Install Arch Linux on Windows 10 Hyper-V

This guide will walk you through how to install Arch Linux on a Windows 10 Hyper-V virtual machine.

Ion Mudreac

Updated Apr. 22, 20 · Tutorial

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A few months back, I upgraded my laptop to a new Microsoft Surface Book 2 that has all these nice features, like a detachable screen. My previous laptop and current desktop run Arch Linux as the main OS. My work is mostly done in the IDE Visual Studio Code or shell. VCS runs well on Windows 10, but shell, I don’t think I want to invest too much time in PowerShell and WSL is not exactly the best working environment for me.

I decided to deploy Arch Linux on a Windows Hyper-V virtual machine for my bash needs as I am not yet sure if I want to completely replace Windows as the main desktop on my Surface Book 2, since I still like the detachable screen and Windows 10 face authentication and the VR kit. Maybe, in the near future, I will deploy Arch Linux beside Windows 10.

This guide will walk you through how to install Arch Linux on Windows 10.

Requirements

Download the latest Archlinux ISO Image to $HOME\Downloads\
VT-x/AMD-v virtualization must be enabled in BIOS (requires machine restart)
Enable Hyper-V: go to Windows features On or Off and you will see a dialog box with a list of Windows features, as shown below. Navigate to the Hyper-V section and enable it (requires machine restart).

Hyper-V Installation

Hyper-V has been included with Windows since Windows Server 2008 as well as Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 in the Pro versions. It can be enabled from the Control Panel at “Turn Windows features on or off” under “Programs and Features.” Activate the “Hyper-V” checkbox, apply the change, and follow the directions on the screen.

Network Configuration

First, you must configure a new virtual switch so that your virtual machine will be able to connect to the Internet. Once Hyper-V is enabled, start the Hyper-V Manager.

Configuration can be done in GUI by opening Power Shell as Administrator and running Hyper-V Manager:

mmc.exe virtmgmt.msc

Or we can use only PowerShell for the rest of the configurations.

Creating External Switch

Using PowerShell (run as Administrator)

Get a list of the network adapters in the host. On a laptop, you should typically see "Ethernet" and "Wi-Fi."

Get-NetAdapter

Create the external switch with a name of VM-External-Switch, bound to the network adapter named Wi-Fi retrieved from the previous command. You may need to change your -NetAdapterName to interface connected to the internet.

New-VMSwitch -name ExternalSwitch  -NetAdapterName "Ethernet 3"  -AllowManagementOS $true

Create Virtual Machine in Hyper-V

Set VM Name, Switch Name, and Installation Media Path.
Define PowerShell variables

$VMName = ‘ArchLinux’
$Switch = ‘ExternalSwitch’
$InstallMedia = ‘archlinux-2018.05.01-x86_64.iso’
$VMPath = ‘C:\Users\Public\Documents\Hyper-V\Virtual Hard Disks\’
$HOSTNAME = (Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_ComputerSystem -Property Name).Name

Create New Virtual Machine

New-VM -Name $VMName -MemoryStartupBytes 4GB -Generation 2 -NewVHDPath “$VMPath\$VMName.vhdx” -NewVHDSizeBytes 128GB -Path “$VMPath” -SwitchName $Switch

Optional Disable Hyper-V checkpoint

Set-VM -Name $VMName -CheckpointType $false

Add additional CPU to created VM

Set-VMProcessor $VMName -Count 4

Disable Dynamic RAM allocation in Hyper V

Set-VMMemory $VMName -DynamicMemoryEnabled $false

Disable secure boot functionality on the virtual machine

Set-VMFirmware $VMName -EnableSecureBoot Off

Add DVD Drive to existing SCSI Controller

Add-VMDvdDrive -VMName $VMName -ControllerNumber 0 -ControllerLocation 1 -Path $HOME\Downloads\$InstallMedia

Mount Installation Media

$DVDDrive = Get-VMDvdDrive -VMName $VMName

Configure Virtual Machine to Boot from DVD

Set-VMFirmware -VMName $VMName -FirstBootDevice $DVDDrive

Start VM

Start-VM -Name $VMName

Connect to the virtual machine by using Virtual Machine Connection (VMConnect).

VMConnect $HOSTNAME $VMName

Arch Linux Installation

Hyper-V does not allow clipboard COPY/PASTE; for this, we will use SSH into the VM. The latest Windows 10 Fall Creators Update includes an SSH client that can be installed following the guide from How-To Geek.

