ARCHLINUX(7)ARCHLINUX(7)NAMEarchlinux - basic configuration
SYNOPSIS
Overview of the basic configuration of Arch Linux.
DESCRIPTION
Arch Linux exposes the user to the system without hiding any details.
This man page gives a brief overview of the configuration files that
should be set up on a fresh install.
SYSTEM SERVICES
System services to be started at boot can be enabled using systemctl
enable <name>. To view available services, use systemctl
list-unit-files.
HOSTNAME
The hostname of the machine can be set using hostnamectl set-hostname
<hostname>. It will then be written to /etc/hostname.
LOCALIZATION
Various locales may be enabled in /etc/locale.gen and are generated by
locale-gen. The system-wide locale to be used can be configured in
/etc/locale.conf. These settings can be overridden on a per-user basis
by keeping a user-specific locale.conf in $HOME/.config/locale.conf.
The user-specific file will take precedence if it exists.
VIRTUAL CONSOLE
The virtual console is configured in /etc/vconsole.conf. It allows you
to set a font and a keyboard layout, among other things. Note that
these settings only apply to the console and do not apply if you use X.
TIME
The local time zone is configured by calling timedatectl set-timezone
<Region/City>. A relative symlink is then created from /etc/localtime
to the correct zoneinfo file under /usr/share/zoneinfo/. For example,
/etc/localtime -> ../usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Paris
The real-time clock, which keeps track of time when the computer is
off, can be configured to either be in UTC or in local time by calling
timedatectl set-local-rtc <false|true>. The default is UTC.
FILE SYSTEMS
File systems are configured in /etc/fstab, and encryption mappings are
configured in /etc/crypttab.
INITRAMFS
The initramfs is generated by mkinitcpio -p <preset>. The default
preset is "linux". The initramfs can be configured in
/etc/mkinitcpio.conf and must be regenerated after making configuration
changes.
PACKAGE MANAGER
The package manager, pacman, is configured in /etc/pacman.conf.
BOOT LOADER
GRUB’s configuration is generated from /etc/default/grub by
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg. Syslinux is configured in
/boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg.
MODULES
Most modules should be loaded on-demand. Modules to be unconditionally
loaded at boot can be specified in /etc/modules-load.d/, and modules to
be blacklisted from automatically loading can be configured in
/etc/modprobe.d/.
SEE ALSOsystemctl(1), hostnamectl(1), hostname(5), locale.conf(5),
vconsole.conf(5), timedatectl(1), timezone(3), hwclock(8), fstab(5),
crypttab(5), mkinitcpio(8), pacman(8), pacman.conf(5),
grub-mkconfig(8), syslinux(1), modules-load.d(5), modprobe.d(5),
systemd(1)AUTHORS
Written by Tom Gundersen.
05/31/2013 ARCHLINUX(7)