0=. AdQust the i!terface 1& address,
!etmask a!d 'roadcast address if you are usi!g static /P.
/et eth0V4dhcp4 if you wa!t to use )HCP
/-TE*?ACEV: /pecify a i!terfaces here.
gatewayV: 1f you are usi!g static /P, set the gateway
address. 1f usi!g )HCP, you ca! usuay ig!ore this
varia'e, though some users have reported the !eed to
defi!e it.
*,+TEV: 1f you are usi!g static /P, remove the 0 i! fro!t
of =gateway=. 1f usi!g )HCP, you ca! usuay eave this
varia'e comme!ted out with the 'a!g ;P<, 'ut agai!, some
users re7uire the gateway a!d RA)3@/ defi!ed. 1f you
e"perie!ce !etworki!g issues with pacma!, for i!sta!ce,
you may wa!t to retur! to these varia'es.
29
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
Exa!"le, using a dyna!ically assigned /P address :)HCP;
=810-:5;=)arch)
%eth0=)eth0 +92.+68.0.2 netma& 2"".2"".2"".0 ,roadcat
+92.+68.0.2"")
eth0=)dhcp)
B-0;>.:9;1=4eth07
gate(a'=)default g( +92.+68.0.+)
>8<0;1=4Fgate(a'7
-ote: Arch uses the dhcpcd +8C& cie!t. Ater!ativey,
dhcie!t is avaia'e from the Ke"traL repository via pacma!.
Exa!"le, using a static /P address
=810-:5;=)arch)
eth0=)eth0 +92.+68.0.2 netma& 2"".2"".2"".0 ,roadcat
+92.+68.0.2"")
B-0;>.:9;1=4eth07
gate(a'=)default g( +92.+68.0.+)
>8<0;1=4gate(a'7
Ti": 1f you aso re7uire usi!g a !o!2sta!dard H3) si9e ;a.k.a.
Qum'o frames< to speed up i!tra!et "fers A(+ your hardware
supports them, see the ?um'o *rames wiki artice for further
co!figuratio!.
-ote: 1! some cases, users wi !eed to modify their
/etc/resov.co!f to preve!t the dhcpcd daemo! from
overwriti!g the +(/ e!tries.
Hodify your /etc/reslo.conf to co!tai! i!es to your the
+(/=s that your 1/& uses.
'0
earch m'.ip.net.
nameerver a.,.c.d
nameerver a.,.c.d
nameerver a.,.c.d
Ti": 1f you are u!sure what vaues to use i! the
/etc/reslo.conf simpy co!figure your system to use
+8C& a!d ook at the /etc/reslo.conf which shoud 'e
automaticay set for you. :ou may use these vaues.
*i!ay, /etc/conf.d/dhcpcd !eeds to 'e tweaked to keep the
dhcpcd from overwriti!g your /etc/reslo.conf which wi
happe! without this modificatio!:
% :rgument to ,e paed to the ?=9/ client daemon
%
% ?=9/9?_:>G1=)-E)
?=9/9?_:>G1=)-9 reolv.conf -E)
)AE8,- ection
3his array simpy ists the !ames of those scripts co!tai!ed i!
/etc/rc.d/ which are to 'e started duri!g the 'oot process, a!d the
order i! which they start.
?:;58-1=4net(or& H'log-ng netf Hcrond7
1f a script !ame is prefi"ed with a 'a!g ;P<, it is !ot
e"ecuted.
1f a script is prefi"ed with a! 4at4 sym'o ;5<, it sha 'e
e"ecuted i! the 'ackgrou!d0 the startup se7ue!ce wi !ot
wait for successfu competio! of each daemo! 'efore
co!ti!ui!g to the !e"t. ;)sefu for speedi!g up system
'oot<. +o !ot 'ackgrou!d daemo!s that are !eeded 'y other
'&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
daemo!s. *or e"ampe 4mpd4 depe!ds o! 4!etwork4,
therefore 'ackgrou!di!g !etwork may cause mpd to 'reak.
@dit this array whe!ever !ew system services are i!staed,
if starti!g them automaticay duri!g 'oot is desired.
3his =#/+2stye= i!it, is the Arch way of ha!di!g what other
distri'utio!s ha!de with various symi!ks to a! /etc/i!it.d directory.
About )AE8,-
:ou do !ot have to cha!ge the daemo!s i!e at this time, 'ut it is
usefu to e"pai! what daemo!s are, 'ecause we !eed them ater i!
this guide. A daemon is a program that ru!s i! the 'ackgrou!d,
waiti!g for eve!ts to occur a!d offeri!g services. A good e"ampe is
a we'server that waits for a re7uest to deiver a page or a! //8
server waiti!g for someo!e tryi!g to og i!. 6hie these are fu2
featured appicatio!s, there are daemo!s whose work is !ot that
visi'e. @"ampes are a daemo! which writes messages i!to a og
fie ;e.g. sysog, metaog<, a daemo! which owers your C&)=s
fre7ue!cy if your system has !othi!g to do ;e.g.:cpufre7<, a!d a
daemo! which offers you a graphica ogi! ;e.g.: gdm, kdm<. A
these programs ca! 'e added to the daemo!s i!e a!d wi 'e started
whe! the system 'oots. )sefu daemo!s wi 'e prese!ted duri!g
this guide.
8istoricay, the term daemon was coi!ed 'y the programmers of
H13=s &roQect HAC. 3hey took the !ame from =a%well's demon, a!
imagi!ary 'ei!g from a famous thought e"perime!t that co!sta!ty
works i! the 'ackgrou!d, sorti!g moecues. UNIX systems
i!herited this termi!oogy a!d created the 'ackro!ym disk a!d
e"ecutio! !onitor.
Ti": A Arch daemo!s reside u!der /etc/rc.d/
+etc+fstab
3he fstab ;for fie systems tabe< is part of the system co!figuratio!
isti!g a avaia'e disks a!d disk partitio!s, a!d i!dicati!g how
they are to 'e i!itiai9ed or otherwise i!tegrated i!to the overa
'2
system=s fiesystem. 3he %etc%fstab fie is most commo!y used 'y
the !ount comma!d. 3he mou!t comma!d takes a fiesystem o! a
device, a!d adds it to the mai! system hierarchy that you see whe!
you use your system. !ount &a is caed from /etc/rc.sysi!it, a'out
G/C of the way through the 'oot process, a!d reads /etc/fsta' to
determi!e which optio!s shoud 'e used whe! mou!ti!g the
specified devices therei!. 1f noauto is appe!ded to a fiesystem i!
/etc/fsta', !ount &a wi !ot mou!t it at 'oot.
An exa!"le %etc%fstab
% Ifile 'temJ IdirJ It'peJ
IoptionJ IdumpJ IpaJ
none /dev/pt devpt
default 0 0
none /dev/hm tmpf
default 0 0
%/dev/cdrom /media/cdrom auto
roKuerKnoautoKunhide 0 0
%/dev/dvd /media/dvd auto
roKuerKnoautoKunhide 0 0
%/dev/fd0 /media/fl auto
uerKnoauto 0 0
/dev/di&/,'-uuid/0ec-9$$.. / Lf
defaultKnoatime 0 +
/dev/di&/,'-uuid/#ef-22$.. /home Lf
defaultKnoatime 0 2
/dev/di&/,'-uuid/"$0-+e-.. (ap (ap
default 0 0
/dev/di&/,'-uuid/*fe-++0.. /var reierf
defaultKnoatimeKnotail 0 2
-ote: 3he =!oatime= optio! disa'es writi!g read access times
to the metadata of fies a!d may safey 'e appe!ded to / a!d
/home regardess of your specified fiesystem type for
i!creased speed, performa!ce, a!d power efficie!cy. =!otai=
disa'es the Reiser*/ taipacki!g feature, for added
performa!ce at the cost of sighty ess efficie!t disk usage.
''
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
-ote: 1t may 'e 'e!eficia to make a !ote of the ))1+ of the
root ;/< partitio!, as this may 'e re7uired duri!g %R)#
co!figuratio!.
Ifile syste!J: descri'es the 'ock device or remote
fiesystem to 'e mou!ted. *or reguar mou!ts, this fied
wi co!tai! a i!k to a 'ock device !ode ;as created 'y
mk!od which is caed 'y udev at 'oot< for the device to 'e
mou!ted0 for i!sta!ce, =/dev/cdrom= or =/dev/sda.=. 1!stead
of givi!g the device e"picity, the Arch i!staer i!dicates
the fiesystem that is to 'e mou!ted 'y its ))1+ 'y defaut.
-ote: As of 200D20Crc, Arch is !ow utii9i!g the ))1+, or
)!iversay )!i7ue 1de!tifier !ami!g co!ve!tio!, for
co!siste!t device mappi!g. 3his is due to active deveopme!ts
i! the ker!e a!d aso udev, which may ra!domy cha!ge the
orderi!g i! which drivers for storage co!troers are oaded,
yiedi!g a! u!'oota'e system/ker!e pa!ic. (eary every
mother'oard has severa co!troers ;o!'oard /A3A, o!'oard
1+@<, a!d due to the aforeme!tio!ed deveopme!t updates,
/dev/sda may 'ecome /dev/sd' o! the !e"t re'oot2 he!ce the
persiste!t device !ami!g co!ve!tio! of ))1+ has 'ee!
adopted for reia'iity. If you do not need nor wish to use
((I>, simply change your fstab to use whatever naming
convention desired. ;/ee this wiki artice for more i!formatio!
o! persiste!t 'ock device !ami!g. <
l -l. /dev/di&/,'-uuid/
wi ist a partitio!s 'y ))1+, whie
'+
/,in/,l&id
wi show a ist correati!g each partitio! with its a'e, fiesystem
type a!d ))1+. &ote? this command is installed by the e6fsprogs
pac*age.
IdirJ: descri'es the mou!t poi!t for the fiesystem. *or
swap partitio!s, this fied shoud 'e specified as =swap=0
;/wap partitio!s are !ot actuay mou!ted.<
Ity"eJ: descri'es the type of the fiesystem. 3he ,i!u"
ker!e supports ma!y fiesystem types. ;*or the fiesystems
curre!ty supported 'y the ru!!i!g ker!e, see
/proc/fiesystems<. A! e!try =swap= de!otes a fie or
partitio! to 'e used for swappi!g. A! e!try =ig!ore= causes
the i!e to 'e ig!ored. 3his is usefu to show disk partitio!s
which are curre!ty u!used.
Io"tionsJ: descri'es the mou!t optio!s associated with the
fiesystem. 1t is formatted as a comma separated ist of
optio!s with !o i!terve!i!g spaces. 1t co!tai!s at east the
type of mou!t pus a!y additio!a optio!s appropriate to the
fiesystem type. *or docume!tatio! o! the avaia'e optio!s
for !o!2!fs fie systems, see mou!t;D<.
Idu!"J: used 'y the dump;D< comma!d to determi!e
which fiesystems are to 'e dumped. dump is a 'ackup
utiity. 1f the fifth fied is !ot prese!t, a vaue of 9ero is
retur!ed a!d dump wi assume that the fiesystem does !ot
!eed to 'e 'acked up. &ote that dump is not installed by
default.
I"assJ: used 'y the fsck;D< program to determi!e the order
i! which fiesystem checks are do!e at 'oot time. 3he root
fiesystem shoud 'e specified with a MpassN of ., a!d other
fiesystems shoud have a MpassN of 2 or 0. *iesystems
withi! a drive wi 'e checked se7ue!tiay, 'ut fiesystems
o! differe!t drives wi 'e checked at the same time to
utii9e paraeism avaia'e i! the hardware. 1f the si"th
fied is !ot prese!t or 9ero, a vaue of 9ero is retur!ed a!d
'-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
fsck wi assume that the fiesystem does !ot !eed to 'e
checked.
1f you pa! o! usi!g hal to automou!t media such as
+-+s, you may wish to comme!t out the cdrom a!d dvd
e!tries i! preparatio! for hal, which wi 'e i!staed ater
i! this guide.
@"pa!ded i!formatio! avaia'e i! the *sta' wiki e!try.
+etc+mkinitcpio.conf
3his fie aows you to fi!e2tu!e the i!itia ram fiesystem ;aso
commo!y referred to as the i!itia ramdisk or 4i!itrd4< for your
system. 3he i!itrd is a g9ipped image that is read 'y the ker!e
duri!g 'oot. 3he purpose of the i!itrd is to 'ootstrap the system to
the poi!t where it ca! access the root fiesystem. 3his mea!s it has
to oad a!y modues that are re7uired for devices ike 1+@, /C/1, or
/A3A drives ;or )/#/*6, if you are 'ooti!g off a )/#/*6 drive<.
A!ce the i!itrd oads the proper modues, either ma!uay or
through udev, it passes co!tro to the Arch system a!d your 'oot
co!ti!ues. *or this reaso!, the i!itrd o!y !eeds to co!tai! the
modues !ecessary to access the root fiesystem. 1t does !ot !eed to
co!tai! every modue you woud ever wa!t to use. 3he maQority of
your everyday modues wi 'e oaded ater o! 'y udev, duri!g the
i!it process.
!kinitc"io is the !e"t ge!eratio! of initra!fs creation. 1t has
ma!y adva!tages over the od !kinitrd a!d !kinitra!fs scripts.
1t uses klibc a!d kinit which are deveoped 'y ,i!u" ker!e
devs to provide a sma a!d ightweight 'ase for eary
userspace.
1t ca! use udev for hardware autodetectio! at ru!time, thus
preve!ts you from havi!g to!s of u!!ecessary modues
oaded.
1ts hook2'ased i!it script is easiy e"te!da'e with custom
hooks, which ca! easiy 'e i!cuded i! pacma! packages
without havi!g to modifiy mki!itcpio itsef.
',
1t aready supports lv!<, d!&cry"t for 'oth egacy a!d
uks voumes, raid, swsus" a!d sus"end< resumi!g a!d
'ooti!g from usb !ass storage devices.
Ha!y features ca! 'e co!figured from the ker!e comma!d
i!e without havi!g to re'uid the image.
3he !kinitc"io script makes it possi'e to i!cude the
image i! a ker!e, thus maki!g a sef2co!tai!ed ker!e
image is possi'e.
1ts fe"i'iity makes recompii!g a ker!e u!!ecessary i!
ma!y cases.
1f you are usi!g a !o!2)/ key'oard you may wa!t to add
4ke!map4 to the 4"##$%&4 sectio! of %etc%!kinitc"io2conf to
oad your oca keymap duri!g 'oot, e.g.:
=88A1=),ae udev autodetect pata ci ata file'tem
&e'map)
Atherwise if 'oot fais for some reaso! you wi 'e asked to e!ter
root=s password for system mai!te!a!ce 'ut wi 'e u!a'e to do so.
If you are using a (S *eyboard editing this configuration should be
unnecessary at this point.
!kinitc"io was deveoped 'y Aaro! %riffi! a!d 3o'ias
&owaowski with some hep from the commu!ity.
+etc+modprobe.conf
1t is u!!ecessary to co!figure this fie at this time.
!od"robe2conf ca! 'e used to set specia co!figuratio!
optio!s for the ker!e modues
-ote: 3he !ew modue2i!it2toos G.D package cha!ges the
ocatio! of the co!figuratio! fie: /etc/modpro'e.co!f is !o
o!ger read, i!stead /etc/modpro'e.d/modpro'e.co!f is used.
i!k
')
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
+etc+resolv.conf (for &tatic 7*-
3he resolver is a set of routi!es i! the C i'rary that provide access
to the 1!ter!et +omai! (ame /ystem ;+(/<. A!e of the mai!
fu!ctio!s of +(/ is to tra!sate domai! !ames i!to 1& addresses, to
make the 6e' a frie!dier pace. 3he resover co!figuratio! fie,
or /etc/resov.co!f, co!tai!s i!formatio! that is read 'y the resover
routi!es the first time they are i!voked 'y a process.
If you are using >@0/, you may safely ignore this file, as
by default, it will be dynamically created and destroyed by
the dhcpcd daemon. 1ou may change this default behavior
if you wish. )See &etwor*]+.
1f you use a static 1&, set your +(/ servers i! /etc/resov.co!f
;!ameserver Mip2addressN<. :ou may have as ma!y as you wish. A!
e"ampe, usi!g Ape!+(/:
nameerver 208.6#.222.222
nameerver 208.6#.220.220
1f you are usi!g a router, you wi pro'a'y wa!t to specify your
+(/ servers i! the router itsef, a!d merey poi!t to it from your
%etc%resolv2conf, usi!g your router=s 1& ;which is aso your gateway
from %etc%rc2conf<, e.g.:
nameerver +92.+68.+.+
1f usi!g )HCP, you may aso specify your +(/ servers i! the
router, or aow automatic assig!me!t from your 1/&, if your 1/& is
so e7uipped.
+etc+hosts
3his fie associates 1& addresses with host!ames a!d aiases, o!e
i!e per 1& address. *or each host a si!ge i!e shoud 'e prese!t
with the foowi!g i!formatio!:
'*
IB/-addreJ IhotnameJ [aliae...]
Add your hostname, coi!cidi!g with the o!e specified i!
/etc/rc.co!f, as a! aias, so that it ooks ike this:
+2#.0.0.+ localhot.localdomain localhot
yourhostname
3his format, including the .localhost. and your actual host na!e,
is re7uired for program compati'iityP /o, if you have !amed your
computer Archhost, the! that i!e a'ove shoud ook ike this:
+2#.0.0.+ localhot.localdomain localhot :rchhot
@rrors i! this e!try may cause poor !etwork performa!ce a!d/or
certai! programs to ope! very sowy, or !ot work at a. 3his is a
very commo! error for 'egi!!ers.
1f you use a static 1&, add a!other i!e usi!g the sy!ta": Mstatic21&N
Mhost!ame.domai!!ame.orgN Mhost!ameN e.g.:
+92.+68.+.+00 yourhostname.domain.org yourhostname
Ti": *or co!ve!ie!ce, you may aso use /etc/hosts aiases for hosts
o! your !etwork, a!d/or o! the 6e', e.g.:
6*.2$$.+69.+0$ (((.google.com g
+92.+68.+.90 media
+92.+68.+.88 data
3he a'ove e"ampe woud aow you to access googe simpy 'y
typi!g =g= i!to your 'rowser, a!d access to a media a!d data server
o! your !etwork 'y !ame a!d without the !eed for typi!g out their
respective 1& addresses.
'9
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
+etc+hosts.deny and +etc+hosts.allo
Hodify these co!figuratio!s accordi!g to your !eeds if you pa! o!
usi!g the ssh daemo!. 3he defaut co!figuratio! wi reQect a
i!comi!g co!!ectio!s, !ot o!y ssh co!!ectio!s. @dit your
%etc%hosts2allow fie a!d add the appropriate parameters:
et everyo!e co!!ect to you
hdM :22
restrict it to a certai! ip
hdM +92.+68.0.+
restrict it to your oca ,A( !etwork ;ra!ge .92..ED.0.0 to
.92..ED.0.2II<
hdM +92.+68.0.
AR restrict for a! 1& ra!ge
hdM +0.0.0.0/2"".2"".2"".0
1f you do !ot pa! o! usi!g the ssh daemo!, eave this fie at the
defaut, ;empty<, for added security.
+etc+locale.gen
3he %usr%sbin%locale&gen comma!d reads from %etc%locale2gen to
ge!erate specific ocaes. 3hey ca! the! 'e used 'y glibc a!d a!y
other ocae2aware program or i'rary for re!deri!g 4pecuiar4 te"t,
correcty dispayi!g regio!a mo!etary vaues, time a!d date
formats, apha'etic idiosy!crasies, a!d other ocae2specific
sta!dards. 3he a'iity to setup a defaut ocae is a great 'uit2i!
priviege of usi!g a UNIX2ike operati!g system.
+0
#y defaut /etc/ocae.ge! is a! empty fie with comme!ted
docume!tatio!. A!ce edited, the fie remai!s u!touched. locale&gen
ru!s o! every glibc upgrade, ge!erati!g a the ocaes specified
i! /etc/ocae.ge!.
Choose the ocae;s< you !eed ;remove the B i! fro!t of the i!es
you wa!t<, e.g.:
en_<1 B18-88"9-+
en_<1.<0.-8
3he i!staer wi !ow ru! the ocae2ge! script, which wi ge!erate
the ocaes you specified. :ou may cha!ge your ocae i! the future
'y editi!g /etc/ocae.ge! a!d su'se7ue!ty ru!!i!g =ocae2ge!= as
root.
-ote: 7f you fail to choose your locale! this ill lead to a
8The current locale is invalid...8 error. This is perhaps the
most common mistake by ne Arch users! and also leads to
the most commonly asked 9uestions on the forum.
:oot passord
*i!ay, set a root password a!d make sure that you remem'er it
ater. Retur! to the mai! me!u a!d co!ti!ue with i!stai!g
'ootoader.
*acman;5irror
Choose a mirror repository for "ac!an.
archlinu%.org is throttled, limiting downloads to :;<'3s
Retur! to the mai! me!u.
+&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
3: /nstall (ootloader
#ecause we have !o seco!dary operati!g system i! our e"ampe, we
wi !eed a 'ootoader. %() %R)# is the recomme!ded
'ootoader. Ater!ativey, you may choose ,1,A.
3:%'
3he provided 3*+( co!figuratio! ;%boot%grub%!enu2lst< shoud
'e sufficie!t, 'ut verify its co!te!ts to e!sure accuracy ;specificay,
e!sure that the root ;/< partitio! is specified 'y ))1+ o! i!e G<.
:ou may wa!t to ater the resoutio! of the co!soe 'y addi!g a
vgaVM!um'erN ker!e argume!t correspo!di!g to your desired
virtua co!soe resoutio!. ;A ta'e of resoutio!s a!d the
correspo!di!g !um'ers is pri!ted i! the me!u.st.<
@"ampe:
title :rch 2inux 45ain7
root 4hd0K07
&ernel /,oot/vmlinu326 root=/dev/di&/,'-uuid/0ec+-
9$$9.. ro vga=##$
initrd /,oot/&ernel26.img
-ote: $he linu% *ernel, 'vmlinu#', is so named because it
incorporated virtual memory capability early in its
development. $he < denotes a #ipped )compressed+ image.
@"pa!atio!:
,i!e .: title: A pri!ted me!u seectio!. 4Arch ,i!u" ;Hai!<4 wi 'e
pri!ted o! the scree! as a me!u seectio!.
,i!e 2: root: 3*+(.s root0 the drive a!d partitio! where the ker!e
;/'oot< resides, accordi!g to system #1A/. ;Hore accuratey, where
%R)#=s stage2 fie resides<. -,T necessarily the root ;/< fie
system, as they ca! reside o! separate partitio!s. %R)#=s
!um'eri!g scheme starts at 0, a!d uses a! hd%,% format regardess
of 1+@ or /A3A, a!d e!cosed withi! pare!theses.
+2
3he e"ampe i!dicates that /'oot is o! the first partitio! of the first
drive, accordi!g to #1A/, or, ;hd0,0<.
,i!e G: kernel: 3his i!e specifies:
3he path a!d fie!ame of the ker!e relative to 3:%'"s
root.
1! the e"ampe, /'oot is merey a directory residi!g o! the same
partitio! as / a!d v!linuK<# is the ker!e fie!ame0
%boot%v!linuK<#. If 3boot were on a separate partition, the path
and filename would be simply +vmlinu<6=, being relative to
3:%'"s root.
3he rootV argume!t to the ker!e stateme!t specifies the
partitio! co!tai!i!g the root ;/< directory i! the 'ooted
system, ;more accuratey, the partitio! co!tai!i!g
%sbin%init<. 1f !ot aready specified, you shoud e!ter the
!ame of the partitio!, accordi!g to the ))1+ !um'eri!g
scheme, usi!g the 3dev3dis*3by-uuid3%%%%-%%%%-%%%% format.
3his ))1+ was fou!d i! the previous sectio! regardi!g
co!figuratio! of 3etc3fstab.
A! easy way to disti!guish the 2 appeara!ces of =root= i!
/'oot/gru'/me!u.st is to remem'er that the first root
stateme!t informs !A(' where the *ernel resides, whereas
the seco!d rootV ker!e argume!t tells the *ernel where the
root filesystem )3+ resides.
Oer!e optio!s.
1! our e"ampe, ro mou!ts the fiesystem as read o!y duri!g
startup, a!d the LvgaGMM=L argume!t wi give a .02C"7ED
frame'uffer with 2IE coor depth.
