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<header>
<h1>Arch GNU/Linux on MacBook Air 2013</h1>
<p>Published on November  1, 2016<br/>
Last updated on March 27, 2020</p>
</header>

<p>This post summarizes how I install and dual-boot Arch GNU/Linux
with Full-Disk Encryption alongside macOS.  It is not meant to be a
replacement for the
<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation%5Fguide">Installation
Guide</a> or the former
<a href="//csdietz.github.io/arch-beginner-guide/">Beginner's
Guide</a>.  Rather, it mostly serves as a small summary with a few
useful notes about the gotchas.</p>

<p>So, make sure you understand what you type into your terminal.  If
you don't, checking out the Arch wiki should probably be your first
step.</p>

<p><em>Note:</em> you will need internet access throughout the
installation and the MacBook Air's WiFi doesn't work out of the box on
Arch.  I recommend using an Ethernet-USB adapter or your phone's USB
Tethering feature (if it does support it).</p>

<h2>Shrinking the macOS partition</h2>
<p>The first step I take is resizing the HFS+ macOS partition to make
room for the new GNU/Linux installation.  There are plenty of
tutorials on how to do this using macOS's Disk Utility, so do that and
then come back!</p>

<h2>Creating a bootable Arch Installer USB</h2>
<p>There are different ways of creating a bootable Arch USB, all
documented on the
<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/USB%5Fflash%5Finstallation%5Fmedia">USB
flash installation media</a> page on the Arch wiki, but the simplest
one is using <code>dd</code> if you already have access to another
UNIX system.</p>

<p><strong class="warn">Warning:</strong> make sure you backup the
data on your flash drive, as <code>dd</code> will irrevocably destroy
all data on it.</p>

<p>Use <code>lsblk</code> to find the name (block device) of your USB drive, then
run <code>dd</code> (as root) as shown below:</p>

<pre>
dd bs=4M if=/path/to/archlinux.iso of=/dev/sdx status=progress && sync
</pre>

<p>Replace <code>/path/to/archlinux.iso</code> with the path to the
Arch image you have downloaded, and <code>/dev/sdx</code> with your
drive.</p>

<h2>Booting up from the USB</h2>
<p>After creating the install USB, reboot your laptop and hold the alt
key and boot from the USB.</p>

<p>When booting is complete and you're presented with the prompt, it's
a good time to make sure you're connected to the internet (see the
<em>note</em> at the top of this post).</p>

<p>Use <code>ping</code> to verify that you have established a
connection:</p>

<pre>
ping archlinux.org
</pre>

<h2>Updating the system clock</h2>
<p>Once you're connected to the internet, make sure the system clock
is accurate:</p>

<pre>
timedatectl set-ntp true  # start and enable systemd-timesyncd
</pre>

<p>You can check the service status using <code>timedatectl
status</code>.</p>

<h2>Partitioning</h2>
<p>I won't dive into partitioning and instead, I will refer you to the
<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Partitioning">Partitioning</a>
page of Arch wiki.  Of the available partitioning tools, I personally
prefer <code>cfdisk</code>.</p>

<h2>Setting up LVM &amp; LUKS</h2>
<p>I use an
<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dm-crypt/Encrypting%5Fan%5Fentire%5Fsystem#LVM%5Fon%5FLUKS">LVM
on LUKS</a> setup, where I set up LVM on top of the encrypted
partition.</p>

<p>First, let's set up the underlying encrypted partition:</p>

<pre>
cryptsetup -v --cipher aes-xts-plain64 --key-size 512 --hash sha512 \
           --iter-time 5000 --use-urandom -y luksFormat /dev/sdaX
</pre>

<p>where <code>/dev/sdaX</code> is the partition you created in the
last step (e.g. <code>/dev/sda4</code>).  For more information about
the <code>cryptsetup</code> options, see the
<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dm-crypt/Device%5Fencryption#Encryption%5Foptions%5Ffor%5FLUKS%5Fmode">LUKS
encryption options</a>.</p>

<p>Then we open the container:</p>

<pre>
cryptsetup open --type luks /dev/sdaX lvm
</pre>

<p>Now it's time to use lvm and prepare the logical volume(s):</p>

<pre>
pvcreate /dev/mapper/lvm vgcreate vg /dev/mapper/lvm
lvcreate --extents +100%FREE -n root vg
</pre>

<p>This will create a physical volume on the mapping we just opened,
create a volume group named <code>vg</code> on the physical volume,
and create a logical volume named <code>root</code> that spans the
entire volume group.  More complex setups are possible thanks to the
great flexibility of lvm.</p>

