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Artix Linux Manual Installation Guide

Target: PC / Laptop (AMD Ryzen processor and AMD GPU)

Filesystem: Btrfs with subvolumes

Swap: zram (no swap partition)

Desktop: KDE Plasma (bare minimum)

Init: OpenRC

Drive: NVMe SSD (/dev/nvme0n1)

The Artix Wiki is a great resource as well for additional reference and troubleshooting: wiki.artixlinux.org/

The general steps for installing Artix (similar to most Linux distributions) includes connecting to the internet, partitioning the disk, formatting the partitions, mounting the partitions, installing the linux kernel and base system packages, configuring localization, installing the boot loader, adding users and setting passwords, configuring the network, installing the desktop environment and display login manager, activating core services, and post-installation configuration.

1. Boot the Live ISO

Download the base OpenRC ISO from artixlinux.org/download.php. Flash it to a USB drive

Linux command for USB:

sudo dd bs=4M if=artix-base-openrc-YYYYMMDD-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdX status=progress oflag=sync

Boot the PC from USB. Here's a reference list of Boot Menu keys for various manufacturers:
Manufacturer Boot Menu Key BIOS/UEFI Key
Acer F12, Esc, F9 F2, Delete
Asus F8, Esc F2, Delete
Dell F12 F2
HP F9, Esc F10
Lenovo F12, F10, F8 (or Novo Button) F2, F1
MSI F11 Delete
Toshiba F12 F2, F1, Esc
Samsung F12, F2, Esc F2
Sony VAIO F11, F10, Esc (or Assist Button) F2, F1, F3
Gigabyte F12 Delete, F2
Intel NUC F10 F2

Once at the terminal, the default login is root and password is artix.

2. Connect to the Internet

Ethernet:

If using ethernet (recommended), go direct to "Verify connectivity" step below.

Wi-Fi:

The wireless interface may be soft-blocked by default. Unblock it first:

rfkill unblock wifi
ip link set wlan0 up

Then connect with wpa_supplicant:

wpa_supplicant -B -i wlan0 -c <(wpa_passphrase "YourSSID" "YourPassword")

dhcpcd wlan0

Alternatively, can use the connection manager (ConnMan) utility that's included in the Artix ISO:

connmanctl
> enable wifi
> scan wifi
> agent on
> connect wifi_<tab-complete>

> quit

Verify connectivity:

ping -c 3 artixlinux.org

3. Set Keyboard and Time

Set keyboard layout:

loadkeys us

4. Partition the NVMe Drive

If using a NVMe M.2 2280 slot, the target drive will appear as /dev/nvme0n1.

Verify your drive:

lsblk

If the drive has an old swap signature, disable it first:

swapoff /dev/nvme0n1p2 2>/dev/null

If the drive has a prior install, wipe it first:

wipefs -af /dev/nvme0n1

Launch cfdisk to partition the drive:

cfdisk /dev/nvme0n1

When cfdisk opens:

  1. If prompted for a label type, select gpt. If the drive already has an MBR/DOS table, delete all existing partitions first, then go to the bottom menu and select [ Write ] to apply, then quit and re-run cfdisk /dev/nvme0n1 — it will prompt for a new label type and you can pick gpt.
  2. Select [ New ] on the free space, type 1G, press Enter. This creates the EFI partition.
  3. With that partition highlighted, select [ Type ] and choose EFI System.
  4. Arrow down to the remaining free space, select [ New ], press Enter to accept the full remaining size. This creates the root partition (type defaults to Linux filesystem, which is correct).
  5. Select [ Write ], type yes to confirm, then [ Quit ].

Final layout:

Partition Size Type Purpose
/dev/nvme0n1p1 1 GB EFI System EFI boot
/dev/nvme0n1p2 Remainder Linux filesystem Btrfs root

5. Format Partitions

Format EFI partition as FAT32:

mkfs.fat -F32 -n EFI /dev/nvme0n1p1

Format root partition as Btrfs:

mkfs.btrfs -L ARTIX /dev/nvme0n1p2

6. Create Btrfs Subvolumes

Mount the top-level subvolume:

mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt

Create subvolumes:

btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@
btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@home
btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@var
btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@log
btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@cache
btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@snapshots

Unmount the top-level:

umount /mnt

7. Mount Subvolumes

Use SSD-optimized mount options.