,i!e C: initrd: ;*or 1!itia RAH disk< 3he path a!d fie!ame of the
i!itia RAH fiesystem relative to 3*+(.s root. Agai!, i! the
e"ampe, /'oot is merey a directory residi!g o! the same partitio!
as / a!d kernel<#2i!g is the i!itrd fie!ame0 %boot%kernel<#2i!g. If
3boot were on a separate partition, the path and filename would be
simply +kernel6=.img, being relative to 3:%'"s root.
1!sta the 3*+( 'ootoader ;to the master 'oot record, sda i! our
e"ampe<.
+'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
Ti": *or more detais, see the %R)# wiki page.
H: *eboot
3hat=s it0 :ou have co!figured a!d i!staed your Arch ,i!u" 'ase
system. @"it the i!sta, a!d re'oot:
% re,oot
;#e sure to remove the i!staer C+<
++
syste
Part //: Configure4+"date the
-ew Arch Linux base syste!
:our !ew Arch ,i!u" system wi 'oot up a!d fi!ish with a ogi!
prompt ;you may wa!t to cha!ge the 'oot order i! your (/, 'ack
to 'ooti!g from hard disk<.
Congratulations, and welco!e to your new Arch Linux base
syste!0
:our !ew Arch ,i!u" 'ase system is !ow a fu!ctio!a %()/,i!u"
e!viro!me!t ready for customi9atio!. *rom here, you may 'uid this
eega!t set of toos i!to whatever you wish or re7uire for your
purposes.
,ogi! with the root accou!t. 6e wi co!figure pacma! a!d update
the system as root, the! add a !orma user.
-ote: -irtua co!soes .2E are avaia'e. :ou may swap
'etwee! them with A,3J*....*E
te" 7: Configuring the network :if necessary;
$his section will assist you in configuring most types of
networ*s, if your networ* configuration is not wor*ing for
you.
1f you propery co!figured your system, you shoud have a worki!g
!etwork. 3ry to pi!g www.googe.com to verify this.
% ping -c $ (((.google.com
If you have successfully established a networ* connection, continue
with %pdate! &ync and %pgrade the system ith pacman.
1f, after tryi!g to pi!g www.googe.com, a! 4u!k!ow! host4 error is
received, you may co!cude that your !etwork is !ot propery
+-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
co!figured. :ou may choose to dou'e2check the foowi!g fies for
i!tegrity a!d proper setti!gs:
%etc%rc2conf B /pecificay, check your 8A/3(AH@V a!d
(@36ARO1(% sectio! for typos a!d errors.
%etc%hosts B +ou'e2check your format. ;/ee a'ove.<
%etc%resolv2conf B 1f you are usi!g a static 1&. 1f you are usi!g
+8C&, this fie wi 'e dy!amicay created a!d destroyed 'y
defaut, 'ut ca! 'e cha!ged to your prefere!ce. ;/ee (etwork.<
Ti": Adva!ced i!structio!s for co!figuri!g the !etwork ca! 'e
fou!d i! the (etwork artice.
Wired >AN
Check your @ther!et with
% ifconfig -a
A i!terfaces wi 'e isted. :ou shoud see a! e!try for eth0, or
perhaps eth..
tatic /P
1f re7uired, you ca! set a !ew static 1& with:
% ifconfig eth0 Iip addreJ netma& Inetma&J up
a!d the defaut gateway with
% route add default g( Iip addre of the gate(a'J
-erify that /etc/resov.co!f co!tai!s your +(/ server a!d add it if it
is missi!g. Check your !etwork agai! with pi!g www.googe.com.
1f everythi!g is worki!g !ow, adQust /etc/rc.co!f as descri'ed a'ove
for static 1&.
+,
syste
)HCP
1f you have a +8C& server/router i! your !etwork try:
% dhcpcd eth0
1f this is worki!g, adQust /etc/rc.co!f as descri'ed a'ove, for
dy!amic 1&.
Wireless >AN
@!sure the driver has created a usa'e i!terface:
% i(config
#ri!g the i!terface up with ifconfig <interface>
up. e.g.:
% ifconfig (lan0 up
;Aptio!a< /ca! for avaia'e access poi!ts:
% i(lit (lan0 can ! le
/pecify the id of the wireess !etwork with iwconfig
<interface> essid <!ouressid>. Ar, if usi!g
6@&0 iwconfig <interface> essid
<!ouressid> ke! <!ourwepke!>, e.g.:
% i(config (lan0 eid lin&' &e' :69?;.0+2$*
Re7uest a! 1& address with dhcpcd <interface>.
e.g.:
+)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
% dhcpcd (lan0
@!sure you ca! route:
N ping -c $ (((.google.com
+o!e.
+etaied setup guide: 6ireess /etup
Analog 5odem
3o 'e a'e to use a 8ayes2compati'e, e"ter!a, a!aog modem, you
!eed to at east have the ppp package i!staed. Hodify the fie
/etc/ppp/optio!s to suit your !eeds a!d accordi!g to ma! pppd. :ou
wi !eed to defi!e a chat script to suppy your user!ame a!d
password to the 1/& after the i!itia co!!ectio! has 'ee! esta'ished.
3he ma!pages for pppd a!d chat have e"ampes i! them that shoud
suffice to get a co!!ectio! up a!d ru!!i!g if you=re either
e"perie!ced or stu''or! e!ough. 6ith udev, your seria ports
usuay are /dev/tts/0 a!d /dev/tts/..
1!stead of fighti!g a gorious 'atte with the pai! pppd, you may
opt to i!sta wvdia or a simiar too to ease the setup process
co!sidera'y. 1! case you=re usi!g a so2caed 6i!Hodem, which is
'asicay a &C1 pugi! card worki!g as a! i!ter!a a!aog modem,
you shoud i!duge i! the vast i!formatio! fou!d o! the ,i!Hodem
homepage.
7&$N
/etti!g up 1/+( is do!e i! three steps:
.. 1!sta a!d co!figure hardware
2. 1!sta a!d co!figure the 1/+( utiities
G. Add setti!gs for your 1/&
3he curre!t Arch stock ker!es i!cude the !ecessary 1/+(
modues, mea!i!g that you wi !ot !eed to recompie your ker!e
+*
syste
u!ess you=re a'out to use rather odd 1/+( hardware. After
physicay i!stai!g your 1/+( card i! your machi!e or puggi!g i!
your )/# 1/+(2#o", you ca! try oadi!g the modues with
modpro'e. (eary a passive 1/+( &C1 cards are ha!ded 'y the
hisa" modue, which !eeds two parameters: type a!d protoco. :ou
must set protoco to =.= if your cou!try uses the .3RE sta!dard, =2= if
it uses @uro1/+( ;@+//.<, =G= if you=re hooked to a so2caed
eased2i!e without +2cha!!e, a!d =C= for )/ (1..
+etais o! a those setti!gs a!d how to set them is i!cuded i! the
ker!e docume!tatio!, more specificay i! the isd! su'directory,
a!d avaia'e o!i!e. 3he type parameter depe!ds o! your card0 a
ist of a possi'e types ca! 'e fou!d i! the R@A+H@.8i/a" ker!e
docume!tatio!. Choose your card a!d oad the modue with the
appropriate optio!s ike this:
% modpro,e hiax t'pe=+8 protocol=2
3his wi oad the hisa" modue for my @,/A Fuickstep .000&C1,
'ei!g used i! %erma!y with the @+//. protoco. :ou shoud fi!d
hepfu de'uggi!g output i! your /var/og/everythi!g.og fie, i!
which you shoud see your card 'ei!g prepared for actio!. &ease
!ote that you wi pro'a'y !eed to oad some )/# modues 'efore
you ca! work with a! e"ter!a )/# 1/+( Adapter.
A!ce you have co!firmed that your card works with certai! setti!gs,
you ca! add the modue optio!s to your /etc/modpro'e.co!f:
alia ippp0 hiax
option hiax t'pe=+8 protocol=2
Ater!ativey, you ca! add o!y the optio!s i!e here, a!d add hisa"
to your HA+),@/ array i! the rc.co!f. 1t=s your choice, reay, 'ut
this e"ampe has the adva!tage that the modue wi !ot 'e oaded
u!ti it=s reay !eeded.
3hat 'ei!g do!e, you shoud have worki!g, supported hardware.
(ow you !eed the 'asic utiities to actuay use itP
+9
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
1!sta the isd!Ck2utis package, a!d read the ma!page to isd!ctr0
it= get you started. *urther dow! i! the ma!page you wi fi!d
e"pa!atio!s o! how to create a co!figuratio! fie that ca! 'e parsed
'y isd!ctr, as we as some hepfu setup e"ampes. &ease !ote that
you have to add your /&1+ to your H/( setti!g separated 'y a
coo! if you use )/ (1..
After you have co!figured your 1/+( card with the isd!ctr utiity,
you shoud 'e a'e to dia i!to the machi!e you specified with the
&8A(@$A)3 parameter, 'ut fai the user!ame a!d password
authe!ticatio!. 3o make this work add your user!ame a!d password
to /etc/ppp/pap2secrets or /etc/ppp/chap2secrets as if you were
co!figuri!g a !orma a!aogous &&& i!k, depe!di!g o! which
protoco your 1/& uses for authe!ticatio!. 1f i! dou't, put your data
i!to 'oth fies.
1f you set up everythi!g correcty, you shoud !ow 'e a'e to
esta'ish a dia2up co!!ectio! with
% idnctrl dial ippp0
as root. 1f you have a!y pro'ems, remem'er to check the ogfiesP
$&> (***oE-
3hese i!structio!s are reeva!t to you o!y if your &C itsef is
supposed to ma!age the co!!ectio! to your 1/&. :ou do !ot !eed to
do a!ythi!g 'ut defi!e a correct defaut gateway if you are usi!g a
separate router of some sort to do the gru!t work.
#efore you ca! use your +/, o!i!e co!!ectio!, you wi have to
physicay i!sta the !etwork card that is supposed to 'e co!!ected
to the +/,2Hodem i!to your computer. After addi!g your !ewy
i!staed !etwork card to the modues.co!f/modpro'e.co!f or the
HA+),@/ array, you shoud i!sta the rp2pppoe package a!d ru!
the pppoe2setup script to co!figure your co!!ectio!. After you have
e!tered a the data, you ca! co!!ect a!d disco!!ect your i!e with
-0
syste
% /etc/rc.d/adl tart
a!d
% /etc/rc.d/adl top
respectivey. 3he setup usuay is rather easy a!d straightforward,
'ut fee free to read the ma!pages for hi!ts. 1f you wa!t to
automaticay =dia i!= o! 'oot2up, add ads to your +A@HA(/
array, a!d put a P 'efore the !etwork e!try, si!ce the !etwork is
ha!ded 'y ads !ow.
te" <: +"date, ync and +"grade the syste!
with "ac!an
(ow we wi update the system usi!g pacma!.
What is pacman ?
&acma! is the "ackage !anager of Arch ,i!u". &acma! is writte!
i! 0 a!d is desig!ed from the grou!d up to 'e ightweight with a
very modest memory footpri!t, fast, simpe, a!d versatie. 1t
ma!ages your e!tire package system a!d ha!des i!staatio!,
remova, package dow!grade ;through cache<, custom compied
package ha!di!g, automatic depe!de!cy resoutio!, remote a!d
oca searches a!d much more. &acma!=s output is streami!ed, very
reada'e a!d provides @3A for each package dow!oad. Arch uses
the .tar.g9 package format, which further e!ha!ces pacma!=s speed0
%9ipped tar'as, though sighty arger, are decompressed ma!y
times faster tha! their #9ipped cou!terparts, a!d are therefore
i!staed much more e"pedie!ty.
6e wi use pacma! to dow!oad software packages from remote
repositories a!d i!sta them o!to your system.
-&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
&acma! is the most importa!t too i! your Arch ,i!u" too'o" for
'uidi!g the 'ase system i!to whatsoever you pease.
*ackage :epositories and +etc+pacman.conf
Arch curre!ty offers the foowi!g C repositories readiy accessi'e
through pacma!:
NcoreO
3he simpe pri!cipe 'ehi!d KcoreL is to provide o!y o!e of each
!ecessary too for a 'ase Arch ,i!u" system0 3he %() toochai!,
the ,i!u" ker!e, o!e editor, o!e comma!d i!e 'rowser, etc. ;3here
are a few e"ceptio!s to this. *or i!sta!ce, 'oth vi a!d !a!o are
provided, aowi!g the user to choose o!e or 'oth.< 1t co!tai!s a
the packages that H)/3 'e i! perfect worki!g order to e!sure the
system remai!s i! a usa'e state. 3hese are the a'soute system2
critica packages.
+eveoper mai!tai!ed
A 'i!ary packages
pacma! accessi'e
$he 0ore installation media simply contains an installer
script, and a snapshot of the core repository at the time of
release.
NextraO
3he Ke"traL repository co!tai!s a Arch packages that are !ot
themseves !ecessary for a 'ase Arch system, 'ut co!tri'ute to a
more fu2featured e!viro!me!t. 5, O+@, a!d Apache, for i!sta!ce,
ca! 'e fou!d here.
+eveoper mai!tai!ed
A 'i!ary packages
pacma! accessi'e
NtestingO
3he Ktesti!gL repository co!tai!s packages that are ca!didates for
the KcoreL or Ke"traL repositories. (ew packages go i!to Ktesti!gL if:
-2
syste
U they are e"pected to 'reak somethi!g o! update a!d !eed to 'e
tested first.
U they re7uire other packages to 'e re'uit. 1! this case, a packages
that !eed to 'e re'uit are put i!to Ktesti!gL first a!d whe! a
re'uids are do!e, they are moved 'ack to the other repositories.
+eveoper mai!tai!ed
A 'i!ary packages
pacma! accessi'e
-ote: U Ktesti!gL is the o!y repository that ca! have !ame
coisio!s with a!y of the other officia repositories. 3herefore,
if e!a'ed, Ktesti!gL must 'e the first repo isted i!
pacman.conf.
1arning: A!y e"perie!ced users shoud use Ktesti!gL.
Nco!!unityO
3he Kcommu!ityL repository is mai!tai!ed 'y the $rusted (sers
)$(s+ a!d is simpy the 'i!ary 'ra!ch of the rch (ser Aepository
)(A+. 1t co!tai!s 'i!ary packages which origi!ated as
&O%#)1,+s from (A Ku!supportedL that have ac7uired e!ough
votes a!d were adopted 'y a $(. ,ike a repos isted a'ove,
Kcommu!ityL may 'e readiy accessed 'y pacma!.
3) mai!tai!ed
A 'i!ary packages
pacma! accessi'e
A+* :unsu""orted;
3he A+* aso co!tai!s the unsu""orted 'ra!ch, which ca!!ot 'e
accessed directy 'y pacma!U. A+* Ku!supportedL does !ot co!tai!
'i!ary packages. Rather, it provides more tha! si"tee! thousa!d
&O%#)1,+ scripts for 'uidi!g packages from source, that may 'e
u!avaia'e through the other repos. 6he! a! A)R u!supported
-'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
package ac7uires e!ough popuar votes, it may 'e moved to the
A)R Kcommu!ityL 'i!ary repo, if a 3) is wii!g to adopt a!d
mai!tai! it there.
3) mai!tai!ed
A &O%#)1,+ 'ash 'uid scripts
Not pacma! accessi'e 'y defaut
U pacma! wrappers ;A%: ,elpers< ca! hep you seamessy access
A)R.
%etc%"ac!an2conf
pacma! wi attempt to read /etc/pacma!.co!f each time it is
i!voked. 3his co!figuratio! fie is divided i!to sectio!s, or
repositories. @ach sectio! defi!es a package repository that pacma!
ca! use whe! searchi!g for packages. 3he e"ceptio! to this is the
optio!s sectio!, which defi!es go'a optio!s.
% nano /etc/pacman.conf
@"ampe:
-+
syste
%
% /etc/pacman.conf
%
% 1ee the pacman.conf4"7 manpage for option and
repoitor' directive
%
% G;-;>:2 8/0B8-1
%
[option]
% 0he follo(ing path are commented out (ith their
default value lited.
% Bf 'ou (ih to ue different pathK uncomment and
update the path.
%>oot?ir = /
%?6/ath = /var/li,/pacman/
%9ache?ir = /var/cache/pacman/p&g/
%2og.ile = /var/log/pacman.log
=old/&g = pacman gli,c
% Bf upgrade are availa,le for thee pac&age the' (ill
,e a&ed for firt
1'nc.irt = pacman
%Ofer9ommand = /ur/,in/(get --paive-ftp -c -8 Po Pu
%Ofer9ommand = /ur/,in/curl Pu J Po
% /acman (onQt upgrade pac&age lited in Bgnore/&g and
mem,er of BgnoreGroup
%Bgnore/&g =
%BgnoreGroup =
--
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
%-o<pgrade =
%-o;xtract =
% 5ic option 4all dia,led ,' default7
%-o/aive.tp
%<e1'log
%1ho(1i3e
%<e?elta
%0otal?o(nload
%
-,
syste
% >;/81B08>B;1
% - can ,e defined here or included from another file
% - pacman (ill earch repoitorie in the order
defined here
% - local/cutom mirror can ,e added here or in
eparate file
% - repoitorie lited firt (ill ta&e precedence
(hen pac&age
% have identical nameK regardle of verion num,er
% - <>2 (ill have Nrepo replaced ,' the name of the
current repo
%
% >epoitor' entrie are of the formatM
% [repo-name]
% 1erver = 1erver-ame
% Bnclude = Bnclude/ath
%
% 0he header [repo-name] i crucial - it mut ,e preent
and
% uncommented to ena,le the repo.
%
% 0eting i dia,led ,' default. 0o ena,leK uncomment
the follo(ing
% t(o line. Dou can add preferred erver immediatel'
after the headerK
% and the' (ill ,e ued ,efore the default mirror.
%[teting]
%Bnclude = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlit
[core]
% :dd 'our preferred erver hereK the' (ill ,e ued
firt
Bnclude = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlit
[extra]
firt
[communit']
firt
-)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
% :n example of a cutom pac&age repoitor'. 1ee the
pacman manpage for
% tip on creating 'our o(n repoitorie.
%[cutom]
%1erver = fileM///home/cutomp&g
@!a'e a desired repositories ;remove the B i! fro!t of the =1!cude
V= a!d =KrepositoryL= i!es<.
When choosing repos! be sure to uncomment both the
repository header lines in @bracketsA as ell as the
"7nclude B" lines. )ailure to do so ill result in the
selected repository being omitted! This is a very common
error.
+etc+pacman.d+mirrorlist
*aster mirrors wi dramaticay improve pacma! performa!ce, a!d
your overa Arch ,i!u" e"perie!ce.
@dit /etc/pacma!.d/mirrorist:
8anually:
% nano /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlit
Remove a mirrors which are !ot o! your co!ti!e!t, or are
e"tremey dista!t. 1! !a!o, KC3R,LJO wi cut each u!!eeded i!e.
@dit /etc/pacma!.d/mirrorist 'y paci!g the 'est mirror at the top of
the ist. ;Reca that archi!u".org is throtted to I0O#/s<. 1! !a!o,
KA,3LJA seects a! area, cursor dow! marks the i!es, KC3R,LJO
cuts the seected area a!d KC3R,LJ) u!cuts, or pastes it.
Alternative, using the rank!irrors scri"t:
/usr/bin/rankmirrors is a pytho! script which wi attempt
to detect the mirrors which are cosest to you.
-*
syste
*irst, use pacma! to i!sta pytho!:
% pacman -1' p'thon
cd to the /etc/pacma!.d/ directory:
% cd /etc/pacman.d
#ackup your e"isti!g /etc/pacma!.d/mirrorist:
% cp mirrorlit mirrorlit.,ac&up
@dit mirrorist.'ackup a!d u!comme!t mirrors you wa!t to test with
ra!kmirrors.
Ru! the script agai!st the mirrorist.'ackup with the 2! switch a!d
redirect output to a !ew /etc/pacma!.d/mirrorist fie:
% ran&mirror -n 6 mirrorlit.,ac&up J mirrorlit
&n #: ra!k the E fastest mirrors
?orce "ac!an to refresh the "ackage lists
After creati!g/editi!g your /etc/pacma!.d/mirrorist, ;ma!uay or
'y /usr/bin/rankmirrors< issue the foowi!g comma!d:
% pacman -1''
&assi!g two 22refresh or 2y fags forces pacma! to refresh a
package ists eve! if they are co!sidered to 'e up to date. 1ssui!g
pacma! 2/yy whenever a mirror is changed, is good practice a!d
wi avoid possi'e headaches.
-9
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
5irrorcheck for up;to;date packages
/ome of the officia mirrors may co!tai! packages that are out2of2
date. KArch,i!u" HirrorcheckL reports various aspects a'out the
mirrors such as, those e"perie!ci!g !etwork pro'ems, data
coectio! pro'ems, reports the ast time they have 'ee! sy!ced,
etc.
A!e may wish to ma!uay i!spect the mirrors i! the
/etc/pacma!.d/mirrorist i!suri!g that it o!y co!tai!s up2to2date
mirrors if havi!g the atest a!d greatest package versio!s is
importa!t to you.
7gnoring packages
6he! you e"ecute the comma!d 4pacma! 2/yu4, your e!tire system
wi 'e updated. 1t is possi'e that you wa!t to preve!t a package
from 'ei!g upgraded. A! e"ampe coud 'e the ker!e ;ker!e2E< or
a package for which a! upgrade may prove pro'ematic for your
system. 1! this case, you have two optio!s0 i!dicate the package;s<
you wa!t to skip i! the pacma! comma!d i!e usi!g the 22ig!ore
switch ;do pacma! 2/ 22hep for detais< or perma!e!ty i!dicate the
package;s< you wa!t to skip i! your /etc/pacma!.co!f fie i! the
1g!ore&kg array. ,ist each package, with o!e i!terve!i!g space :
Bgnore/&g = (ine
3he typica way to use Arch is to use pacma! to i!sta a packages
u!ess there is !o package avaia'e, i! which case you ca! 'uid
your ow! package usi!g A#/. Ha!y user2co!tri'uted package 'uid
scripts are aso avaia'e i! the A)R.
:ou are e"pected to keep your system up to date with pacma! 2/yu,
rather tha! seectivey upgradi!g packages. :ou may diverge from
this typica usage as you wish0 Qust 'e war!ed that there is a greater
cha!ce that thi!gs wi !ot work as i!te!ded a!d that it coud 'reak
your system. 3he maQority of compai!ts happe! whe! seective
upgradi!g, u!usua compiatio! or improper software i!staatio! is
performed. )se of /gnorePkg i! /etc/pacma!.co!f is therefore
,0
syste
discouraged, a!d shoud o!y 'e used spari!gy, if you k!ow what
you are doi!g.
7gnoring #onfiguration )iles
1! the same vei!, you ca! aso 4protect4 your co!figuratio!/system
fies from 'ei!g overwritte! duri!g 4pacma! 2/u4 usi!g the
foowi!g optio! i! your /etc/pacma!.co!f
-o<pgrade = etc/lilo.conf ,oot/gru,/menu.lt
3et familiar ith pacman
pacma! is the Arch user=s 'est frie!d. 1t is highy recomme!ded to
study a!d ear! how to use the pacma!;D< too. 3ry:
N man pacman
*or more i!formatio!,pease ook up the pacma! wiki e!tries at
your eisure.
*oerpill! a pacman rapper script
#efore you co!ti!ue, co!sider i!stai!g Sy!e=s powerpi ;!ow i!
Kcommu!ityL< which is a pacma! wrapper script that speeds up
package retrieva 'y usi!g aria2c ;a! e"ter!a dow!oad heper< for
co!curre!t/segme!ted dow!oads. 1! other words, powerpi pus
packages i! parae effectivey speedi!g up your dow!oads. 3his is
particuary adva!tageous o! !ew i!stas whe! pui!g dow!
hu!dreds of megs of packages.
% pacman -1 po(erpill
3reat powerpi as pacma! as you co!sider i!staatio!s, for
e"ampe, the foowi!g wi update your system:
,&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
% po(erpill -1'u
/ee the &owerpi wiki artice for more.
te" =: +"date yste!
:ou are !ow ready to upgrade your e!tire system. #efore you do,
read through the !ews ;a!d optio!ay the a!!ou!ce maii!g ist<.
Afte! the deveopers wi provide importa!t i!formatio! a'out fi"es
for k!ow! issues. Co!suti!g these pages 'efore a!y upgrade is
good practice.