Once in Hyper-V Arch shell,

Add root password

passwd

Allow remote ssh

systemctl start sshd

Find IP to connect from remote

ip a show dev eth0 | grep -w inet

SSH into VM from Power Shell

ssh root@IP

Arch Installation Check and Initial Configuration

Verify if installation supports EFI

ls -la /sys/firmware/efi

Generate a mirror list to improve installation speed
Visit mirrorlist generator in the browser or another computer; generate a mirrorlist.
Example mirrors in Singapore:

Server = http://mirror.nus.edu.sg/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirror.0x.sg/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://download.nus.edu.sg/mirror/arch/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://sgp.mirror.pkgbuild.com/$repo/os/$arch
Server = http://download.nus.edu.sg/mirror/arch/$repo/os/$arch
Server = http://mirror.0x.sg/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch

Backup the default mirrorlist

mv /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.bk

Add the mirrorlist generated to /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

nano /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Optional: automatically scan for the best mirror. Note: this takes a considerable amount of time to scan all mirrors.

sed -i ‘s/^#Server/Server/’ /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.bkrankmirrors -n 6 /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist.bk > /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Example results after run:

Server = http://mirror.0x.sg/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = http://download.nus.edu.sg/mirror/arch/$repo/os/$arch
Server = http://mirror.nus.edu.sg/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = http://mirrors.evowise.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = http://f.archlinuxvn.org/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = http://mirror2.totbb.net/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch

Partitioning

Verify the available disks

dmesg | grep sdalsblk

Partition EFI

gdisk /dev/sda

Clear partitions

Command (? for help): o
This option deletes all partitions and creates a new protective MBR.
Proceed? (Y/N): Y

Create EFI partition

Command (? for help): n
Partition number (1–128, default 1):
First sector (34–268435422, default = 2048) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Last sector (2048–268435422, default = 268435422) or {+-}size{KMGTP}: +512M
Current type is ‘Linux filesystem’
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300): EF00
Changed type of partition to ‘EFI System’

Create root partition

Command (? for help): n
Partition number (2–128, default 2):
First sector (34–268435422, default = 1050624) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Last sector (1050624–268435422, default = 268435422) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Current type is ‘Linux filesystem’
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300):
Changed type of partition to ‘Linux filesystem’

Verify partitions before writing

Command (? for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 268435456 sectors, 128.0 GiB
Model: Virtual Disk
Sector size (logical/physical): 512/4096 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 7A0873FE-EA25–4CC1–8543–1559F4861C2B
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
Main partition table begins at sector 2 and ends at sector 33
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 268435422
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2014 sectors (1007.0 KiB)

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size       Code  Name
1      2048           1050623      512.0 MiB  EF00  EFI System
2      1050624        268435422    127.5 GiB  8300  Linux filesystem

Write to the disk changes

Command (? for help): w
Final checks complete. About to write GPT data. THIS WILL OVERWRITE EXISTING
PARTITIONS!!
Do you want to proceed? (Y/N): Y
OK; writing new GUID partition table (GPT) to /dev/sda.
The operation has completed successfully.

Format Partitions

Format EFI partition

mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sda1

Format root partition

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2

Mount Partition

mount /dev/sda2 /mntmkdir /mnt/bootmount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

Start Installation

Update system clock

timedatectl set-ntp true

Install base system

pacstrap /mnt base base-devel openssh

Generate fstab file

genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

Chroot into newly deploy arch

arch-chroot /mnt

Install boot loader

bootctl install

Configure `bootctl` Loader

nano /boot/loader/loader.conf

default arch
timeout 3
editor 0

Find /dev/sda2 root partition UUID

blkid -s PARTUUID -o value /dev/sda2

Note down PARTUUID nr Ex. 55523bad-38db-4e00–8cdb-d498e47f0b05

Optional copy configuration

cp /usr/share/systemd/bootctl/arch.conf /boot/loader/entries/


nano /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

title Arch Linux
linux /vmlinux-linux
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
options root=PARTUUID=8444d6ba-32af-415b-b148-cf4f20a04ac9 rw

Or you can update arch.conf

echo “options root=PARTUUID=$(blkid -s PARTUUID -o value /dev/sda2) rw” >> /boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

The last step is to update the bootloader

bootctl update
bootctl

Arch Linux Post-Installation Configuration

Set shell locale (uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8)

nano /etc/locale.gen

en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8

Generate locale

locale-gen

Check locale setup

locale -a
localedef — list-archive
localectl list-locales

Edit setting for the LANG system locale

nano /etc/locale.conf

LANG=en_US.UTF-8

Or just run

localectl set-locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8

Time zone

ls -la /usr/share/zoneinfo/
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Singapore /etc/localtime
hwclock — systohc