Define mount options once:

BTRFS_OPTS="noatime,ssd,compress=zstd,space_cache=v2,discard=async"

Mount root subvolume:

mount -o ${BTRFS_OPTS},subvol=@ /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt

Create mount point directories:

mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mkdir -p /mnt/home
mkdir -p /mnt/var
mkdir -p /mnt/var/log
mkdir -p /mnt/var/cache
mkdir -p /mnt/.snapshots

Mount remaining subvolumes:

mount -o ${BTRFS_OPTS},subvol=@home     /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt/home
mount -o ${BTRFS_OPTS},subvol=@var      /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt/var
mount -o ${BTRFS_OPTS},subvol=@log      /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt/var/log
mount -o ${BTRFS_OPTS},subvol=@cache    /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt/var/cache
mount -o ${BTRFS_OPTS},subvol=@snapshots /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt/.snapshots

If receiving an error that mount point doesn't exist, just go back and create the mount point directory again.

Mount EFI partition:

mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot/efi

Note: why zram instead of a swap partition? On btrfs, swap files require special handling [no compression, no copy-on-write (COW)]. Zram is simpler, faster (compressed RAM), and avoids SSD wear. With 16–96GB of DDR5 on a PC, zram is the better choice. Note: this means hibernation (suspend-to-disk) is not available (hibernation requires swap). Regular suspend (lid close, sleep to RAM) works fine.

8. Install the Base System

Refresh package mirrors:

pacman -Sy artix-keyring

Install base packages:

basestrap /mnt base base-devel openrc elogind-openrc \
  linux linux-headers linux-firmware \
  amd-ucode \
  btrfs-progs \
  grub efibootmgr \
  dbus dbus-openrc \
  sudo \
  networkmanager networkmanager-openrc \
  zramen zramen-openrc \
  os-prober \
  pipewire pipewire-openrc pipewire-alsa pipewire-pulse pipewire-pulse-openrc pipewire-jack wireplumber wireplumber-openrc alsa-utils sof-firmware \
  nano vim neovim \
  git wget curl \
  reflector \

Run reflector to use the fastest mirrors (will help speed up package installs as you progress along the installation):

reflector --latest 10 --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

A few package notes:

  • linux — linux base kernel, headers, and firmware
  • amd-ucode — microcode updates for AMD processors; NOTE: if you are running an Intel-based processor, replace withintel-ucode instead
  • btrfs-progs — Btrfs management tools
  • elogind-openrc — seat management (required for desktop sessions without systemd)
  • networkmanager-openrc — OpenRC service script for NetworkManager (KDE Plasma's network widget requires NetworkManager)
  • zramen-openrc — OpenRC service script for zram (RAM compression)
  • os-prober— utility to scan for other OS bootable partitions (if dual booting in the future)
  • pipewire-openrc — OpenRC service scripts for pipewire audio (required for PC audio)
  • nano — text editors (nano, VIM, and NeoVIM)
  • git — essential utilities (git, wget, curl) for installation of other packages and scripts

9. Generate fstab

fstabgen -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

Verify each mount looks correct:

cat /mnt/etc/fstab

You should see six Btrfs entries (one per subvolume) plus the EFI FAT32 entry.

10. Chroot into the New System

artix-chroot /mnt

11. Time Zone and Locale

Set Time Zone (/usr/share/Region/City selected as America/New_York):

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc

Set Locale:

nano /etc/locale.gen
# Uncomment: en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8

locale-gen
echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf

12. Hostname and Hosts

Set hostname (Linux system name):

# Set hostname to whatever you want to name the system
echo "hostname" > /etc/hostname
echo "hostname" > /etc/conf.d/hostname

Edit /etc/hosts:

127.0.0.1   localhost
::1         localhost
127.0.1.1   hostname.localdomain hostname

13. Console Keymap (optional)

# Only if using a non-US layout
echo "KEYMAP=us" > /etc/vconsole.conf

14. Set Root Password and Create User

Set root password:

passwd

Create your user and user password:

useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash yourusername
passwd yourusername

Add user to the sudo group:

EDITOR=nano visudo
# Uncomment (in wheel section): %wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

15. Configure mkinitcpio

Check /etc/mkinitcpio.conf to include the Btrfs module:

cat /etc/mkinitcpio.conf | grep "^HOOKS"

Check that modules are outputted. Ensure:

MODULES=(btrfs)
HOOKS=(base udev autodetect modconf block filesystems keyboard fsck)

Then regenerate the initramfs:

mkinitcpio -P

16. Install and Configure GRUB

Install GRUB:

grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=Artix

Generate the config:

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

17. Enable Core Services

Enable network, boot login, and zram:

rc-update add NetworkManager default
rc-update add elogind boot
rc-update add dbus default
rc-update add zramen default

