2023/10/31
Posted Tag: #Linux
Other Tags: #Windows, #Personal, #All
Strings is an automated bash script that installs Arch Linux with the Cinnamon desktop. The desktop installation uses Linux Mint's Github account to install the latest icons and themes but none of the Linux Mint applications. A few Linux Mint applications are installed otherwise that I use on a regular basis. After all I used Linux Mint a couple of years when I first stopped using Windows. Below is what the desktop looks like.
The script detects if not running on a virtual machine using a systemd function systemd-detect-virt, which is another reason I like systemd. But in doing so the script can install particular applications relative to the environment. I install quite a few applications on my everyday computer whereas not so many within a virtual machine.
The script can use a configuration file for a more unattended type installation or for the use of an alternate keymap. It does not need to use this configuration file for the Arch Linux's default 'us' keymap because all settings are prompted for during installation. Now the final script does pause installation before installing the Arch Linux AUR helper Yay because the new user's password is need for installation. I do this because the password prompt will time out if it isn't typed in for a time, as it has for me before. The pause is to prevent this in case you walk away for a moment. So it is not fully unattended due to this.
The scripts are available on my GitLab account and can be downloaded on Linux using git;
git clone https://gitlab.com/rogdale/strings.gitOf course you need git installed but you will get a strings directory containing the scripts. You can also download the scripts using a .zip file at https://gitlab.com/rogdale/strings. The .zip file after unzipping it leaves a strings-main directory with the scripts in it. Copy the scripts in the applicable directory to a USB thumb drive and insert it where you want to use the scripts. Or attach it to a virtual machine though the computer you are using. Now all you need is an Arch Linux ISO in a virtual machine drive or on a USB using Rufus if Windows or something like BaleneEtcher on Linux plugged into the computer you are installing to. Here I will mention Ventoy which turns an USB thumb drive into a reservoir containing multiple ISOs where you can choose any of them to boot when you use the drive to boot from. I use it all the time and keep the latest Arch Linux, gparted, ESXI and Ubuntu Server LTS ISOs on it for my use when I need them.
Here are the commands you need when using the USB thumb drive with the scripts on it. I assume here that you have booted into an Arch Linux ISO and the USB thumb drive is plugged into the same computer or virtual machine.
mkdir strings
lsblk # To find your USB drive, in this case /dev/sdb
mount /dev/sdb strings
cd strings
./stringsFrom there you will be prompted as you go through the scripts.
One thing I should mention is that Arch Linux boots from ISO into an environment that is loaded into memory. When using a USB thumb drive as above all the files stay on the mounted USB out of memory. So what can you do if you can not plug in a USB thumb drive into where you are using Strings to install Arch Linux? If you have network access to the target computer or virtual machine you can use SSH from another Linux computer. On this other Linux computer create a directory named strings somewhere and copy the Strings files into it without the addons directory. This addons directory has too much as of an overall size so it can not fit within memory on the target computer. Once files are copied open terminal in the directory containing the strings directory and use SSH to transfer over the network the files and directory to the target computer or virtual machine. But first on the target installation you have to give root a password. Type passwd followed by the password twice. Then type ip a to obtain the IP address given likely by DHCP. Once you have did this on the other computer type similar to this for you situation scp -r [email protected]: . The -r switch of SSH will copy the current directory and it's contents to the target computer or virtual machine. Once Arch Linux is installed and you are booted into the new Arch Linux installation go back and copy over the addons directory.
Go to the GitLab account that I linked above and read what I have there concerning all the scripts. You can read my last post and discover I not long ago used these scripts for Arch Linux on ZFS root, which I abandoned due to discovering that Arch Linux should not be used with ZFS. The scripts were more complicated back then.
I hope someone can use these scripts or can use my methodology for creating them. I use them regularly mainly for virtual machines but also in cases where I have made a mistake with my current every day Arch Linux installation and it is best to start over. I should try new things in virtual machines rather than on my everyday computer but I guess I am hardheaded with that. I had to recover from episodes concerning docker on several occasions. The ZFS experiment I mentioned above should have been tried in a virtual machine first rather than my everyday computer as an example.
I would suggest that you use strings from within a virtual machine first to become acquainted with the scripts.
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