/y!c, refresh, a!d upgrade your e!tire !ew system with:
% pacman -1'u
you may aso use:
% pacman --'nc --refreh --'upgrade
pacma! wi !ow dow!oad a fresh copy of the master package ist
from the server;s< defi!ed i! pacma!.co!f;I< a!d perform a
avaia'e upgrades. ;:ou may 'e prompted to upgrade pacma! itsef
at this poi!t. 1f so, say yes, a!d the! reissue the pacma! 2/yu
comma!d whe! fi!ished.<
Re'oot if a ker!e upgrade has occurred.
-ote: Accasio!ay, co!figuratio! cha!ges may take pace
re7uiri!g user actio! duri!g a! update0 read pacma!=s output
for a!y perti!e!t i!formatio!.
&acma! output is saved i! /var/og/pacma!.og.
/ee &ackage Ha!ageme!t *AFs for a!swers to fre7ue!ty asked
7uestio!s regardi!g updati!g a!d ma!agi!g your packages.
,2
syste
The Arch rolling release !odel
Oeep i! mi!d that Arch is a rolling release distri'utio!. 3his mea!s
there is !ever a reaso! to rei!sta or perform ea'orate system
re'uids to upgrade to the !ewest versio!. /impy issui!g "ac!an
&yu periodicay keeps your e!tire system up2to2date a!d o! the
'eedi!g edge. At the e!d of this upgrade, your system is
competey curre!t. *eboot if a ker!e upgrade has occurred.
-etwork Ti!e Protocol
:ou may wish to set the system time !ow usi!g Ape!(3&+ to sy!c
the oca cock to remote (3& servers. Ape!(3&+ may aso 'e
added to the +A@HA(/V array i! /etc/rc.co!f to provide this
service at each 'oot. ;/ee the (etwork 3ime &rotoco artice.<
te" ': Add a user and setu" grou"s
UNIX is a muti2user e!viro!me!t. :ou shoud !ot do your
everyday work usi!g the root accou!t. 1t is more tha! poor practice0
it is da!gerous. Root is for admi!istrative tasks. 1!stead, add a
!orma, !o!2root user accou!t usi!g the /usr/sbin/useradd
program:
% ueradd -m -G [group] - [login_hell] [uername]
&! Creates user home directory as /home/userna!e.
6ithi! their home directory, a user ca! write fies, deete
them, i!sta programs, etc. )sers= home directories sha
co!tai! their data a!d perso!a co!figuratio! fies, the so2
caed =dot fies= ;their !ame is preceded 'y a dot<, which
are =hidde!=. ;3o view dotfies, e!a'e the appropriate
optio! i! your fie ma!ager or ru! s with the 2a switch.< 1f
there is a co!fict 'etwee! user ;u!der /home/user!ame<
a!d global co!figuratio! fies, ;usuay u!der /etc/< the
setti!gs i! the user fie wi prevai. +otfies ikey to 'e
atered 'y the e!d user i!cude ."i!itrc a!d .'ashrc fies.
3he co!figuratio! fies for "i!it a!d #ash respectivey.
,'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
3hey aow the user the a'iity to cha!ge the wi!dow
ma!ager to 'e started upo! ogi! a!d aso aiases, user2
specified comma!ds a!d e!viro!me!t varia'es
respectivey. 6he! a user is created, their dotfies sha 'e
take! from the /etc/ske directory where system sampe fies
reside.
&3 A ist of suppeme!tary groups which the user is aso a
mem'er of. "ach group is separated from the ne%t by a
comma, with no intervening spaces. 3he defaut is for the
user to 'eo!g o!y to the i!itia group ;users<.
&s 3he path a!d fie!ame of the userXs defaut ogi! she.
)sefu groups for your !o!2root user i!cude:
audio 2 for tasks i!vovi!g sou!d card a!d reated software
flo""y 2 for access to a foppy if appica'e
l" 2 for ma!agi!g pri!ti!g tasks
o"tical 2 for ma!agi!g tasks pertai!i!g to the optica
drive;s<
storage 2 for ma!agi!g storage devices
video 2 for video tasks a!d Gd acceeratio!
wheel 2 for usi!g sudo
"ower 2 used w/ power optio!s ;ie. shutdow! w/ off 'utto!<
A typica desktop system e"ampe, addi!g a user !amed 4archie4
specifyi!g 'ash as the ogi! she:
% ueradd -m -G
uerKaudioKlpKopticalKtorageKvideoK(heelKpo(er -
/,in/,ah archie
(e"t, add a password for your !ew user usi!g
/usr/bin/passwd.
A! e"ampe for our user, =archie=:
% pa(d archie
;:ou wi 'e prompted to provide the !ew UNIX password.<
,+
syste
:our !ew !o!2root user has !ow 'ee! created, compete with a
home directory a!d a ogi! password.
Alternative !ethod, using /usr/sbin/adduser:
Ater!ativey, you may use adduser, a! i!teractive user addi!g
program which wi prompt you for the a'ove data: )recommended
for beginners+
% adduer
)eleting the user account:
1! the eve!t of error, or if you wish to deete this user accou!t i!
favor of a differe!t !ame or for a!y other reaso!, use
/usr/sbin/userdel:
% uerdel -r [uername]
&r *ies i! the userXs home directory wi 'e removed ao!g
with the home directory itsef a!d the userXs mai spoo.
1f you wa!t to cha!ge the !ame of your user or a!y e"isti!g user,
see the Cha!ge user!ame page of the wiki a!d/or the %roups a!d
)ser Ha!ageme!t artices for further i!formatio!. :ou may aso
check the ma! pages for usermod'() a!d gpasswd'().
te" 9: /nstall and setu" udo :,"tional;
3o i!sta /udo:
% pacman -1 udo
3o add a user as a sudo user ;a 4sudoer4<, the visudo comma!d must
'e ru! as root. 1f you do !ot k!ow how to use vi, you may set the
@+13AR e!viro!me!t varia'e to the editor of your choice 'efore
ru!!i!g visudo. e.g.:
,-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
% ;?B08>=nano viudo
1f you are comforta'e usi!g vi, issue the visudo comma!d without
the @+13ARV!a!o varia'e:
% viudo
3his wi ope! the fie /etc/sudoers i! a specia sessio! of vi. visudo
copies the fie to 'e edited to a temporary fie, edits it with a!
editor, ;vi 'y defaut<, a!d su'se7ue!ty ru!s a sa!ity check. 1f it
passes, the temporary fie overwrites the origi!a with the correct
permissio!s.
1arning: +o !ot edit /etc/sudoers directy with a! editor0
@rrors i! sy!ta" ca! cause a!!oya!ces ;ike re!deri!g the root
accou!t u!usa'e<. :ou must use the visudo comma!d to edit
/etc/sudoers.
3o give the user fu root privieges whe! he/she precedes a
comma!d with 4sudo4, add the foowi!g i!e:
<1;>_-:5; :22=4:227 :22
where )/@R$(AH@ is the user!ame of the i!dividua.
*or more i!formatio!, such as sudoer M3A#N competio!, see /udo
,,
Part ...( .nstall = and "on0igure A2SA
Part ///: /nstall 5 and configure
ALA
te" 7: Configure sound with alsa!ixer
3he Adva!ced ,i!u" /ou!d Architecture ;k!ow! 'y the acro!ym
ALA< is a ,i!u" ker!e compo!e!t i!te!ded to repace the origi!a
Ape! /ou!d /ystem ;A//< for providi!g device drivers for sou!d
cards. #esides the sou!d device drivers, ALA aso 'u!des a user
space i'rary for appicatio! deveopers who wa!t to use driver
features with a higher eve A&1 tha! direct i!teractio! with the
ker!e drivers.
-ote: Asa is i!cuded i! the Arch mai!i!e ker!e a!d udev
wi automaticay pro'e your hardware o! 'oot2up, oadi!g the
correspo!di!g ker!e modue for your audio card. 3herefore,
your sou!d shoud aready 'e worki!g, 'ut upstream sources
mute a cha!!es 'y defaut.
-ote: A//C.. has 'ee! reeased u!der a free ice!se a!d is
ge!eray co!sidered a sig!ifica!t improveme!t over oder A//
versio!s. 1f you have issues with A,/A, or simpy wish to
e"pore a!other optio!, you may choose A//C.. i!stead.
1!structio!s ca! 'e fou!d i! A//
3he asa2utis package co!tai!s the asami"er userspace too, which
aows co!figuratio! of the sou!d device from the co!soe or
termi!a.
#y defaut the upstream ker!e sources ship with s!d$pcsp, the asa
pc speaker modue. s!d$pcsp is usuay oaded 'efore your 4actua4
sou!d card modue. 1! most cases, it wi 'e more co!ve!ie!t if this
modue is oaded ast, as it wi aow asami"er to correcty co!tro
the desired sou!d card.
3o have s!d$pcsp oad ast, add the foowi!g to
/etc/modpro'e.d/modpro'e.co!f:
,)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
option nd-pcp index=2
Ater!ativey, if you do !ot wa!t s!d$pcsp to oad at a, 'ackist it
'y addi!g the foowi!g to /etc/rc.co!f:
58?<2;1=4... Fnd_pcp7
-ote: :ou wi !eed to u!oad a your sou!d modues a!d
reoad them for the cha!ges to take effect. 1t might 'e easier to
re'oot. :our choice.
1!sta the asa2utis package:
% pacman -1 ala-util
Aso, you may wa!t to i!sta the asa2oss package, which wraps
appicatio!s writte! for A// i! a compati'iity i'rary, aowi!g
them to work with A,/A. 3o i!sta the asa2oss package:
% pacman -1 ala-o
+id you add your !orma user to the audio groupY 1f !ot, use
/usr/bin/gpasswd. As root do:
% gpa(d -a yourusername audio
As normal! non;root user, i!voke /usr/bin/alsami*er:
% u - yourusername
$ alamixer
)!mute the Haster a!d &CH cha!!es 'y scroi!g to them with
cursor eft/right a!d pressi!g 8. 1!crease the voume eves with the
,*
cursor2up key. ;70290 /houd 'e a safe ra!ge.< /ome machi!es,
;ike the 3hi!kpad 3E.<, have a "eaker cha!!e which must 'e
u!muted a!d adQusted as we. ,eave asami"er 'y pressi!g @/C.
&ound test
@!sure your speakers are propery co!!ected, a!d test your sou!d
co!figuratio! as !orma user usi!g /usr/bin/apla!:
N apla' /ur/hare/ound/ala/.ront_9enter.(av
:ou shoud hear a very eo7ue!t woma! say, 4*ro!t, ce!ter.4
&aving the &ound &ettings
@"it your !orma user she a!d ru! /usr/sbin/alsactl as
root:
N exit
% alactl tore
3his wi create the fie =/etc/asou!d.state=, savi!g the asami"er
setti!gs.
Aso, add the asa daemon to your +A@HA(/ sectio! i!
/etc/rc.co!f to automaticay restore the mi"er setti!gs o! 'oot2up.
% nano /etc/rc.conf
?:;58-1=4'log-ng net(or& crond alsa7
&ote that the alsa daemon merely restores your volume mi%er levels
on boot up by reading 3etc3asound.state. It is separate from the alsa
audio library )and *ernel level /I+.
@"pa!ded i!formatio! avaia'e i! the A,/A wiki e!try.
,9
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
te" <: /nstall 5
3he 5 6i!dow /ystem versio! .. ;commo!y 577, or Qust simpy
5< is a !etworki!g a!d dispay protoco which provides wi!dowi!g
o! 'itmap dispays. 1t provides the sta!dard tookit a!d protoco to
'uid graphica user i!terfaces ;%)1s< o! UNIX2ike operati!g
systems.
5 provides the 'asic framework, or primitives, for 'uidi!g %)1
e!viro!me!ts: drawi!g a!d movi!g wi!dows o! the scree! a!d
i!teracti!g with a mouse a!d/or key'oard. 5 does !ot ma!date the
user i!terface Z i!dividua cie!t programs ha!de this.
5 is so !amed 'ecause it was preceded 'y the 1 6i!dow /ystem,
origi!ay deveoped at /ta!ford )!iversity.
-ote: 1f you pa! o! usi!g a! o"en&source video driver, a!d
!eed Gd acceeratio!, it is recomme!ded to i!sta the i'g
i'rary 'efore i!stai!g Sorg:
% pacman -1 li,gl
)/roprietary video drivers provide their own gl library
implementations.+
A. 7nstall C
(ow we wi i!sta the 'ase Sorg packages usi!g pacma!. 3his is
the first step i! 'uidi!g a %)1.
% pacman -1 xorg
6ith !ewer versio!s of "org, it is suggested ;a!d possi'y !ecessary
i! most cases< to i!sta the i!put driver evdev, which shoud 'e
i!staed as a depe!de!cy for "org2server, 'ut ma!y seem to 'e
acki!g somehow:
)0
% pacman -1 xf86-input-evdev
3he Gd utiities g"gears a!d g"i!fo are i!cuded i! the !esa
package:
% pacman -1 mea
'. 7nstall Dideo $river *ackage
(ow we have the 'ase packages we !eed for ru!!i!g the 5 /erver.
:ou shoud add the driver for your graphics card !ow ;e.g. "fDE2
video2M!ameN<. 3he easiest way to co!figure S.org is 'y i!stai!g
the correct driver packages first, a!d the! ge!erati!g
/etc/S../"org.co!f usi!g a! autoco!figuratio! script, ike Sorg
2co!figure.
:ou wi !eed k!owedge of which video chipset your machi!e has.
1f you do !ot k!ow, use the /usr/sbin/lspci program:
% lpci ! grep RG:
1f you !eed a ist of a o"en&source video drivers, do:
% pacman -1 xf86-video ! le
8ere is a ist of o"en source drivers, a!d the correspo!di!g video
chipsets.
xf$#&video&a"! Z Aia!ce &roHotio! video driver
xf$#&video&ark Z ark video driver
xf$#&video&ati Z A31;AH+< video driver
xf$#&video&r7<$ Z A31;AH+< video driver for
S.org ati Rage.2D video
xf$#&video&!ach#' Z A31;AH+< video driver
for S.org machEC video
)&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
xf$#&video&radeonhd Z ope! source radeo!hd
driver
xf$#&video&chi"s Z Chips a!d 3ech!oogies video driver
xf$#&video&cirrus Z Cirrus ,ogic video driver
xf$#&video&du!!y Z dummy video driver
xf$#&video&fbdev Z frame'uffer video driver
xf$#&video&glint Z %,1(3/&ermedia video driver
xf$#&video&i7<$ Z (um'er 0 i.2D video driver
xf$#&video&iM'H Z 1!te i7C0 video driver
xf$#&video&i$7H Z 1!te iD.0/iDG0/i9"" video drivers
;deprecated 2 use 2i!te<
xf$#&video&intel Z (ewer -ersio! of 1!te iD.0/iDG0/i9""
video drivers
xf$#&video&intel&legacy Z ,egacy2driver for oder i!te
cards as D2DEI% ;"fDE2video2i!te curre!ty crashes with
oder cards<
xf$#&video&i!stt Z 1!tegrated Hicro /outio!s 3wi!
3ur'o video driver
xf$#&video&!ga Z mga video driver ;Hatro" %raphics
Adapter<
xf$#&video&neo!agic Z !eomagic video driver
xf$#&video&nv Z (vidia !v video driver
xf$#&video&nouveau Z Ape! /ource G+ acceeratio!
driver for !-idia cards ;e"perime!ta<, check: K.L for
Curre!t /tatus
xf$#&video&o"enchro!e Z -1A//G% )!iChrome,
)!iChrome &ro a!d Chrome9 video driver
xf$#&video&rendition Z Re!ditio! video driver
xf$#&video&s= Z /G video driver
xf$#&video&s=virge Z /G -irge video driver
xf$#&video&savage Z savage video driver
xf$#&video&silicon!otion Z siico!motio! video driver
xf$#&video&sis Z /i/ video driver
xf$#&video&sisusb Z /i/ )/# video driver
xf$#&video&tdfx Z tdf" video driver
xf$#&video&trident Z 3ride!t video driver
xf$#&video&tseng Z tse!g video driver
)2
xf$#&video&unichro!e Z -1A /G )!ichrome video
drivers
xf$#&video&v'l Z vC video driver
xf$#&video&vesa Z vesa video driver
xf$#&video&vga Z -%A .E coor video driver
xf$#&video&v!ware Z vmware video driver
xf$#&video&voodoo Z voodoo video driver
Note: 3he vesa driver is the most ge!eric, a!d shoud work with
amost a!y moder! video chipset. 1f you ca!!ot fi!d a suita'e
driver for your video chipset, vesa should work.
)se pacma! to i!sta the appropriate video driver for your video
card/o!'oard video. e.g.:
% pacman -1 xf86-video-avage
;for the /avage driver.<
1f you have a! (-1+1A or A31 graphics card you may wish
to i!sta the proprietary (-1+1A or A31 drivers. /nstalling
"ro"rietary video drivers is covered below2.
1f you do !ot wa!t to i!sta the proprietary drivers or do
!ot have a! (-1+1A or A31 graphics card, you shoud skip
dow! to te" =: Configure 5.
-6/)/A 3ra"hics Cards
3he (-1+1A proprietary drivers are ge!eray co!sidered to 'e of
good 7uaity, a!d offer G+ performa!ce, whereas the ope! source
nv driver offers o!y 2d support at this time.
#efore you co!figure your %raphics Card you wi !eed to k!ow
which driver fits. Arch curre!ty has severa differe!t driver
packages that each match a certai! su'set of Cards:
72 nvidia&P#xx slightly newer cards up to the !7 B.
<2 nvidia&7M=xx !eforce 7C series cards
=2 nvidia newest !/(s after the !7 7C
)'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
-ote: (vidia27."" series proprietary drivers, which are
re7uired 'y e"tremey od cards ike 3(3 a!d 3(32, have
'ee! removed 'ecause they do !ot work with the !ew Sorg
that Arch makes use of a!d !vidia has disco!ti!ued support for
such. :ou shoud use the "fDE2video2!v or "fDE2video2vesa
drivers i!stead.
Co!sut the (-1+1A we'site to see which o!e is for you. 3he
differe!ce is o!y for the i!staatio!0 Co!figuratio! works the same
with every driver.
/eect a!d i!sta the appropriate (-1+1A driver for your card, e.g.:
% pacman -1 nvidia-96xx
3he (-1+1A package has a utiity for updati!g your e"isti!g
/etc/S../"org.co!f for use with the (-1+1A driver:
% nvidia-xconfig
1t aso has severa optio!s which wi further specify the co!te!ts
a!d optio!s of the "org.co!f fie. *or e"ampe,
% nvidia-xconfig --compoite --add-arg,-glx-viual
*or more detaied i!formatio!, see !vidia2"co!fig;.<.
/ome usefu tweaki!g optio!s i! the device sectio! are ;'eware that
these may !ot work o! your system<:
8ption )>ender:ccel) )true)
8ption )-o2ogo) )true)
8ption ):G/.at@rite) )true)
8ption );na,le/age.lip) )true)
Hake sure a i!sta!ces of +R1 are comme!ted out:
)+
% 2oad )dri)
+ou'e check your /etc/S../"org.co!f to make sure your defaut
depth, hori9o!ta sy!c, vertica refresh, a!d resoutio!s are
accepta'e.
)pdate ker!e modue depe!de!cies usi!g /sbin/depmod:
% depmod -a
;A re'oot may 'e !ecessary.<
Ti": Adva!ced i!structio!s for (-1+1A co!figuratio! ca! 'e
fou!d i! the (-1+1A artice.
:ou may !ow co!ti!ue with te" =: Configure 5 to famiiari9e
yoursef further, or co!ti!ue the i!staatio! process with Test 5.
AT/ 3ra"hics Cards
A31 ow!ers have mutipe optio!s for drivers.
3he ope! source radeon driver provided 'y the xf$#&video&
ati package.
3his is the origi!a, reverse2e!gi!eered ope! source
driver which fuy supports Radeo! chipsets up to
S.9I0 ;atest RI00 chipsets<. Cards up to the 9200
series are fuy supported, sta'e, a!d provide fu
2+ a!d G+ acceeratio!. Cards from 9I00 to
S.9I0 feature fu 2+ acceeratio!, a!d good G+
acceeratio!, 'ut ack certai! features provided 'y
the proprietary driver, ;for e"ampe, powersavi!g
is sti i! a testi!g phase<. Cards from 8+2"""
;RE""< to the !ewest are supported 'y "fDE2video2
ati, 'ut o!y offer 2d support at this time.
3he ope! source radeonhd driver provided 'y the xf$#&
video&radeonhd package.
)-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
3his driver supports A31 RI00 chipsets ;Radeo!
S.000 series< a!d !ewer. 1t is writte! 'y (ove
with specificatio!s provided to the pu'ic 'y AH+.
1t supports Ra!dR ..2 a!d deveopme!t is curre!ty
very active. 3herefore, fu!ctio!aity may 'e
i!co!siste!t across the spectrum of cards
supported. ;/ome users report e"cee!t
performa!ce a!d reia'iity whie others e"perie!ce
trou'e.< 1t aso supports 8+H1, with sou!d.
3he proprietary fglr/ driver provided 'y the Catayst
package ocated i! the A)R. 3he proprietary driver is
covered 'eow.
3he ope!2source drivers wi usuay suit most !eeds ao!g with
'ei!g ge!eray ess pro'ematic.
1!sta the radeon A31 +river with
% pacman -1 xf86-video-ati li,gl ati-dri
1!sta the radeonhd A3i +river with
% pacman -1 xf86-video-radeonhd li,gl ati-dri
3he proprietary A31 driver Catalyst was o!ce a precompied
package offered 'y Arch i! the e*tra repository, 'ut as of Harch
2009, officia support has 'ee! dropped 'ecause of dissatisfactio!
with the 7uaity a!d speed of deveopme!t of the proprietary
driver.3he catayst driver is !ow avaia'e i! A)R. 1!staatio!
i!formatio! for Catayst driver is avaia'e here
1arning: 3he proprietary A31 driver supports o!y RE00 a!d
!ewer devices ;that mea!s, 8+2""" a!d !ewer<. 3he oder
o!es ;S.""" a!d oder< are!=t supported.
Ti": Adva!ced i!structio!s for A31 co!figuratio! ca! 'e fou!d
i! the A31 wiki artice.
),
#. 7nstall 7nput $river *ackages
3he atest S re7uires you to i!sta drivers for your i!put devices,
key'oard a!d mouse i!cuded. *or a compete ist of avaia'e i!put
drivers,
% pacman -1 xf86-input ! le
*or most users, "fDE2i!put2key'oard a!d "fDE2i!put2mouse shoud
'e sufficie!t for a 'asic setup. )se pacma! to i!sta your desired
drivers for your i!put devices. e.g.:
% pacman -1 xf86-input-&e',oard
te" =: Configure 5
A. The /org.conf file
/etc/S../"org.co!f is the mai! co!figuratio! fie for your 5
6i!dow /ystem, the fou!datio! of your 3raphica +ser /!terface.
1t is a pai! te"t fie ordered i!to sectio!s a!d su'sectio!s. 1mporta!t
sectio!s are 7iles, Input>evice, =odule, =onitor, =odes, Screen,
>evice, and Server,ayout. /ectio!s ca! appear i! a!y order a!d
there may 'e more tha! o!e sectio! of each ki!d, for e"ampe, if
you have more tha! o!e mo!itor, or if your aptop has a trackpoi!t
as we as a mouse.
/i!ce S..R7.2 the S.Arg S /erver features autoco!figuratio!.
3herefore, it ca! fu!ctio! without a! "org.co!f fie i! ma!y cases.
If the autoco!figuratio! wor*s satisfactorily a!d you do !ot !eed to
specify specia features such as aig", compositi!g a!d so forth, you
may forgo creati!g a! "org.co!f fie.
))
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
tandard xorg2conf generation
Adva!ced users may wish to ma!uay create their ow! "org.co!f
fie. :ou may aso use the /usr/bin/Xorg program with the
2co!figure optio! to ge!erate a 'asic co!fig fie0 As root, do:
% Oorg -configure
3his wi create a co!fig fie at /root/"org.co!f.!ew
Copy the fie to /etc/X11/:
% cp /root/xorg.conf.ne( /etc/O++/xorg.conf
Alternative xorg2conf generation
(ewer versio!s of the Sorg /erver;N..E< do !ot i!cude the
/usr/'i!/"orgco!fig or /usr/'i!/"orgcfg scripts. 1f you ru! i!to
pro'ems ge!erati!g/usi!g a! "org.co!f fie, you might wa!t to
co!sider usi!g this guide.
