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This document is a WORK IN PROGRESS.
This is just a quick personal cheat sheet: treat its contents with caution!

Common installation steps

This cheat sheet gathers common Linux distributions installation steps, in order to refactor the content of the following cheat sheets:

Reference(s)

Table of contents

Prerequisites

Bootable media

Follow this cheat sheet about bootable media in order to install the ISO image on a USB drive and boot on it with UEFI (see also this related Arch wiki article).

Warning

Most bootable USB drive wont support Secure Boot! You will need to disable Secure Boot from the host computer before booting on the USB drive. Note that you can optionally set up Secure Boot after completing the installation.

After booting your live ISO image on a bootable media

  • Check the keyboard mapping (keymap). The default console keymap is the US one. So, if the keyboard layout feels wrong, then it can be changed like so: 

    # loadkeys fr # e.g. switch the keyboard mapping to French (or any other language) if needed

    Note that available keymaps can be listed usually with: 

    # ls /usr/share/kbd/keymaps/**/*.map.gz
    or with 
    # ls /usr/share/keymaps/**/*.map.gz

  • Optionally start a graphical environment. The live installation ISO image you are using might provide a graphical environment that you are willing to use, in that case run the following command: 

    # startx
    At this point the keyboard layout might feel wrong again. This might be due to the Xorg keyboard configuration, it can be changed like so: 
    # setxkbmap fr # e.g. to switch to French (or any other language) if needed

  • Verify the boot mode: 

    # ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

    If the previous command achieves to list the efivars directory without error, then the system is booted in UEFI mode. If the directory does not exist, the system may be booted in BIOS (or CSM) mode. If the system did not boot in the mode you desired, refer to your motherboard's manual.

  • Update the system clock:

    # timedatectl set-ntp true
# timedatectl set-timezone Region/City

    TODO 

    # ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Region/City /etc/localtime

  • Connect to the internet. To set up a network connection in the live environment, go through the following steps:

    • Ensure your network interface is listed and enabled: 

      # ip link

    • After booting on the live ISO image, you should easily have access to the internet with an Ethernet connection: just plug-in an Ethernet cable and GNU/Linux will do the rest. If you don't have access to an Ethernet cable or if you rather prefer a wireless connection, then just have a look at the wireless network settings of your live ISO image.

    • Don't forget to setup a proxy if needed,
      e.g. $ export http_proxy="http://192.168.1.100:4242"
      and $ export https_proxy="http://192.168.1.100:4242".
      ⚠️ Remember that with a proxy: ping may not work! ⚠️

    • The connection may be verified with ping (or curl if ping does not work): 

      $ ping searx.space
$ curl -sSL searx.space

    • If the previous steps are not working without trouble, then you will have to look deeper depending on the network manger used on the live ISO image. Find which network manager is used, and configure it yourself (see network managers for more details).

    • Note: If you don't have access to an Ethernet connection, and need a wireless one (WLAN or WWAN), then first, make sure your wireless device is not blocked:

      $ rfkill
$ rfkill list

      And configure your wireless connection by following one of the below links: - ⭐️https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Iwd#iwctl - https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Network_configuration/Wireless - https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Wpa_supplicant - https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Category:Wireless_networking

Optional disk encryption: drive preparation

This section is optional, you can skip it if your are no interested in encrypting your disk.

A lot of different encryption scenarios are available (e.g. see https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dm-crypt/Encrypting_an_entire_system), but in this guide will focus on the most simple and straightforward one: full system encryption with dm-crypt + LUKS in a basic partition layout. The partition layout is just an non-encrypted boot partition (/boot on /dev/sdx1), an non-encrypted SWAP partition (on /dev/sdx2, that can be encrypted later) and an encrypted root partition (/ on /dev/sdx3).

Warning

This scenario will completely wipe the content of your disk, including all prior partition(s) and data (if any) it might have contained. Do appropriate backups if needed before starting!

Drive preparation

Before encrypting a drive, it is recommended to perform a secure erase of the disk by overwriting the entire drive with random data. To prevent cryptographic attacks or unwanted file recovery.

Note

When wiping large amount of data, the process can take several hours to several days to complete.

Warning

If you intend to encrypt a SSD drive, then you will have first to clean it: see https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Solid_state_drive/Memory_cell_clearing

First, create a temporary encrypted container on the device to be encrypted: 

# cryptsetup open --type plain -d /dev/urandom /dev/sdx to_be_wiped

You can verify that it exists: 

# lsblk

NAME          MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINT
sdx             8:0    0  1.8T  0 disk
└─to_be_wiped 252:0    0  1.8T  0 crypt

Wipe the container with zeros. A use of if=/dev/urandom is not required as the encryption cipher is used for randomness. 

# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mapper/to_be_wiped status=progress bs=1M

Finally, close the temporary container: 

# cryptsetup close to_be_wiped

Partitioning, formatting and mounting

Here you have a choice to make: either go GPT + (U)EFI or go MBR + BIOS.

What I recommend is to go MBR + BIOS only if you have a very old computer (in this case make sure it is not UEFI compatible) or if you use a virtual machine (VM) not supporting UEFI. Else go GPT + (U)EFI.

Warning

You might already have a Linux distro installed on another partition, in this case make sure to NOT override it when partitioning. As described at the end of this cheat sheet, the os-prober tool will find this partition and make it also available through GRUB.

Tip

If you want to resize a partition in order to make some place for another partition (e.g. to install your distro in dual-boot with another distro), then you can refer to this cheat sheet about partitioning e.g. with gnome-parted after booting on the USB drive.

GPT (not MBR) and (U)EFI (not BIOS) partitioning, formatting and mounting

Info

The suggested tool used here to partition the disks is gdisk (but of course, you can use the tool you want). See:

  • Check which disk to partition with the # lsblk command. In this example, the disk to partition will be called /dev/sdx (note that in a virtual machine, it's likely to be called /dev/sda or /dev/vda).

  • In this example, three partitions will be created on sdx:

    • sdx1 : EFI system boot (512 MB) (OPTIONAL: see "OPTIONAL EFI system boot partition" tip bellow)
    • sdx2 : Main file system
    • sdx3 : Swap (OPTIONAL: see "OPTIONAL Swap" tip bellow)

    OPTIONAL EFI system boot partition

    If an EFI system boot partition already exists for another GNU/Linux distribution installed on the same disk, then you can use that partition without corrupting the other distribution. A single EFI system boot partition can be used for several systems.

    OPTIONAL Swap

    If a Swap partition already exists for another GNU/Linux distribution installed on the same disk, then you can use that partition without corrupting the other distribution. A single Swap partition can be used for several systems.

    Also, Swap is sometimes considered optional if you have enough RAM (> 8-16 GB), but necessary to hibernate (in this case you need as much Swap as RAM).

  • But first, backup your partition table: 

    # sfdisk -d /dev/disk > disk.dump

    Tip

    If you want to restore your partition table later, run: # sfdisk /dev/disk < disk.dump

  • Now proceed with the partitioning: 

    # gdisk /dev/sdx # gpt partitioning (alternative : parted)
    > ? # list all commands
    > p # list all partitions
    > d # delete a partition

    > o # create new GPT (⚠️ only if the partition table scan didn't find any valid GPT)
        > Y # validate new empty GPT (⚠️ delete all pre-existing partitions)

    > n # create a new partition (boot partition)
        > # enter to leave default part number (1 for sdx1)
        > # enter to leave default first sector
        > +512M # specify a 512MB partition size
        > ef00 # specify an EFI system boot partition type

    > n # create new partition
        > # enter to leave default part number (2 for sdx2)
        > # enter to leave default first sector
        > -16G # get all space left except for the last 16GB for the RAM
        > 8304 #specify a Linux root partition type

    > n # create new partition (optional swap)
        > # enter to leave default part number (3 for sdx3)
        > # enter to leave default first sector
        > # enter to get all space left (16GB) for the RAM
        > 8200 # specify a Linux Swap partition type

    > p # print the table to ensure that it is correct

    > w # write the table, validate all previous actions and quit
        > Y # validate new table

  • Format and mount the partitions:

    Warning

    Only format the EFI system boot partition if you created it in the previous step (when partitioning). If there already was an EFI system boot partition on disk beforehand, reformatting it can destroy the boot loaders of other installed operating systems.

    # mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdx1           # ⚠️ ONLY IF an EFI system boot partion has been previously created
# mkfs.ext4 -L ROOT /dev/sdx2       # e.g. ext4 for the Main file system partition

# mkswap -L SWAP /dev/sdx3          # ONLY IF a Swap partion has been previously created
# swapon /dev/sdx3                  # mount swap (ONLY IF a Swap partion has been previously created)

# mount --mkdir /dev/sdx2 /mnt/distro-name         # mount main partition

# mount --mkdir /dev/sdx1 /mnt/distro-name/boot    # mount boot partition

MBR (not GPT) and BIOS (not (U)EFI) partitioning, formatting and mounting

Info

The suggested tool used here to partition the disks is fdisk (but of course, you can use the tool you want). See:

  • Check which disk to partition with the # lsblk command. In this example, the disk to partition will be called /dev/sdx (note that in a virtual machine, it's likely to be called /dev/sda or /dev/vda).

