Arch Linux: install on Surface Pro


  1. Download the ISO from https://archlinux.org/download/
  2. Create a live USB of Arch Linux, boot from the live USB
  3. Connect to Wifi
    • list network interface, enter iwctl interactive prompt
      $ ip link
$ iwctl
    • list all Wi-Fi devices, find the wireless device name 
      $ device list
    • scan for networks, list all available networks, and finally, connect to a network 
      $ station device scan
$ station device get-networks
$ station device connect SSID
    • check the internet connection 
      $ ping archlinux.org
  4. Partition the disks
    • List all the disk and partitions, select the disk for formatting and partitioning 
      $ fdisk -l
$ fdisk /dev/nvme0n1
    • Create an ESP partition (For UEFI systems only):
      • enter n, it will ask you to choose a disk number, enter 1. Stay with the default block size, when it asks for the partition size, enter +512M

        WESTERLIES

      • change the type of the EFI partition to EFI System by enter t, enter L to see all the partition types available and then enter its corresponding number to the EFI system
        WESTERLIES
    • Create root partition (no swap, no home)
      • enter n to create a new partition. It will automatically give it partition number 2. Keep on pressing enter to allocate entire remaining disk space to the root partition.
    • Finally, enter w command to write the changes and exit out of fdisk command
  5. Create filesystem
    • with two disk partitions (nvme0n1p1 and nvme0n1p2), create a FAT32 file system and create an Ext4 filesystem on the root partition 
      $ mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1
$ mkfs.ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p2
  6. Install Arch Linux
    • mount Arch Linux on the root directory and install the packages 
      $ mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt
$ pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware vim sudo #add more if needed
  7. Configure Arch Linux
    • define how disk partitions, enter the mounted disk as root 
      $ genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
$ arch-chroot /mnt
    • set up timezone 
      $ timedatectl list-timezones
$ timedatectl set-timezone America/Chicago
    • set up Locale
      • edit the flie /etc/locale.gen, uncomment en_US.UTF-8.
      • generate the locale config 
        $ locale-gen
$ echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
$ export LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
    • set up network
      • create /etc/hostname file and set the hostname (e.g. Camus) 
        $ echo Camus > /etc/hostname
$ touch /etc/hosts
      • edit /etc/hostname by adding the following lines 
        127.0.0.1	localhost
::1		localhost
127.0.1.1	Camus
    • set up bluetooth
      • install bluez and enable the service 
        $ pacman -S bluez bluez-utils
$ systemctl bluetooth.service
    • set up root password 
      $ passwd
  8. Install Grub bootloader
    • make sure that you are still using arch-chroot to perform the following commands 
      $ pacman -S grub efibootmgr
$ mkdir /boot/efi
$ mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /boot/efi
$ grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --bootloader-id=GRUB --efi-directory=/boot/efi
$ grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
  9. Install desktop environment
    • install X environment Xorg 
      $ pacman -S xorg
    • install GNOME and enable the display manager 
      $ pacman -S archlinux-keyring
$ pacman -S gnome
$ systemctl start gdm.service
$ systemctl enable gdm.service
$ pacman -S networkmanager
$ systemctl enable NetworkManager.service
    • install KDE Plasma 
      $ pacman -S xorg plasma plasma-wayland-session
  10. Create a sudo user
    • create a home directory for the new user (e.g. Sicheng), setup password 
      $ useradd -m Sicheng
$ passwd Sicheng
    • give the user sudo access 
      $ EDITOR=vim visudo
      • add the following line, save and exit 
        Sicheng ALL=(ALL) ALL

Finally, exit from chroot, restart the system.


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