/ee the artice o! S.Arg, sectio! 46ithout "org.co!f4.
(ote that if you are i! possessio! of a propery co!figured
"org.co!f u!der a!other distri'utio! a!d with the same
Sorg versio!, you may easiy copy it over to your curre!t
Arch system=s /etc/X11/ directory.
'. 7nput hotplugging
1!put hotpuggi!g is supported si!ce the ..C versio! of the S.Arg S
/erver a!d e!a'ed 'y defaut. 6he! e!a'ed, S wi utii9e ha to
aow for the hotpuggi!g a!d remova of huma! i!terface devices
without havi!g to restart S.
)*
1arning: /tarti!g the 5 server usi!g i!put hotpuggi!g
without the HAL daemo! i!staed a!d ru!!i!g may resut i!
the i!a'iity to use the mouse a!d/or key'oard, a!d the 5
server appeari!g to free9e as a resut .
:ou must decide whether you wi use i!put hotpuggi!g ;e!a'ed
'y defaut<, or disa'e it. 1!put hotpuggi!g is co!ve!ie!t for ma!y
users, especiay those with mo'ie machi!es ike aptops a!d
!et'ooks. Ather users may wish to disa'e it i! favor of ma!ua or
more static device co!figuratio! withi! /etc/"org.co!f.
Ti": /ee the artice o! Sorg i!put hotpuggi!g for fu detais.
+sing in"ut hot"lugging
1!sta 8A,, d'us a!d the evdev i!put driver:
% pacman -1 hal d,u xf86-input-evdev
/et the key'oard ayout ;if you do !ot use a sta!dard )/ key'oard<
% cp /ur/hare/hal/fdi/polic'/+0ovendor/+0-
&e'map.fdi /etc/hal/fdi/polic'/
% nano /etc/hal/fdi/polic'/+0-&e'map.fdi
@dit the 4i!put."k'.ayout4 key a!d possi'y the 4i!put."k'.varia!t4
key i! this fie.
,aptop users wi aso !eed the sy!aptics package to aow S to
co!figure the touchpad:
)9
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
% pacman -1 xf86-input-'naptic
Ti": *or i!structio!s o! fi!e tu!i!g or trou'eshooti!g
touchpad setti!gs, see the 3ouchpad /y!aptics artice.
The HAL dae!on
3he ha daemo! !ust 'e started before the 5 server:
% /etc/rc.d/hal tart
Add the ha daemo! to the +A@HA(/ array i! /etc/rc.co!f to start
it at every 'oot.
)isable in"ut hot"lugging
+isa'i!g i!put hotpuggi!g wi skip devices detected 'y ha a!d
wi use the key'oard/mouse co!figuratio! from "org.co!f:
% nano /etc/O++/xorg.conf
add the foowi!g:
1ection )1erver.lag)
8ption ):uto:dd?evice) ).ale)
;nd1ection
et the keyboard layout if not using a standard + keyboard
Add optio! i!es i! the 41!put+evice4 sectio! of the
/etc/S../"org.co!f fie specifyi!g the key'oard ayout a!d varia!t:
*0
8ption )O&,2a'out) ),e)
8ption )O&,Rariant) ))
Ater!ative method usi!g the set"k'map comma!d:
% etx&,map pl
;with the proper key'oard ayout i!stead of pl of course< shoud
switch your key'oard ayout i! ". 3o make this perma!e!t, add this
comma!d to /home/<!ouruser>/.*initrc 'efore starti!g
the wi!dow ma!ager ;'efore comma!d ike e*ec start*fce+<.
#. Test C
*irst, read the war!i!g a'out i!put hotpuggi!g i! the previous
sectio!. 3o test the S server, ru! the 5 script with the -config fag
agai!st the path3to3%org.conf fie. e.g.:
% O -config /etc/O++/xorg.conf
5 shoud start with the white hoow vector 5 i! the ce!ter of the
scree!, which shoud respo!d to mouse, trackpoi!t or touchpad
moveme!t. )se C3R,2At2#ackspace to e"it 5.
-ote: /ome users have fou!d after the upgrade to Sorg ..E that
this test fais ;!o hoow S appears a!d !o capacity for cursor
moveme!t is e!a'ed<, 'ut this does !ot i!dicate a pro'em
with the i!staatio! of S. :ou may wa!t to dou'e check 'y
ru!!i!g the !e"t test i! this guide.
*&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
-ote: 6ith Sorg ..E C3R,2At2#ackspace has 'ee!
deprecated a!d wi !ot work to e"it out of this test. A
somewhat messy work arou!d is to switch to a differe!t virtua
co!soe ;C3R,2At2*2, for e"ampe< a!d the! switch 'ack to
the co!soe the test is ru!!i!g i! ;pro'a'y C3R,2At2*.<. :ou
wi the! 'e a'e to use C3R,2C to ki the S test. :ou ca!
e!a'e C3R,2At2#ackspace 'y editi!g "org.co!f, as descri'ed
here.
/n case of errors
1!spect the co!fig fie:
% nano /etc/O++/xorg.conf
@!sure the video driver is propery specified. e.g.:
1ection )?evice)
...
?river )avage)
...
;nd1ection
@!sure there are hori9o!ta sy!c a!d vertica refresh specs u!der
sectio! 4Ho!itor4. 1f !ot, add them:
*2
1ection )5onitor)
Bdentifier )5onitor0)
Rendor-ame )5onitor Rendor)
5odel-ame )5onitor 5odel)
=ori31'nc $0.0 - +$0.0 % 1afe for 29?Q
Rert>efreh "0.0 - +00.0 % 1afe for 29?Q and
mot 9>0Q.
;nd1ection
;1f these specs are u!k!ow!, co!sut the docume!tatio! of the
computer mo!itor.<
/pecify your defaut coor depth u!der sectio! 4/cree!4:
1ection )1creen)
Bdentifier )1creen0)
?evice )9ard0)
5onitor )5onitor0)
?efault?epth 2*
;3ypicay, this wi 'e set to 2C for true coor.<
Aso add your desired Hodes to your 4+ispay4 su'sectio!, at east
u!der the +epth 2C header, e.g.:
1u,1ection )?ipla')
Rie(port 0 0
?epth 2*
5ode )+02*x#68) )800x600) )6*0x*80)
Add the foowi!g sectio!, if eye ca!dy which re7uires the
composite e"te!sio! is desired:
1ection );xtenion)
8ption )9ompoite) );na,le)
;nd1ection
3ry the co!fig agai!, after modifyi!g:
*'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
% O -config /etc/O++/xorg.conf
+etaied i!structio!s i! the Sorg artice.
+sing wget"aste
1f you are sti havi!g trou'e after co!suti!g the Sorg artice a!d
!eed assista!ce via the Arch forums, 'e sure to i!sta a!d use
wgetpaste:
% pacman -1 (getpate
)se wgetpaste a!d provide i!ks for the foowi!g fies whe! aski!g
for hep i! your forum post:
[/."i!itrc
/etc/S../"org.co!f
/var/og/Sorg.0.og.od
)se wgetpaste ike so:
N (getpate I/path/to/fileJ
&ost the correspo!di!g i!ks give! withi! your forum post. #e sure
to provide appropriate hardware a!d driver i!formatio! as we.
i!"le baseline 5 test:if necessary;
At this poi!t, you shoud have "org i!staed, with a suita'e video
driver a!d a! /etc/S../"org.co!f co!figuratio! fie. 1f you wa!t to
test your co!figuratio! 7uicky, to e!sure your a'iity to
successfuy start 5 from the comma!d i!e 'efore i!stai!g a
compete desktop e!viro!me!t, you ca! do so 'y co!figuri!g
[/."i!itrc to i!voke 5ter!. Sterm is a very simpe termi!a
emuator which ru!s i! the 5 /erver e!viro!me!t0 it is i!staed as
part of the 'ase "org packages. Hore adva!ced users who are
comforta'e with 5 co!figuratio! may choose to skip this optio!a
step.
*+
*repare for the test by configuring 0+./initrc
A!e of the mai! fu!ctio!s of this fie is to dictate what 5 6i!dow
cie!t is i!voked with the %usr%bin%startx a!d/or %usr%bin%xinit
program on a per-user basis. ;3he startx script is merey a fro!t
e!d to the more versatie xinit comma!d.< 3here are vast amou!ts
of additio!a co!figura'e specificatio!s a!d comma!ds that may
aso 'e added to [/."i!itrc as you further customi9e your system.
-ote: 2xinitrc is a so2caed =dot= ;.< fie. *ies i! a )(1S
fiesystem which are preceded with a dot ;.< are =hidde!=, a!d
wi !ot show up with a reguar =s= comma!d, usuay for the
sake of keepi!g directories tidy. +ot fies may 'e see! 'y
issui!g ls &a. 3he =rc= de!otes Aun 0ommands a!d simpy
i!dicates that it is a co!figuratio! fie. /i!ce it co!tros how a
program ru!s, it is ;athough historicay i!correct< aso said to
sta!d for 4Ru! Co!tro4.
startx%xinit wi start the 5 server a!d cie!ts. 3o determi!e the
cie!t to ru!, startx%xinit wi first ook to parse a ."i!itrc fie i! the
user=s home directory. 1! the a'se!ce of fie [/."i!itrc, it defauts to
the go'a "i!itrc i! the "i!it i'rary directory0 /etc/S../"i!it/"i!itrc,
which defauts to usi!g the 36H wi!dow ma!ager. ;8e!ce, if you
i!voke start" without a [/."i!itrc fie, a 36H sessio! wi start.<
*urther detais i! the ."i!itrc wiki e!try.
/witch to your normal! non;root user:
% u - yourusername
/etc/ske/ co!tai!s fies a!d directories to provide sa!e
defauts for !ewy created user accou!ts. 3he !ame skel is
derived from the word skeleton, 'ecause the fies it
co!tai!s form the 'asic structure for users= home
directories.
1f you i!staed from a fresh ;Core< i!sta, it does !ot
i!cude the S wi!dow ma!ager, so ."i!itrc does !ot e"ist i!
/etc/ske. 1!stead, use the sampe provided here ;1f you=ve
*-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
foowed the guide step 'y step you shoud have a 'asic
."i!itrc fie i! /etc/ske<.
Copy the sampe "i!itrc fie from /etc/ske/ to your home directory:
N cp /etc/&el/.xinitrc S/
@dit the fie:
N nano S/.xinitrc
a!d add 4e*ec *term4 so that it ooks ike this:
%F/,in/h
%
% S/.xinitrc
%
% ;xecuted ,' tartx 4run 'our (indo( manager from here7
%
% exec (ma&er
% exec tart&de
% exec ice(m
% exec ,lac&,ox
% exec flux,ox
%
exec xterm
-ote: 'e sure to have only one uncommented e/ec line in your
D3.%initrc.
#eow, we sha edit this fie agai! to specify the appropriate
desktop e!viro!me!t/wi!dow ma!ager of your choice.
*erform the test
3est your co!figuratio!s 'y starti!g 5 as nor!al, non&root user,
with:
*,
N tartx
or
N xinit
:ou shoud have a! xter! sessio! ope! up. :ou ca! test your
key'oard a!d its ayout i! it. :ou may have to move your mouse
arou!d u!ti it e!ters the "term area 'efore you see the mouse
cursor or "term respo!ds to your key'oard.
:ou ca! e"it the 5 /erver with CtrJAtJ#ackspace, or 'y typi!g
4e"it4. 1f you have pro'ems starti!g 5, you ca! ook for errors i!
the /var/og/Sorg.0.og fie a!d o! the co!soe output of the co!soe
you started 5 from.
1f you prove a propery co!figured /etc/S../"org.co!f 'y
successfuy ru!!i!g the test, you ca! 'e assured that your +@/6H
of choice wi work smoothy.
Ti": Adva!ced i!structio!s for Sorg co!figuratio! ca! 'e
fou!d i! the Sorg artice.
*)
Part .>( .nstalling and "on0iguring a Desktop #nvironent
Part /6: /nstalling and
configuring a )eskto"
Environ!ent
6hie 3he 5 6i!dow /ystem provides the 'asic framework for
'uidi!g a graphical user interface ;%)1<, a )eskto" Environ!ent
;+@<, works atop a!d i! co!Qu!ctio! with 5, to provide a
competey fu!ctio!a a!d dy!amic %)1. A +@ typicay provides a
wi!dow ma!ager, ico!s, appets, wi!dows, too'ars, foders,
wapapers, a suite of appicatio!s a!d a'iities ike drag a!d drop.
3he particuar fu!ctio!aities a!d desig!s of each +@ wi u!i7uey
affect your overa e!viro!me!t a!d e"perie!ce. 3herefore,
choosi!g a +@ is a very su'Qective a!d perso!a decisio!. Choose
the 'est e!viro!me!t for your !eeds.
1f you wa!t somethi!g fu2featured a!d simiar to
6i!dows a!d Hac A/S, D)E is a good choice
1f you wa!t somethi!g sighty more mi!imaist, which
foows the O.1././. pri!cipe more cosey, 3-,8E is a
good choice
5fce is ge!eray perceived as simiar to %(AH@, 'ut
ighter a!d ess dema!di!g o! system resources, yet sti
visuay peasi!g a!d providi!g a very compete
e!viro!me!t.
L5)E is a mi!ima +@ 'ased o! the Ape!'o" wi!dow
ma!ager. 1t provides most thi!gs you !eed for a moder!
desktop whie keepi!g reativey ow system resource
usage. ,S+@ is a good choice for those who wa!t a 7uick
way of setti!g up a pre2co!figured Ape!'o" system.
1f you desire a ighter, ess dema!di!g %)1 to co!figure ma!uay,
you may choose to simpy i!sta a 1indow 8anager, or 6H. A
6H co!tros the paceme!t a!d appeara!ce of appicatio! wi!dows
i! co!Qu!ctio! with the S 6i!dow /ystem 'ut does (A3 i!cude
such features as pa!es, appets, ico!s, appicatio!s, etc., 'y defaut.
,ightweight foati!g 6H=s i!cude: ,"enbox, ?luxbox,
fvw!<, "ekw!, evilw!, 1indow!aker, and T18.
*9
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
1f you !eed somethi!g competey differe!t, try a tii!g
6H ike aweso!e, ion=, w!ii, dw!, x!onad, or
rat"oison.
te" 7: /nstall ?onts
At this poi!t, you may wish to save time 'y i!stai!g visuay
peasi!g, true type fo!ts, 'efore i!stai!g a desktop
e!viro!me!t/wi!dow ma!ager. +eQavu a!d 'itstream2vera are good,
ge!era2purpose fo!t sets. :ou may aso wa!t to have the Hicrosoft
fo!t sets, which are especiay popuar o! we'sites.
1!sta with:
% pacman -1 ttf-m-font ttf-deLavu ttf-,ittream-vera
te" <: Q%2xinitrc :again;
As non&root user, edit your /home/user!ame/."i!itrc to specify the
+@ you wish to use. 3his wi aow you to use startx%xinit from the
she, i! the future, to ope! your +@/6H of choice:
N nano S/.xinitrc
)!comme!t or add the =exec ..= i!e of the appropriate desktop
e!viro!me!t/wi!dow ma!ager. /ome e"ampes are 'eow:
*or the SfceC desktop e!viro!me!t:
exec tartxfce*
*or the O+@ desktop e!viro!me!t:
90
exec tart&de
A startkde or startxfce' comma!d starts the O+@ or SfceC
desktop e!viro!me!t. 3his comma!d does !ot fi!ish u!ti you
ogout of the +@. (ormay the she woud wait for O+@ to fi!ish,
the! ru! the !e"t comma!d. 3he 4e"ec4 prefi" to this comma!d tes
the she that this is the ast comma!d, so the she does !ot !eed to
wait to ru! a su'se7ue!t comma!d.
1f you have trou'e with automou!ti!g, use the foowi!g comma!d
i!stead. Repace 4start"fceC4 with the comma!d that is appropriate
for your wi!dow ma!ager.
exec c&-launch-eion tartxfce*
Remem'er to have o!y o!e u!comme!ted exec i!e i! your
[/."i!itrc.
te" =: /nstall a )eskto" Environ!ent
Co!ti!ue 'eow, i!stai!g the +@/6H of your choice.
3-,8E
D)E
5fce
L5)E
,"enbox
?luxbox
fvw!<
3NE5E
About 3-,8E
3he 3() -etwork ,'Qect 8ode E!viro!me!t. 3he %(AH@
proQect provides two thi!gs: 3he %(AH@ desktop e!viro!me!t, a!
i!tuitive a!d attractive desktop for e!d2users, a!d the %(AH@
9&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
deveopme!t patform, a! e"te!sive framework for 'uidi!g
appicatio!s that i!tegrate i!to the rest of the desktop.
/nstallation
1!sta the 'ase %(AH@ e!viro!me!t with:
% pacman -1 gnome
Additio!ay, you ca! i!sta the e"tras:
% pacman -1 gnome-extra
1t=s safe to choose a packages show! i! the e"tra package.
+seful )AE8,- for 3-,8E
Reca from a'ove that a daemo! is a program that ru!s i! the
'ackgrou!d, waiti!g for eve!ts to occur a!d offeri!g services. /ome
users prefer to use the hal daemo!. 3he hal daemo!, amo!g other
thi!gs, wi automate the mou!ti!g of disks, optica drives, a!d )/#
drives/thum'drives for use i! the %)1. 3he fa! daemo! wi aow
rea2time represe!tatio! of fie ateratio!s i! the %)1, aowi!g
i!sta!t access to rece!ty i!staed programs, or cha!ges i! the fie
system. #oth hal a!d fa! ca! make ife easier for the %(AH@
user. 3he ha a!d fam packages are i!staed whe! you i!sta
%(AH@, 'ut must 'e i!voked to 'ecome usefu.
:ou may wa!t to i!sta a graphica ogi! ma!ager. *or %(AH@,
the gd! daemo! is a good choice.
As root:
% pacman -1 gdm
/tart ha a!d fam:
92
% /etc/rc.d/fam tart
Add them to your /etc/rc.co!f +A@HA(/ sectio!, so they wi 'e
i!voked at 'oot:
% nano /etc/rc.conf
?:;58-1=4'log-ng net(or& crond ala hal fam gdm7
;1f you prefer to og i!to the co!soe a!d ma!uay start S, eave out
gdm.<
3he! edit your /etc/gdm/custom.co!f a!d i! the NserversO sectio!
add:
0=1tandard vt#
As !orma user, start S:
N tartx
or
N xinit
1f [/."i!itrc is !ot co!figured for %(AH@, you may aways start it
with xinit, foowed 'y the path to %(AH@:
9'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
N xinit /ur/,in/gnome-eion
Ti": Adva!ced i!structio!s for i!stai!g a!d co!figuri!g
%(AH@ ca! 'e fou!d i! the %!ome artice.
Co!gratuatio!sP 6ecome to your %(AH@ desktop e!viro!me!t
o! your !ew Arch ,i!u" systemP :ou may wish to co!ti!ue 'y
viewi!g Tweaks and finishing touches, or the rest of the
i!formatio! 'eow. :ou may aso 'e i!terested i! the &ost
1!staatio! 3ips wiki artice.
Eye Candy
#y defaut, %(AH@ does !ot come with ma!y themes a!d ico!s.
:ou may wish to i!sta some more attractive artwork for %(AH@:
A !ice gtk ;gui widget< theme e!gi!e ;i!cudes themes< is the
murri!e e!gi!e. 1!sta with:
% pacman -1 gt&-engine-murrine
Aptio!a for more themes:
% pacman -1 murrine-theme-collection
A!ce it has 'ee! i!staed, seect it with /ystem 2N &refere!ces 2N
Appeara!ce 2N 3heme ta'.
3he Arch ,i!u" repositories aso have a few more !ice themes a!d
e!gi!es. 1!sta the foowi!g to see for yoursef:
% pacman -1 gt&-engine gt&-aurora-engine gt&-candido-
engine gt&-re3loo&-engine
:ou ca! fi!d ma!y more themes, ico!s, a!d wapapers at
%(AH@2,ook.
9+
F$E
About D)E
3he D )esktop E!viro!me!t. O+@ is a powerfu *ree /oftware
graphica desktop e!viro!me!t for %()/,i!u" a!d UNIX
workstatio!s. 1t com'i!es ease of use, co!temporary fu!ctio!aity,
a!d outsta!di!g graphica desig! with the tech!oogica superiority
of UNIX2ike operati!g systems.
/nstallation
Choose o!e of the foowi!g, the! co!ti!ue 'eow with +seful D)E
)AE8,-:
.. 3he package kde is the officia a!d compete va!ia O+@ C.2
residi!g u!der the Arch Ke"traL repo.
1!sta 'ase kde:
% pacman -1 &de,ae-(or&pace
1!sta the whoe +esktop @!viro!me!t:
% pacman -1 &de
or
% pacman -1 &de-meta
2. Ater!ativey, there e"ists a proQect caed D)E!od ;rece!ty
referred to coectivey as the Chakra proQect<. 1t is a! Arch ,i!u"
e"cusive, commu!ity2drive! system, desig!ed for moduarity a!d
offers a choice 'etwee! O+@ G.I..0 or C.".". O+@mod ca! 'e
i!staed with pacma!, after addi!g the proper repository to
/etc/pacma!.co!f. 3he proQect we'site, i!cudi!g compete
i!staatio! i!structio!s, ca! 'e fou!d at http://www.chakra2
proQect.org/.
9-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
+seful D)E )AE8,-
'ackgrou!d, waiti!g for eve!ts to occur a!d offeri!g services.
O+@ wi re7uire the hal ;Hardware A'stractio! Layer< daemo! for
optima fu!ctio!aity. 3he ha daemo!, amo!g other thi!gs, wi
faciitate the automatic mou!ti!g of disks, optica drives, a!d )/#
drives/thum'drives for use i! the %)1. 3he ha package is i!staed
whe! you i!sta "org2server, 'ut must 'e i!voked to 'ecome
usefu.
3he kd! daemo! is the D )ispay 8a!ager, which provides a
gra"hical login, if desired.
/tart ha:
-ote: 3he ha daemo! reies o!, a!d wi automaticay start,
the d'us daemo!.
@dit your +A@HA(/ array i! /etc/rc.co!f:
% nano /etc/rc.conf
Add hal to your +A@HA(/ array, to i!voke it o! 'oot. 1f you
prefer a graphica ogi!, add kd! as we:
?:;58-1=4'log-ng hal net(or& crond ala kdm7
-ote: 1f you i!staed O+@modG i!stead of !orma O+@, use
kdmG i!stead of kdm.
9,
3his method wi start the system at ru!eve G, ;/etc/i!itta'
defaut, mutiuser mode<, a!d the! start O+H as a daemo!.
/ome users prefer a! ater!ative method of starti!g a
dispay ma!ager ike O+H o! 'oot 'y utii9i!g the
/etc/i!itta' method a!d starti!g the system at ru!eve I.
/ee Addi!g a ogi! ma!ager ;O+H, %+H, or S+H< to
automaticay 'oot o! startup for more.
1f you prefer to og i!to the console at ru!eve G, a!d
ma!uay start S, eave out kdm, or comme!t it out with a
'a!g, ; P <.
(ow try starti!g your S /erver as !orma user:
N tartx
or
N xinit
Ti": Adva!ced i!structio!s for i!stai!g a!d co!figuri!g O+@
ca! 'e fou!d i! the O+@ artice.
Co!gratuatio!sP 6ecome to your O+@ desktop e!viro!me!t o!
your !ew Arch ,i!u" systemP :ou may wish to co!ti!ue 'y
viewi!g The (eginners 3uide A""endix, or the rest of the
i!formatio! 'eow. :ou may aso 'e i!terested i! the &ost
1!staatio! 3ips wiki artice.
Cfce
About 5fce
3he choestero2free 5 e!viro!me!t. Sfce, ike %(AH@ or O+@, is
a desktop e!viro!me!t, 'ut aims to 'e fast a!d ightweight whie
remai!i!g visuay appeai!g a!d easy to use. 1t co!tai!s a suite of
9)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
apps ike a root wi!dow app, wi!dow ma!ager, fie ma!ager, pa!e,
etc. Sfce is writte! usi!g the %3O2 tookit ;ike %(AH@< a!d
co!tai!s its ow! deveopme!t e!viro!me!t ;i'raries, daemo!s, etc<
simiar to other 'ig +@s. )!ike %(AH@ or O+@, Sfce is
ightweight a!d desig!ed more arou!d C+@ tha! 6i!dows or Hac.
