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1 | dnl -*- html -*- |
2 | define(__pub, 2016-11-01T12:00:00Z)dnl | |
3 | define(__upd, 2020-03-27T12:00:00Z)dnl | |
4 | define(__title, `Arch GNU/Linux on MacBook Air 2013')dnl | |
5 | define(__slug, `computing')dnl | |
6 | define(__id, 1)dnl | |
7 | include(header.html) | |
4927af92 AB |
8 | <p>This post summarizes how I install and dual-boot Arch GNU/Linux |
9 | with Full-Disk Encryption alongside macOS. It is not meant to be a | |
10 | replacement for the | |
11 | <a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation%5Fguide">Installation | |
12 | Guide</a> or the former | |
13 | <a href="//csdietz.github.io/arch-beginner-guide/">Beginner's | |
14 | Guide</a>. Rather, it mostly serves as a small summary with a few | |
15 | useful notes about the gotchas.</p> | |
16 | ||
17 | <p>So, make sure you understand what you type into your terminal. If | |
18 | you don't, checking out the Arch wiki should probably be your first | |
19 | step.</p> | |
20 | ||
21 | <p><em>Note:</em> you will need internet access throughout the | |
22 | installation and the MacBook Air's WiFi doesn't work out of the box on | |
23 | Arch. I recommend using an Ethernet-USB adapter or your phone's USB | |
24 | Tethering feature (if it does support it).</p> | |
25 | ||
26 | <h2>Shrinking the macOS partition</h2> | |
27 | <p>The first step I take is resizing the HFS+ macOS partition to make | |
28 | room for the new GNU/Linux installation. There are plenty of | |
29 | tutorials on how to do this using macOS's Disk Utility, so do that and | |
30 | then come back!</p> | |
31 | ||
32 | <h2>Creating a bootable Arch Installer USB</h2> | |
33 | <p>There are different ways of creating a bootable Arch USB, all | |
34 | documented on the | |
35 | <a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/USB%5Fflash%5Finstallation%5Fmedia">USB | |
36 | flash installation media</a> page on the Arch wiki, but the simplest | |
37 | one is using <code>dd</code> if you already have access to another | |
38 | UNIX system.</p> | |
39 | ||
40 | <p><strong class="warn">Warning:</strong> make sure you backup the | |
41 | data on your flash drive, as <code>dd</code> will irrevocably destroy | |
42 | all data on it.</p> | |
43 | ||
44 | <p>Use <code>lsblk</code> to find the name (block device) of your USB drive, then | |
45 | run <code>dd</code> (as root) as shown below:</p> | |
46 | ||
47 | <pre> | |
48 | dd bs=4M if=/path/to/archlinux.iso of=/dev/sdx status=progress && sync | |
49 | </pre> | |
50 | ||
51 | <p>Replace <code>/path/to/archlinux.iso</code> with the path to the | |
52 | Arch image you have downloaded, and <code>/dev/sdx</code> with your | |
53 | drive.</p> | |
54 | ||
55 | <h2>Booting up from the USB</h2> | |
56 | <p>After creating the install USB, reboot your laptop and hold the alt | |
57 | key and boot from the USB.</p> | |
58 | ||
59 | <p>When booting is complete and you're presented with the prompt, it's | |
60 | a good time to make sure you're connected to the internet (see the | |
61 | <em>note</em> at the top of this post).</p> | |
62 | ||
63 | <p>Use <code>ping</code> to verify that you have established a | |
64 | connection:</p> | |
65 | ||
66 | <pre> | |
67 | ping archlinux.org | |
68 | </pre> | |
69 | ||
70 | <h2>Updating the system clock</h2> | |
71 | <p>Once you're connected to the internet, make sure the system clock | |
72 | is accurate:</p> | |
73 | ||
74 | <pre> | |
75 | timedatectl set-ntp true # start and enable systemd-timesyncd | |
76 | </pre> | |
77 | ||
78 | <p>You can check the service status using <code>timedatectl | |
79 | status</code>.</p> | |
80 | ||
81 | <h2>Partitioning</h2> | |
82 | <p>I won't dive into partitioning and instead, I will refer you to the | |
83 | <a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Partitioning">Partitioning</a> | |
84 | page of Arch wiki. Of the available partitioning tools, I personally | |
85 | prefer <code>cfdisk</code>.</p> | |
86 | ||
87 | <h2>Setting up LVM & LUKS</h2> | |
88 | <p>I use an | |