<p>We now format the logical volume with <code>ext4</code>:</p>

<pre>
mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/vg-root
</pre>

<h2>Installing the base system</h2>
<p>Let's mount the logical volume, make a directory for the mount
point of the boot partition, and mount the boot partition
(<code>/dev/sda1</code>):</p>

<pre>
mount /dev/mapper/vg-root /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
</pre>

<p>Finally, let's install the base system (and optionally
<code>base-devel</code>):</p>

<pre>
pacstrap /mnt base base-devel
</pre>

<h2>Configuring the system</h2>
<p>Let's generate the fstab:</p>

<pre>
genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
</pre>

<p>Use your favorite terminal-based editor, edit the fstab file and
add the <code>discard</code> option for the root partition to enable
TRIM on the SSD.</p>

<p>Now we change root into our newly installed system and will
configure it.  Adjust these according to your own setup.</p>

<pre>
arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash
passwd # set the root password
echo myhostname > /etc/hostname # set the hostname
ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Canada/Eastern /etc/localtime # time zone
hwclock --systohc --utc # write system clock to hardware clock (UTC)
useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash myuser # create myuser
passwd myuser # set the password for myuser
echo "myuser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL" >> /etc/sudoers.d/myuser
# uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 and other needed locales in /etc/locale.gen
locale-gen
echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
</pre>

<p>Then adjust the initramfs hooks in
<code>/etc/mkinitcpio.conf</code> and enable the
<code>encrypt</code> and <code>lvm2</code> hooks, and make sure
<code>keyboard</code> is available before <code>encrypt</code> so you
can actually type in the LUKS password when booting.  Your
<code>HOOKS</code> line should look similar to this:</p>

<pre>
HOOKS=(base udev autodetect keyboard keymap consolefont modconf block encrypt lvm2 filesystems fsck)
</pre>

<p>After adjusting the hooks, build the initramfs:</p>

<pre>
mkinitcpio -p linux
</pre>

<p>Create the <code>/boot/loader/loader.conf</code> with the following
content (adjust the timeout to your liking):</p>

<pre>
default arch timeout 3
</pre>

<p>Then create the entry for Arch:</p>

<pre>
mkdir -p /boot/loader/entries
touch /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
</pre>

<p>Now edit <code>/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf</code> to specify the
Arch entry:</p>

<pre>
title Arch GNU/Linux
linux /vmlinuz-linux
initrd /intel-ucode.img
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options cryptdevice=/dev/sdaX:vg:allow-discards root=/dev/mapper/vg-root rw
</pre>

<p>Again, <code>/dev/sdaX</code> is the partition you created in the
partitioning step earlier as the underlying encrypted partition.</p>

<p>Finally, install the bootloader, exit the chroot, umount and
reboot!</p>

<pre>
bootctl install
exit
umount -R /mnt
reboot
</pre>

<h2>Post-installation recommendations</h2>
<p>Congratulations!  You now have a minimal Arch installation.</p>

<p>At this point, I usually install my favorite AUR helper,
<a href="//aur.archlinux.org/packages/pacaur/">pacaur</a>, then I
install the
<a href="//aur.archlinux.org/packages/mba6x%5Fbl-dkms/">mba6x_bl-dkms</a>
backlight driver to fix the post suspend/resume issue where there's no
brightness after waking up from suspend, and the only available
brightness would be 100%.</p>

<pre>
pacaur -S linux-headers dkms # linux-headers is required for dkms
pacaur -S broadcom-wl-dkms
pacaur -S mba6x_bl-dkms
</pre>

<p>Then, I'd like to install</p>
<ul>
<li>input, graphics, and sound drivers,</li>
<li>a desktop environment (I prefer Xfce or LXQt),</li>
<li>a display manager for login screen (lightdm or sddm), and</li>
<li>a network manager (NetworkManager or ConnMan).</li>
</ul>

<p>Check out the
<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/General%5Frecommendations">General
recommendations</a> for more details.</p>

