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https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway

Archlinux on river/sway from scratch with the most minimal dependencies. DIY is awesome
https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway

archlinux dotfiles linux mpc mpd mpv ncmpcpp river riverwm sway sway-config swaybar swaylock swaywm systemd udev waybar wayland

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Archlinux on river/sway from scratch with the most minimal dependencies. DIY is awesome

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# ArchSway

Archlinux on river/sway from scratch with the most minimal dependencies. DIY is awesome



# Standard Installation Steps

[Arch Linux Installation Guide](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide)



# Filesystem Setup

- **ESP** [/efi](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/EFI_system_partition#Create_the_partition) should be 2GiB if you plan on installing [efi applications](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd-boot#UEFI_Shells_or_other_EFI_applications) like [arch rescue](https://codeberg.org/bernardassan/arch-rescue-image) else 512MiB otherwise

- **ROOT** should be a (_xfs_ for hdd | _f2fs_ for nvme) with a size of **30GiB** - **60GiB**

- **HOME** & **FILES** (_btrfs_ | _ext4_) partition with **HOME** between **60-120GiB** and **FILES** of __arbitrary size__ for multimedia content

- **ROOT** is mounted on `/` with the dedicated **HOME** &| **FILES** _subvolume_ | _partition_ mounted to `/home` and `/home/${username}/files` repectively.

- Setup [**zram**](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/master/etc/udev/rules.d/zram.rules) `3x` RAM size to allow running more memory hungry tasks `.eg compiling llvm, clang, clang-tools, lldb`.

- Use a ZRAM backing device equal to RAM size **12GiB** and a [swap](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/master/etc/fstab) partition for [**hibernation**](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/master/etc/kernel/cmdline) also of size equal to RAM **12Gib**



**NOTE:**

- **make sure to create and mount Btrfs with Zstd compression on first mount during installation**

- **format & mount all drives with a [logical sector or block size](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Advanced_Format) of 4096**



## needed base system modules



- Configure mkinitcpio [linux-zen.preset](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/master/etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux-zen.preset) to generate a efi uki image

- Use [/efi](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/EFI_system_partition#Typical_mount_points) as ESP partition and set systemd-boot [loader.conf](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/master/efi/loader/loader.conf) to your efi uki (unified kernel image) image

- Extend mkinitcpio image generation with zstd [compression](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/master/etc/mkinitcpio.conf.d/compression.conf) and add kernel [cmdline](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/master/etc/kernel/cmdline) parameters

- Enable systemd-boot as boot manager (`bootctl install`)

- Enable iwd, systemd-networkd, systemd-resolved system services

- Enabling `systemd-boot-update` service to update systemd-boot on systemd upgrade

- river/sway as window manager with swayidle and waylock for idle and lock

  management and levee/yambar for bar management

    - base

    - xfsprogs | f2fs-tools | btrfs-progs | dosfstools | exfatprogs

    - intel-ucode microcode

    - iwd for wifi

    - ghostty/kitty/foot terminal

    - Install only needed linux-firmware, check firmwares you might need with `lspci` and [use dynamic debug](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Linux_firmware#Detecting_loaded_firmware) to know more details about the exact firmwares loaded at kernel startup

    - linux-zen

    - intel-media-driver for hardware video acceleration

    - polkit for seat and privileged access management

    - man-db and [man-pages](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Man_page) and enable man-db.timer service

    - Set up GPG with SSH authentication enabled

    - helix/neovim for config clone [awesome-helix](https://github.com/bernardassan/awesome-helix.git) to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/helix or [awesome-neovim](https://github.com/bernardassan/awesome-neovim.git) to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nvim

    - sudo

    - elvish/fish (set default shell with `chsh -s $(which shellname)`)



### basic configuration



- iwd for wifi and enable its builtin dhcp client

- symlink /run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf to /etc/resolv.conf for DNS resolution