1t has a much sower deveopme!t cyce, 'ut is very sta'e a!d fast.
Sfce is great for oder hardware, a!d wi perform e"cee!ty o!
!ewer machi!es as we.
/nstallation
1!sta Sfce:
% pacman -1 xfce*
:ou may aso wish to i!sta themes a!d e"tras:
% pacman -1 xfce*-goodie gt&2-theme-collection
(ote: xfce'&xfa""let&"lugin ;a pugi! that aows the use of
%(AH@ appets i! the SfceC pa!e< is part of the xfce'&goodies
group a!d depe!ds o! gno!e&"anel, which i! tur! depe!ds o!
gno!e&deskto". :ou may wish to take this i!to co!sideratio!
'efore i!stai!g, si!ce it represe!ts a sig!ifica!t !um'er of e"tra
depe!de!cies.
1f you get errors a'out d'us2au!ch the! you !eed to i!sta d'us
aswe:
% pacman -1 d,u
1f you wish to admire =3ips a!d 3ricks= o! ogi!, i!sta the fortune&
!od package:
9*
% pacman -1 fortune-mod
+seful )AE8,-
'ackgrou!d, waiti!g for eve!ts to occur a!d offeri!g services. /ome
Sfce users prefer to use the hal daemo!. 3he ha daemo!, amo!g
other thi!gs, wi automate the mou!ti!g of disks, optica drives,
a!d )/# drives/thum'drives for use i! the %)1. 3he fam daemo!
wi aow rea2time represe!tatio! of fie ateratio!s i! the %)1,
aowi!g i!sta!t access to rece!ty i!staed programs, or cha!ges i!
the fie system. 3he ha a!d fam packages are i!staed whe! you
i!sta Sfce, 'ut must 'e i!voked to 'ecome usefu.
/tart ha a!d fam:
% /etc/rc.d/fam tart
-ote: 3he ha daemo! reies o!, a!d wi automaticay start,
the d'us daemo!.
@dit your +A@HA(/ array i! /etc/rc.co!f:
% nano /etc/rc.conf
Add hal a!d fa! to your +A@HA(/ array, to i!voke them at 'oot.
Ti": Adva!ced i!structio!s for i!stai!g a!d co!figuri!g Sfce
ca! 'e fou!d i! the Sfce artice.
1f you wish to i!sta o!e, see Addi!g a ogi! ma!ager ;O+H,
%+H, or S+H< to automaticay 'oot o! startup. Atherwise you
ca! ogi! i! via the co!soe a!d ru!:
99
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
N tartxfce*
Co!gratuatio!sP 6ecome to your Sfce desktop e!viro!me!t o!
your !ew Arch ,i!u" systemP :ou may aso 'e i!terested i! the
&ost 1!staatio! 3ips wiki artice.
>C$E
About L5)E
,S+@, ;for ,ightweight C.. >esktop "!viro!me!t<, is a !ew
proQect focused o! providi!g a moder! desktop e!viro!me!t which
aims to 'e ightweight, fast, i!tuitive a!d fu!ctio!a whie keepi!g
system resource usage ow. ,S+@ is 7uite differe!t from other
desktop e!viro!me!ts, si!ce each compo!e!t of ,S+@ is a discrete
a!d i!depe!de!t appicatio!, a!d each ca! 'e easiy su'stituted 'y
other programs. 3his moduar desig! eimi!ates a u!!ecessary
depe!de!cies a!d provides more fe"i'iity. +etais a!d scree!shots
avaia'e at: http://"de.org/
,S+@ provides:
.. 3he Ape!#o" wi!dowma!ager
2. &CHa!*H *ie ma!ager
G. ,Spa!e system pa!e
C. ,S/essio! sessio! ma!ager
I. ,SAppeara!ce %3OJ theme switcher
E. %&ic-iew image viewer
7. ,eafpad simpe te"t editor
D. SArchiver: ,ightweight, fast, a!d desktop2i!depe!de!t
gtkJ2'ased fie archiver
9. ,S(H ;sti u!der deveopme!t<: ,ightweight !etwork
ma!ager for ,S+@ supporti!g wireess co!!ectio!s
3hese ightweight a!d versatie toos com'i!e for 7uick setup,
moduarity a!d simpicity.
1!sta ,S+@ with:
&00
% pacman -1 lxde
Add:
exec tartlxde
1f you pa! o! ru!!i!g n!&a""let, the foowi!g comma!d
shoud 'e used i!stead
exec c&-launch-eion tartlxde
to your [/."i!itrc a!d start with start% or %init
Ti": *urther i!formatio! avaia'e at the ,S+@ wiki artice.
Gbo/
?luxbox
*u"'o" > is yet a!other wi!dowma!ager for S. 1t=s 'ased o! the
#ack'o" 0.E... code. *u"'o" ooks ike 'ack'o" a!d ha!des
styes, coors, wi!dow paceme!t a!d simiar thi!gs e"acty ike
'ack'o" ;.00R theme/stye compa'iity<.
1!sta *u"'o" usi!g
% pacman -1 flux,ox fluxconf
1f you use gdm/kdm a !ew fu"'o" sessio! wi 'e automaticay
added. Atherwise, you shoud modify your user=s ."i!itrc a!d add
this to it:
&0&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
exec tartflux,ox
Hore i!formatio! is avaia'e i! the *u"'o" artice.
,"enbox
Ape!'o" is a sta!dards compia!t, fast, ight2weight, e"te!si'e
wi!dow ma!ager.
Ape!'o" works with your appicatio!s, a!d makes your desktop
easier to ma!age. 3his is 'ecause the approach to its deveopme!t
was the opposite of what seems to 'e the ge!era case for wi!dow
ma!agers. Ape!'o" was writte! first to compy with sta!dards a!d
to work propery. A!y whe! that was i! pace did the team tur! to
the visua i!terface.
Ape!'o" is fuy fu!ctio!a as a sta!d2ao!e worki!g e!viro!me!t,
or ca! 'e used as a drop2i! repaceme!t for the defaut wi!dow
ma!ager i! the %(AH@ or O+@ desktop e!viro!me!ts.
1!sta ope!'o" usi!g
% pacman -1 open,ox
Additio!a co!figuratio! toos are aso avaia'e, if desired:
% pacman -1 o,conf o,menu
A!ce ope!'o" is i!staed you wi get a message to move
me!u."m \ rc."m to [/.co!fig/ope!'o"/ i! your home directory:
&02
% u - yourusername
N m&dir -p S/.config/open,ox/
N cp /etc/xdg/open,ox/rc.xml S/.config/open,ox/
N cp /etc/xdg/open,ox/menu.xml S/.config/open,ox/
rc2x!l is the mai! co!figuratio! fie for Ape!#o". 1t may 'e
ma!uay edited, ;or you ca! use A#co!f<. !enu2x!l co!figures
the right2cick me!u.
:ou may og i!to Ape!#o" via graphica ogi! usi!g O+H/%+H,
or from the she usi!g startx, i! which case you wi !eed to edit
your [/."i!itrc ;as !o!2root user< a!d add the foowi!g:
exec open,ox-eion
(A3@: 1f you pa! o! ru!!i!g d'us ;which is re7uired 'y ha< the!
make sure your [/."i!itrc reads:
exec d,u-launch --exit-(ith-eion open,ox-eion
:ou may aso start Ape!#o" from the she usi!g xinit:
N xinit /ur/,in/open,ox-eion
Ape!'o" may aso 'e used as the wi!dow ma!ager for
%(AH@, O+@, a!d Sfce.
*or O+H there is !othi!g eft to do0 ope!'o" is isted i! the
sessio!s me!u i! O+H.
/ome usefu, ightweight programs for Ape!#o" are:
&y&a!e, 3i!t2, or ,Spa!e if you wa!t a pa!e
feh if you wa!t to set the 'ackgrou!d
RAS if you wa!t a simpe fie ma!ager ;aso provides
simpe ico!s<
&cma!*H a ightweight 'ut versatie fie ma!ager ;aso
provides desktop ico! fu!ctio!aity<
&0'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
i+esk ;avaia'e i! A)R< for providi!g desktop ico!s
%ravema! for 'ur!i!g C+=s or +-+=s
Ti": Hore i!formatio! is avaia'e i! the Ape!'o" artice.
fvm6
*-6H is a! e"tremey powerfu 1CCCH2compia!t mutipe
virtua desktop wi!dow ma!ager for the S 6i!dow system.
+eveopme!t is active, a!d support is e"cee!t.
1!sta fvwm2 with
% pacman -1 fv(m
fvwm wi automaticay 'e isted i! kdm/gdm i! the sessio!s me!u.
Atherwise, add
exec fv(m
to your user=s ."i!itrc.
&0+
Use0ul Appli"ations
+seful A""lications
3his page wi !ever 'e compete. 1t Qust shows some good
appicatio!s for the everyday user.
1t might aso 'e worthwhie to check out ,ightweight /oftware as
we.
1eb browser
)irefo/
3he ever2popuar *irefo" we' 'rowser is avaia'e through pacma!,
athough it does !ot have its officia 'ra!di!g. 3herefore, the
program appears as its deveopme!t code!ame, Shireto*o, whe!
ope!ed.
1!sta with:
pacman -1 firefox
*lugins
#e sure a!d i!sta =fashpugi!=,a!d the =mpayer2pugi!=packages
for a compete we' e"perie!ce:
pacman -1 flahplugin mpla'er-plugin
3ecko 5edia *layer
A good repaceme!t of the !ow agei!g mplayer-plugin, is %ecko
Hedia &ayer. Hore sta'e com'i!ed with H&ayer ..0RC2. )&o
more crashes with pple $railers.+
&0-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
pacman -1 gec&o-mediapla'er
)Note! 'e sure to remove mplayer-plugin if it is already installed.+
3hu!der'ird is usefu for ma!agi!g your emais. 1f you are usi!g
%(AH@ you may wa!t to take a ook at @pipha!y a!d @voutio!0 if
you are usi!g O+@ Oo!7ueror a!d OHai coud 'e your choice. 1f
you wa!t somethi!g competey differe!t you ca! sti use Apera.
*i!ay, if you are worki!g o! the system co!soe 2 or i! a termi!a
sessio! 2 you coud use various te"t2'ased 'rowsers ike @,i!ks,
,i!ks a!d ,y!", a!d ma!age your emais with Hutt. &idgi!
;previousy k!ow! as %aim< a!d Oopete are good i!sta!t
messe!gers for %(AH@ a!d O+@, respectivey. &/1 a!d %aQim are
perfect if you are usi!g o!y ?a''er or %ooge 3ak.
,ffice
A fu set of ,a3eS &rograms: tete" has 'ee! popuar for ma!y
years a!d sti works, a!d its successor 3e"ive is avaia'e from the
e"tra repository.
OAffice is a revoutio!ary office suite. 1t is sharpy deveopi!g to
koffice2.
Ape!Affice.org is a compete office suite ;simiar to Hicrosoft
Affice<. A'iword is a good, sma ater!ative word processor, a!d
%!umeric a! @"ce repaceme!t for the %(AH@ desktop. %o2
ope!office
%1H& ;or %1H&/hop< is a pi"e2'ased graphics program ;simiar to
Ado'e &hotoshop<, whie 1!kscape is a vector2'ased graphics
program ;ike Ado'e 1ustrator<.
6ideo Player
D>#
-,C &ayer is a versatie mutimedia payer which ca! ma!y
differe!t formats, from a disc or fie. 1t aso provides the a'iity to
&0,
Use0ul Appli"ations
stream mutimedia over a a!. 3o i!sta it, simpy type the code
'eow.
pacman -1 vlc
5player
H&ayer is a mutimedia payer for ,i!u". 3o i!sta it, simpy type
the code 'eow.
pacman -1 mpla'er
1t aso has a Ho9ia pug2i! for videos a!d streams em'edded i!
we' pages. 3o i!sta it, simpy type the code 'eow. -,TE:
mpayer2pugi! is co!sidered to 'e o'soete, pease see %ecko
Hedia &ayer a'ove.
pacman -1 mpla'er-plugin
1f you use O+@, OHpayer is a 'etter choice. 1t comes with a pug2
i! for videos a!d streams em'edded i! we' pages, which works
with Oo!7ueror. 3o i!sta it, simpy type the code 'eow.
pacman -1 &mpla'er
Cine
Si!e is a! e"cee!t payer, especiay for +-+s.
&0)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
pacman -1 xine-ui
libdvdcss
3he i'dvdcss i'rary provides +-+ decodi!g for e!crypted +-+s.
"nsure the legality of using libdvdcss in your country before
installingE
pacman -1 li,dvdc
Totem
3otem is the officia movie payer of the %(AH@ desktop
e!viro!me!t 'ased o! "i!e2i' or %/treamer ;gstreamer is the
defaut which i!stas with the arch totem package<. 1t features a
payist, a fu2scree! mode, seek a!d voume co!tros, as we as
key'oard !avigatio!. 1t comes with added fu!ctio!aity such as:
-ideo thum'!aier for the fie ma!ager
(autius properties ta'
@pipha!y / Ho9ia ;*irefo"< pugi! to view movies i!side
your 'rowser
6e'cam utiity ;i! deveopme!t<
3otem2"i!e is sti the 'etter choice if you wa!t to watch +-+s.
3otem is part of the g!ome2e"tra group0 the 3otem we''rowser
pugi! is !ot.
3o i!sta separatey:
pacman -1 totem
3o i!sta the 3otem we''rowser pugi!:
&0*
Use0ul Appli"ations
pacman -1 totem-plugin
Faffeine
Oaffei!e is a good optio! for O+@ users. 3o i!sta it, simpy type
the code 'eow.
pacman -1 &affeine
Audio Player
Amarok
Amarok is o!e of the 'est audio payers a!d music i'rary systems
avaia'e for O+@. 3o i!sta it, simpy type the code 'eow.
pacman -1 amaro&
E/aile
@"aie is a music payer writte! i! &ytho! that makes use of the
%3OJ tookit. 1t tries to 'e cose to the popuar Amarok, 'ut i!
%3O. 1t is i! Kcommu!ityL, so i!sta with:
pacman -1 exaile
:hythmbo/
Rhythm'o" is a! i!tegrated music ma!ageme!t appicatio!,
origi!ay i!spired 'y Appe=s i3u!es. 1t is free software, desig!ed
to work we u!der the %(AH@ +esktop, a!d 'ased o! the
powerfu %/treamer media framework.
&09
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
Rhythm'o" has a !um'er of features, i!cudi!g:
@asy2to2use music 'rowser
/earchi!g a!d sorti!g
Comprehe!sive audio format support through %/treamer
1!ter!et radio support
&ayists
3o i!sta rhythm'o":
pacman -1 rh'thm,ox
Huod >ibet
Fuod ,i'et is a music ma!ager that uses the %/treamer media
framework to pay audio fies. 3his aows it to pay a the fie2
types that Rhythm'o" ;which uses %/treamer too< ca! pay. Fuod
,i'et is more suited to !o!2%!ome desktops si!ce it has a smaer
footpri!t a!d fewer depe!de!cies tha! Rhythm'o" ;Rhythm'o"
depe!ds o! !autius, which re7uires a ot of %(AH@ to 'e
i!staed<.
1! additio! to the music payer/ma!ager, Fuod ,i'et aso i!cudes
@" *aso, a tag editor.
Fuod ,i'et=s features i!cude:
@asy2to2use music 'rowser
/earchi!g
Comprehe!sive audio format support through %/treamer
@asy &ayist ma!ageme!t
3o i!sta Fuod ,i'et:
pacman -1 Euodli,et
Ather good audio payers are #a!shee a!d ,iste!. /ee %!omefies
to compare them.
&&0
Use0ul Appli"ations
Hoc is a !curses2'ased audio payer for the co!soe. Ather e"cee!t
choices are mpd, cmus, a!d herrie.
Codecs and other !ulti!edia content ty"es
:i#$# only;
$D$
:ou ca! use "i!e2ui, totem2"i!e, mpayer or kaffei!e ;Qust to !ame
three of the 'ig o!es< to watch +-+s. 3he o!y thi!g you may miss
is i'dvdcss. #eware that usi!g it may 'e iega i! some cou!tries.
)lash
1!sta the fash pugi! usi!g
pacman -1 flahplugin
to e!a'e Hacromedia ;!ow Ado'e< *ash i! your 'rowser, if you
ru! O+@ you shoud see this after i!stai!g fash.
Huicktime
Fuicktime codecs are co!tai!ed i! the codecs package. ?ust type
pacman -1 codec
to i!sta them.
:ealplayer
3he codec for Reapayer 9 is co!tai!ed i! the codecs package. ?ust
type
&&&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
pacman -1 codec
to i!sta them. Reapayer .0 is avaia'e as a 'i!ary package for
,i!u". :ou ca! get it from A)R here.
C) and )6) (urning
FIb
OG' ;from D+@ (ur! (a'y (ur!< is a free software C+ a!d +-+
authori!g appicatio! for %()/,i!u" a!d other UNIX2ike
operati!g systems desig!ed for O+@. As is the case with most O+@
appicatio!s, OG' is writte! i! the CJJ programmi!g a!guage a!d
uses the Ft %)1 tookit. OG' provides a graphica user i!terface to
perform most C+/+-+ 'ur!i!g tasks ike creati!g a! Audio C+
from a set of audio fies or copyi!g a C+/+-+, as we as more
adva!ced tasks such as 'ur!i!g eHoviS C+/+-+s. 1t ca! aso
perform direct disc2to2disc copies. 3he program has ma!y defaut
setti!gs which ca! 'e customi9ed 'y more e"perie!ced users. 3he
actua disc recordi!g i! OG' is do!e 'y the comma!d i!e utiities
cdrecord or wodim, cdrdao, a!d growisofs. As of versio! ..0, OG'
features a 'uit2i! +-+ ripper.2 ice!sed u!der the %&,.
OG' was voted ,i!u"Fuestio!s.org=s Hutimedia )tiity of the :ear
;200E< 'y the maQority ;70R< of voters.
3o i!sta:
pacman -1 &$,
'rasero
#rasero is a! appicatio! that 'ur!s C+s/+-+s for the %(AH@
+esktop. 1t is desig!ed to 'e as simpe as possi'e a!d has some
&&2
Use0ul Appli"ations
u!i7ue features to e!a'e users to create their discs easiy a!d
7uicky.
3o i!sta:
pacman -1 ,raero
A'cde is a co!soe2'ased appicatio! for rippi!g C+s. 1t supports
e!codi!g immediatey after rippi!g, C++#, a!d writi!g tags o!2
the2fy.
#ash'ur! is a co!soe2'ased appicatio! for 'ur!i!g isos, C+s, a!d
+-+s. 1t supports ma!y, if !ot a of the same thi!gs as #rasero a!d
OG'.
Host C+ 'ur!ers are wrappers for cdrecord:
pacman -1 cdr&it
1f you i!sta packages for C+/+-+ 'ur!i!g appicatio!s ike
#rasero or OG# it aso i!stas the C+/+-+ 'ur!i!g i'rary for it,
ike i''ur! or cdrkit.
A good comma!d2i!e +-+2'ur!i!g too is growisofs:
pacman -1 dvdTr(-tool
-etworking
A good !etwork ma!ager for ,i!u" is wicd. 1t has few
depe!de!cies ;compared to !etwork2ma!ager<, is fast a!d
ightweight a!d makes a great too for a!y aptop or desktop usi!g
wireess !etworks.
&&'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
T6&Cards
3here are severa thi!gs to do if you wa!t to watch 3- u!der ;Arch<
,i!u". 3he most importa!t task is to fi!d out which chip your tu!er
is usi!g. 8owever, 7uite a ot are supported. #e sure to check at a
8ardware +ata'ase to 'e sure ;see this ist, for e"ampe<. A!ce you
k!ow your Hode, there are Qust a few steps ahead to get you goi!g.
1! most cases, you wi !eed to use the 'ttv2drivers ;other drivers
e"ist, ike -C,< together with the 12C2modues. Co!figuri!g those
is the hardest task. 1f you are ucky, a
modpro,e ,ttv
wi autodetect the card ;check dmesg for resuts<. 1! that case, you
!eed o!y to i!sta a! appicatio! to watch 3-. 6e wi ook at that
ater, though. 1f the autodetectio! did !ot work, you wi !eed to
check the fie CAR+,1/3, which is i!cuded i! the tar'a of 'ttv to
fi!d out the right parameters for your card. A &-9I. without radio
support woud !eed this i!e:
modpro,e ,ttv card=*2 radio=0
/ome cards !eed the foowi!g i!e to produce sou!d:
modpro,e tvaudio
8owever, that varies. /o Qust try it out. /ome other cards dema!d
the foowi!g i!e:
modpro,e tuner
3his is su'Qect to tria2a!d2error, too.
3o actuay watch 3-, i!sta the tvtime2package with
&&+
Use0ul Appli"ations
pacman -1 tvtime
a!d read its ma!page.
)igital Ca!eras
Host newer digita cameras are supported as )/# mass storage
devices, which mea!s that you ca! simpy pug it i! a!d copy the
images as you woud with e"ter!a hard drives, or )/# sticks.
,lder cameras may use the &3& ;&icture 3ra!sfer &rotoco< which
re7uires a 4specia driver4. gPhoto< provides this driver a!d aows
a she2'ased tra!sfer of the images. /evera %raphica 1!terfaces
are avaia'e for use with g&hoto2:
digikam ;O+@<
gthum' ;%(AH@<
gtkam ;%(AH@<
1!staatio!:
pacman -1 gphoto2
+( 8e!ory ticks % Hard )isks
)/# Hemory /ticks a!d hard disks are supported out of the 'o"
with the )/# mass storage device driver a!d wi appear as a !ew
/C/1 device ;/dev/sdS<. 1f you are usi!g O+@ or %(AH@ you
shoud use d'us a!d ha ;add them to your daemo!s i! /etc/rc.co!f<,
a!d they wi 'e automaticay mou!ted. 1f you use a differe!t
+esktop @!viro!me!t you may have a ook at ivma!.
&&-
An .ntrodu"tion to ABS
An /ntroduction to A(
A#/ is the Arch ,i!u" #uid /ystem. 1t is a ports2ike system for
compii!g sources i!to i!staa'e packages.
=&orts= is a system used 'y U#/+, which uses simpe 'uid scripts
residi!g i! a directory tree o! the oca machi!e. @ach port is simpy
a directory, !amed for the i!staa'e Grd party software, a!d
co!tai!i!g a 'uid script. 3ypicay, a U#/+ user who wa!ted to
'uid a!d i!sta firefo%, woud cd i!to the correspo!di!g firefo"
port residi!g u!der /usr/ports a!d do make install clean.
3he firefo% sourcecode woud the! 'e dow!oaded from a Grd party
source. Accordi!g to the port 'uid script, the sources woud the! 'e
compied, patched ;if directed<, a!d fi!ay, i!staed to the system.
A#/ offers the same fu!ctio!aity 'y providi!g 'uid scripts caed
&O%#)1,+s, which co!tai! a i!formatio! for a give! piece of
software0 3he mdIsums, source )R,, versio!, ice!se a!d
compiatio! i!structio!s. 1! additio!, A#/ provides the adva!tage
of compii!g the sources into an installable pac*age with the
e"te!sio! .p*g.tar.g#. A'viousy, it is a simpe g29ipped tar'a, 'ut
it is cea!y i!staa'e/remova'e/tracka'e via pacma!.
1!sta the a's package:
% pacman -1' a,
After i!stai!g the abs package with pacma!, ru! the
/usr/bin/abs script as root:
% a,
3he 'S tree is the! e"tracted u!der /var/a's, orga!i9ed accordi!g
to the i!staa'e software.
3o 'uid a package from source, create a 'uid directory a!d copy
the a's directory for a give! appicatio! to the 'uid directory:
&&)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
N m&dir S/a,
N cp -r /var/a,/extra/lim S/a,
3his wi move the sim su'dir a!d &O%#)1,+ script for sim to
the 'uid directory.
-ote: 1! additio! to &O%#)1,+s, some software re7uires a!
additio!a U.i!sta fie. /ee the A( a!d !ake"kg wiki e!tries
for more i!formatio!
