Neamerjell

Arch Linux

Essential Links:

• Official Arch Installation Guide
• List of Applications Available for Arch

Hardware Specific

• Bluetooth
• Disable the PC Speaker in the Console
• Logitech M570

Send a message from a client PC to a server PC when booted up and ready

I have a small mini-ITX PC that I use as a NAS and backup. I only periodically turn it on when I need it. There is no use running it 24/7 because electricity isn't free. It takes a little bit of time to fully boot to the point that the Samba share is accessible. I have tried to access the shared folder a few times before it was ready and thought it would be nice if I had a notification on my main PC, which runs EndeavourOS (a derivative of Arch) with the KDE desktop environment, when the NAS is fully ready to go. Here is what I came up with.

Note that since the NAS is connecting to the PC, the NAS is the client and the main PC is the server.

All instructions are to be executed on the CLIENT unless otherwise specified

1. Install / Enable ssh on SERVER:

sudo pacman -S openssh
sudo systemctl start sshd
sudo systemctl enable sshd

2. Generate Keys for password free operation:

Generate all keys on CLIENT:

DO NOT add a passphrase when prompted!

Copy public key to server:

3. Edit SERVER's sshd_config file:

sudo cp sshd_config sshd_config.bak
sudo nano sshd_config

Contents:
Uncomment and change to 'no'

4. Create the script to run at boot:

Contents:

#!/bin/bash
ssh neamerjell@192.168.0.3 notify-send "Shoebox Ready"

The notify-send command displays a notification on the KDE desktop.

5. Create a dummy user for the service to use:

sudo adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" boot-notifier
sudo mkdir -p /home/boot-notifier/.ssh
sudo cp ~/.ssh/id_rsa /home/boot-notifier/.ssh/id_rsa
sudo chmod 600 /home/boot-notifier/.ssh/id_rsa
sudo chown -R boot-notifier:boot-notifier /home/boot-notifier/.ssh

6. Create the service:

Contents:

[Unit]
Description=Runs a script at boot to notify my main PC when the NAS is booted
After=network-online.target smbd.service
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
User=boot-notifier
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/boot-notifier.sh

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

7. CRITICAL STEP! Log in as root on the CLIENT, then switch user to the boot-notifier and execute the script

ssh will produce a one time prompt to accept the connection to a new computer

boot-notifier.sh
The authenticity of host '...' can't be established.
...
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no) ?
                

8. Restart and enable systemd to execute the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reexec
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable boot-notifier.service
sudo systemctl start boot-notifier.service

Enable TRIM on SSD in Arch

The fstrim.service and fstrim.timer are included by default in Arch.

You can check the status of the timers:

Install Bluetooth Drivers on Arch

Install the bluez and bluez-utils packages:

Then start the bluetooth service with:

To start at boot:

Setup WiFi in Arch Linux

Log in as root and perform the following tasks:

Add these lines:

ctrl_interface=/run/wpa_supplicant
update_config=1

Save, exit then enter the command:

wpa_passphrase dd-wrt password >> /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlp2s0.conf
nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlp2so.conf

Alter the file replacing "MySSID" and "password" with your actual WiFi SSID and password. BigLongLineOfMeaningLessText will already exist in the file and is a long line of hexadecimal values, presumably a hash of "password".

ctrl_interface=/run/wpa_supplicant
update_config=1

network={
    ssid="MySSID"
    proto=RSN
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
    pairwise=CCMP TKIP
    group=CCMP TKIP
    #psk="password"
    psk=BigLongLineOfMeaningLessText
}

Save, exit then enter the command:

Install Arch Linux on VirtualBox

Arch now has an install script!

Old Way:

Create a machine with:

• 15 GB fixed size vdi virtual hard drive
• 4 GB of RAM
• 2 CPU cores
• Enable PAE/NX
• Boot Order: Optical, Hard Drive (remove the floppy)
• ICH9 chipset
• PS/2 mouse
• Display: Enable 3D Acceleration
• Storage: Delete the IDE controller and add an optical drive to the SATA and use the Arch iso file
• Use Host I/O Cache
• Change USB to 3.0 Controller
• Add a shared folder
• Auto-Mount

Install as normal from the Wiki with these exceptions:

This gives a cleaner view than "fdisk -l"

This is a more interactive version of "fdisk"

Choose dos label type, then choose New, 15G, Primary, Bootable, Write, type "yes", Quit

This will create a single 15 GB partition - no other partitions needed since Grub will be installed and it is compatible with the ext4 file system.

Set the timezone:

Install the Grub bootloader:

pacman -S grub
`grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Make the network setup permanently enabled at boot:

Install VirtualBox utilities, alsa-utils, and neofetch:

Mount the shared folder:

mkdir /mnt/shared
mount -t vboxsf Shared /mnt/shared

Create user for Neamerjell:

useradd -m -g users -G wheel,storage,power -s /bin/bash neamerjell
EDITOR=nano visudo

Uncomment this line: