1. Check for internet connection:

   • ping -c 3 archlinux.org
   • if on wifi, use: iwctl to setup internet

2. System clock:

   • timedatectl set-ntp true

3. Partition disks following this general layout (for EFI systems):

   Partition	Size	Type
   /dev/sda1	600 MB	EFI System Partition
   /dev/sda2	Entire Disk	Linux Filesystem

4. Format the newly created partitions and set up swap for use:

   • mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
   • mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1

5. Mount necessary partitions, create boot dir:

   • mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
   • mkdir /mnt/boot
   • mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

6. Install essential packages needed for minimal install (if on AMD system, exchange 'intel-ucode' for 'amd-ucode'):

   • pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware linux-headers dhcpcd intel-ucode sudo nano htop git terminator neofetch

7. Generate content for fstab file at /mnt/etc/fstab:

   • genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

8. Change root into the new system:

   • arch-chroot /mnt

9. Set time zone:

   • ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime

10. Set hardware clock from the system clock to update /etc/adjtime:

    • hwclock --systohc

11. Add (or just use nano to un-comment existing) en_US to /etc/locale.gen

    • echo "en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8" >> /etc/locale.gen && locale-gen

12. Create the file locale.conf, add the LANG variable to it:

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

13. Set the system hostname (eg: MYHOSTNAME):

    • echo "MYHOSTNAME" >> /etc/hostname

14. Open the /etc/hosts file, and make it look like this:

    127.0.0.1	localhost
    ::1		    localhost
    127.0.1.1	MYHOSTNAME
    

15. Set the root user's password:

    • passwd

16. Create a non-root user (eg: 'USER'), and set it up:

    • useradd MYUSER
    • groupadd sudo
    • usermod -aG sudo MYUSER
    • echo "MYUSER ALL=(ALL) ALL" >> /etc/sudoers
    • mkhomedir_helper MYUSER
    • passwd MYUSER

17. Install the systemd-boot bootloader:

• bootctl install

18. Create the file /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf, and make it look like this:

    title   Arch Linux
    linux   /vmlinuz-linux
    initrd  /intel-ucode.img
    initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
    options root=UUID=57fb01ee-ed7a-41c3-a18e-286842b65d94 rw
    

    the UUID can be added to this file more easily by running:

    • blkid /dev/sda2 >> /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf;

19. Create the file /boot/loader/loader.conf and make it look like this:

    default arch.conf
    timeout 3
    console-mode max
    editor no
    

20. Verify boot options:

    • bootctl list

21. (optional) if using wifi, install iwd to use wifi after installing, enable service:

    • pacman -S iwd
    • systemctl enable iwd

22. Start dhcpcd:

    • systemctl enable dhcpcd

23. Reboot, and hopefully boot into a nice fresh and clean OS. Exit chroot with CTRL-D, and:

    • reboot

24. Clone and install yay, an AUR helper:

• cd /opt
• sudo git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
• sudo chown -R MYUSER:users ./yay
• cd yay && makepkg -si