Installing Arch linux the cracked way

I have been distro hopping since the dawn of time. I do this every few month, but I think this time I am going to stick with Arch. I always come back to it after trying the new shiny thing because it has the best scaling and customizability. So, Installing it on my PC is process I do every couple of months, I want to write a blog about doing it the proper way.

Bootable USB

Creating a bootable USB stick is a crucial step, it is good if you already have done it. A very simple and easy process, assuming if you are going to be trying it, you already have the ISO file and know how to make bootable stick.

If you are on Windows, use rufus and if you are any Unix based system, use Ventoy. Hopefully, you can read the docs there and create the bootable stick. If you can't, you should learn it - it builds character.

Installing the OS

plug it in, and boot into the USB drive, again standard procedure. After booting in, if you are not connected to ethernet then we will have to dance around a little and connect to WIFI first, so follow me along -

Connecting to Wifi

iwctl

station wlan0 get-networks

This will display all the nearby wifi networks

station wlan0 connect

Enter the correct passphrase, and you are good to go.

Get back by typing exit, to get back root screen, type - ping google.com If you see some packages being transferred you are connected, ready to move to the next step.

Using archinstall script

Now, the arch installation can be extremely manual or you can just use the script, I suggest you use the script. It automates the installing and configuring process.

Type - archinstall and It will open up a GUI interface. Most of the things are pretty standard. Few of the settings that are preferred -

Disk_encryption : I don't use it

Boot-loader: select grub

Disk-configuration: Wipe the disk and do auto-config (trust me on this)

Profile: select KDE (handsdown the best desktop interface)

Audio: Pipewire
I suggest not to dual boot. Dual boot is good option if you have two memory discs/ssds. This way you don't mess up your workflow and prevent the risk of overwriting.

Note - When creating the root user, don't set the password configuration blank. It will delete the user with root privilege and lock you out of the PC. You don't want that