89 | <a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dm-crypt/Encrypting%5Fan%5Fentire%5Fsystem#LVM%5Fon%5FLUKS">LVM | |
90 | on LUKS</a> setup, where I set up LVM on top of the encrypted | |
91 | partition.</p> | |
92 | ||
93 | <p>First, let's set up the underlying encrypted partition:</p> | |
94 | ||
95 | <pre> | |
96 | cryptsetup -v --cipher aes-xts-plain64 --key-size 512 --hash sha512 \ | |
97 | --iter-time 5000 --use-urandom -y luksFormat /dev/sdaX | |
98 | </pre> | |
99 | ||
100 | <p>where <code>/dev/sdaX</code> is the partition you created in the | |
101 | last step (e.g. <code>/dev/sda4</code>). For more information about | |
102 | the <code>cryptsetup</code> options, see the | |
103 | <a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dm-crypt/Device%5Fencryption#Encryption%5Foptions%5Ffor%5FLUKS%5Fmode">LUKS | |
104 | encryption options</a>.</p> | |
105 | ||
106 | <p>Then we open the container:</p> | |
107 | ||
108 | <pre> | |
109 | cryptsetup open --type luks /dev/sdaX lvm | |
110 | </pre> | |
111 | ||
112 | <p>Now it's time to use lvm and prepare the logical volume(s):</p> | |
113 | ||
114 | <pre> | |
115 | pvcreate /dev/mapper/lvm vgcreate vg /dev/mapper/lvm | |
116 | lvcreate --extents +100%FREE -n root vg | |
117 | </pre> | |
118 | ||
119 | <p>This will create a physical volume on the mapping we just opened, | |
120 | create a volume group named <code>vg</code> on the physical volume, | |
121 | and create a logical volume named <code>root</code> that spans the | |
122 | entire volume group. More complex setups are possible thanks to the | |
123 | great flexibility of lvm.</p> | |
124 | ||
125 | <p>We now format the logical volume with <code>ext4</code>:</p> | |
126 | ||
127 | <pre> | |
128 | mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/vg-root | |
129 | </pre> | |
130 | ||
131 | <h2>Installing the base system</h2> | |
132 | <p>Let's mount the logical volume, make a directory for the mount | |
133 | point of the boot partition, and mount the boot partition | |
134 | (<code>/dev/sda1</code>):</p> | |
135 | ||
136 | <pre> | |
137 | mount /dev/mapper/vg-root /mnt | |
138 | mkdir /mnt/boot | |
139 | mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot | |
140 | </pre> | |
141 | ||
142 | <p>Finally, let's install the base system (and optionally | |
143 | <code>base-devel</code>):</p> | |
144 | ||
145 | <pre> | |
146 | pacstrap /mnt base base-devel | |
147 | </pre> | |
148 | ||
149 | <h2>Configuring the system</h2> | |
150 | <p>Let's generate the fstab:</p> | |
151 | ||
152 | <pre> | |
153 | genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab | |
154 | </pre> | |
155 | ||
156 | <p>Use your favorite terminal-based editor, edit the fstab file and | |
157 | add the <code>discard</code> option for the root partition to enable | |
158 | TRIM on the SSD.</p> | |
159 | ||
160 | <p>Now we change root into our newly installed system and will | |
161 | configure it. Adjust these according to your own setup.</p> | |
162 | ||
163 | <pre> | |
164 | arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash | |
165 | passwd # set the root password | |
166 | echo myhostname > /etc/hostname # set the hostname | |
167 | ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Canada/Eastern /etc/localtime # time zone | |
168 | hwclock --systohc --utc # write system clock to hardware clock (UTC) | |
169 | useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash myuser # create myuser | |
170 | passwd myuser # set the password for myuser | |
171 | echo "myuser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL" >> /etc/sudoers.d/myuser | |
172 | # uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 and other needed locales in /etc/locale.gen | |
173 | locale-gen | |
174 | echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf | |
175 | export LANG=en_US.UTF-8 | |
176 | </pre> | |
177 | ||
178 | <p>Then adjust the initramfs hooks in | |
179 | <code>/etc/mkinitcpio.conf</code> and enable the | |
180 | <code>encrypt</code> and <code>lvm2</code> hooks, and make sure | |