<h2>References</h2>
<p>Here are some resources I've come across each with lots of useful
bits and pieces, about installing Arch on a MacBook:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="//github.com/pandeiro/arch-on-air">pandeiro/arch-on-air</a></li>
<li><a href="//loicpefferkorn.net/2015/01/arch-linux-on-macbook-pro-retina-2014-with-dm-crypt-lvm-and-suspend-to-disk/">Arch Linux on MacBook Pro Retina 2014 with DM-Crypt, LVM and suspend to disk</a></li>
<li><a href="//www.frankshin.com/2014/installing-archlinux-on-macbook-air-2013/">Installing Archlinux on Macbook Air 2013</a></li>
<li><a href="http://panks.me/posts/2013/06/arch-linux-installation-with-os-x-on-macbook-air-dual-boot/">Arch Linux Installation with OS X on Macbook Air (Dual Boot)</a></li>
<li><a href="//alexeyzabelin.com/arch-on-mac">Installing Arch Linux on a MacBook Air 2013</a></li>
<li><a href="//medium.com/phils-thought-bubble-of-recent-stuff/arch-linux-running-on-my-macbook-2ea525ebefe3">Arch Linux running on my MacBook</a></li>
<li><a href="http://codylittlewood.com/arch-linux-on-macbook-pro-installation/">Dual boot Arch Linux on MacBook Pro Installation</a></li>
</ul>

