Arch Linux Easy Setup script

A fairly simple and easily customisable shell script to automate some initial desktop setup after a clean installation of Arch Linux

(note: this is my first ever Github project - please be gentle! :) )

IMPORTANT - Please read before trying the script

This script does NOT install Arch Linux itself. It is not a replacement for tools such as archinstall, and is not intended as such - at least not yet. Its purpose is to quickly and easily set up the system and install basic apps (eg web browser) after Arch Linux itself has been installed.

The script is written with minimalism in mind - that is, only installing what is necessary without sacrificing on usability. For this reason, I recommend running archinstall to install Arch itself (before running this script), and not installing any desktop environment during the archinstall process. This script will take care of that for you.

The desktop environment you select will be installed as minimally as possible - if you choose Gnome for example, only the core of the Gnome desktop will be installed. Extra components, such as standard utilities and games that are normally present in a Gnome installation, will not be installed. Of course, you are welcome to modify the script to install something by default if you wish, or just proceed to install anything you want after the script has completed.

Introduction

I have created a BASH script intended to be used immediately after a basic Arch installation, that automatically installs general applications (eg system tools like yay, web browser, office suite, some of my favourite Gnome extensions etc) and sets up links to my /home/common directory. It also sets up access to chaotic-aur and Systemback repositories.

The script offers a few choices before it starts installing stuff such as which browser you want to install, whether you want links to directories in /home/common created, and then you just sit back and relax while it does its magic. Then reboot ... and everything is all set up and configured, ready to rock and roll!

A friend of mine and myself both use Arch, but we have different preferences regarding which desktop, web browser, and other software, we use. The script as it stands today was inspired by our different preferences, and I decided to take it on as fun little hobby. The script as it stands today is quite different to the ones we created in the early days about mid-2022!

So now - as a small contribution to the Arch community, here is my Arch Linux Easy Setup script, in the hope someone finds it useful. Feel free to customise/change it to suit your needs. I recommend you review the script before running it, to ensure it meets your needs --- and that it doesn't do anything you don't want it to do! :)

Usage

The script is intended to be used immediately after a fresh install of Arch Linux - either via archinstall script or (for the purists) a manually configured installation. I would suggest downloading the script (easy-setup.sh) and saving it to a USB drive or similar before starting your Arch Linux installation.

When installing Arch Linux with archinstall, I would suggest selecting just "xorg/xserver" as your profile for installation, rather than installing/configuring a DE (Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon etc) within archinstall. My script provides for installation and configuration of Cinnamon, Gnome or KDE automatically, with a focus on minimalism.

Suggested method to access and run the script following installing Arch (using the ISO):

1. Download easy-setup.sh and save it to a location such as an external hard drive or USB.

2. Boot into the newly installed system, and log in to the terminal using the username and password you created during installation of Arch.

3. Enter the command lsblk to determiine the /dev entry for the device you saved the script to. For example, the device may show as /dev/sdb1.

4. Enter the command sudo mkdir -p /media/tmp to create a mountpoint for the device you saved the script to.

5. Mount the device with sudo mount **device** /media/tmp, then access the device with cd /media/tmp. Note that if you saved the script into a folder on the device, you will need to cd to that folder - eg if you saved it to a folder called "scripts", then the command would be cd /media/tmp/scripts.

6. Enter the command sh easy-setup.sh to run the script. The script uses Whiptail (installed by default with a minimal Arch installation) to provide a simple menu system to make choices for the script. Cursor up/down to the option(s) you want, and press SPACE to select them. The TAB key will let you move between the list of options, and the OK/Cancel buttons. Note that selecting Cancel on a given screen will generally skip all options for that sreen.

The script will first ask if you want to install some handy BASH shortcuts into ~/.bashrc, then if you'd like to activate chaotic-aur and Systemback repos (Systemback is a very useful and powerful tool for backing up your system).

The shortcuts the script adds to ~/.bashrc are as follows (feel free to modify them as you like):

Default Bash shortcuts installed by the script

Shortuct	Command Executed	Function
install	yay -S	Installs packages
remove	yay -Rcns	Removes packages, along with unused/orphaned dependencies
update	yay -Syu	Performs a system update (the same as sudo pacman -syu, but we're using yay, so AUR pkgs also updated)
search	yay -Ss	Search for packages
showinst	yay -Qs	Show a list of installed packages matching the argument
edit	featherpad	Invoke the Featherpad text editor to edit text files
wipe	yay -Scc >/dev/null ; rm -rf ~/.cache/yay ; rm /home/$USER/.bash_history ; clear ; history -c'	Clear terminal, package cache (pacman and AUR) and shell command history
updategrub	sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg	Perform a Grub menu update
reflector	sudo reflector -c AU --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist	Update the pacman reflector list. I suggest you change "AU" to your country code, eg "US" This will ensure packages are downloaded from an Arch mirror in your country.

By default, the script depends on yay being installed to run. This is because yay allows for automated installation of packages from AUR. Therefore, addition of chaotic-aur and yay are essential for all of the software installation segments of the script. If you do not wish to use chaotic-aur and yay, you can modify the sccript to replace instances of calls to yay to sudo pacman. However, for the sake of making life a little easier for you, I would recommend allowing the script to install chaotic-aur and yay. If you prefer another AUR helper (such as paru), you are welcome to modify the script to use the tool of your choice.

Next, the script will ask if you'd like to link certain directories from your $HOME directory to directories in /home/common (and will create these as well if you choose). The benefit here is that data stored in this directory can be retained even if you delete your regular /home/user directory - just use the script to re-link the directories if needed. Please review the script first so you can see which directories it links, and add, remove or modify them as you see fit. The linked directories are modified depending on which browser you choose to install or configure.

The script will next ask which desktop (if any) you would like to install. Current choices are KDE, Gnome and Cinnamon. I intend to add more desktops in the future. At present I am personally using KDE.

The next few screens will ask you if you wish to install extra software packages, such as web browser, office suite, and several others. Here is where you can

(Gnome only) Note: at this point, adding desktop icons for network locations (eg Google Drive) works for the root folder of the network drive. However (on Google Drive at least; I haven't tested other network locations), attempting to link other folders or files from your Google Drive directly onto the desktop does not work. The link and icon will be created on the desktop, but clicking the icon to access the file will not work. If anyone has any idea how to fix this, please let me know!

The script will also activate the Gnome extensions it installs (if you've selected Gnome desktop), so when you reboot, the desktop should be all set up and practically ready to go. After rebooting, you'll probably want to make a few changes to the configuration here and there however.

Finally, the script clears out all downloaded packages from the cache, and enables some system services, and asks if you'd like to reboot (recommended).

So - here it is. I truly hope some of you find it useful. Good luck. If you find any bugs or otherwise, or have any other comments, please let me know.