Learn how to – Arch Linux Installation Cheatsheet With LUKS Encryption

Learn how to – Arch Linux Installation Cheatsheet With LUKS Encryption.

Here is Arch Linux Installation Cheatsheet i made for my own reference. This Arch Linux Installation Cheatsheet uses UEFI and LVM on LUKS for the installation. It is not detailed and only useful for Advanced Linux users.

Create Partitions

parted /dev/sda
mklabel gpt
mkpart ESP fat32 1MiB 200MiB
set 1 boot on
name 1 efi

mkpart primary 200MiB 800MiB
name 2 boot

mkpart primary 800MiB 100%
set 3 lvm on
name 3 lvm
print

Configure LUKS

modprobe dm-crypt
modprobe dm-mod
cryptsetup luksFormat -v -s 512 -h sha512 /dev/sda3
cryptsetup open /dev/sda3 luks_lvm

Configure LVM

pvcreate /dev/mapper/luks_lvm
vgcreate arch /dev/mapper/luks_lvm
lvcreate -n home -L 70G arch
lvcreate -n root -L 120G arch
lvcreate -n swap -L 1G -C y arch

Format Partitions

mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
mkfs.btrfs -L root /dev/mapper/arch-root
mkfs.btrfs -L home /dev/mapper/arch-home
mkswap /dev/mapper/arch-swap

Mount Partitions

swapon /dev/mapper/arch-swap
swapon -a ; swapon -s
mount /dev/mapper/arch-root /mnt
mkdir -p /mnt/{home,boot}
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot
mount /dev/mapper/arch-home /mnt/home
mkdir /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi

Install Arch Linux:

pacstrap /mnt base base-devel efibootmgr vim dialog xterm btrfs-progs grub --noconfirm
genfstav -U -p /mnt > /mnt/etc/fstab
arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash

Configuring mkinitcpio

vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

Modify the line to add encrypt and lvm2:

HOOKS="base udev autodetect modconf block encrypt lvm2 filesystems keyboard fsck"

Generate a new initramfs image:

mkinitcpio -v -p linux

Install grub

pacman -s grub --noconfirm
grub-install --efi-directory=/boot/efi

Configure LUKS kernel parameters

vim /etc/default/grub

Add the line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet resume=/dev/mapper/swap cryptdevice=/dev/sda3:luks_lvm"

Auto-unlock luks encryted partition

dd if=/dev/urandom of=/crypto_keyfile.bin  bs=512 count=10
chmod 000 /crypto_keyfile.bin
chmod 600 /boot/initramfs-linux*
cryptsetup luksAddKey /dev/sda3 /crypto_keyfile.bin

Remodify mkinicpio.conf

Now include /crypto_keyfile.bin file under FILES directive in mkinicpio.conf file.

vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

Add the Line

FILES=/crypto_keyfile.bin

Regenerate ramdisk file.

mkinitcpio -p linux

Regenerate grub.cfg file:

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/arch/grub.cfg

Post installation configurations.

Remember to modify live-setup.sh accordingly:

pacman -S git --noconfirm
git clone https://github.com/jmutai/dotfiles.git
cp dotfiles/setup/pacman.conf /etc/pacman.conf
cp dotfiles/setup/live-setup.sh .
chmod +x live-setup.sh
./live-setup.sh

Unmount Partitions and reboot

exit
umount -R /mnt
reboot