18. Configure zram (Instead of Swap)

Configure zram by editing /etc/conf.d/zramen:

nano /etc/conf.d/zramen

Set the contents (adjust size as appropriate — a common choice is 50% of your RAM):

ZRAM_SIZE=50%
ZRAM_ALGO=lz4
# or zstd

19. Install KDE Plasma (Minimal Install)

Install only the minimal Plasma desktop — no KDE application suite:

pacman -S plasma-desktop sddm sddm-openrc
# Choose all defaults (1)

This gives you the Plasma shell, System Settings, and the SDDM login manager — nothing more. This matches the bare-minimum approach of the Artix KDE ISO which ships only a file manager, media player, a browser, and a document viewer.

Add essential apps:

pacman -S dolphin          # File manager
pacman -S konsole          # Terminal
pacman -S firefox          # Web browser
pacman -S okular           # Document viewer
pacman -S vlc              # Media player

For Plasma's widgets to work:

pacman -S \
  plasma-pa \
  plasma-nm \
  kscreen \
  powerdevil \
  bluedevil \
  kio-extras \
  udisks2 udisks2-openrc \
  polkit-kde-agent \
  kde-cli-tools \
  kde-gtk-config \
  xdg-user-dirs \

Enable SDDM:

rc-update add sddm default

20. AMD GPU Driver

For AMD GPUs, install the Mesa drivers:

pacman -S mesa vulkan-radeon libva-mesa-driver

For NVIDIA GPUs, lib32 repository is required. See section Enable additional repositories (for wider package access) and then run:

pacman -S nvidia nvidia-utils lib32-nvidia-utils nvidia-settings

21. Bluetooth

Install Bluetooth utilities (bluez) and then enable.

pacman -S bluez bluez-utils bluez-openrc
rc-update add bluetoothd default

22. Power Management (for Laptops)

Add a battery management tool (TLP) for Linux laptops.

pacman -S tlp

23. Device Firmware Updates

Install device firmware update manager. See Post-Install Checklist for commands to run after reboot to update device firmware.

pacman -S fwupd

24. Exit, Unmount, and Reboot

exit                      # Leave chroot
umount -R /mnt            # Recursive unmount
reboot

Remove the USB drive when the system restarts. You should be greeted by GRUB, then the SDDM login screen.

Post-Install Checklist

After logging in to Plasma, open terminal (Konsole):

Verify WiFi

ping -c 3 artixlinux.org

If any errors and not connected to internet:

nmcli device wifi list

That should scan and show available networks. Then connect:

nmcli device wifi connect "YourSSID" password "YourPassword"

Verify zram is active:

swapon --show
# Should show /dev/zram0 with your configured size

Verify Btrfs subvolumes:

btrfs subvolume list /

/dev/nvme0n1
├── nvme0n1p1   1 GB    FAT32   /boot/efi     (EFI System Partition)
└── nvme0n1p2   Rest    Btrfs   (subvolumes)
    ├── @                       /
    ├── @home                   /home
    ├── @var                    /var
    ├── @log                    /var/log
    ├── @cache                  /var/cache
    └── @snapshots              /.snapshots

No swap partition — zram handles memory compression in RAM.

Verify GPU driver:

glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
# Should show AMD Radeon / RDNA

Check and run firmware updates:

fwupdmgr refresh
fwupdmgr get-updates
fwupdmgr update
# then reboot to install firmware updates

Start audio devices:

Add and run PipeWire (audio) services for openrc.

rc-update add -U pipewire default
rc-update add -U pipewire-pulse default
rc-update add -U wireplumber default
rc-service -U pipewire start
rc-service -U pipewire-pulse start
rc-service -U wireplumber start

Enable additional repositories (for wider package access):

Edit /etc/pacman.conf and add additional mirrors:

sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf

Add the lib32 library so you can install Steam:

[lib32]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
# Uncomment this section

Update all packages:

sudo pacman -Syu

Run this once after fresh install and at least once a week to update all packages to maintain system.