  • In this example, two partitions will be created on sdx:

    • sdx1 : Swap (OPTIONAL: see "OPTIONAL Swap" tip bellow)
    • sdx2 : Main file system

    OPTIONAL Swap

    If a Swap partition already exists for another GNU/Linux distribution installed on the same disk, then you can use that partition without corrupting the other distribution. A single Swap partition can be used for several systems.

    Also, Swap is sometimes considered optional if you have enough RAM (> 8-16 GB), but necessary to hibernate (in this case you need as much Swap as RAM).

  • But first, backup your partition table: 

    # sfdisk -d /dev/disk > disk.dump

    Tip

    If you want to restore your partition table later, run: # sfdisk /dev/disk < disk.dump

  • Now proceed with the partitioning: 

    # fdisk /dev/sdx
    > m # help screen

    > o # create new MBR (⚠️ only if the partition table scan didn't find any valid MBR)
        > Y # validate new empty MBR (⚠️ delete all pre-existing partitions)

    > n # create a new partition: the Main file system partition
        > # press enter to leave default partition type: primary
        > 2 # press 2 to indicate partition number 2
        > # press enter to leave default first sector: 2048
        > -8G # OPTIONAL leave 8GB for the Swap or just press enter to leave default last sector
        > Y # remove signature if any

    > a # toogle the bootable flag
        > 2 # press 2 to indicate partition number 2

    > n # [OPTIONAL] create a new partition: the Swap partition
        > # press enter to leave default partition type: primary
        > 1 # press 1 to indicate partition number 1
        > # press enter to leave default first sector
        > # press enter to leave default last sector

        > t # change the partition type of the Swap from default "Linux" to "Linux swap / Solaris"
        > 1 # select the partition number of the Swap
        > 82 # enter the hex code of the "Linux swap / Solaris"

    > w # write the table to the disk and exit

  • Format and mount the partitions: 

    # mkfs.ext4 -L ROOT /dev/sdx2 # e.g. ext4 for the Main file system partition

# mkswap -L SWAP /dev/sdx1    # ONLY IF a Swap partion has been previously created
# swapon /dev/sdx1            # mount swap (ONLY IF a Swap partion has been previously created)

# mount --mkdir /dev/sdx. /mnt/distro-name   # mount main partition

Optional disk encryption: partition preparation

This section is optional, you can skip it if your are no interested in encrypting your disk.

Root partition preparation

The following commands create and mount the encrypted root partition: 

# umount /mnt/distro-name
# cryptsetup -y -v luksFormat /dev/sdx2
# cryptsetup open /dev/sdx2 root
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/root
# mount --mkdir /dev/mapper/root /mnt/distro-name

Check the mapping works as intended: 

# umount /mnt/distro-name
# cryptsetup close root
# cryptsetup open /dev/sdx2 root
# mount /dev/mapper/root /mnt/distro-name

Optional disk encryption: mkinitcpio configuration

after chroot

  • If using a systemd-based initramfs, the below command should returns "OK":

    $ cat /etc/mkinitcpio.conf | grep -q "^HOOKS=(base systemd" && echo OK || echo KO
    > OK

    Then, add the keyboard and sd-encrypt hooks to mkinitcpio.conf (and if you use a non-US console keymap or a non-default console font, additionally add the sd-vconsole hook):

    # vi /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
    > ...
  ~ > HOOKS=(base systemd autodetect modconf kms keyboard sd-vconsole block sd-encrypt filesystems fsck)
    > ...

  • Else, if using a non systemd-based initramfs, the below command should return "OK":

    $ cat /etc/mkinitcpio.conf | grep -q "^HOOKS=(base udev" && echo OK || echo KO
    > OK

    Then, add the keyboard and encrypt hooks to mkinitcpio.conf (and if you use a non-US console keymap or a non-default console font, additionally add the keymap and consolefont hooks, respectively):

    # vi /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
    > ...
  ~ > HOOKS=(base udev autodetect modconf kms keyboard keymap consolefont block encrypt filesystems fsck)
    > ...

  • Finaly, in any case, regenerate the initramfs: 

    # mkinitcpio -P

Optional disk encryption: boot encryption

See https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dm-crypt/Encrypting_an_entire_system#Encrypted_boot_partition_(GRUB)

Warning

GRUB's support for LUKS2 is limited (see here for more details). Use LUKS1 for partitions that GRUB will need to unlock.

