ArchLinux: Install and Initial Setup

This tutorial was created using the archlinux-hf-2012-09-18.img.

WARNING: These instructions are only for the archlinux-hf-2012-09-18.img as of November 24, 2012. If there is an updated img, these "one-time only" instructions may no longer apply.

If you haven't created the SD Card yet, Create a RPi SD Card for instructions on how to do that.

The first thing to do is "clean up" the installed image.

When you update Archlinux, if the configuration files change, you will see either .pacnew or .pacsave files. Your job is to look at these files and determine if you want to use the new configuration.

This image contains two of those files and after the update, there are a few more.

NOTE: This is a "One Time Only" thing. This is NOT the normal way to update the system and you should not do this on a regular basis. You should really look at the new versions and see what changed.

The steps are:

1) Run pacman -Syu to update the system - then reboot.

2) Install VIM - "VIM" is already installed but it is vim-tiny and you want the "normal" version.

3) Install Yaourt - Yaourt is a wrapper program for pacman and can be used instead of pacman. You will use yaourt -C to find and update the pacnew files.

pacman -Syu
reboot

When the system restarts, log in and install vim and yaourt.

pacman -S vim yaourt

Now run Yaourt to find the .pacnew files:

yaourt -C

There are a number of files that need to be cleaned up.

NOTE (again): This is a one-time only thing to get the system current.

At the new prompt, which looks like "==> Enter n :" type 1 and press [Enter].

There are five "Actions" that you can do: Edit, Replace, Suppress, Continue or Abort.

- Edit - This will bring up both the original and .pacnew files in vimdiff
- Replace - This will replace the original with the .pacnew file
- Suppress - This will leave the original as is and delete the .pacnew file
- Continue - This will ignore the file and continue to the next file on the list
- Abort - This will stop yaourt -C and return to the normal command prompt

Do this for each of the files:

Filename                       Action
/etc/protocols.pacnew            R

/etc/pam.d/login.pacnew          R

/etc/shadow.pacnew               S

/etc/group.pacnew                S

/etc/passwd.pacnew               S

/etc/gshadow.pacnew              S

For all the rest: Choose "R"

Normally, you would select Edit and view the files and see what changes were made and decide what to add/change/delete in the original file.

But in this special situation, follow this guide just this one time.

WARNING: These instructions are only for the archlinux-hf-2012-09-18.img as of November 24, 2012. If there is an updated img, these "one-time only" instructions may no longer apply.

To summerize: Select "R" for all the files except shadow, group, passwd and gshadow for which you will select "S".

Now you are back at a normal prompt.

Restart the computer:

reboot