Install
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About an afternoon, most of it waiting

Install Arch, then CoreDesktop.

Two parts: a standard Arch Linux install with GNOME using archinstall, then one command that turns it into CoreDesktop.

Skip to the command Download Arch

Part one

Installing Arch.

Mostly choose the defaults. The choices below are the ones that matter.

  1. Download the ISO

    001

    Get the Arch ISO from archlinux.org/download. You may need to scroll down to find the download links.

  2. Write it to a USB stick

    002

    Any tool works. On another CoreDesktop machine, use Impression.

  3. Boot it and run archinstall

    003

    Boot from the USB stick. When it’s up, type archinstall to get to the simple installer. No wired connection? Set up wifi first.

  4. Pick the right GPU driver

    004

    If you have an NVIDIA GPU, choose the proprietary NVIDIA option. Choose the AMD option for AMD cards.

  5. Choose desktop and GNOME

    005

    When asked what type of system you want, choose Desktop, and GNOME as the desktop environment.

  6. Choose pipewire, then reboot

    006

    Pipewire is strongly recommended for sound; it works well with Jitsi, Element and the other Federated Core apps. Reboot and log in.

You will likely get the Arch install wrong the first or second time. Don’t despair. Keep trying! The logic of the install will become clear, and frankly efficient, and you get to know the base Arch install better each time.

Networking

A note about networking in Arch.

You need an internet connection to install Arch. A wired connection should just work. On wifi, set it up with iwctl before running archinstall:

iwctl
device list
station wlan0 scan
station wlan0 get-networks
station wlan0 connect SSID

Replace wlan0 with your wireless device from device list, and SSID with your network’s name. Leave iwctl and check with ping archlinux.org, then carry on with the install. The Arch wiki has the full guide.

Part two

Installing Federated CoreDesktop.

Once Arch and GNOME are installed, log in, open a terminal and enter:

Terminal
wget -qO- https://gitea.federated.computer/Federated_Computer/coredesktop/raw/branch/main/install.sh | bash

You can also find this command on Gitea: open the Web browser, go to gitea.federated.computer, click Explore, then CoreDesktop.

Then

While it runs, and after.

  1. Enter your password once

    001

    It asks once, at the start. Then be patient: it takes a while.

  2. Run configure

    002

    At the end it offers to run configure, which connects your Federated Core, sets up backups and signs you in to the AI agents. If a newer kernel came in, it asks you to reboot first.

  3. If something fails, run it again

    003

    The install skips what’s already done, so running it again is always safe.

  4. Reboot

    004

    Run sudo reboot now when you’re done, so that Element can find the encryption keychain, among other things.

What configure sets up What gets installed