# Installing Arch Linux on a LUKS Encrypted Drive using LVM booting with UEFI ## Pre-flight Notes All references to disk nodes in this document are shown as: /dev/sd* You will need to change these to reflect your particular drive. To get this info use: # fdisk -l ## Prepare Installation Media [Download](https://www.archlinux.org/download/) the Arch Linux ISO and create a bootable USB drive. The simplest way to create bootable media on Linux is using the dd command: # sudo dd bs=4M if=/path_to_arch_.iso of=/dev/sd* && sync On Mac use Etcher or UNetBootin. On Windows use Rufus. --- ## BIOS Configuration Hold F12 (or whatever key is used on your system) during startup to access bios. Then... * __Make sure UEFI is ON__. Most modern systems use UEFI, so it's generally on by default. * __Disable Secure Boot__. If secure boot is enabled it must be turned off since Linux boot loaders don't typically have digital signatures. Note that if you intend on running a dual-boot system with Windows and Linux you won't be able to use disk encryption on the partition containing Windows, as it requires secure boot. * __Disable Fast Startup Mode__. If you are dual booting with Windows turn off Fast Startup. This feature puts Windows into hibernation when you power off. Because some systems are still active during hibernation, booting into Linux can cause various nasty problems. --- ## Boot Arch from the USB Drive Hold F12 (or whatever key is used on your system) during startup to access startup menu. Select the USB drive and boot into Arch. ---- ## Establish an Internet Connection The most reliable way is to use a wired connection, as Arch is setup by default to connect to DHCP. However, you can usually get WiFi working by running: # wifi-menu To test your connection: # ping -c 3 www.google.com --- ## Zero Hard Drive with Random Data Optional step if you are using a hard drive with existing data. Here's how to do it using dd: # dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sd* status=progress Or if you're paranoid (and have a day or two to wait) you can use a multi-pass tool like shred. # shred -vfz -n 5 /dev/sd* --- ## Partition Hard Drive __NOTE:__ Since we're using LVM we only need two drive partitions: boot and root. The LVM will be created on root later. First, launch __parted__ on your desired drive node: # parted /dev/sd* Then run the following commands with your particular size values: # (parted) mklabel gpt # (parted) mkpart primary 1MiB 512MiB name 1 boot # (parted) set 1 boot on # (parted) mkpart primary 512MiB 100% name 2 root # (parted) quit --- ## Disk Encryption Before we setup our LVM we need to encrypt the root partition we just created. The Arch Wiki has more information about [LUKS](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dm-crypt/Device_encryption). # cryptsetup luksFormat -v -s 512 -h sha512 /dev/sd* Now let's decrypt it so we can use it. __Note__: I'm labeling this partition as "lvm". We will use this label later when we create the LVM. # cryptsetup open --type luks /dev/sd* lvm To verify our "lvm" label we can use: # ls /dev/mapper/lvm --- ## LVM Setup ### Create a Physical Volume # pvcreate /dev/mapper/lvm ### Create a Volume Group __Note:__ I'm labelling my volume group as "vg". If you use something else, make sure to replace every instance of it, not only in this section, but in the bootloader config section much later. # vgcreate vg /dev/mapper/lvm ### Create the Logical Volumes At minimum we need two volumes. One for swap, the other for root. We can additionally put home on its own volume. __Note:__ The sizes below can be specified in megabytes (100M) or gigs (10G). __Also__ the "L" arguments below are case sensitive. The capital L is used when you want to specify a fixed size volume, the lowercase l lets you specify percentages. # lvcreate -L 4G vg -n swap # lvcreate -L 20G vg -n root # lvcreate -l 100%FREE vg -n home ### Create the Filesystems __Note:__ The boot partition is on the non-LVM partition, so use the disk node you specified when you created that partition. # mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/sd* # mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/vg-root # mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/vg-home # mkswap /dev/mapper/vg-swap ### Mount the volumes We need to create a couple directories while we're at it. # mount /dev/mapper/vg-root /mnt # mkdir /mnt/home # mount /dev/mapper/vg-home /mnt/home # mkdir /mnt/boot # mount /dev/sd* /mnt/boot ### Enable Swap # swapon -s /dev/mapper/vg-swap --- ## Update Mirrorlist Before we download the Arch packages it's recommended that we update the mirrorlist. To do that we install a package called __Reflector__. # pacman -S reflector rsync curl __NOTE:__ If you get an error regarding missing databases, synchronize them using `pacman -Sy` then try installing Reflector again. ### Create a new mirrorlist If you are in a different country change "United States" to your country. # reflector --verbose --country 'United States' -l 5 --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist --- ## Install Arch Linux Finally, we're getting somewhere! # pacstrap -i /mnt base base-devel --- ### Generate fstab We now need to update the filesystem table on the new installation. Fstab contains the association between filesystems and mountpoints. # genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab You can verify fstab with: # cat /mnt/etc/fstab --- ## Change Root Since we're still booted via USB, in order to configure our new system we need to change root. If we don't do that, every change