Additional Packages and Updates

Recommended additional packages (some already installed from initial instructions, but are included again just in case):

Backup

sudo pacman -S timeshift snapper
  • Timeshift backup service
  • Snapper alternative backup service

Core Services

sudo pacman -S \
  networkmanager networkmanager-openrc \
  elogind elogind-openrc \
  acpid acpid-openrc \
  cronie cronie-openrc \
  bluez bluez-openrc bluez-utils \
  cups cups-openrc system-config-printer \
  ntp ntp-openrc \
  pipewire-pulse pipewire-pulse-openrc pipewire-jack wireplumber wireplumber-openrc alsa-utils sof-firmware \
  pavucontrol \
  sof-firmware alsa-firmware \
  fwupd bolt upower \
  sudo nano vim git curl wget rsync unzip zip \
  reflector pacman-contrib pkgfile \
  bash-completion man-db man-pages \
  ufw \
  • NetworkManager: easiest desktop networking
  • elogind: session/power integration
  • acpid / upower: lid, battery, suspend behavior
  • cronie time-based job scheduler used to run specified programs or scripts at scheduled times
  • bluez: Bluetooth
  • cups: only if you print
  • fwupd: important on Framework for firmware updates
  • bolt: useful for Thunderbolt/USB4 device authorization
  • SOF / ALSA firmware: helps with modern laptop audio hardware
  • ufw: Uncomplicated Firewall for managing firewall

ufw requires adding to openrc:

rc-update add ufw default

KDE and Utilities:

sudo pacman -S \
  ark filelight gwenview okular \
  kate konsole \
  spectacle flameshot \
  partitionmanager \
  kdeconnect \
  • Okular for PDFs
  • Kate as the default GUI editor
  • Spectacle or Flameshot (preferred) for screenshots
  • Filelight for storage cleanup
  • KDE Connect if want to hookup Linux system to phone

Dev / Coding:

sudo pacman -S \
  base-devel \
  github-cli \
  openssh openssh-openrc \
  jq yq \
  python python-pip \
  nodejs npm \
  docker docker-openrc docker-compose \
  podman podman-compose

AUR utility:

sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel git
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/paru.git
cd paru
makepkg -si
  • Paru recommended AUR helper

AUR apps / packages**:**

paru -S brave-bin \
  signal-desktop \
  vscodium-bin \
  onlyoffice-bin \
  timeshift-autosnap \
  • Brave browser (preferred over Firefox)
  • Signal messenger (preferred vs WhatsApp, Telegram, etc)
  • VSCodium open-source text editor (preferred over Microsoft's Visual Studio Code)
  • ONLYOFFICE open-source office suite (preferred for greatest compatibility with Microsoft Office)
  • Timeshift Autosnapper installs a hook so Timeshift automatically creates a backup every time packages are updated through pacman

Flatpak:

pacman -S flatpak
  • Flatpak if you want to install GUI apps easily

Media apps:

sudo pacman -S \
  vlc mpv \
  ffmpeg \
  libreoffice-fresh \
  obs-studio \
  • VLC (preferred) or MPV media player
  • FFmpeg media conversion tools
  • OBS Studio open-source recording / screencasting

Office apps:

sudo pacman -S \
  libreoffice-fresh \
  thunderbird \
  okular \
  evince
  • LibreOffice office suite (alternative to ONLYOFFICE)
  • Thunderbird open-source email client (Microsoft Outlook replacement)
  • Okular document viewer (default for KDE)
  • Evince document viewer (alternative to Okular that's packaged with GNOME)

Gaming:

sudo pacman -S \
  steam \
  gamemode \
  mangohud \
  vulkan-radeon \
  lib32-mesa \
  lib32-vulkan-radeon \
  mesa vulkan-tools
  • Steam video game store and distribution service, including additional required tools / drivers (AMD GPU)
  • Steam requires 32-bit application support - requires lib32 library

Tailscale:

sudo pacman -S tailscale tailscale-openrc
sudo rc-update add tailscaled default
sudo rc-service tailscaled start
  • Tailscale open-source mesh VPN service

Fonts:

sudo pacman -S ttf-jetbrains-mono
paru -S ttf-jetbrains-mono-nerd
  • Jet Brains fonts and nerd fonts

Monitoring utilities:

sudo pacman -S \
  btop fastfetch \
  ncdu \
  ripgrep fd fzf \
  htop \
  usbutils pciutils \
  smartmontools lm_sensors
  • Btop system overview
  • Fastfetch (obligatory "neofetch")
  • ripgrep, fd, fzf for terminal quality of life
  • smartmontools for SSD health
  • lm_sensors for temperatures

Cloud storage:

paru -S \
  nextcloud-client-git \
  pcloud-drive
  • Nextcloud self-hosted cloud storage client (requires Nextcloud server)
  • pCloud privacy-oriented cloud storage client (requires pCloud account)

Notes

  • Kernel: This guide uses the linux kernel. Artix also offers linux-lts and linux-zen.
  • Snapshots: With this subvolume layout, you can use snapper or timeshift to snapshot @ without capturing /home, /var, or caches.