<p class="muted inbox">Got a question or comment?  You can find my
email address on my <a href="contact">contact</a> page.
<span class="smly">:-)</span></p>
</article>
</main>
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<p>Copyright &copy; 2016, 2019, 2020 Amin Bandali.  See
<a href="/license.html">license.html</a> for license conditions.
Please copy and share.</p>
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	6	<title>Arch GNU/Linux on MacBook Air 2013 — Amin Bandali</title>
	7	<link rel="icon" href="/gnu.ico"/>
	8	<link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css"/>
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	10	<body>
	11	<header>
	12	<strong><a href="/">Amin Bandali</a>'s Personal Site</strong>
	13	</header>
	14	<nav>
	15	<ul>
	16	<li><a href="/#papers">Publications</a></li>
	17	<li><a href="/#projects">Projects</a></li>
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	23	<main>
	24	<article>
	25	<header>
	26	<h1>Arch GNU/Linux on MacBook Air 2013</h1>
	27	<p>Published on November 1, 2016<br/>
	28	Last updated on March 27, 2020</p>
	29	</header>
	30
	31	<p>This post summarizes how I install and dual-boot Arch GNU/Linux
	32	with Full-Disk Encryption alongside macOS. It is not meant to be a
	33	replacement for the
	34	<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation%5Fguide">Installation
	35	Guide</a> or the former
	36	<a href="//csdietz.github.io/arch-beginner-guide/">Beginner's
	37	Guide</a>. Rather, it mostly serves as a small summary with a few
	38	useful notes about the gotchas.</p>
	39
	40	<p>So, make sure you understand what you type into your terminal. If
	41	you don't, checking out the Arch wiki should probably be your first
	42	step.</p>
	43
	44	<p><em>Note:</em> you will need internet access throughout the
	45	installation and the MacBook Air's WiFi doesn't work out of the box on
	46	Arch. I recommend using an Ethernet-USB adapter or your phone's USB
	47	Tethering feature (if it does support it).</p>
	48
	49	<h2>Shrinking the macOS partition</h2>
	50	<p>The first step I take is resizing the HFS+ macOS partition to make
	51	room for the new GNU/Linux installation. There are plenty of
	52	tutorials on how to do this using macOS's Disk Utility, so do that and
	53	then come back!</p>
	54
	55	<h2>Creating a bootable Arch Installer USB</h2>
	56	<p>There are different ways of creating a bootable Arch USB, all
	57	documented on the
	58	<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/USB%5Fflash%5Finstallation%5Fmedia">USB
	59	flash installation media</a> page on the Arch wiki, but the simplest
	60	one is using <code>dd</code> if you already have access to another
	61	UNIX system.</p>
	62
	63	<p><strong class="warn">Warning:</strong> make sure you backup the
	64	data on your flash drive, as <code>dd</code> will irrevocably destroy
65	all data on it.</p>
66
67	<p>Use <code>lsblk</code> to find the name (block device) of your USB drive, then
68	run <code>dd</code> (as root) as shown below:</p>
69
70	<pre>
71	dd bs=4M if=/path/to/archlinux.iso of=/dev/sdx status=progress && sync
72	</pre>
73
74	<p>Replace <code>/path/to/archlinux.iso</code> with the path to the
75	Arch image you have downloaded, and <code>/dev/sdx</code> with your
76	drive.</p>
77
78	<h2>Booting up from the USB</h2>
79	<p>After creating the install USB, reboot your laptop and hold the alt
80	key and boot from the USB.</p>
81
82	<p>When booting is complete and you're presented with the prompt, it's
83	a good time to make sure you're connected to the internet (see the
84	<em>note</em> at the top of this post).</p>
85
86	<p>Use <code>ping</code> to verify that you have established a
87	connection:</p>
88
89	<pre>
90	ping archlinux.org
91	</pre>
92
93	<h2>Updating the system clock</h2>
94	<p>Once you're connected to the internet, make sure the system clock
95	is accurate:</p>
96
97	<pre>
98	timedatectl set-ntp true # start and enable systemd-timesyncd
99	</pre>
100
101	<p>You can check the service status using <code>timedatectl
102	status</code>.</p>
103
104	<h2>Partitioning</h2>
105	<p>I won't dive into partitioning and instead, I will refer you to the
106	<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Partitioning">Partitioning</a>
107	page of Arch wiki. Of the available partitioning tools, I personally
108	prefer <code>cfdisk</code>.</p>
109
110	<h2>Setting up LVM & LUKS</h2>
111	<p>I use an
112	<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dm-crypt/Encrypting%5Fan%5Fentire%5Fsystem#LVM%5Fon%5FLUKS">LVM
113	on LUKS</a> setup, where I set up LVM on top of the encrypted
114	partition.</p>
115
116	<p>First, let's set up the underlying encrypted partition:</p>
117
118	<pre>
119	cryptsetup -v --cipher aes-xts-plain64 --key-size 512 --hash sha512 \
120	--iter-time 5000 --use-urandom -y luksFormat /dev/sdaX
121	</pre>
122
123	<p>where <code>/dev/sdaX</code> is the partition you created in the
124	last step (e.g. <code>/dev/sda4</code>). For more information about
125	the <code>cryptsetup</code> options, see the
126	<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dm-crypt/Device%5Fencryption#Encryption%5Foptions%5Ffor%5FLUKS%5Fmode">LUKS
127	encryption options</a>.</p>
128
129	<p>Then we open the container:</p>
130
131	<pre>
132	cryptsetup open --type luks /dev/sdaX lvm
133	</pre>
134
135	<p>Now it's time to use lvm and prepare the logical volume(s):</p>
136
137	<pre>
138	pvcreate /dev/mapper/lvm vgcreate vg /dev/mapper/lvm
139	lvcreate --extents +100%FREE -n root vg
140	</pre>
141
142	<p>This will create a physical volume on the mapping we just opened,
143	create a volume group named <code>vg</code> on the physical volume,
144	and create a logical volume named <code>root</code> that spans the
145	entire volume group. More complex setups are possible thanks to the
146	great flexibility of lvm.</p>
147
148	<p>We now format the logical volume with <code>ext4</code>:</p>
149
150	<pre>
151	mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/vg-root