we make will be applied to the USB installation. # arch-chroot /mnt --- ## Install and configure bootloader While there are various bootloaders that may be used, since the Linux kernel has a built-in EFI image, all we need is a way to execute it. For that we will install systemd-boot: # bootctl --path=/boot install ### Update the loader.conf file Using nano we can edit the config file: # nano /boot/loader/loader.conf Make sure that __only__ the following lines are in the file: default arch timeout 3 editor 0 __Notes:__ The timeout setting is the number of seconds the menu is displayed. The editor setting determines whether the kernel parameters are editable. For security reasons we disable this. ### Get the UUID for root In the next step we will update the boot loader config file. But first, we need to determine the UUID of our root partition. In order to get the UUID you first need to know what device node root is on. Look it up using: # fdisk -l The device node will be something like # /dev/sda2 You can now get the UUID that corresponds to the root node you just looked up using: # blkid /dev/sda2 You can either write down the UUID (which is painful given the length), or what I prefer to do is pipe the output of the above command to the config file that we will need that information in: # blkid /dev/sda2 > /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf Then open the config file in nano: # nano /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf Arrow over to the UUID and shift/arrow to highlight it. Use Ctl+K to cut the line. It will remain in the clipboard for use next. Now __delete everything__ in that file and add the following info. Make sure to replace __YOUR-UUID__ with the ID gathered previously (which you can paste from your clipboard using Ctrl+U). title Arch Linux linux /vmlinuz-linux initrd /initramfs-linux.img options cryptdevice=UUID=YOUR-UUID:vg root=/dev/mapper/vg-root quiet rw ### Update Bootloader # bootctl update --- ## Update mkinitcpio Since we're using disk encryption we need to make sure that the LUKS module gets initialized by the kernel so we can decrypt our drive prior to booting. We also need to make sure that the keyboard is available for use prior to initializing the filesystem, otherwise we will have no input device to type in our password. Edit the following config file: # nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf Scroll down to the HOOKS section. It should look similar to this: HOOKS="base udev autodetect modconf block filesystems keyboard fsck" Change it to this: HOOKS="base udev autodetect modconf block keyboard keymap encrypt lvm2 filesystems fsck" Now update the initramfs image with our hooks change: __NOTE:__ Before running this command, if your computer is running PCI storage, do the steps in the next section first since it involves a change in the same file we're currently in. # mkinitcpio -p linux If you're curious what modules are available as intcpio hooks: # ls /usr/lib/initcpio/install ## Add NVMe to mkinitcpio This step is only necessary if your computer is running PCIe storage rather than SATA. NVMe is a specification for accessing SSDs attached through the PCI Express bus. The Linux kernel includes an NVMe driver, so we just need to tell the kernel to load it. This is done by updating the MODULES variable in mkinitcpio which we added HOOKS to previously. Edit the following config file: # nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf Add __nvme__ to the MODULES variable: MODULES="nvme" Now update the initramfs image with our module change: # mkinitcpio -p linux --- ## Set Language Open the locale.gen file and uncomment your preferred language (I'm using en_US.UTF-8): # nano /etc/locale.gen Now save the file and generate the locale: # locale-gen Add your language choice to the locale.conf file: # echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf Export the language as an environmental shell variable: # export LANG=en_US.UTF-8 --- ## Set Timezone Run this command to find your timezone: # tzselect Now, use the timezone you just looked up to create a symbolic link to /etc/localtime. __Note:__ Be sure to change __America/Denver__ to your timezone. # ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Denver /etc/localtime Update the hardware clock. I use UTC: # hwclock --systohc --utc --- ## Set Hostname This is the name of your computer. __Note:__ Change "arch" to whatever you want your host to be. # echo arch > /etc/hostname --- ## Set the Root Password # passwd --- ## Create a User Account Make sure to replace <username> with your username. # useradd -m -G wheel,users -s /bin/bash And set the user password: # passwd --- ## Grant User Sudo Powers Install sudo: # pacman -S sudo Then run the following command, which will open the sudoers file: # EDITOR=nano visudo Find this line and uncomment: # %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL --- ## Update all packages The installation is basically done so we now update all installed packages: # pacman -Syu --- ## Reboot You should now have a working Arch Linux installation. It doesn't have a desktop environment or any applications yet, but the base installation is done. You can now reboot and remove the USB drive: First, exit chroot: # exit Now unmount and reboot # umount -R /mnt # reboot ## If you are running on VirtualBox If you are installing on VirtualBox you'll have to shutdown and remove the ISO you booted from. Remove it in the VirtualBox application at; Settings > Storage > Controller:IDE Also, make sure EFI is enabled: Settings > System > Enable EFI