Bootloading with GRUB

A bootloader (also spelled as boot loader or called boot manager and bootstrap loader) is a computer program that is responsible for booting a computer.

Reference(s)

Warning

At this point, if you want your GRUB menu to also add an entry for any Linux distro already installed on any other partition: make sure to mount it (it "just" need to be mounted for os-prober to find it)!

Make sure that the /boot partition is created and mounted: 

# df -aTh # check mounted devices
# mount --mkdir /dev/sdx1 /boot # if not already mounted

Install GRUB tools:

# apk add grub os-prober efibootmgr

# apt install grub os-prober efibootmgr

# dnf install grub2 os-prober efibootmgr

# emerge -a sys-boot/grub sys-boot/os-prober sys-boot/efibootmgr

# nix-env -iA nixos.grub nixos.os-prober nixos.efibootmgr

# nix-env -iA nixpkgs.grub nixpkgs.os-prober nixpkgs.efibootmgr

# pacman -S grub os-prober efibootmgr

# yum install grub2 os-prober efibootmgr

# xbps-install -S grub os-prober efibootmgr

# zypper install grub os-prober efibootmgr

Install GRUB: 

# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=grub

Note

The last command should have created a EFI folder in /boot directory

If this error message shows up: Could not delete variable: Read-only file sys, then remount efivars with read/write rights and run grub-install again: 

# mount -o remount,rw /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=grub

Install GRUB tools:

# apk add grub os-prober efibootmgr

# apt install grub os-prober efibootmgr

# dnf install grub2 os-prober efibootmgr

# emerge -a sys-boot/grub sys-boot/os-prober sys-boot/efibootmgr

# nix-env -iA nixos.grub nixos.os-prober nixos.efibootmgr

# nix-env -iA nixpkgs.grub nixpkgs.os-prober nixpkgs.efibootmgr

# pacman -S grub os-prober efibootmgr

# yum install grub2 os-prober efibootmgr

# xbps-install -S grub os-prober efibootmgr

# zypper install grub os-prober efibootmgr

Install GRUB: 

# grub-install --recheck /dev/sdx

Then, generate the GRUB configuration: 

# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Warning

After running the previous command, if you get the following message: 

Warning: os-prober will not be executed to detect other bootable partitions

And if you want to be able to boot multiple distros from your GRUB menu, then edit the /etc/default/grub file and uncomment the following line: 

GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false

Now re-generate the GRUB configuration: 

# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

See https://askubuntu.com/a/1378891.

Info

The last command should have created a grub folder in the /boot directory. And it should have print something like: 

Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-linux
Found initrd image: /boot/initramfs-linux.img
Found fallback initrd image(s) in /boot: initramfs-linux-fallback.img
Warning: os-prober will be executed to detect other bootable partitions.
Its output will be used to detect bootable binaries on them and create new boot entries.
Adding boot menu entry for UEFI Firmware Settings ...
done
grub-mkconfig will use os-prober in order to find any other installed OS and make sure you will still be able to boot on them from the GRUB menu.

EFI payload location

You can check your GRUB's EFI payload location with: 

# find /boot/EFI -type f -iname "*.efi"
Should return something like: ./EFI/grub/grubx64.efi

First reboot with UEFI if on a VM

Reference(s)

After your first reboot on a UEFI virtual machine, you might see that your VM is not finding any correct boot option. It might try to boot over the network (PXE boot): wait until it fallbacks to the UEFI Shell (it will take some minutes). You should en up in a similar environment: 

UEFI Interactive Shell v2.2
EDK II
UEFI v2.70 (EDK II, 0x00010000)
Mapping table
      FS0: Alias(s):HD1a65535a1:;BLK3:
          PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x4,0x0)/Sata(0x0,0xFFFF,0x0)/HD(1,MBR,0xBE1AFDFA,0x3F,0xFBFC1)
     BLK0: Alias(s):
          PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Floppy(0x0)
     BLK1: Alias(s):
          PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Floppy(0x1)
     BLK2: Alias(s):
          PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x4,0x0)/Sata(0x0,0xFFFF,0x0)

Press ESC in 1 seconds to skip startup.nsh or any other key to continue.
Shell>

At this point, a new boot menu entry is needed for the previous GRUB configuration: 

Shell> map # list
Shell> bcfg boot dump -v
Shell> bcfg boot add 0 FS0:\EFI\grub\grubx64.efi "distro-name_vm_boot"
Shell> exit

With:

  • map: list devices name (in this example FS0 is the device map name that will be used).
  • bcfg boot dump -v: list current boot entries.
  • bcfg boot add: add a new boot entry.
  • 0: where to insert (0 is the first boot option).
  • FS0: device map name
  • \EFI\grub\grubx64.efi: EFI payload location in device's /boot directory (see the last tip of the previous section).
  • "distro-name_vm_boot": an alias to your entry.