- setup reflector for choosing the fastest Pacman mirror list

- Configure network using [systemd-networkd](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/systemd/network) and [systemd-resolved](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/systemd/resolved.conf.d)

- Setup [vconsole ](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/master/etc/vconsole.conf) terminal fonts

- On the freshly installed system, use the following fonts

    + use fonts with great unicode support, like `ttf-dejavu` or `noto-fonts` as the system default font

    + ttf-jetbrains-mono or ttc-iosevka for monospace,

    + ttf-nerd-fonts-symbols-mono for nerd font symbols and noto-font-emoji for emoji

    >_NOTE_: don't forget to `ln -s /usr/share/fontconfig/conf.avail/10-nerd-font-symbols.conf /etc/fonts/conf.d/`

- configure [Intel_graphics](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Intel_graphics) hardware acceleration

- setup [laptop](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Laptop), zram, disk, network and [power management](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Power_management) options using [udev](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/udev/rules.d) rules, [sysctl](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/sysctl.d) and [modprobe](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/modprobe.d) config

- Configure [hibernation](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/modprobe.d) by adding resume kernel parameter, resume hook to mkinitcpio, and rebuilding kernel

- Enable [Active State Power Management](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Power_management#Active_State_Power_Management)

  if [supported ](https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/7/html/power_management_guide/aspm) and add or remove `powersave > /sys/module/pcie_aspm/parameters/policy` from udev powersave rules based on the results

- Configure sudo for current user using `sudo -E visudo -sf /etc/sudoers.d/${username}`. Example [sudoers file](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/sudoers.d)

- Configure [logind](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/systemd/logind.conf.d), [journald](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/systemd/logind.conf.d) and [sleep](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/systemd/sleep.conf.d)

- For extra [Performance Improvements](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Improving_performance)

- For [pacman](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman), enable the following options under the option section in /etc/pacman.conf

```bash

[options]

Color

CheckSpace

VerbosePkgLists

ParallelDownloads = 5

```

- Set up [makepkg.conf](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/master/etc/makepkg.conf.d/makepkg.conf) and Increase /tmp tmpfs size to 90% of RAM by copying and changing the Options field of `Mount` from the default size of 50% to 90% in the drop-in config file. This helps to prevent OOM when compiling clang on /tmp `sudo -E systemctl edit tmp.mount --drop-in=hugetmp.mount`

```bash

[Mount]

Options=

Options=mode=1777,strictatime,nosuid,nodev,size=90%%,nr_inodes=1m

```

>_NOTE_: This is to be used in conjunction with `zram`



## INSTALLS

- base-devel for Basic c/c++ build tools to build Arch Linux packages

- mold as linker for C, Rust and C++

- lldb/gdb for debugging Zig, C, and C++

- clang/gcc for C++ development with clangd

- zig with zls for zig development

- rustup with default profile and rust-analyzer component for Rust development

- luajit for lua development

- iptables-nft and nftable(automatically installed as a dependency of iptables-nft) for firewall configuration (enable the nftables service)

- nmap and tcpdump for network analysis and auditing

- yay for AUR package management

- android-file-transfer with libmtp for connecting Android phones mtp management

- aria2 as download manager

- bat is a Cat clone with syntax highlighting and git integration

- bluez and bluez-utils for Bluetooth

- brightnessctl for controlling backlight

- carapace-bin for completions in elvish

- fzf for fuzzy search

- vivid for LS_COLORS

- starship for prompt

- [Helix](https://github.com/bernardassan/awesome-helix) and [Neovim](https://github.com/bernardassan/awesome-neovim) awesomely set up with the relevant LSPs and static analyzers for `Zig`, `C`, `Rust`, `C++`, `Luajit`, `Python`, `Shell`, and `Web-Development`.

- dictd server with dict client and some dictionary sources for yay like `dict-wikt-en-all`, `dict-freedict-eng-spa`, `dict-freedict-spa-eng`, `dict-foldoc`, `dict-gcide`, `dict-wn`.