!avigate to the sim 'uid directory a!d, after modifyi!g the
&O%#)1,+ if desired or !ecessary, i!voke the a's
/usr/bin/makepkg too
N ma&ep&g -c
2c Cea!s up a!y eftover fies from the source compiatio!
2s +ow!oads a!d i!stas a!y missi!g depe!de!cies 'y
i!voki!g pacma!
1!sta with pacma!=s 2) ;upgrade< switch:
% pacman -< lim-IverionJ.p&g.tar.g3
+o!e. /im sources are dow!oaded, compied, compressed i!to a
package a!d fi!ay, i!staed.
-ote: :ou may 'uid, cea!, i!sta a!y !eeded depe!de!cies
a!d fi!ay i!sta the package with o!e comma!d: !ake"kg
&csi. 3he a'ove e"ampe used pacma! 2) to i!sta as a separate
step for i!formatio!a purposes. /ee the !ake"kg:$; ma!
page.
F: 6hy woud 1 !eed A#/ to compie a!d create a! i!staa'e
package from source, whe! 1 have access to a of the same software
via pacma! a!d the 'i!ary reposY
&&*
An .ntrodu"tion to ABS
A: A few reaso!s:
*or i!stai!g !ewer, u!sta'e, custom, or deveopme!t
versio!s of a! appicatio!.
&O%#)1,+s are tra!spare!t a!d simpe. @dit the software versio!
a!d the mdIsums of the desired versio!s withi! the &O%#)1,+,
a!d 'uid a!d i!sta your custom packages.
*or patchi!g.
Copy the correspo!di!g &O%#)1,+ to a 'uid directory ao!g with
your patch, edit the &O%#)1,+, a!d 'uid/i!sta with
/usr/bin/makepkg.
*or creati!g your ow! packages for yoursef, or to share
with the commu!ity o! the A)R.
:ou are !ot imited to the &O%#)1,+s u!der /var/a's. Create your
ow! to 'uid from Grd party sourcecode. 3hey are simpe, ope! a!d
tra!spare!t. @"pore the prototype &O%#)1,+ provided at
/usr/share/pacma!/&O%#)1,+.proto
A#/ provides a! e"pedie!t method for recompii!g, if
!ecessary.
*or e"ampe, to recompie your video or wireess drivers.
3o 'uid a! i!staa'e package with custom co!figuratio!s
@!a'e or disa'e optio!s i! a!y package 'y modifyi!g the
&O%#)1,+
3o 'uid a! i!staa'e package, further optimi9ed for your
machi!e=s architecture,
/pecify your C*,A%/ i! /etc/makepkg.co!f.
3o re'uid your e!tire system, #/+2stye, further optimi9ed
for your machi!e=s architecure.
)se the makeword script, or the commu!ity2co!tri'uted pac'uider
&&9
An .ntrodu"tion to /he AU7
An /ntroduction to The A+*
3he Arch +ser *epository
3he A#/ tree provides the a'iity to 'uid a Arch software
avaia'e i! the KcoreL, Ke"traL, Kcommu!ityL, a!d Ktesti!gL
repositories 'y providi!g 'uid scripts o! the oca machi!e. 1!
co!trast, the A)R does !ot provide a tree o! the oca machi!e, 'ut
rather, a! u!supported repository of 'uid scripts, sporti!g a
ha!dsome we' i!terface at http://aur.archi!u".org/i!de".php Aso,
there is a! A)R i!k ta' at the top right of every page o! the Arch
site.
A!ce you have !avigated to the A)R we' page, cick o! the
Packages 'utto! o! the top right. :ou wi 'e 'rought to the
packages search page.
3he ge!era procedure wi 'e:
.. @!ter the search criteria i!to the keywords fied a!d cick
o! go. 3he !e"t scree! wi prese!t a reated resuts.
2. 3ake !ote of the Location o! the package isti!g. 1f the
package ocatio! is i! co!!unity, you have !ot do!e your
homework, a!d shoud simpy use pacma! or A#/ to
i!sta. 1f the ocatio! is unsu""orted, co!ti!ue.
G. Cick o! the !ame of the package o! the package isti!g.
:ou wi 'e 'rought to the &ackage +etais page.
A! e"ampe for the yaourt package:
&2&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
'aourt 0.9-2
httpM//(((.archlinux.fr/'aourt-en/
: /acman frontend (ith more feature and :<> upport
unupported MM 'tem
5aintainerM (ain
RoteM 9*$
2iceneM G/2
2at <pdatedM 1atK +" 5ar 2008 +#M+"M20 T0000
.irt 1u,mittedM 0ueK 0* Uul 2006 20M$#M"8 T0000
0ar,all MM .ile MM /AG6<B2?
Cick o! the Tarball i!k i! the ast i!e of the detais, a!d save to a
'uid directory.
(avigate to, a!d e"tract the tar'a:
N tar -xvf 'aourt.tar.g3
@!ter the 'uid directory a!d i!voke makepkg, which wi dow!oad
the sources, compie, a!d compress the i!staatio! i!to a!
i!staa'e .pkg.tar.g9 package:
N ma&ep&g -c
2c Cea!s up a!y eftover fies from the source compiatio!
2s +ow!oads a!d i!stas a!y missi!g depe!de!cies 'y
i!voki!g pacma!
1!sta with pacma!=s &+ ;upgrade< switch:
% pacman -< 'aourtIverionJ.p&g.tar.g3
+o!e.
/ee the A)R wiki e!try for more i!formatio!.
&22
An .ntrodu"tion to /he AU7
/nstall an A+* Hel"er
A)R 8epers ike :aourt a!d aur'uid add seamess access to the
A)R. 3hey vary i! their features, 'ut ca! ease i! searchi!g,
fetchi!g, 'uidi!g, a!d i!stai!g from over 9000 &O%#)1,+s
fou!d i! A)R.
&2'
5ile and dire"tory e3planation
?ile and directory ex"lanation
4/harea'e4 fies are defi!ed as those that ca! 'e stored o! o!e host
a!d used o! others. 4)!sharea'e4 fies are those that are !ot
sharea'e. *or e"ampe, the fies i! user home directories are
sharea'e whereas device ock fies are !ot. 4/tatic4 fies i!cude
'i!aries, i'raries, docume!tatio! fies a!d other fies that do !ot
cha!ge without system admi!istrator i!terve!tio!. 4-aria'e4 fies
are defi!ed as fies that are !ot static.
% ;root< 3he root fiesystem, represe!ted 'y the sash sym'o 'y
itsef, is the primary fiesystem from which a other fiesystems
stem0 the top of the hierarchy. A fies a!d directories appear u!der
the root directory 4/4, eve! if they are stored o! differe!t physica
devices. 3he co!te!ts of the root fiesystem must 'e ade7uate to
'oot, restore, recover, a!d/or repair the system.
%bin% @sse!tia comma!d 'i!aries that must 'e avaia'e i! si!ge
user mode0 for a users ;e.g., cat, s, cp<. /'i!/ provides programs
that must 'e avaia'e eve! if o!y the partitio! co!tai!i!g / is
mou!ted. 3his situatio! may arise shoud o!e !eed to repair other
partitio!s 'ut have !o access to shared directories ;i.e. you are i!
si!ge user mode a!d therefore have !o !etwork access<. )!ike
/s'i!, the /'i! directory co!tai!s severa usefu comma!ds that are
of use to 'oth the root user as we as !o!2root users.
%boot% )!sharea'e, static directory co!tai!i!g the ker!e a!d
ramdisk images as we as the 'ootoader co!figuratio! fie, a!d
'ootoader stages. /'oot aso stores data that is used 'efore the
ker!e 'egi!s e"ecuti!g userspace programs. 3his may i!cude
saved master 'oot sectors a!d sector map fies.
%dev% @sse!tia device !odes created 'y udev duri!g the 'oot
process a!d as machi!e hardware is discovered 'y eve!ts. 3his
directory highights o!e importa!t aspect of the UNIX fiesystem 2
everythi!g is a fie or a directory. @"pori!g this directory wi
revea ma!y fies, each represe!ti!g a hardware compo!e!t of the
system. 3he maQority of devices are either 'ock or character
devices0 however other types of devices e"ist a!d ca! 'e created. 1!
ge!era, ='ock devices= are devices that store or hod data, whereas
&2-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
=character devices= ca! 'e thought of as devices that tra!smit or
tra!sfer data. *or e"ampe, hard disk drives a!d optica drives are
categori9ed as 'ock devices whie seria ports, mice a!d )/# ports
are a character devices.
%etc% 8ost2specific, u!sharea'e go'a co!figuratio! fies sha 'e
paced i! the /etc directory. 1f more tha! o!e co!figuratio! fie is
re7uired for a! appicatio!, it is customary to use a su'directory i!
order to keep the /etc/ area as cea! as possi'e. 1t is co!sidered
good practice to make fre7ue!t 'ackups of this directory as it
co!tai!s a system reated co!figuratio! fies.
/etc/conf.d/ Soe daeon s"ripts 9ill have a at"hing
"on0iguration 0ile in this dire"tory that "ontains soe
use0ul de0ault values. Ahen a daeon is started< it 9ill
0irst sour"e the settings 0ro its "on0ig 0ile 9ithin this
dire"tory< and then sour"e @et"@r"."on0. Ar"hCs siple<
transparent s"ripting approa"h eans you "an easily
"entrali!e all your daeon "on0iguration options in
your @et"@r"."on0 siply by setting an appropriate variable
value< or< split up your "on0iguration over ultiple 0iles i0
you pre0er a de"entrali!ed approa"h to this issue.
/etc/rc.d/ All Ar"h daeons reside here. Custo s"ripts
ay also be pla"ed here and invoked 0ro the
DA#B1$SG array in @et"@r"."on0
/etc/X11/ Con0iguration 0iles 0or the = Aindo9 Syste
/etc/X11/xinit/ 3init "on0iguration 0iles.
C3initC is a "on0iguration ethod o0
starting up an = session that is designed
to be used as part o0 a s"ript.
/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc 6lobal 3initr" 0ile<
used by all = sessions started by 3init
:start3;. .ts usage is o0 "ourse overridden
by a .3initr" 0ile lo"ated in the hoe
dire"tory o0 a user.
&2,
%ho!e% UNIX is a muti2user e!viro!me!t. 3herefore, each user is
aso assig!ed a specific directory that is accessi'e o!y to them a!d
to the root user. 3hese are the user home directories, which ca! 'e
fou!d u!der =/home/])/@R= ;[/<. 6ithi! their home directory, a
user ca! write fies, deete them, i!sta programs, etc. )sers= home
directories co!tai! their data a!d perso!a co!figuratio! fies, the
so2caed =dot fies= ;their !ame is preceded 'y a dot<, which are
=hidde!=. 3o view dotfies, e!a'e the appropriate optio! i! your fie
ma!ager or ru! s with the 2a switch. 1f there is a co!fict 'etwee!
perso!a a!d system wide co!figuratio! fies, the setti!gs i! the
perso!a fie wi prevai. +otfies most ikey to 'e atered 'y the
e!d user i!cude ."i!itrc a!d .'ashrc fies. 3he co!figuratio! fies
for "i!it a!d #ash respectivey. 3hey aow the user the a'iity to
cha!ge the wi!dow ma!ager to 'e started upo! ogi! a!d aso
aiases, user2specified comma!ds a!d e!viro!me!t varia'es
respectivey. 6he! a user is created, their dotfies sha 'e take!
from the /etc/ske directory where system sampe fies reside. %ho!e
ca! 'ecome 7uite arge as it is typicay used for stori!g dow!oads,
compii!g, i!stai!g a!d ru!!i!g programs, mai, coectio!s of
mutimedia fies etc.
%lib% Co!tai!s ker!e modues a!d esse!tia shared i'rary images
;the C programmi!g code i'rary< !eeded to 'oot the system a!d
ru! the comma!ds u!der /'i!/ a!d /s'i!/. ,i'raries are coectio!s of
fre7ue!ty used program routi!es a!d are readiy ide!tifia'e
through their fie!ame e"te!sio! of U.so. 3hey are esse!tia for
'asic system fu!ctio!aity. Oer!e modues ;drivers< are i! the
su'directory /i'/modues/Mker!e2versio!N.
%lostRfound UNIX2ike operati!g systems must e"ecute a proper
shutdow! se7ue!ce. At times, a system might crash or a power
faiure might take the machi!e dow!. @ither way, at the !e"t 'oot, a
fiesystem check usi!g the fsc* program sha 'e performed. 7sc*
wi go through the system a!d try to recover a!y corrupt fies that it
fi!ds. 3he resut of this recovery operatio! wi 'e paced i! this
directory. 3he fies recovered are !ot ikey to 'e compete or make
much se!se 'ut there aways is a cha!ce that somethi!g worthwhie
is recovered.
%!edia% Hou!t poi!ts for remova'e media. C+RAHs, +-+=s, a!d
)/# sticks sha have a! appropriate mou!t poi!t u!der /media/.
&2)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
3he motivatio! for the creatio! of this directory has 'ee! that
historicay there have 'ee! a !um'er of other differe!t paces used
to mou!t removea'e media such as /cdrom, /m!t or /m!t/cdrom.
&aci!g the mou!t poi!ts for a remova'e media directy i! the
root directory woud pote!tiay resut i! a arge !um'er of e"tra
directories i! /. Athough the use of su'directories i! /m!t as a
mou!t poi!t has rece!ty 'ee! commo!, it co!ficts with a much
oder traditio! of usi!g /m!t directy as a temporary mou!t poi!t.
3herefore, Arch aocates /media as the mou!tpoi!t for remova'e
media. A! systems where more tha! o!e device e"ists for mou!ti!g
a certai! type of media, mou!t directories sha 'e created 'y
appe!di!g a digit to the !ame of those avaia'e a'ove starti!g with
=0=, 'ut the u!7uaified !ame must aso e"ist.
3he 4ha4 ;8ardware A'stractio! ,ayer< daemo! mou!ts remova'e
media to /media as /media/M!ame$of$remova'e$fiesystemN
%!nt% 3his is a ge!eric mou!t poi!t for temporary fiesystems or
devices. Hou!ti!g is the process of maki!g a fiesystem avaia'e to
the system. After mou!ti!g, fies wi 'e accessi'e u!der the
mou!t2poi!t. Additio!a mou!t2poi!ts ;su'directories< may 'e
created u!der /m!t/. 3here is !o imitatio! to creati!g a mou!t2poi!t
a!ywhere o! the system, 'ut 'y co!ve!tio! a!d for practicaity,
itteri!g a fie system with mou!t2poi!ts shoud 'e avoided.
%o"t% &ackages a!d arge static fies that do !ot fit cea!y i!to the
a'ove %() fiesystem ayout ca! 'e paced i! /opt. A package
paci!g fies i! the /opt/ directory creates a directory 'eari!g the
same !ame as the package. 3his directory i! tur! hods fies that
otherwise woud 'e scattered throughout the fie system. *or
e"ampe, the acro'at package has #rowser, Reader, a!d Resource
directories sitti!g at the same eve as the 'i! directory. 3his does!=t
fit i!to a !orma %() fiesystem ayout, so Arch paces a the fies
i! a su'directory of /opt.
%"roc% /proc is very specia i! that it is aso a virtua fiesystem. 1t is
sometimes referred to as the process information pseudo-file system.
1t does!=t co!tai! =rea= fies, 'ut rather, ru!time system i!formatio!
;e.g. system memory, devices mou!ted, hardware co!figuratio!,
etc<. *or this reaso! it ca! 'e regarded as a co!tro a!d i!formatio!
ce!ter for the ker!e. 1! fact, 7uite a ot of system utiities are
&2*
simpy cas to fies i! this directory. *or e"ampe, =smod= is the
same as =cat /proc/modues= whie =spci= is a sy!o!ym for =cat
/proc/pci=. #y ateri!g fies ocated i! this directory, ker!e
parameters may 'e read/cha!ged ;sysct< whie the system is
ru!!i!g.
3he most disti!ctive facet a'out fies i! this directory is the fact that
a of them have a fie si9e of 0, with the e"ceptio! of kcore,
!ounts a!d self.
%root% 8ome directory of the /ystem Admi!istrator, =root=. 3his may
'e somewhat co!fusi!g, ;=/root u!der root=< 'ut historicay, =/= was
root=s home directory ;he!ce the !ame of the Admi!istrator
accou!t<. 3o keep thi!gs tidier, =root= eve!tuay got his ow! home
directory. 6hy !ot i! =/home=Y #ecause =/home= is ofte! ocated o! a
differe!t partitio! or eve! o! a!other system a!d woud thus 'e
i!accessi'e to =root= whe! 2 for some reaso! 2 o!y =/= is mou!ted.
%sbin% UNIX discrimi!ates 'etwee! =!orma= e"ecuta'es a!d those
used for system mai!te!a!ce a!d/or admi!istrative tasks. 3he atter
reside either here or 2 the ess importa!t o!es 2 i! /usr/s'i!.
&rograms e"ecuted after /usr is k!ow! to 'e mou!ted ;whe! there
are !o pro'ems< are ge!eray paced i!to /usr/s'i!. 3his directory
co!tai!s 'i!aries that are esse!tia to the worki!g of the system.
3hese i!cude system admi!istratio! as we as mai!te!a!ce a!d
hardware co!figuratio! programs. gru' ;the comma!d<, fdisk, i!it,
route, ifco!fig, etc., a reside here.
%srv% /ite2specific data which is served 'y the system. 3he mai!
purpose of specifyi!g this is so that users may fi!d the ocatio! of
the data fies for a particuar service, a!d so that services which
re7uire a si!ge tree for reado!y data, writa'e data a!d scripts
;such as cgi scripts< ca! 'e reaso!a'y paced. +ata of i!terest to a
specific user sha 'e paced i! that user=s home directory.
%t!" 3his directory co!tai!s fies that are re7uired temporariy.
Ha!y programs use this to create ock fies a!d for temporary
storage of data. +o !ot remove fies from this directory u!ess you
k!ow e"acty what you are doi!gP Ha!y of these fies are importa!t
for curre!ty ru!!i!g programs a!d deeti!g them may resut i! a
system crash. A! most systems, this directory is ceared out at 'oot
&29
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
or at shutdow! 'y the oca system. 3he 'asis for this was historica
precede!t a!d commo! practice.
%usr% 6hie root is the primary fiesystem, /usr is the seco!dary
hierarchy, for user data, co!tai!i!g the maQority of ;muti2<user
utiities a!d appicatio!s. /usr is sharea'e, read2o!y data. 3his
mea!s that /usr sha 'e sharea'e 'etwee! various hosts a!d must
!ot 'e writte! to, e"cept i! the case of system admi!istrator
i!terve!tio! ;i!staatio!, update, upgrade<. A!y i!formatio! that is
host2specific or varies with time is stored esewhere.
Aside from /home/, /usr/ usuay co!tai!s 'y far the argest share of
data o! a system. 8e!ce, this is o!e of the most importa!t
directories i! the system as it co!tai!s a the user 'i!aries, their
docume!tatio!, i'raries, header fies, etc. S a!d its supporti!g
i'raries ca! 'e fou!d here. )ser programs ike te!et, ftp, etc., are
aso paced here. 1! the origi!a UNIX impeme!tatio!s, /usr/ ;for
user<, was where the home directories of the system=s users were
paced ;that is to say, /usr/someone was the! the directory !ow
k!ow! as /home/someone<. Aver time, /usr/ has 'ecome where
userspace programs a!d data ;as opposed to =ker!espace= programs
a!d data< reside. 3he !ame has !ot cha!ged, 'ut its mea!i!g has
!arrowed a!d e!gthe!ed from everything user related to user
usable programs and data. As such, the 'ackro!ym =+ser ystem
*esources= was created.
/usr/bin/ $on%essential "oand binaries :not
needed in single user ode;H 0or all users. /his
dire"tory "ontains the vast aDority o0 binaries
:appli"ations; on your syste. #3e"utables in
this dire"tory vary 9idely. 5or instan"e vi< g""<
and gnoe%session reside here.
/usr/include/ 4eader 0iles needed 0or "opiling
userspa"e sour"e "ode..
/usr/lib/ 2ibraries 0or the binaries in @usr@bin@
and @usr@sbin@.
/usr/sbin/ $on%essential syste binaries o0 use
to the syste adinistrator. /his is 9here the
net9ork daeons 0or the syste reside< along
&'0
9ith other binaries that :generally; only the
syste adinistrator has a""ess to< but 9hi"h
are not reFuired 0or syste aintenan"e and
repair. $orally< these dire"tories are never
part o0 noral userCs IPA/4s< only o0 rootCs
:PA/4 is an environent variable that "ontrols
the seFuen"e o0 lo"ations that the syste 9ill
attept to look in 0or "oands;.
/usr/share/ /his dire"tory "ontains CshareableC<
ar"hite"ture%independent 0iles :do"s< i"ons<
0onts et";. $ote< ho9ever< that C@usr@shareC is
generally not intended to be shared by di00erent
operating systes or by di00erent releases o0 the
sae operating syste. Any progra or
pa"kage 9hi"h "ontains or reFuires data that
donCt need to be odi0ied should store these
data in C@usr@share@C :or C@usr@lo"al@share@C< i0
anually installed % see belo9;. .t is
re"oended that a subdire"tory be used in
@usr@share 0or this purpose.
/usr/src/ /he Clinu3C sub%dire"tory holds the
2inu3 kernel sour"es< and header%0iles.
/usr/local/ 1ptional tertiary hierar"hy 0or lo"al
data. /he original idea behind C@usr@lo"alC 9as to
have a separate :Clo"alC; C@usr@C dire"tory on
every a"hine besides C@usr@C< 9hi"h ight be
ounted read%only 0ro soe9here else. .t
"opies the stru"ture o0 C@usr@C. /hese days<
C@usr@lo"al@C is 9idely regarded as a good pla"e
in 9hi"h to keep sel0%"opiled or third%party
progras. /his dire"tory is epty by de0ault in
Ar"h 2inu3. .t ay be used 0or anually
"opiled so0t9are installations i0 desired.
Pa"an installs to @usr@< there0ore< anually
&'&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
"opiled@installed so0t9are installed to
@usr@lo"al@ ay pea"e0ully "o%e3ist 9ith
pa"an%tra"ked syste so0t9are.
%var% -aria'e fies, such as ogs, spoo fies, a!d temporary e2mai
fies. A! Arch, the A#/ tree a!d pacma! cache aso reside here.
6hy !ot put the varia'e a!d tra!sie!t data i!to /usr/Y #ecause there
might 'e circumsta!ces whe! /usr/ is mou!ted as read2o!y, e.g. if it
is o! a C+ or o! a!other computer. =/var/= co!tai!s varia'e data, i.e.
fies a!d directories the system must 'e a'e to write to duri!g
operatio!, whereas /usr/ sha o!y co!tai! static data. /ome
directories ca! 'e put o!to separate partitio!s or systems, e.g. for
easier 'ackups, due to !etwork topoogy or security co!cer!s. Ather
directories have to 'e o! the root partitio!, 'ecause they are vita for
the 'oot process. =Hou!ta'e= directories are: =/home=, =/m!t=, =/tmp=,
=/usr= a!d =/var=. @sse!tia for 'ooti!g are: =/'i!=, =/'oot=, =/dev=, =/etc=,
=/i'=, =/proc= a!d =/s'i!=.
/var/abs/ /he ABS tree. A ports%like pa"kage
build syste hierar"hy "ontaining build s"ripts
9ithin subdire"tories "orresponding to all
installable Ar"h so0t9are.
/var/cache/pacman/pkg/ /he pa"an pa"kage
"a"he.
/var/lib/ State in0oration. Persistent data
odi0ied by progras as they run :e.g.
databases< pa"kaging syste etadata et".;.
/var/lock/ Unsharable 2o"k 0iles data. 5iles
keeping tra"k o0 resour"es "urrently in use.
/var/log/ 2og 0iles.
/var/mail/ Shareable dire"tory 0or usersC
ailbo3es.
/var/run/ Unshareable data about the running
syste sin"e last boot :e.g. "urrently logged%in
users and running daeons;.
/var/spool/ Spool 0or tasks 9aiting to be
pro"essed :e.g. print Fueues and unread ail;.
&'2
/var/spool/mail/ Depre"ated lo"ation 0or usersC
ailbo3es.
/var/tmp/ /eporary 0iles to be preserved
bet9een reboots.
&''
Ar"h Boot Pro"ess
Arch (oot Process
After the i!itia &A/3, the #1A/ directs the computer to oad a 'oot
sector from the hard drive. Actuay, a sma program caed %R)#
stage. is withi! this sector. 3his is a ti!y program. 1ts o!y fu!ctio!
is to oad %R)# stage..I or stage2 ;depe!di!g o! fiesystem type<.
