Pistonite VM

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Configure Boot Loader ​

TIP

We will be using systemd-boot as the boot loader. See https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_boot_process#Boot_loader for all options.

This page is partially adopted from https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd-boot

Install Boot Loader ​

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Ensure the system is in UEFI mode with

bash
ls /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

The command should not error.

Assuming you have been following this guide, the ESP mount point should be /boot (chrooted into the system i.e. /mnt)

Install the boot loader with

bash
bootctl install

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This will automatically search for /efi. /boot and /boot/efi. If you are using a different mount point, you need to set --esp-path=/path/to/esp

WARNING

You might see a warning like this

Mount point '/boot' which backs the random seed file is world accessible, which is a security hole!

We will make sure the permissions are correct later, as for now we still need to edit the loader

Configure Loader ​

Create /boot/loader/loader.conf with

bash
nvim /boot/loader/loader.conf

Paste in the following content

default      arch.conf
timeout      1
console-mode max
editor       yes

WARNING

Use space for indent. Tabs won't work.

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We have editor yes in case something goes wrong, we can edit the boot loader

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Change timeout 1 to a longer timeout if you need longer to select in the boot menu

Save with the following in nvim so parent directories are created if they don't exist

:w ++p

Next run the following to get the UUID of the root partition. Replace /dev/sda3 with the root partition device (fdisk -l to list them if you need)

bash
blkid /dev/sda3

WARNING

Make sure the label is root (or whatever it was when you created the partigion). Copy the output somewhere and we will need it later.

Next we will add 2 loader entries for arch and arch-lts.

arch ​

Create /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

bash
nvim /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

Paste in the following content. Replace the UUID with the one you got from blkid

title   Arch Linux
linux   /vmlinuz-linux
initrd  /amd-ucode.img
initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
options root="UUID=d71c6c2a-2731-4825-b4c6-e25ab1fd451b" rw

WARNING

Use UUID, not PARTUUID!

DANGER

Replace amd-ucode with intel-ucode if you have intel CPU

arch-lts ​

Run this to clone the arch entry to arch-lts

bash
cp /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf /boot/loader/entries/arch-lts.conf

Edit /boot/loader/entries/arch-lts.conf

bash
nvim /boot/loader/entries/arch-lts.conf

And replace:

  • Arch Linux with Arch Linux LTS
  • /vmlinuz-linux with /vmlinuz-linux-lts
  • /initramfs-linux.img with /initramfs-linux-lts.img

DANGER

Check you have intel-ucode instead of amd-ucode if you have intel CPU

It should look like this

title   Arch Linux LTS
linux   /vmlinuz-linux-lts
initrd  /amd-ucode.img
initrd  /initramfs-linux-lts.img
options root="UUID=d71c6c2a-2731-4825-b4c6-e25ab1fd451b" rw

Reboot ​

Exit the chroot environment by pressing Ctrl+D or running

bash
exit

Then unmount all partitions

bash
umount -R /mnt

Exit the SSH environment by pressing Ctrl+D or running

bash
logout

Now, shutdown the machine, and remove the installation USB drive.

bash
shutdown now

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For Hyper-V:

  1. Open Hyper-V Manager
  2. Click on Shut Down... to shut down the VM.
  3. Open Settings... and select DVD Drive under SCSI Controller.
  4. Click Remove on the right to remove the installation ISO
  5. Click OK to save the settings.

Reboot the machine, type root for the login, then type the root password you just set (not the one you set initially for the live environment).

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For Hyper-V: Press Start to start the VM. Then press Connect... to connect to the VM.

WARNING

On VM, you should see no errors. On a physical machine, you might see errors due to missing drivers. This is fine and you can still login if the prompt appears.

You should see the prompt if you login successfully. pistonite would be your hostname.

[root@pistonite ~]#

Boot LTS ​

We will now make sure the LTS kernel can also boot.

Reboot the system, then select Arch Linux LTS in the boot menu and press Enter to boot.

bash
reboot

You should be able to login the same way as above.

Disable Editing ​

Now that we have confirmed both kernels can boot, we will disable editing the boot loader.

Run

bash
nvim /boot/loader/loader.conf

and change editor yes to editor no.

Edit /etc/fstab with

bash
nvim /etc/fstab

Change fmask and dmask value to something like

fmask=0077,dmask=0077

TIP

See https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=287695

Finally, reboot again to boot into the default kernel.

bash
reboot