Set hostname

hostnamectl set-hostname Arch

Allow root login add the entry PermitRootLogin yes /etc/ssh/sshd_config

nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

PermitRootLogin yes

Enable SSHD service

systemctl enable sshd.service

Create a root login password

passwd

Create swap file:

fallocate -l 1G /swapfile 
chmod 600 /swapfile
mkswap /swapfile
echo ‘/swapfile none swap sw 0 0’ | tee -a /etc/fstab

Check swap

swapon -s

Check network config

ip a show
ip route show

Use DHCP IP allocation at startup

systemctl start dhcpcd
systemctl enable dhcpcd

Or, you can use network manager in case you want to use static IP, or even DHCP
Use network manager with DHCP or static IP setup

nano /etc/systemd/network/20-wired.network

[Match]
Name=eth0
[Network]
DHCP=ipv4

systemctl enable systemd-networkd

Or with static IP, your IP can be different IP a show

nano /etc/systemd/network/20-wired.network

[Match]
Name=eth0
[Network]
Address=192.168.1.21/24
Gateway=192.168.1.1
DNS=1.1.1.1
DNS=1.0.0.1

systemctl enable systemd-networkd
systemctl enable systemd-resolved

Solver configuration

cat /etc/resolv.conf
cat /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf

Add time sync systemd service

timedatectl set-ntp true 
timedatectl status

Exit and reboot

exit
shutdown now

Post Install VM Cleanup

In PowerShell as (Administrator):

Change the boot order for the VM

$getb2 = Get-VMFirmware $VMName
$gen2.BootOrder
$gen2file = $gen2.BootOrder[0]
echo $gen2file
Set-VMFirmware -VMName $VMName -FirstBootDevice $gen2file
Get-VMFirmware $VMName

Remove DVD from VM with same SCSI as HDD

Get-VMDvdDrive -VMName $VMName -ControllerNumber 0 | Remove-VMDvdDrive

Remove the DVD Scsi controller from the VM

Get-VMScsiController -VMName $VMName -ControllerNumber 1 | Remove-VMScsiController

Final Touches for Arch Linux

Let’s start our new Arch Linux and install some useful tools:

Start Arch VM

$VMName = ‘ArchLinux’Start-VM -Name $VMName

Connect to the virtual machine by using Virtual Machine Connection (VMConnect).

VMConnect $HOSTNAME $VMName

SSH into Arch VM:

Link the resolver to resolv.conf

ln -sf /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf

Add the entry into the hosts file

nano /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
::1 localhost.localdomain localhost
127.0.0.1 arch.localdomain arch

Install useful tools

pacman -Syyu
pacman -S p7zip unzip pygmentize docker vim htop git jq rsync tmux bash-completion keychain mlocate

Start the Docker daemon

systemctl enable docker 
systemctl start docker

Create a new user

useradd -m -g users -G wheel,storage,power,docker -s /bin/bash your_user
passwd your_user
visudo
%wheel ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

Add the AUR package manager

nano /etc/pacman.conf

[archlinuxfr]
SigLevel = Never
Server = http://repo.archlinux.fr/$arch

pacman -Sy

Install the yaourt tool to manage AUR packages

pacman -S yaourt
su - your_user
yaourt -Syyua

Install pacaur as a better AUR package manager

gpg - recv-key 1EB2638FF56C0C53 
yaourt -S pacaur 
pacaur -Syyua

Remove the root SSH

sed -i ‘s/^PermitRootLogin yes/#PermitRootLogin yes/’ /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Share folders and files between VM and host OS

First, share one folder in Windows 10 and add all needed permissions
On Arch Linux, install the SAMBA client

pacman -S cifs-utils smbclient
mkdir /etc/samba /mnt/Hyper-V
touch /etc/samba/smb.conf

Test connectivity

ping -c 3 $(nmblookup YOUR_PC_NAME | head -n 1 | cut -d ‘ ‘ -f 1)

As root user:

vim ~/.credentials
username=your_windows_login
password=windows_password
chmod 600 ~/.credentials
mount -t cifs //YOUR_PC_NAME/Hyper-V-Share /mnt/Hyper-V -o credentials=~/.credentials,ip=”$(nmblookup YOUR_PC_NAME | head -n 1 | cut -d ‘ ‘ -f 1)”

In some cases, when you use Windows Ethernet and WiFi, your VM needs to be aware.