Now you can reboot without problems (hopefully).

Optional disk encryption: GRUB2 bootloader configuration

[chroot] # vi /etc/default/grub
    > GRUB_ENABLE_CRYPTODISK=y

If UEFI + systemd

On UEFI-booted systems, if specific conditions are met, systemd-gpt-auto-generator will automount GPT partitions following the Discoverable Partitions Specification. Automounted partitions can thus be omitted from /etc/fstab, and if the root partition is automounted, then additional kernel command line parameters (like root=) can be omitted.

The prerequisites are:

  • The boot loader must set the LoaderDevicePartUUID EFI variable, so that the used EFI system partition can be identified. This has been done by GRUB with grub-mkconfig in order to generate grub.cfg (note that custom grub.cfg requires loading the bli module). This can be verified by running bootctl and checking the status of Boot loader sets ESP information.
  • The root partition must be on the same physical disk as the used EFI system partition. Other partitions that will be automounted must be on the same physical disk as the root partition. This basically means that all automounted partitions must share the same physical disk with the ESP.
# lsblk -p -o NAME,PARTTYPE
  • Make sure your Root partition has the following GUID: 4f68bce3-e8cd-4db1-96e7-fbcaf984b709 (SD_GPT_ROOT_X86_64)
  • Make sure your SWAP partition (if any) has the following GUID: 0657fd6d-a4ab-43c4-84e5-0933c84b4f4f (SD_GPT_SWAP)
  • Make sure your EFI system partition has the following GUID: c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b (SD_GPT_ESP)

See https://superuser.com/questions/1427654/change-partitions-type-guid

At this point, those prerequisites should be met and no additional configuration should be required.

Else

  • First, identify the UUID of your root partition: ls -la /dev/disk/by-uuid (e.g. 12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0)

If using a systemd-based initramfs (i.e. the keyboard and sd-encrypt hooks have been added to mkinitcpio.conf), then add rd.luks.name=12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0=root root=/dev/mapper/root to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT in /etc/default/grub:

```console
# vi /etc/default/grub
    > ...
  ~ > GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="loglevel=3 quiet rd.luks.name=12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0=root root=/dev/mapper/root"
    > ..;
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
```

Else, if using a non systemd-based initramfs (i.e. the keyboard and encrypt hooks have been added to mkinitcpio.conf), then add cryptdevice=UUID=12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0:root root=/dev/mapper/root to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT in /etc/default/grub:

```console
# vi /etc/default/grub
    > ...
  ~ > GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="loglevel=3 quiet cryptdevice=UUID=12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0:root root=/dev/mapper/root"
    > ..;
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
```

Optional disk encryption: swap encryption

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dm-crypt/Swap_encryption#Without_suspend-to-disk_support

Post installation recommended configuration

ldconfig

ldconfig creates the necessary links and cache to the most recent shared libraries found in the directories specified on the command line, in the file /etc/ld.so.conf, and in the trusted directories /lib and /usr/lib (see https://linux.die.net/man/8/ldconfig).

The configuration file of ldconfig is /etc/ld.so.conf, and here is its default content:

# Dynamic linker/loader configuration.
# See ld.so(8) and ldconfig(8) for details.

include /etc/ld.so.conf.d/*.conf

By default it will include all the paths contained in the .conf files located in the /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ directory.

Now, let's make sure that /usr/local/lib is part of the configuration file of the dynamic linker/loader. The recommanded way to do this, is to create a new .conf file, containing the /usr/local/lib path, in the /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ directory:

$ sudo vi /etc/ld.so.conf.d/99local.conf
  + > /usr/local/lib

This way, it allows you to keep your local/custom libraries paths separate from paths set by the system. The "99" prefix is there to make sure the file is loaded last compared to other files there, so that it won't preempt system paths that could contain the same libraries.

After modifying/creating dynamic linker/loader configuration file(s), you need to run ldconfig as root:

$ sudo ldconfig -v

This command updates the /etc/ld.so.cache file, which is the actual file used by the dynamic linker.

See https://stackoverflow.com/a/17892806.

Post installation optional software

Here are some tools that I suggest for a nice little starter environment:

If you intend to use your freshly installed distro in a desktop-oriented fashion (not a server one) then you might also be interested in a graphical server, a windows manager/compositor, and a sound system:

Here are some more suggestions:

If this cheat sheet has been useful to you, then please consider leaving a star here.