181 | <code>keyboard</code> is available before <code>encrypt</code> so you | |
182 | can actually type in the LUKS password when booting. Your | |
183 | <code>HOOKS</code> line should look similar to this:</p> | |
184 | ||
185 | <pre> | |
186 | HOOKS=(base udev autodetect keyboard keymap consolefont modconf block encrypt lvm2 filesystems fsck) | |
187 | </pre> | |
188 | ||
189 | <p>After adjusting the hooks, build the initramfs:</p> | |
190 | ||
191 | <pre> | |
192 | mkinitcpio -p linux | |
193 | </pre> | |
194 | ||
195 | <p>Create the <code>/boot/loader/loader.conf</code> with the following | |
196 | content (adjust the timeout to your liking):</p> | |
197 | ||
198 | <pre> | |
199 | default arch timeout 3 | |
200 | </pre> | |
201 | ||
202 | <p>Then create the entry for Arch:</p> | |
203 | ||
204 | <pre> | |
205 | mkdir -p /boot/loader/entries | |
206 | touch /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf | |
207 | </pre> | |
208 | ||
209 | <p>Now edit <code>/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf</code> to specify the | |
210 | Arch entry:</p> | |
211 | ||
212 | <pre> | |
213 | title Arch GNU/Linux | |
214 | linux /vmlinuz-linux | |
215 | initrd /intel-ucode.img | |
216 | initrd /initramfs-linux.img | |
217 | options cryptdevice=/dev/sdaX:vg:allow-discards root=/dev/mapper/vg-root rw | |
218 | </pre> | |
219 | ||
220 | <p>Again, <code>/dev/sdaX</code> is the partition you created in the | |
221 | partitioning step earlier as the underlying encrypted partition.</p> | |
222 | ||
223 | <p>Finally, install the bootloader, exit the chroot, umount and | |
224 | reboot!</p> | |
225 | ||
226 | <pre> | |
227 | bootctl install | |
228 | exit | |
229 | umount -R /mnt | |
230 | reboot | |
231 | </pre> | |
232 | ||
233 | <h2>Post-installation recommendations</h2> | |
234 | <p>Congratulations! You now have a minimal Arch installation.</p> | |
235 | ||
236 | <p>At this point, I usually install my favorite AUR helper, | |
237 | <a href="//aur.archlinux.org/packages/pacaur/">pacaur</a>, then I | |
238 | install the | |
239 | <a href="//aur.archlinux.org/packages/mba6x%5Fbl-dkms/">mba6x_bl-dkms</a> | |
240 | backlight driver to fix the post suspend/resume issue where there's no | |
241 | brightness after waking up from suspend, and the only available | |
242 | brightness would be 100%.</p> | |
243 | ||
244 | <pre> | |
245 | pacaur -S linux-headers dkms # linux-headers is required for dkms | |
246 | pacaur -S broadcom-wl-dkms | |
247 | pacaur -S mba6x_bl-dkms | |
248 | </pre> | |
249 | ||
250 | <p>Then, I'd like to install</p> | |
251 | <ul> | |
252 | <li>input, graphics, and sound drivers,</li> | |
253 | <li>a desktop environment (I prefer Xfce or LXQt),</li> | |
254 | <li>a display manager for login screen (lightdm or sddm), and</li> | |
255 | <li>a network manager (NetworkManager or ConnMan).</li> | |
256 | </ul> | |
257 | ||
258 | <p>Check out the | |
259 | <a href="//wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/General%5Frecommendations">General | |
260 | recommendations</a> for more details.</p> | |
261 | ||
262 | <h2>References</h2> | |
263 | <p>Here are some resources I've come across each with lots of useful | |
264 | bits and pieces, about installing Arch on a MacBook:</p> | |
265 | ||
266 | <ul> | |
267 | <li><a href="//github.com/pandeiro/arch-on-air">pandeiro/arch-on-air</a></li> | |
268 | <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> | |
269 | <li><a href="//www.frankshin.com/2014/installing-archlinux-on-macbook-air-2013/">Installing Archlinux on Macbook Air 2013</a></li> | |
270 | <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> | |
271 | <li><a href="//alexeyzabelin.com/arch-on-mac">Installing Arch Linux on a MacBook Air 2013</a></li> | |
272 | <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> | |
273 | <li><a href="http://codylittlewood.com/arch-linux-on-macbook-pro-installation/">Dual boot Arch Linux on MacBook Pro Installation</a></li> | |
274 | </ul> | |
505a9419 AB |
275 | define(__copy, `2016, 2019, 2020')dnl |
276 | include(footer.html) |