How to Install Arch

[NOTE] this guide has only been verified on a virtual machine, YMMV

1. go through normal setup until chrooted

   pacman -S dhcpcd dhcp dnsmasq base-devel emacs grub efibootmgr netctl
   

2. Continue until bootloader
3. Install grub
4. Reboot

5. Set up networking

   systemctl enable dhcpcd.service
   systemctl enable systemd-resolved --now
   ln -sf /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf
   

6. Add a new user

   useradd -m <user>
   passwd <user>
   usermod --append --groups wheel <user>
   export EDITOR=/usr/bin/emacs
   visudo
   

   Find the wheel group in the User Privilege Specification section and uncomment so it looks like this:

   ## Uncomment to allow members of group wheel to execute any command
   %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL
   

7. Set up a Desktop Environment (XFCE)

   pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies xorg-server
   ##Ensure you're logged in as a user, not root
   echo exec startxfce4 >> ~/.xinitrc
   

8. Automatically boot into desktop

   Edit ~/.bash_profile and append the following to the end:

   if [[ ! $DISPLAY && $XDG_VTNR -eq 1 ]]; then
     exec startx
   fi
   

9. Reboot

Congrats! Enjoy your Arch installation!!