    - NOTE: to disable online mode, comment out `server dict.org` in  /etc/dict/dict.conf

    - Make sure locale is properly configured in `DICTD_ARGS` of /etc/conf.d/dictd else, the service unit will fail

    - Since dict uses en_US.UTF-8 by default, make sure to comment it out in /etc/locale.gen and compile it along side your locale of choice `es_MX.UTF-8`

- ffmpegthumbnailer & gnome-epub-thumbnailer for thumbnails

- firefox with speech-dispatcher (for Text-to-Speech) as pdf reader or zathura and firefox-ublock-origin as adblocker and foliate/fbreader as epub reader

- wlsunset for controlling screen blue light

- git for version control

- grim and slurp for screenshot

- mako as a lightweight notification daemon for Wayland

- docker for containerization of apps

- scrcpy for mirroring android device (with adb for copying to Android)

- libreoffice-fresh for working with openoffice documents and hunspell-en_us for spellcheck, [for help setting up spellcheck](https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/how-do-you-get-the-spell-checker-to-work/28998)

- mpd for music daemon, ncmpcpp for ui interface, and mpc for controlling playing

- mpv as multimedia player

- sound-theme-freedesktop for standard sounds and tones used in Linux

- pipewire and pipewire-audio for audio/video routing and processing, pipewire-pulse as pulseaudio replacement and WirePlumber as pipewire session manager

- lf as file manager

- fastfetch for displaying system information

- openssh and rsync for syncing files with a remote over ssh

- remmina as remote desktop client with a plugin like freerdp|libvncserver

- usb_modeswitch for enabling modem mode for zero-cd based modems

- wl-clipboard for wayland clipboard

- batsignal for battery status notifications

- kanshi for wayland output management

- fuzzel as the application launcher

- cliphist as clipboard history manager

- qt5-wayland for runing qt5 apps under wayland

- xdg-desktop-portal-wrl for WebRTC screen sharing

- xdg-utils to assist applications with desktop integration tasks

- yt-dlp YouTube downloader

- zoxide for efficient directory movement



## Configuring Firefox

- Enable Firefox [Hardware video acceleration](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefox#Hardware_video_acceleration) by setting media.ffmpeg.vaapi.enabled to true and Hardware WebRender by setting `gfx.webrender.all` to `true` and `media.hardware-video-decoding.force-enabled` to `true`

- Enable insert [new tabs after current](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefox#New_tabs_position) by setting `browser.tabs.insertAfterCurrent` to `true`

- Enable [Firefox Profile on Ram](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefox/Profile_on_RAM) when using zram/nvme/ssd

- Move Firefox [disk cache to ram](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefox/Tweaks#Move_disk_cache_to_RAM) by setting `browser.cache.disk.parent_directory` to `/run/user/1000/firefox`

- Increase [session save interval](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefox/Tweaks#Longer_interval_between_session_information_record) from the default of 15 seconds (15000 milliseconds) to 30 minutes (1,800,000 milliseconds) by setting `browser.sessionstore.interval` to `1800000`

- Enable auto [unloading of inactive tabs](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefox/Tweaks#Automatically_unload_inactive_tabs)



## OPTIONAL

- configure /etc/motd with the Message Of The Day Eg. `WELCOME MASTER MALPHA! WE ARE READY TO SERVE YOU!!!`

- Checkout [Archlinux General Recommendation](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefox/Profile_on_RAM#Place_profile_in_RAM_manually)

- enable DNSOverTLS for resolved

- Enable synchronizing the system clock across the network by enabling [systemd-timesyncd.service](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd-timesyncd)

- Disable journaling to persistent storage by setting Storage in journal.conf to volatile and masking `systemd-journal-flush.service`

- link kitty to xterm

- Enable DNS over HTTPS in Firefox

- modify relector configuration in /etc/xdg/reflector/reflector.conf to sort based on download rate with --sort rate



## WSL



Install [ArchLinux WSL](https://archlinux.org/download/) on Windows 11 using `wsl --install archlinux`. After installing, follow these [instructions](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Install_Arch_Linux_on_WSL) to set up ArchLinux on WSL 2.