%R)# stage..I/stage2 wi prese!t a 'oot me!u with various
;customi9a'e< choices of operati!g systems to 'oot. 3he path to the
device, partitio! a!d fie!ame of the ker!e a!d i!itia ram
fiesystem is co!tai!ed for %R)# i! /'oot/gru'/me!u.st.
After choosi!g a! Arch ,i!u" e!try, %R)# oads the ,i!u" ker!e.
3he ker!e is the core of a! operati!g system. 1t fu!ctio!s o! a ow
eve ;*ernelspace< i!teracti!g 'etwee! the hardware of the
machi!e, a!d the programs which use the hardware to ru!. 3o make
efficie!t use of the cpu, the ker!e uses a scheduer to ar'itrate
which tasks take priority at a!y give! mome!t, creati!g the iusio!
;to huma! perceptio!< of ma!y tasks 'ei!g e"ecuted
simuta!eousy.
After the ker!e is oaded, it reads from the i!itramfs. 3he purpose
of the i!itramfs is to 'ootstrap the system to the poi!t where it ca!
access the root fiesystem. 3his mea!s it has to oad a!y modues
that are re7uired for devices ike 1+@, /C/1, or /A3A drives ;or
)/#/*6, if you are 'ooti!g off a )/#/*6 drive<. A!ce the
i!itramfs oads the proper modues, either ma!uay or through
udev, it passes co!tro to the ker!e a!d the 'oot process co!ti!ues.
*or this reaso!, the i!itrd o!y !eeds to co!tai! the modues
!ecessary to access the root fiesystem. 1t does !ot !eed to co!tai!
every modue you woud ever wa!t to use. 3he maQority of your
everyday modues wi 'e oaded ater o! 'y udev, duri!g the i!it
process.
3he ker!e the! ooks for the program init which resides at
/sbin/init. init reies o! glibc, the %() C i'rary.
,i'raries are coectio!s of fre7ue!ty used program routi!es a!d
are readiy ide!tifia'e through their fie!ame e"te!sio! of U.so.
3hey are esse!tia for 'asic system fu!ctio!aity. 3his part of the
'oot process is caed early userspace.
&'-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
3he purpose of init is to 'ri!g ;a!d keep< the system up i!to a
usa'e state. 1t uses the 'oot scripts to do so. As you may 'e aware,
Arch uses #/+2stye 'oot scripts. init reads the fie
/etc/inittab, which tes it what to do. ,ooki!g over the
inittab script, you wi fi!d that the first u!comme!ted i!e
defi!es the defaut system ru!eve, or, G. 3he !e"t thi!g it is tod to
do is to ru! a! i!itiai9atio! script. 3he program that e"ecutes ;or
i!terprets< this script is 'ash, the same program that gives you a
comma!d prompt. 1! Arch ,i!u", the mai! i!itiai9atio! script is
/etc/rc.s!sinit. /etc/inittab aso defi!es your virtua
co!soes, which are =respaw!ed= 'y /sbin/init if termi!ated.
,asty, inittab defi!es a ogi! ma!ager, if starti!g the system at
ru!eve I is desired. #y defaut the ogi! ma!ager is aso
respaw!ed 'y /sbin/init if termi!ated.
/etc/inittab directs init to ca the first 'oot script,
/etc/rc.s!sinit, after which /etc/rc.multi wi 'e
caed ;i! a !orma 'oot<. 3he ast script to ru! wi 'e
/etc/rc.local, which is empty 'y defaut.
6he! started i! ru!eve ., the si!ge user mode, the script
/etc/rc.single is ru! i!stead of /etc/rc.multi. :ou wi
!ot fi!d a! e!dess symi!k coectio! i! the /etc/rcY.d/ directories to
defi!e the 'oot se7ue!ce for a possi'e ru!eves. 1! fact, due to
this approach Arch o!y reay has three ru!eves, if you take
starti!g up S i! ru!eve I i!to accou!t. 3he 'oot scripts are usi!g
the varia'es a!d defi!itio!s fou!d i! the /etc/rc.conf fie a!d
aso a set of ge!era fu!ctio!s defi!ed i! the
/etc/rc.d/functions script. 1f you pa! to write your ow!
daemo! fies, you shoud co!sider havi!g a ook at this fie a!d
e"isti!g daemo! scripts.
(oot cri"t ,verview
.. /etc/i!itta' ;covered a'ove<
2. /etc/rc.sysi!it
G. /etc/rc.si!ge
C. /etc/rc.muti
I. /etc/rc.oca
E. /etc/profie
&',
Ar"h Boot Pro"ess
7. /etc/rc.shutdow!
D. /etc/rc.oca.shutdow!
9. /etc/rc.d/U
%etc%rc2sysinit
3he mai! system 'oot script, which mou!ts fiesystems, ru!s udev,
activates swap, oads modues, sets ocai9atio! parameters, etc.
6he! caed, udev sha pro'e system hardware, oadi!g
appropriate ker!e modues a!d creati!g device !odes u!der /dev.
*or more, ope! /etc/rc.sysi!it i! your editor of choice0 the fie is
we comme!ted.
%etc%rc2single
/i!ge2user startup. (ot used i! a !orma 'oot2up. 1f the system is
started i! si!ge2user mode, for e"ampe with the ker!e parameter .
'efore 'ooti!g or duri!g !orma muti2user operatio! with the
comma!d i!it ., this script makes sure !o daemo!s are ru!!i!g
e"cept for the 'are mi!imum0 sysog2!g a!d udev. 3he si!ge2user
mode is usefu if you !eed to make a!y cha!ges to the system whie
maki!g sure that !o remote user ca! do a!ythi!g that might cause
data oss or damage. *or desktop users, this mode is usuay 7uite
useess.
%etc%rc2!ulti
Huti2user startup script. 1t starts a daemo!s ;such as a ogger, a
!etwork script, etc< specified i! the +A@HA(/V array i!
/etc/rc.co!f, after which it cas /etc/rc.oca.
%etc%rc2local
,oca muti2user startup script. @mpty 'y defaut. 1t is a good pace
to put a!y ast2mi!ute comma!ds you wa!t the system to ru! at the
very e!d of the 'oot process. Host commo! system co!figuratio!
tasks, ike oadi!g modues, cha!gi!g the co!soe fo!t or setti!g up
devices, usuay have a dedicated pace where they 'eo!g. 3o avoid
co!fusio!, you shoud make sure that whatever you i!te!d to add to
your rc.oca is !ot aready residi!g i! /etc/profie.d/, or a!y other
e"isti!g co!figuratio! ocatio! i!stead.
&')
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
%etc%"rofile 3his script is ru! o! each user ogi! to i!itiai9e the
system. 1t go'ay defi!es &/., ]&A38, 'ash aiases, etc. 1t is kept
7uite simpe u!der Arch ,i!u", as most thi!gs are. :ou may wish to
edit or customi9e it to suit your !eeds.
%etc%rc2shutdown
/ystem shutdow! script. 1t stops daemo!s, u!mou!ts fiesystems,
deactivates the swap, etc.
%etc%rc2local2shutdown ;Aptio!a<
A!aogous to the /etc/rc.oca fie, this fie may co!tai! a!y
comma!ds you wa!t to ru! right 'efore the commo! rc.shutdow! is
e"ecuted. &ease !ote that this fie does !ot e"ist 'y defaut, a!d for
it to work propery, it must 'e set as e"ecuta'e.
%etc%rc2d%S
3his directory co!tai!s the daemo! scripts referred to from the
rc.co!f=s +A@HA(/V array. 1! additio! to 'ei!g caed o! 'oot,
you ca! use these scripts whe! the system is ru!!i!g to ma!age the
services of your system. *or e"ampe the comma!d
/etc/rc.d/potfix top
wi stop the postfi" daemo!. 3his directory is !ot i! the ]&A38 'y
defaut, 'ut may 'e added for co!ve!ie!ce. A'viousy a
correspo!di!g daemo! script o!y e"ists whe! the appropriate
package has 'ee! i!staed ;i! this case postfi"<. 6ith a 'ase system
i!sta, there are few scripts i! here, 'ut rest assured that a reeva!t
daemo! scripts e!d up here. 1f you wish, you ca!, of course, create
your ow! scripts a!d pace them here, to 'e caed 'y the
+A@HA(/V array i! /etc/rc.co!f o! system startup.
3his directory is pretty much the e7uivae!t to the /etc/rcG.d/ or
/etc/i!it.d/ directories of other distri'utio!s, 'ut without a the
symi!k hasse. 3he ack of symi!k re7uireme!t is a defi!i!g
differe!ce of a U#/+2stye i!it framework, vs a sysvi!it.
&'*
Ar"h Boot Pro"ess
agetty and login
After the Arch 'oot scripts are competed, the agett! program
prompts you for a ogi! !ame. After a ogi! !ame is received,
agett! cas login to prompt for the ogi! password.
*i!ay, with a successfu ogi!, the login program starts your
defaut she. 3he defaut she a!d e!viro!me!t varia'es may 'e
go'ay defi!ed withi! /etc/profie. A varia'es withi! a users
home directory sha take precede!ce over those go'ay defi!ed
u!der /etc. *or i!sta!ce, if 2 co!ficti!g varia'es are specified
withi! /etc/profie a!d [/.'ashrc, the o!e dictated 'y [/.'ashrc sha
prevai.
&'9
Baintaining the syste
8aintaining the syste!
su
su or su & Y
3he defaut 'ehavior of
u
is to remai! withi! the curre!t directory a!d to mai!tai! the
e!viro!me!ta varia'es of the origi!a user ;rather tha! switch to
those of the !ew user<. 1t sometimes ca! 'e adva!tageous for a
system admi!istrator to use the she accou!t of a! ordi!ary user
rather tha! its ow!. 1! particuar, occasio!ay the most efficie!t
way to sove a user=s pro'em is to og i!to that user=s accou!t i!
order to reproduce or de'ug the pro'em.
8owever, i! ma!y situatio!s it is !ot desira'e, or it ca! eve! 'e
da!gerous, for the root user to 'e operati!g from a! ordi!ary user=s
she accou!t a!d with that accou!t=s e!viro!me!ta varia'es rather
tha! from its ow!. 6hie i!adverte!ty usi!g a! ordi!ary user=s she
accou!t, root coud i!sta a program or make other cha!ges to the
system that woud !ot have the same resut as if they were made
whie usi!g the root accou!t. *or i!sta!ce, a program coud 'e
i!staed that coud give the ordi!ary user power to accide!tay
damage the system or gai! u!authori9ed access to certai! data.
3hus, it is advisa'e that admi!istrative users, as we as a!y other
users that are authori9ed to use su ;of which there shoud 'e very
few, if a!y<, ac7uire the ha'it of aways foowi!g the su comma!d
with a space a!d the! a hyphe!. ;ogi! she optio!< 3he hyphe! has
two effects: ;.< it switches from the curre!t directory to the home
directory of the !ew user ;e.g., to /root i! the case of the root user<
'y logging in as that user, a!d ;2< it cha!ges the e!viro!me!ta
varia'es to those of the !ew user as dictated 'y their [/.'ashrc.
3hat is, if the first argume!t to su is a hyphe!, the curre!t directory
a!d e!viro!me!t wi 'e cha!ged to what woud 'e e"pected if the
&+&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
!ew user had actuay ogged o! to a !ew sessio! ;rather tha! Qust
taki!g over a! e"isti!g sessio!<.
Thus! administrators should generally use su as follos:
N u -
A! ide!tica resut is produced 'y addi!g the user!ame root, i.e.,
N u - root
,ikewise, the same ca! 'e do!e for a!y other user, e.g., for a user
!amed archie:
% u - archie
Pac!an
&acma! is 'oth a 'i!ary a!d source package ma!ager which is a'e
to dow!oad, i!sta, a!d upgrade packages from 'oth remote a!d
oca repositories with fu depe!de!cy ha!di!g, a!d has easy2to2
u!dersta!d toos for crafti!g your ow! packages too.
A more2detaied descriptio! of &acma! ca! 'e fou!d i! its artice.
%seful commands
3o view the optio!s avaia'e for a particuar operatio!a comma!d,
say &>, Qust appe!d it with &h:
pacman -Vh
3o sy!chro!i9e a!d update the oca packages data'ase with the
remote repositories ;it is a good idea to do this 'efore i!stai!g a!d
upgradi!g packages<:
&+2
pacman -1'
3o u"grade a packages o! the system:
pacman -1u
3o sy!c, update, a!d u"grade a the packages o! the system with
o!e comma!d:
pacman -1'u
3o i!sta or upgrade a si!ge package or ist of packages ;i!cudi!g
depe!de!cies<:
pacman -1 pac&age: pac&age6
:ou ca! aso sy!c, update the package data'ase, a!d i!sta
packages i! o!e comma!d:
pacman -1' pac&age: pac&age6
3o remove a si!ge package, eavi!g a of its depe!de!cies
i!staed:
pacman -> pac&age
3o remove a package a!d a of the package=s depe!de!cies which
are !ot used 'y a!y other i!staed package:
pacman -> pac&age
;&*s is typicay preferred vs * to remove a!y package as it wi
cea! up a u!used depe!de!cies<
&+'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
3o remove a of the package=s !ow u!!eeded depe!de!cies a!d
aso i!struct pacma! to ig!ore fie 'ackup desig!atio!s. ;(ormay,
whe! a fie is removed from the system the data'ase is checked to
see if the fie shoud 'e re!amed with a 4.pacsave4 e"te!sio!.<:
pacman ->n pac&age
3o search the remote ;repo< package data'ase for a ist of packages
matchi!g a give! keyword:
pacman -1 &e'(ord
,ist a avaia'e packages i! a give! repo. e.g., core:
pacman -1l core
3o ist a packages o! your system
pacman -V
3o ist a packages o! your system without the versio! stri!gs, we
add the &@ optio!:
pacman -VE
3o search ;7uery< the oca ;your machi!e< package data'ase for a
give! package:
pacman -V pac&age
3o search ;7uery< the oca ;your machi!e< package data'ase for a
give! package a!d ist a perti!e!t i!formatio!:
&++
pacman -Vi pac&age
3o ist a fies i!staed 'y a give! pac*age:
pacman -,l package
Co!versey, to fi!d the package that ow!s a give! fie ;i! this
e"ampe, the ls e"ecuta'e<:
pacman -,o /bin/ls
,ist a u!used packages !o o!ger re7uired as depe!de!cies,
;orpha!s<:
pacman -Vdt
Remove a orpha!s: ;Recomme!ded for e"perie!ced users o!y.<
pacman ->n N4pacman -VdtE7
Hissi!g i'raries: /uppose you receive a! error message ike this:
mpla!er- error while loading shared libraries-
libgssapi.so.2- cannot open shared ob.ect file- No such
file or director!
3his may 'e a! i!dicatio! that a package you have previousy
i!staed is !ow corrupt ;some or a of its fies are missi!g<. :ou
shoud try to fi!d the package !ame that provides the missi!g
shared i'rary. 1! this e"ampe, you coud type:
&+-
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
pacman -,l / grep libgssapi.so.2
3he first coum! i! the output is the package !ame:
heimdal /usr/lib/libgssapi.so.0
heimdal /usr/lib/libgssapi.so.0.1.1
3he!, you ca! Qust re2i!sta it:
pacman -%! heimdal
3o defragme!t pacma!=s cache data'ase a!d optimi9e for speed:
pacman-optimi3e
3o cou!t how ma!y packages are curre!ty o! your system:
pacman -V ! (c -l
3o i!sta a package compied from source usi!g A#/ a!d
makepkg:
pacman -< pac&agename.p&g.tar.g3
(ote: 3here are cou!tess additio!a pacma! fu!ctio!s a!d
comma!ds. 3ry ma! pacma! a!d co!sut the pacma! wiki e!tries.
)iles
3here are a !um'er of fies eft a!d created 'y pacma! a!d other
programs to faciitate mai!te!a!ce a!d to co!form to a safe
computi!g practice. 6he! pacma! is i!stai!g somethi!g, the
package co!tai!s i!formatio! o! whether to 'ack up a particuar
&+,
fie. /uch fies wi have the 2"acsave e"te!sio!. 6he! you force a
4(o)pgrade4 o! a fie via pacma!.co!f, it wi !ot 'e repaced
duri!g a! upgrade a!d the !ew fie wi come with the 2"acnew
e"te!sio!. *or e"ampe, you have edited a co!figuratio! fie
thoroughy a!d you do !ot wa!t a! upgrade of the respective
package to repace the fie with a !ew o!e, we must have the
foowi!g i!e i! %etc%"ac!an2conf:
-o<pgrade = /path/to/config/file
3o view the differe!ces of the od a!d !ew versio!s of these fies,
we ca! either edit them ma!uay or use a diff utiity to take !ote of
the differe!ces. 3here is a! automated too to fi!d a!d view such
fies avaia'e from the co!!unity repository:
pacman -1 pacman-contri,
cd S/
pacdiff % a root
3here is a 'ug i! the a'ove too where if you !avigate to %etc a!d
ru! it from there, the paths wi 'e messed up. 6e remai! o! the
safer side 'y 'ei!g at 4home4. :ou may wa!t to ru! it as user first
i! case you happe! to 'e a careess perso! ;you may Qust overwrite
or remove fies 'ecause you thin* that is the right way<.
3here are other types of eftovers depe!di!g o! the programs
avaia'e o! your system. /ome wi create 'ackups with a 2bak
e"te!sio!, whie others with somethi!g ike 4Q4 or 4&4.
)!fortu!atey, there is curre!ty !o way to 4automaticay4 fi!d a!d
review them. *ear !ot, as we have !o !eed for automated toos to
dea with such trivia tasks. /impy use locate to search for them:
locate -e W.S W.- W.,a&
A!d we ca! use somethi!g usefu ike vi!diff to ook at the
differe!ces ma!uay:
&+)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
pacman -1 vim
vimdiff file+ file2
&+*
/9eaks@5inishing tou"hes
Tweaks%?inishing touches
HAL
/i!ce you have !ow i!staed a desktop e!viro!me!t/wi!dow
ma!ager, a!d if you did !ot do so earier, !ow woud 'e a good time
to aso i!sta 8A,. 8A, aows pug2a!d2pay for your mo'ie
pho!e, your i&od, your e"ter!a 8+=s, etc. 1t wi mou!t the device
a!d make a !ice visua ico! o! your desktop a!d/or i! =Hy
Computer=, aowi!g you to access the device after you have
pugged it i! i!stead of havi!g to ma!uay co!figure the /etc/fsta'
fie or udev rues for each a!d every !ew device.
O+@, %(AH@ a!d S*C@ a use 8A,.
3he i!staatio! procedure is descri'ed i! the 8A, artice. /ome
i!formatio! ca! aso 'e fou!d at 6ikipedia.
(ackgrounding )AE8,- on startu"
3o speed up system start up procedure, 'ackgrou!d seected
+A@HA(/ i! /etc/rc.co!f 'y prefi"i!g them with a =5= e.g.:
?:;58-1=4'log-ng Hnet(or& crond Hala Hhal Hfam H&dm7
3his wi e!a'e daemo!s to oad i! the 'ackgrou!d, without
waiti!g for the precedi!g daemo! to oad first. 1! some cases, this
may cause issues, especiay if you re7uire daemo!s to start i! the
specified order.
&refi" a!y daemo!s which you do !ot !eed with a 'a!g ;P< e.g.:
?:;58-1=4'log-ng Hnet(or& Fnetf Fcrond Hala Hhal
Hfam H&dm7
;Ater!ativey, you may aso simpy remove u!!eeded daemo!s
from the array<.
&+9
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
Turn off Control Echo in (ash
/ome users may have !oticed that si!ce the readi!e update their
termi!a has 'ee! dispayi!g ^C after ctrJc has 'ee! pressed.
6hie this is !ot a pro'em, it ca! 'e a!!oyi!g. *or a!y users who
wish to disa'e this, simpy add the foowi!g to /etc/profie or
]8AH@/.'ash$profie:
tt' -ctlecho
(eautifying ?onts for LC).s
/ee *o!ts
AdTusting 8ouse for scroll wheel
6hie your mouse shoud 'e worki!g out of the 'o", you may wa!t
to use your scro whee. Add this to your 1!put /ectio! ;mouse0<:
8ption )C:xi5apping) )* " 6 #)
3et All 8ouse (uttons 1orking
/ee %et A House #utto!s 6orki!g
Configuring Touch"ad for La"to"s
/ee 3ouchpad /y!aptics
AdTusting Deyboard Layout
:ou may wa!t to cha!ge your key'oard ayout. 3o do this edit your
/etc/S../"org.co!f a!d add these i!es i! the 1!put+evice /ectio!
;Oey'oard0< ;the e"ampe shows a %erma! key'oard ayout with
!o dead keys0 ater this to fit your !eeds<.
&-0
8ption )O&,2a'out) )de)
8ption )O&,Rariant) )nodead&e')
Additional tweaks for la"to"s
AC&1 support is !eeded if you wa!t to use some specia fu!ctio!s
o! your !ote'ook ;e.g. seep, seep whe! id is cosed, specia
keys...<. 1!sta acpid usi!g
pacman -1 acpid
a!d add it to the daemo!s i! /etc/rc.co!f. 1f you aready have hal
specified i! your +A@HA(/, there is !o !eed to add ac"id. 8A,
wi automaticay detect a!d oad the acpid daemo!. Ha!uay, it
ca! 'e started 'y
/etc/rc.d/acpid tart
Hore2specific i!formatio! a'out Arch ,i!u" o! various ,aptops
ca! 'e fou!d at Category:,aptops ;@!gish<
Configuring CP+ fre@uency scaling
Hoder! processors ca! decrease their fre7ue!cy a!d votage to
reduce heat a!d power co!sumptio!. ,ess heat eads to a 7uieter
system0 ,aptop users wi defi!itey wa!t this, 'ut eve! a desktop
system wi 'e!efit from it. 1!sta cpufre7utis with
pacman -1 cpufreEutil
@dit the co!fig fie /etc/co!f.d/cpufre7 a!d cha!ge
&-&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
governor=)ondemand)
which dy!amicay i!creases the C&) fre7ue!cy if !eeded ;which is
a safe choice o! desktop systems too<. Ater mi!$fre7 a!d ma"$fre7
to match your system=s C&) spec. 1f you do !ot k!ow the
fre7ue!cies, ru! cpufre2-info after oadi!g o!e of the fre7ue!cy
scai!g modues. :ou ca! aso comme!t out or deete the mi!$fre7
a!d ma"$fre7 i!es: thi!gs wi work automaticay. Add the
fre7ue!cy scai!g modues to your /etc/rc.co!f modues i!e. Host
moder! !ote'ooks a!d desktops ca! simpy use the acpi-cpufre2
driver, however other optio!s i!cude the pB-cloc*mod, powernow-
*F, powernow-*G, powernow-*H, and speedstep-centrino drivers.
,oad the modue with
modpro,e ImodulnameJ
a!d start cpufre7 with
/etc/rc.d/cpufreE tart
*or more detais, see Cpufre7utis
P!&+tils
3he pm2utis package wi aow you to suspe!d2to2RAH a!d
hi'er!ate:
pacman -1 pm-util
&m2utis wiki page.
La"to"&8ode
3he aptop2mode2toos package is sort of a o!e2stop co!figuratio!
for a aptop power ma!ageme!t utiities. 1t works i! co!Qu!ctio!
&-2
with other i!staed toos to fuy co!figure everythi!g from hard
disk spi!2dow! to S dispay +&H/ sta!d'y times, if desired.
pacman -1 laptop-mode-tool
Add aptop2mode to your +A@HA(/V i!e i! /etc/rc.co!f a!d
co!figure /etc/aptop2mode/aptop2mode.co!f.
Add additional re"ositories
1! severa specia cases, a package may !ot 'e i! the officia
repositories for certai! reaso!s, e.g. si9e or popuarity. 1! these
cases, you might fi!d a speciai9ed user repository that mai!tai!s
the package you wa!t. /ee )!officia user repositories for a
mai!tai!ed ist of additio!a repos. #e aware that usi!g the
packages you wa!t from A)R might 'e 'etter i! some cases,
depe!di!g o! the type of package you wa!t.
