Arch Linux Installation Guide (2026) — archinstall and Manual

Arch Linux Installation Guide (2026) — archinstall and Manual

Tested on: Arch Linux ISO 2026.06 — Last updated: June 2026

Arch Linux gives you a minimal, rolling-release system built exactly the way you want it. This guide covers both the archinstall guided installer (recommended for most users) and the manual installation method, along with a practical post-install setup for a working desktop.

Why Arch Linux?

  • Rolling release — always the latest software, no version upgrades
  • AUR — the largest user-maintained package repository in Linux
  • Minimal by default — you install only what you need
  • Excellent documentation — the Arch Wiki is the best Linux reference available

Step 1 — Download and Boot the Arch ISO

Download the latest Arch Linux ISO from archlinux.org and write it to a USB drive:

sudo dd if=archlinux-2026.06.01-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress

Boot from the USB. You will land in a root shell. Check your internet connection:

ping -c 3 archlinux.org

Method 1 — Install with archinstall (Recommended)

archinstall is the official guided installer. It handles partitioning, bootloader, desktop environment and user creation through a menu interface:

archinstall

Key choices during installation:

  • Disk configuration — Best-effort default partition layout (recommended)
  • Filesystem — btrfs (snapshots) or ext4 (simpler)
  • Bootloader — systemd-boot (UEFI) or GRUB (BIOS/UEFI)
  • Profile — Desktop → KDE Plasma, GNOME or Hyprland
  • Audio — Pipewire
  • Network — NetworkManager

Select Install to start. The process takes 5–15 minutes depending on your internet speed.

Method 2 — Manual Installation

Partition the disk

fdisk /dev/sda
# Create: EFI partition (512M, type EFI), swap (optional), root partition (rest)

Format and mount

mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1          # EFI
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3              # root
mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
mount --mkdir /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi

Install base system

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

Configure and install bootloader

# Set timezone, locale, hostname
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/London /etc/localtime
echo en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 >> /etc/locale.gen && locale-gen
echo myhostname > /etc/hostname

# Set root password
passwd

# Install GRUB
pacman -S grub efibootmgr
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Post-Install: AUR Helper and Essential Packages

# Install yay (AUR helper)
sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
cd yay && makepkg -si

# Install common tools
sudo pacman -S firefox vlc htop neofetch code

# Install from AUR
yay -S google-chrome spotify

Troubleshooting

No internet after reboot

sudo systemctl enable --now NetworkManager
nmtui  # graphical network manager in terminal

Black screen after installing desktop

Missing GPU drivers. For NVIDIA: sudo pacman -S nvidia nvidia-utils. For AMD: drivers are in the kernel. Reboot after installing.

pacman: failed to synchronize databases

sudo pacman -Sy archlinux-keyring
sudo pacman -Su

What to Do Next

With a running Arch system you have access to the full AUR — the largest software repository in Linux. If you want to run AI models locally on Arch, install Ollama directly from the AUR with yay -S ollama and you are up and running in minutes.

Further Reading

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