- Download and install a Nerd Font of your choosing, like [IosevkaTerm](https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/blob/master/patched-fonts/IosevkaTerm/IosevkaTermNerdFontMono-Medium.ttf) and use it as your default font for Windows Terminal

- Install starship `winget install -e --id Starship.Starship` and add `Invoke-Expression (&starship init powershell)` to your $PROFILE as in [Microsoft.PowerShell_profile](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/wsl/WindowsPowerShell/Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1)

- Run `Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser` in PowerShell to enable running of scripts

- Add the wheel group `groupadd -f wheel` as it isn't available by default in Archlinux WSL

- create a non-root user and add him to the wheel group `useradd -mG wheel -s /bin/elvish username`

- Set a password for your new user with `passwd username`

- To set a different host name, disable hostname generation, and set a static hostname in [wsl.conf](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/899d464762fead2b17995e2fa8ba06942cc369cf/wsl/etc/wsl.conf#L6)

- Configure [sudoers](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/master/etc/sudoers.d) file at /etc/sudoers.d/`username`

- clone this repo to `~/.config/dotfiles` and symlink `~/.config/dotfiles/config/elvish` to `~/.config/`[`elvish`](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/main/config/elvish) to activate the elvish shell configuration

- Configure [makepkg](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/main/etc/makepkg.conf.d) and [pacman](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/tree/main/etc/pacman.d)

- Install yay for AUR management with `mkdir ~/aur ; cd ~/aur ; sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel ; git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay-bin.git ; cd yay-bin ; makepkg -si`

- Setup [locale](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide#Localization) as appropriate 

- Install essential utilities like `xdg-utils`, `openssh`, `man-db`, `man-pages', `carapace-bin`, `bat` and `fzf`

- Configure `pacman` with [pacman.d/pacman.conf](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/main/etc/pacman.d/pacman.conf) and disable/comment out `NoProgressBar` if it is enabled in your `/etc/pacman.conf`



## Using a custom build WSL kernel

- To compile the WSL kernel, you need `base-devel`, `bc`, `cpio`, `pahole`, `python`, and `rsync`.

- Then set `swap=32GB` in .wslconfig to ensure you can compile the kernel without running out of memory

- Run `zcat /proc/config.gz | /bin/sed '/is not set/d' > .config` to get a copy of all the set config used by the current WSL kernel

- Run `env KCONFIG_CONFIG=Microsoft/config-wsl ./scripts/kconfig/merge_config.sh .config` to merge `.config` with `Microsoft/config-wsl`, overriding options in `Microsoft/config-wsl`.

- Then `env KCONFIG_CONFIG=Microsoft/config-wsl make olddefconfig` or `env KCONFIG_CONFIG=Microsoft/config-wsl make oldconfig` to use default values for new kernel configs not in `$E:KCONFIG_CONFIG`.

- ensure CONFIG_TUN=y and CONFIG_TAP=y are set in Microsoft/config-wsl to enable [userspace networking](https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/networking/tuntap.html) used by podman and VPNs

- Use mold `set-env LD mold` to link faster, this reduced the whole compile/link phase from about 1hr30min to 30min for me

- follow instructions at [updating wsl kernel](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/community/content/wsl-user-msft-kernel-v6)

- At the end, you should have a [.wslconfig](https://github.com/bernardassan/archsway/blob/master/wsl/wslconfig) like mine



## TERMUX

To use [pacman](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman) as the package manager for [Termux](https://termux.dev/en/) follow these [instructions](https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Switching_package_manager)

If you want to compile [AUR](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_User_Repository) packages follow these [instructions](https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/AUR)

- openssl-tool

- openssh

- zig

- rust

- golang

- python

- bsdtar

- fzf

- bat

- starship

- fastfetch

- git

- helix

- man