Arch Linux Cheatsheet

Written by

in

Essential commands for installation, package management, system administration, and troubleshooting
Assumes pacman as primary package manager. All commands require sudo unless run as root.

1. Installation (Live USB/ISO)

Task	Command
Update keyring (critical first step)	`pacman -Sy archlinux-keyring --noconfirm`
Sync mirrors (fastest)	`reflector --latest 10 --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist`
List disks	`lsblk -f` or `fdisk -l`
Partition disk (example: UEFI + root)	`cfdisk /dev/sdX`
Format partitions	`mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdX1` (EFI) `mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX2` (root)
Mount partitions	`mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt` `mkdir -p /mnt/boot && mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/boot`
Install base system	`pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware`
Generate fstab	`genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab`
Chroot into system	`arch-chroot /mnt`
Set timezone	`ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Region/City /etc/localtime` `hwclock --systohc`
Set locale	Edit `/etc/locale.gen` → uncomment `en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8` `locale-gen` `echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf`
Set hostname	`echo "myhostname" > /etc/hostname`
Add to `/etc/hosts`	`127.0.0.1 localhost` `::1 localhost` `127.0.1.1 myhostname.localdomain myhostname`
Set root password	`passwd`
Install bootloader (GRUB UEFI)	`pacman -S grub efibootmgr` `grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB` `grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg`
Enable network (systemd)	`pacman -S networkmanager` `systemctl enable NetworkManager`
Exit & reboot	`exit` `umount -R /mnt` `reboot`

2. Pacman (Package Management)

Action	Command
Update system	`pacman -Syu`
Install package	`pacman -S package`
Remove package (with deps)	`pacman -Rns package`
Search package	`pacman -Ss keyword`
List installed packages	`pacman -Q`
List explicitly installed	`pacman -Qe`
Clean cache (keep last 3 versions)	`paccache -rk 3`
Remove untracked packages	`pacman -Rns $(pacman -Qdtq)`
View package info	`pacman -Qi package`
List files in package	`pacman -Ql package`
Which package owns file	`pacman -Qo /path/to/file`
Sync database	`pacman -Syy`
Force refresh	`pacman -Syyu`

AUR Helper (yay/paru)
Install: pacman -S --needed git base-devel
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git && cd yay && makepkg -si
Use: yay -S package (replaces pacman for AUR)

3. System Administration

Task	Command
List services	`systemctl list-unit-files --type=service`
Enable service	`systemctl enable service`
Start service	`systemctl start service`
Check status	`systemctl status service`
View logs	`journalctl -u service`
Reboot	`reboot`
Shutdown	`poweroff`
View kernel messages	`dmesg \| less`
Check disk usage	`df -h`
Check memory	`free -h`
List processes	`htop` or `top`
Kill process	`kill PID` or `pkill name`
Edit config (nano/vim)	`nano /path/to/file`
Backup pacman database	`cp -r /var/lib/pacman /backup/`

4. Users & Permissions

Action	Command
Add user	`useradd -m -G wheel username`
Set user password	`passwd username`
Enable sudo for wheel	`EDITOR=nano visudo` → uncomment `%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL`
Change file owner	`chown user:group file`
Change permissions	`chmod 755 file`

5. Networking

Task	Command
Check IP	`ip a`
Test connection	`ping archlinux.org`
Wi-Fi (iwctl)	`iwctl` → `station wlan0 scan` → `connect SSID`
Enable Wi-Fi	`systemctl enable --now iwd`
Check DNS	`cat /etc/resolv.conf`
Restart NetworkManager	`systemctl restart NetworkManager`

6. Filesystem & Storage

Task	Command
Mount USB	`mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb`
Unmount	`umount /mnt/usb`
Format ext4	`mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1`
Check filesystem	`fsck /dev/sdX1`
Find large files	`du -ah / \| sort -rh \| head -n 20`
Search files	`find / -name "filename"`

7. Troubleshooting

Issue	Command
Boot into recovery	Hold `Shift` at boot → GRUB → `e` → add `systemd.unit=rescue.target`
Fix broken packages	`pacman -Dk` (check deps) `pacman -Syu --overwrite '*'`
Reinstall all packages	`pacman -Qnq \| pacman -S -`
Clear journal logs	`journalctl --vacuum-time=2weeks`
Check boot errors	`journalctl -b -p err`
Regenerate initramfs	`mkinitcpio -P`
Update GRUB	`grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg`

8. Useful Tools to Install

pacman -S vim htop git curl wget unzip tree reflector rsync

9. One-Liners

# Full system update + clean
pacman -Syu && paccache -ruk0 && pacman -Rns $(pacman -Qdtq)

# Mirrorlist (fastest 10 servers)
reflector --latest 10 --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist && pacman -Syy

# Show orphan packages
pacman -Qdt

# Rebuild AUR packages after upgrade
yay -Syu --rebuildall

10. Arch Wiki Shortcut

Always check: https://wiki.archlinux.org

# Search wiki offline (install arch-wiki-docs)
pacman -S arch-wiki-docs
wiki-search "query"

Pro Tip: Keep archinstall script for automated installs:

pacman -S archinstall
archinstall

More posts