How to Install Arch Linux Step by Step

Arch Linux ships a rolling release with no installer screens — you build the system by hand from a live ISO. This guide is the modern archinstall-friendly path with manual fallback for the steps you might want to control.

Prerequisites

• A bootable USB written from archlinux-x.y-x86_64.iso (download from archlinux.org/download).
• UEFI machine recommended.
• Wired internet (or a wifi network you know the credentials for).

Step 1: Boot the ISO

Boot the USB, select Arch Linux install medium (x86_64, UEFI). You drop to a root shell with no prompt.

Confirm internet:

ping -c 2 archlinux.org

If on wifi:

iwctl
[iwd]# station list
[iwd]# station wlan0 connect MyWifi
[iwd]# exit

Sync clock:

timedatectl set-ntp true
timedatectl status

Step 2: The fast path — archinstall

The Arch project now ships a guided installer right in the live ISO:

archinstall

Walk through the menu:

• Mirrors: pick a region near you (Saudi Arabia / UAE if available, else Europe)
• Disk: select the target disk, choose Best-effort default partition layout, filesystem ext4 (or btrfs if you want subvolumes/snapshots)
• Bootloader: systemd-boot for UEFI (simpler), or grub for BIOS
• Profile: Minimal for a server, Desktop + your preferred environment for a workstation
• Audio: pipewire (or none for servers)
• Network: NetworkManager (works on both wifi + wired)
• Timezone: Asia/Riyadh
• Root password / user: set both. Add your user to the wheel group.

Pick Install at the bottom. ~10 minutes later, reboot.

Step 3: Manual partition path (skip if you used archinstall)

For UEFI + ext4 + LVM optional:

lsblk
fdisk /dev/nvme0n1
# Create:
#   /dev/nvme0n1p1  - 512 MiB - EFI System (type EF00)
#   /dev/nvme0n1p2  - rest    - Linux filesystem

Format and mount:

mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/nvme0n1p1
mkfs.ext4 -L arch /dev/nvme0n1p2

mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/boot
mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot

Install the base system:

pacstrap -K /mnt base linux linux-firmware sudo vim networkmanager
genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
arch-chroot /mnt

Inside chroot:

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Riyadh /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc
echo 'en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8' > /etc/locale.gen
echo 'ar_SA.UTF-8 UTF-8' >> /etc/locale.gen
locale-gen
echo 'LANG=en_US.UTF-8' > /etc/locale.conf
echo 'archhost' > /etc/hostname

passwd
useradd -mG wheel ops && passwd ops
sed -i 's/^# %wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL/%wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL/' /etc/sudoers

systemctl enable NetworkManager
bootctl install
echo -e "default arch\ntimeout 3\neditor no" > /boot/loader/loader.conf
cat > /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf <<EOF
title   Arch Linux
linux   /vmlinuz-linux
initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
options root=LABEL=arch rw
EOF

Exit chroot, unmount, reboot:

exit
umount -R /mnt
reboot

Step 4: First boot

sudo pacman -Syu
sudo systemctl enable --now NetworkManager
nmcli device wifi connect MyWifi password 'secret'
sudo pacman -S openssh ufw
sudo systemctl enable --now sshd ufw
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
sudo ufw enable

Verify

uname -r
hostnamectl
sudo systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running

Conclusion

archinstall makes Arch as approachable as Ubuntu Server while preserving the rolling-release ecosystem. Walk through the menu once, and you have a minimal Arch box ready for pacman and AUR.

Next steps

• Daily package operations in pacman + AUR (yay).
• Bootloader internals in Set up systemd-boot.
• Wifi/wired networking via NetworkManager on Arch.