&-'
6$U 5ree Do"uentation 2i"ense
3-+ ?ree )ocu!entation License
3-+ ?ree )ocu!entation License
-ersio! ..2, (ovem'er 2002
9op'right 497 2000K200+K2002 .ree 1oft(are .oundationK
Bnc."+ .ran&lin 1tK .ifth .loorK 6otonK 5: 02++0-+$0+
<1: ;ver'one i permitted to cop' and ditri,ute
ver,atim copie of thi licene documentK ,ut changing
it i not allo(ed.
H2 P*EA8(LE
3he purpose of this ,ice!se is to make a ma!ua, te"t'ook, or other
fu!ctio!a a!d usefu docume!t 4free4 i! the se!se of freedom: to
assure everyo!e the effective freedom to copy a!d redistri'ute it,
with or without modifyi!g it, either commerciay or
!o!commerciay. /eco!dariy, this ,ice!se preserves for the author
a!d pu'isher a way to get credit for their work, whie !ot 'ei!g
co!sidered respo!si'e for modificatio!s made 'y others.
3his ,ice!se is a ki!d of 4copyeft4, which mea!s that derivative
works of the docume!t must themseves 'e free i! the same se!se. 1t
compeme!ts the %() %e!era &u'ic ,ice!se, which is a copyeft
ice!se desig!ed for free software.
6e have desig!ed this ,ice!se i! order to use it for ma!uas for free
software, 'ecause free software !eeds free docume!tatio!: a free
program shoud come with ma!uas providi!g the same freedoms
that the software does. #ut this ,ice!se is !ot imited to software
ma!uas0 it ca! 'e used for a!y te"tua work, regardess of su'Qect
matter or whether it is pu'ished as a pri!ted 'ook. 6e recomme!d
this ,ice!se pri!cipay for works whose purpose is i!structio! or
refere!ce.
72 APPL/CA(/L/TE A-) )E?/-/T/,-
3his ,ice!se appies to a!y ma!ua or other work, i! a!y medium,
that co!tai!s a !otice paced 'y the copyright hoder sayi!g it ca!
'e distri'uted u!der the terms of this ,ice!se. /uch a !otice gra!ts a
&--
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
word2wide, royaty2free ice!se, u!imited i! duratio!, to use that
work u!der the co!ditio!s stated herei!. 3he 4+ocume!t4, 'eow,
refers to a!y such ma!ua or work. A!y mem'er of the pu'ic is a
ice!see, a!d is addressed as 4you4. :ou accept the ice!se if you
copy, modify or distri'ute the work i! a way re7uiri!g permissio!
u!der copyright aw.
A 4Hodified -ersio!4 of the +ocume!t mea!s a!y work co!tai!i!g
the +ocume!t or a portio! of it, either copied ver'atim, or with
modificatio!s a!d/or tra!sated i!to a!other a!guage.
A 4/eco!dary /ectio!4 is a !amed appe!di" or a fro!t2matter
sectio! of the +ocume!t that deas e"cusivey with the reatio!ship
of the pu'ishers or authors of the +ocume!t to the +ocume!t=s
overa su'Qect ;or to reated matters< a!d co!tai!s !othi!g that
coud fa directy withi! that overa su'Qect. ;3hus, if the
+ocume!t is i! part a te"t'ook of mathematics, a /eco!dary /ectio!
may !ot e"pai! a!y mathematics.< 3he reatio!ship coud 'e a
matter of historica co!!ectio! with the su'Qect or with reated
matters, or of ega, commercia, phiosophica, ethica or poitica
positio! regardi!g them.
3he 41!varia!t /ectio!s4 are certai! /eco!dary /ectio!s whose tites
are desig!ated, as 'ei!g those of 1!varia!t /ectio!s, i! the !otice
that says that the +ocume!t is reeased u!der this ,ice!se. 1f a
sectio! does !ot fit the a'ove defi!itio! of /eco!dary the! it is !ot
aowed to 'e desig!ated as 1!varia!t. 3he +ocume!t may co!tai!
9ero 1!varia!t /ectio!s. 1f the +ocume!t does !ot ide!tify a!y
1!varia!t /ectio!s the! there are !o!e.
3he 4Cover 3e"ts4 are certai! short passages of te"t that are isted,
as *ro!t2Cover 3e"ts or #ack2Cover 3e"ts, i! the !otice that says
that the +ocume!t is reeased u!der this ,ice!se. A *ro!t2Cover
3e"t may 'e at most I words, a!d a #ack2Cover 3e"t may 'e at
most 2I words.
A 43ra!spare!t4 copy of the +ocume!t mea!s a machi!e2reada'e
copy, represe!ted i! a format whose specificatio! is avaia'e to the
ge!era pu'ic, that is suita'e for revisi!g the docume!t
straightforwardy with ge!eric te"t editors or ;for images composed
of pi"es< ge!eric pai!t programs or ;for drawi!gs< some widey
avaia'e drawi!g editor, a!d that is suita'e for i!put to te"t
&-,
formatters or for automatic tra!satio! to a variety of formats
suita'e for i!put to te"t formatters. A copy made i! a! otherwise
3ra!spare!t fie format whose markup, or a'se!ce of markup, has
'ee! arra!ged to thwart or discourage su'se7ue!t modificatio! 'y
readers is !ot 3ra!spare!t. A! image format is !ot 3ra!spare!t if
used for a!y su'sta!tia amou!t of te"t. A copy that is !ot
43ra!spare!t4 is caed 4Apa7ue4.
@"ampes of suita'e formats for 3ra!spare!t copies i!cude pai!
A/C11 without markup, 3e"i!fo i!put format, ,a3eS i!put format,
/%H, or SH, usi!g a pu'icy avaia'e +3+, a!d sta!dard2
co!formi!g simpe 83H,, &ost/cript or &+* desig!ed for huma!
modificatio!. @"ampes of tra!spare!t image formats i!cude &(%,
SC* a!d ?&%. Apa7ue formats i!cude proprietary formats that ca!
'e read a!d edited o!y 'y proprietary word processors, /%H, or
SH, for which the +3+ a!d/or processi!g toos are !ot ge!eray
avaia'e, a!d the machi!e2ge!erated 83H,, &ost/cript or &+*
produced 'y some word processors for output purposes o!y.
3he 43ite &age4 mea!s, for a pri!ted 'ook, the tite page itsef, pus
such foowi!g pages as are !eeded to hod, egi'y, the materia this
,ice!se re7uires to appear i! the tite page. *or works i! formats
which do !ot have a!y tite page as such, 43ite &age4 mea!s the
te"t !ear the most promi!e!t appeara!ce of the work=s tite,
precedi!g the 'egi!!i!g of the 'ody of the te"t.
A sectio! 4@!tited S:W4 mea!s a !amed su'u!it of the +ocume!t
whose tite either is precisey S:W or co!tai!s S:W i! pare!theses
foowi!g te"t that tra!sates S:W i! a!other a!guage. ;8ere S:W
sta!ds for a specific sectio! !ame me!tio!ed 'eow, such as
4Ack!owedgeme!ts4, 4+edicatio!s4, 4@!dorseme!ts4, or
48istory4.< 3o 4&reserve the 3ite4 of such a sectio! whe! you
modify the +ocume!t mea!s that it remai!s a sectio! 4@!tited
S:W4 accordi!g to this defi!itio!.
3he +ocume!t may i!cude 6arra!ty +iscaimers !e"t to the !otice
which states that this ,ice!se appies to the +ocume!t. 3hese
6arra!ty +iscaimers are co!sidered to 'e i!cuded 'y refere!ce i!
this ,ice!se, 'ut o!y as regards discaimi!g warra!ties: a!y other
impicatio! that these 6arra!ty +iscaimers may have is void a!d
has !o effect o! the mea!i!g of this ,ice!se.
&-)
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
<2 6E*(AT/8 C,PE/-3
:ou may copy a!d distri'ute the +ocume!t i! a!y medium, either
commerciay or !o!commerciay, provided that this ,ice!se, the
copyright !otices, a!d the ice!se !otice sayi!g this ,ice!se appies
to the +ocume!t are reproduced i! a copies, a!d that you add !o
other co!ditio!s whatsoever to those of this ,ice!se. :ou may !ot
use tech!ica measures to o'struct or co!tro the readi!g or further
copyi!g of the copies you make or distri'ute. 8owever, you may
accept compe!satio! i! e"cha!ge for copies. 1f you distri'ute a
arge e!ough !um'er of copies you must aso foow the co!ditio!s
i! sectio! G.
:ou may aso e!d copies, u!der the same co!ditio!s stated a'ove,
a!d you may pu'icy dispay copies.
=2 C,PE/-3 /- >+A-T/TE
1f you pu'ish pri!ted copies ;or copies i! media that commo!y
have pri!ted covers< of the +ocume!t, !um'eri!g more tha! .00,
a!d the +ocume!t=s ice!se !otice re7uires Cover 3e"ts, you must
e!cose the copies i! covers that carry, ceary a!d egi'y, a these
Cover 3e"ts: *ro!t2Cover 3e"ts o! the fro!t cover, a!d #ack2Cover
3e"ts o! the 'ack cover. #oth covers must aso ceary a!d egi'y
ide!tify you as the pu'isher of these copies. 3he fro!t cover must
prese!t the fu tite with a words of the tite e7uay promi!e!t a!d
visi'e. :ou may add other materia o! the covers i! additio!.
Copyi!g with cha!ges imited to the covers, as o!g as they
preserve the tite of the +ocume!t a!d satisfy these co!ditio!s, ca!
'e treated as ver'atim copyi!g i! other respects.
1f the re7uired te"ts for either cover are too voumi!ous to fit
egi'y, you shoud put the first o!es isted ;as ma!y as fit
reaso!a'y< o! the actua cover, a!d co!ti!ue the rest o!to adQace!t
pages.
1f you pu'ish or distri'ute Apa7ue copies of the +ocume!t
!um'eri!g more tha! .00, you must either i!cude a machi!e2
reada'e 3ra!spare!t copy ao!g with each Apa7ue copy, or state i!
or with each Apa7ue copy a computer2!etwork ocatio! from which
the ge!era !etwork2usi!g pu'ic has access to dow!oad usi!g
pu'ic2sta!dard !etwork protocos a compete 3ra!spare!t copy of
&-*
the +ocume!t, free of added materia. 1f you use the atter optio!,
you must take reaso!a'y prude!t steps, whe! you 'egi!
distri'utio! of Apa7ue copies i! 7ua!tity, to e!sure that this
3ra!spare!t copy wi remai! thus accessi'e at the stated ocatio!
u!ti at east o!e year after the ast time you distri'ute a! Apa7ue
copy ;directy or through your age!ts or retaiers< of that editio! to
the pu'ic.
1t is re7uested, 'ut !ot re7uired, that you co!tact the authors of the
+ocume!t we 'efore redistri'uti!g a!y arge !um'er of copies, to
give them a cha!ce to provide you with a! updated versio! of the
+ocume!t.
'2 8,)/?/CAT/,-
:ou may copy a!d distri'ute a Hodified -ersio! of the +ocume!t
u!der the co!ditio!s of sectio!s 2 a!d G a'ove, provided that you
reease the Hodified -ersio! u!der precisey this ,ice!se, with the
Hodified -ersio! fii!g the roe of the +ocume!t, thus ice!si!g
distri'utio! a!d modificatio! of the Hodified -ersio! to whoever
possesses a copy of it. 1! additio!, you must do these thi!gs i! the
Hodified -ersio!:
A2 )se i! the 3ite &age ;a!d o! the covers, if a!y< a tite
disti!ct from that of the +ocume!t, a!d from those of
previous versio!s ;which shoud, if there were a!y, 'e
isted i! the 8istory sectio! of the +ocume!t<. :ou may
use the same tite as a previous versio! if the origi!a
pu'isher of that versio! gives permissio!.
(2 ,ist o! the 3ite &age, as authors, o!e or more perso!s or
e!tities respo!si'e for authorship of the modificatio!s i!
the Hodified -ersio!, together with at east five of the
pri!cipa authors of the +ocume!t ;a of its pri!cipa
authors, if it has fewer tha! five<, u!ess they reease you
from this re7uireme!t.
C2 /tate o! the 3ite page the !ame of the pu'isher of the
Hodified -ersio!, as the pu'isher.
)2 &reserve a the copyright !otices of the +ocume!t. .
E2 Add a! appropriate copyright !otice for your
modificatio!s adQace!t to the other copyright !otices.
&-9
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
?2 1!cude, immediatey after the copyright !otices, a
ice!se !otice givi!g the pu'ic permissio! to use the
Hodified -ersio! u!der the terms of this ,ice!se, i! the
form show! i! the Adde!dum 'eow.
32 &reserve i! that ice!se !otice the fu ists of 1!varia!t
/ectio!s a!d re7uired Cover 3e"ts give! i! the +ocume!t=s
ice!se !otice.
H2 1!cude a! u!atered copy of this ,ice!se.
/2 &reserve the sectio! @!tited 48istory4, &reserve its 3ite,
a!d add to it a! item stati!g at east the tite, year, !ew
authors, a!d pu'isher of the Hodified -ersio! as give! o!
the 3ite &age. 1f there is !o sectio! @!tited 48istory4 i!
the +ocume!t, create o!e stati!g the tite, year, authors, a!d
pu'isher of the +ocume!t as give! o! its 3ite &age, the!
add a! item descri'i!g the Hodified -ersio! as stated i!
the previous se!te!ce.
B2 &reserve the !etwork ocatio!, if a!y, give! i! the
+ocume!t for pu'ic access to a 3ra!spare!t copy of the
+ocume!t, a!d ikewise the !etwork ocatio!s give! i! the
+ocume!t for previous versio!s it was 'ased o!. 3hese
may 'e paced i! the 48istory4 sectio!. :ou may omit a
!etwork ocatio! for a work that was pu'ished at east four
years 'efore the +ocume!t itsef, or if the origi!a pu'isher
of the versio! it refers to gives permissio!.
D2 *or a!y sectio! @!tited 4Ack!owedgeme!ts4 or
4+edicatio!s4, &reserve the 3ite of the sectio!, a!d
preserve i! the sectio! a the su'sta!ce a!d to!e of each of
the co!tri'utor ack!owedgeme!ts a!d/or dedicatio!s give!
therei!.
L2 &reserve a the 1!varia!t /ectio!s of the +ocume!t,
u!atered i! their te"t a!d i! their tites. /ectio! !um'ers or
the e7uivae!t are !ot co!sidered part of the sectio! tites.
82 +eete a!y sectio! @!tited 4@!dorseme!ts4. /uch a
sectio! may !ot 'e i!cuded i! the Hodified -ersio!.
-2 +o !ot retite a!y e"isti!g sectio! to 'e @!tited
4@!dorseme!ts4 or to co!fict i! tite with a!y 1!varia!t
/ectio!.
,2 &reserve a!y 6arra!ty +iscaimers.
&,0
1f the Hodified -ersio! i!cudes !ew fro!t2matter sectio!s or
appe!dices that 7uaify as /eco!dary /ectio!s a!d co!tai! !o
materia copied from the +ocume!t, you may at your optio!
desig!ate some or a of these sectio!s as i!varia!t. 3o do this, add
their tites to the ist of 1!varia!t /ectio!s i! the Hodified -ersio!=s
ice!se !otice. 3hese tites must 'e disti!ct from a!y other sectio!
tites.
:ou may add a sectio! @!tited 4@!dorseme!ts4, provided it
co!tai!s !othi!g 'ut e!dorseme!ts of your Hodified -ersio! 'y
various parties22for e"ampe, stateme!ts of peer review or that the
te"t has 'ee! approved 'y a! orga!i9atio! as the authoritative
defi!itio! of a sta!dard.
:ou may add a passage of up to five words as a *ro!t2Cover 3e"t,
a!d a passage of up to 2I words as a #ack2Cover 3e"t, to the e!d of
the ist of Cover 3e"ts i! the Hodified -ersio!. A!y o!e passage
of *ro!t2Cover 3e"t a!d o!e of #ack2Cover 3e"t may 'e added 'y
;or through arra!geme!ts made 'y< a!y o!e e!tity. 1f the +ocume!t
aready i!cudes a cover te"t for the same cover, previousy added
'y you or 'y arra!geme!t made 'y the same e!tity you are acti!g
o! 'ehaf of, you may !ot add a!other0 'ut you may repace the od
o!e, o! e"picit permissio! from the previous pu'isher that added
the od o!e.
3he author;s< a!d pu'isher;s< of the +ocume!t do !ot 'y this
,ice!se give permissio! to use their !ames for pu'icity for or to
assert or impy e!dorseme!t of a!y Hodified -ersio!.
92 C,8(/-/-3 ),C+8E-T
:ou may com'i!e the +ocume!t with other docume!ts reeased
u!der this ,ice!se, u!der the terms defi!ed i! sectio! C a'ove for
modified versio!s, provided that you i!cude i! the com'i!atio! a
of the 1!varia!t /ectio!s of a of the origi!a docume!ts,
u!modified, a!d ist them a as 1!varia!t /ectio!s of your
com'i!ed work i! its ice!se !otice, a!d that you preserve a their
6arra!ty +iscaimers.
3he com'i!ed work !eed o!y co!tai! o!e copy of this ,ice!se, a!d
mutipe ide!tica 1!varia!t /ectio!s may 'e repaced with a si!ge
copy. 1f there are mutipe 1!varia!t /ectio!s with the same !ame
&,&
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
'ut differe!t co!te!ts, make the tite of each such sectio! u!i7ue 'y
addi!g at the e!d of it, i! pare!theses, the !ame of the origi!a
author or pu'isher of that sectio! if k!ow!, or ese a u!i7ue
!um'er. Hake the same adQustme!t to the sectio! tites i! the ist of
1!varia!t /ectio!s i! the ice!se !otice of the com'i!ed work.
1! the com'i!atio!, you must com'i!e a!y sectio!s @!tited
48istory4 i! the various origi!a docume!ts, formi!g o!e sectio!
@!tited 48istory40 ikewise com'i!e a!y sectio!s @!tited
4Ack!owedgeme!ts4, a!d a!y sectio!s @!tited 4+edicatio!s4. :ou
must deete a sectio!s @!tited 4@!dorseme!ts.4
#2 C,LLECT/,- ,? ),C+8E-T
:ou may make a coectio! co!sisti!g of the +ocume!t a!d other
docume!ts reeased u!der this ,ice!se, a!d repace the i!dividua
copies of this ,ice!se i! the various docume!ts with a si!ge copy
that is i!cuded i! the coectio!, provided that you foow the rues
of this ,ice!se for ver'atim copyi!g of each of the docume!ts i! a
other respects.
:ou may e"tract a si!ge docume!t from such a coectio!, a!d
distri'ute it i!dividuay u!der this ,ice!se, provided you i!sert a
copy of this ,ice!se i!to the e"tracted docume!t, a!d foow this
,ice!se i! a other respects regardi!g ver'atim copyi!g of that
docume!t.
M2 A33*E3AT/,- 1/TH /-)EPE-)E-T 1,*D
A compiatio! of the +ocume!t or its derivatives with other
separate a!d i!depe!de!t docume!ts or works, i! or o! a voume of
a storage or distri'utio! medium, is caed a! 4aggregate4 if the
copyright resuti!g from the compiatio! is !ot used to imit the
ega rights of the compiatio!=s users 'eyo!d what the i!dividua
works permit. 6he! the +ocume!t is i!cuded i! a! aggregate, this
,ice!se does !ot appy to the other works i! the aggregate which
are !ot themseves derivative works of the +ocume!t.
1f the Cover 3e"t re7uireme!t of sectio! G is appica'e to these
copies of the +ocume!t, the! if the +ocume!t is ess tha! o!e haf
of the e!tire aggregate, the +ocume!t=s Cover 3e"ts may 'e paced
o! covers that 'racket the +ocume!t withi! the aggregate, or the
eectro!ic e7uivae!t of covers if the +ocume!t is i! eectro!ic
&,2
form. Atherwise they must appear o! pri!ted covers that 'racket the
whoe aggregate.
$2 T*A-LAT/,-
3ra!satio! is co!sidered a ki!d of modificatio!, so you may
distri'ute tra!satio!s of the +ocume!t u!der the terms of sectio! C.
Repaci!g 1!varia!t /ectio!s with tra!satio!s re7uires specia
permissio! from their copyright hoders, 'ut you may i!cude
tra!satio!s of some or a 1!varia!t /ectio!s i! additio! to the
origi!a versio!s of these 1!varia!t /ectio!s. :ou may i!cude a
tra!satio! of this ,ice!se, a!d a the ice!se !otices i! the
+ocume!t, a!d a!y 6arra!ty +iscaimers, provided that you aso
i!cude the origi!a @!gish versio! of this ,ice!se a!d the origi!a
versio!s of those !otices a!d discaimers. 1! case of a disagreeme!t
'etwee! the tra!satio! a!d the origi!a versio! of this ,ice!se or a
!otice or discaimer, the origi!a versio! wi prevai.
1f a sectio! i! the +ocume!t is @!tited 4Ack!owedgeme!ts4,
4+edicatio!s4, or 48istory4, the re7uireme!t ;sectio! C< to &reserve
its 3ite ;sectio! .< wi typicay re7uire cha!gi!g the actua tite.
P2 TE*8/-AT/,-
:ou may !ot copy, modify, su'ice!se, or distri'ute the +ocume!t
e"cept as e"pressy provided for u!der this ,ice!se. A!y other
attempt to copy, modify, su'ice!se or distri'ute the +ocume!t is
void, a!d wi automaticay termi!ate your rights u!der this
,ice!se. 8owever, parties who have received copies, or rights, from
you u!der this ,ice!se wi !ot have their ice!ses termi!ated so
o!g as such parties remai! i! fu compia!ce.
7H2 ?+T+*E *E6//,- ,? TH/ L/CE-E
3he *ree /oftware *ou!datio! may pu'ish !ew, revised versio!s of
the %() *ree +ocume!tatio! ,ice!se from time to time. /uch !ew
versio!s wi 'e simiar i! spirit to the prese!t versio!, 'ut may
differ i! detai to address !ew pro'ems or co!cer!s. /ee
http://www.g!u.org/copyeft/.
@ach versio! of the ,ice!se is give! a disti!guishi!g versio!
!um'er. 1f the +ocume!t specifies that a particuar !um'ered
versio! of this ,ice!se 4or a!y ater versio!4 appies to it, you have
&,'
Ar"h 2inu3 4andbook
the optio! of foowi!g the terms a!d co!ditio!s either of that
specified versio! or of a!y ater versio! that has 'ee! pu'ished ;!ot
as a draft< 'y the *ree /oftware *ou!datio!. 1f the +ocume!t does
!ot specify a versio! !um'er of this ,ice!se, you may choose a!y
versio! ever pu'ished ;!ot as a draft< 'y the *ree /oftware
*ou!datio!.
How to use this License for your docu!ents
3o use this ,ice!se i! a docume!t you have writte!, i!cude a copy
of the ,ice!se i! the docume!t a!d put the foowi!g copyright a!d
ice!se !otices Qust after the tite page:
9op'right 4c7 D;:> D8<> -:5;.
/ermiion i granted to cop'K ditri,ute and/or modif'
thi document under the term of the G-< .ree
?ocumentation 2iceneK Rerion +.2 or an' later verion
pu,lihed ,' the .ree 1oft(are .oundationX (ith no
Bnvariant 1ectionK no .ront-9over 0extK and no 6ac&-
9over 0ext. : cop' of the licene i included in the
ection entitled )G-< .ree ?ocumentation 2icene).
1f you have 1!varia!t /ectio!s, *ro!t2Cover 3e"ts a!d #ack2Cover
3e"ts, repace the 4with...3e"ts.4 i!e with this:
(ith the Bnvariant 1ection ,eing 2B10 0=;B> 0B02;1K
(ith the .ront-9over 0ext ,eing 2B10K and (ith the
6ac&-9over 0ext ,eing 2B10.
1f you have 1!varia!t /ectio!s without Cover 3e"ts, or some other
com'i!atio! of the three, merge those two ater!atives to suit the
situatio!.
1f your docume!t co!tai!s !o!trivia e"ampes of program code, we
recomme!d reeasi!g these e"ampes i! parae u!der your choice
of free software ice!se, such as the %() %e!era &u'ic ,ice!se,
to permit their use i! free software.
&,+

Arch Linux Handbook - A Simple, Lightweight Linux Handbook 2009

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Arch Linux Handbook - A Simple, Lightweight Linux Handbook 2009

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Retrieved August 27, 2009

You might also like