152	</pre>
153
154	<h2>Installing the base system</h2>
155	<p>Let's mount the logical volume, make a directory for the mount
156	point of the boot partition, and mount the boot partition
157	(<code>/dev/sda1</code>):</p>
158
159	<pre>
160	mount /dev/mapper/vg-root /mnt
161	mkdir /mnt/boot
162	mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
163	</pre>
164
165	<p>Finally, let's install the base system (and optionally
166	<code>base-devel</code>):</p>
167
168	<pre>
169	pacstrap /mnt base base-devel
170	</pre>
171
172	<h2>Configuring the system</h2>
173	<p>Let's generate the fstab:</p>
174
175	<pre>
176	genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
177	</pre>
178
179	<p>Use your favorite terminal-based editor, edit the fstab file and
180	add the <code>discard</code> option for the root partition to enable
181	TRIM on the SSD.</p>
182
183	<p>Now we change root into our newly installed system and will
184	configure it. Adjust these according to your own setup.</p>
185
186	<pre>
187	arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash
188	passwd # set the root password
189	echo myhostname > /etc/hostname # set the hostname
190	ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Canada/Eastern /etc/localtime # time zone
191	hwclock --systohc --utc # write system clock to hardware clock (UTC)
192	useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash myuser # create myuser
193	passwd myuser # set the password for myuser
194	echo "myuser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL" >> /etc/sudoers.d/myuser
195	# uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 and other needed locales in /etc/locale.gen
196	locale-gen
197	echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
198	export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
199	</pre>
200
201	<p>Then adjust the initramfs hooks in
202	<code>/etc/mkinitcpio.conf</code> and enable the
203	<code>encrypt</code> and <code>lvm2</code> hooks, and make sure
204	<code>keyboard</code> is available before <code>encrypt</code> so you
205	can actually type in the LUKS password when booting. Your
206	<code>HOOKS</code> line should look similar to this:</p>
207
208	<pre>
209	HOOKS=(base udev autodetect keyboard keymap consolefont modconf block encrypt lvm2 filesystems fsck)
210	</pre>
211
212	<p>After adjusting the hooks, build the initramfs:</p>
213
214	<pre>
215	mkinitcpio -p linux
216	</pre>
217
218	<p>Create the <code>/boot/loader/loader.conf</code> with the following
219	content (adjust the timeout to your liking):</p>
220
221	<pre>
222	default arch timeout 3
223	</pre>
224
225	<p>Then create the entry for Arch:</p>
226
227	<pre>
228	mkdir -p /boot/loader/entries
229	touch /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
230	</pre>
231
232	<p>Now edit <code>/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf</code> to specify the
233	Arch entry:</p>
234
235	<pre>
236	title Arch GNU/Linux
237	linux /vmlinuz-linux
238	initrd /intel-ucode.img
239	initrd /initramfs-linux.img
240	options cryptdevice=/dev/sdaX:vg:allow-discards root=/dev/mapper/vg-root rw
241	</pre>
242
243	<p>Again, <code>/dev/sdaX</code> is the partition you created in the
244	partitioning step earlier as the underlying encrypted partition.</p>
245
246	<p>Finally, install the bootloader, exit the chroot, umount and
247	reboot!</p>
248
249	<pre>
250	bootctl install
251	exit
252	umount -R /mnt
253	reboot
254	</pre>
255
256	<h2>Post-installation recommendations</h2>
257	<p>Congratulations! You now have a minimal Arch installation.</p>
258
259	<p>At this point, I usually install my favorite AUR helper,
260	<a href="//aur.archlinux.org/packages/pacaur/">pacaur</a>, then I
261	install the
262	<a href="//aur.archlinux.org/packages/mba6x%5Fbl-dkms/">mba6x_bl-dkms</a>
263	backlight driver to fix the post suspend/resume issue where there's no
264	brightness after waking up from suspend, and the only available
265	brightness would be 100%.</p>
266
267	<pre>
268	pacaur -S linux-headers dkms # linux-headers is required for dkms
269	pacaur -S broadcom-wl-dkms
270	pacaur -S mba6x_bl-dkms
271	</pre>
272
273	<p>Then, I'd like to install</p>
274	<ul>
275	<li>input, graphics, and sound drivers,</li>
276	<li>a desktop environment (I prefer Xfce or LXQt),</li>
277	<li>a display manager for login screen (lightdm or sddm), and</li>
278	<li>a network manager (NetworkManager or ConnMan).</li>
279	</ul>
280
281	<p>Check out the
282	<a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/General%5Frecommendations">General
283	recommendations</a> for more details.</p>
284
285	<h2>References</h2>
286	<p>Here are some resources I've come across each with lots of useful
287	bits and pieces, about installing Arch on a MacBook:</p>
288
289	<ul>
290	<li><a href="//github.com/pandeiro/arch-on-air">pandeiro/arch-on-air</a></li>
291	<li><a href="//loicpefferkorn.net/2015/01/arch-linux-on-macbook-pro-retina-2014-with-dm-crypt-lvm-and-suspend-to-disk/">Arch Linux on MacBook Pro Retina 2014 with DM-Crypt, LVM and suspend to disk</a></li>
292	<li><a href="//www.frankshin.com/2014/installing-archlinux-on-macbook-air-2013/">Installing Archlinux on Macbook Air 2013</a></li>
293	<li><a href="http://panks.me/posts/2013/06/arch-linux-installation-with-os-x-on-macbook-air-dual-boot/">Arch Linux Installation with OS X on Macbook Air (Dual Boot)</a></li>
294	<li><a href="//alexeyzabelin.com/arch-on-mac">Installing Arch Linux on a MacBook Air 2013</a></li>
295	<li><a href="//medium.com/phils-thought-bubble-of-recent-stuff/arch-linux-running-on-my-macbook-2ea525ebefe3">Arch Linux running on my MacBook</a></li>
296	<li><a href="http://codylittlewood.com/arch-linux-on-macbook-pro-installation/">Dual boot Arch Linux on MacBook Pro Installation</a></li>
297	</ul>
298
299	<p class="muted inbox">Got a question or comment? You can find my
300	email address on my <a href="contact">contact</a> page.
301	<span class="smly">:-)</span></p>
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