Almost Perfect Arch Install Guide

Tagged as Personal

Written on 2007-06-10 10:28:00

I'll fill in the blanks for the curious and also just to have this in a bit more well-documented format later. I still need to get the vncserver up and get pypanel working. Besides that this config is 95% there. Maybe I'll throw the other LAMP pieces on there later and run Ampache or something (Apache, MySQL, PHP). Then again maybe I should do it with cherokee, jetty, or lighttpd. We'll see. Oh, and it needs an IM client. I'm sort of holding out for empathy. Additionally, I may update all this to get it to run Compiz standalone rather than Openbox at some point. Screw DEs (Desktop Environments) though. This is purely an exercise to get away from them and see what I think of a DE-less universe.

Install ArchLinux
Edit rc.conf: change hostname to "redlinux" or whatever you prefer, change eth0="dhcp", set timezone.
Set password. Fix fstab how you like it. Install grub or not.
Reboot. Login as root. adduser redline. pacman -S sudo. add redline to /etc/sudoers. logout. login as redline.
sudo pacman -S xorg openbox pypanel obconf lynx xf86-video-ati libgl-dri rxvt-unicode vsftpd feh thunar firefox slim xterm flashplugin j2re openssh vnc xinetd gtk-theme-switch2 gtk-engines alsa-lib alsa-utils gmrun quodlibet totem ttf-ms-fonts ttf-dejavu ttf-bitstream-vera gnomebaker abiword codecs conky xchat
run xorgconfig. make sure the mouse is set to /dev/mouse. run "cd /etc/xdg/openbox", "mkdir -p ~/.config/openbox", and "sudo mv *.xml ~/.config/openbox". add "slim, sshd, alsa" to the daemons field in rc.conf. run "sudo nano /etc/hosts.allow" and add "sshd:all" to the file. run "nano ~/.xinitrc" or if necessary for write privileges "sudo nano ~/.xinitrc". comment out wmaker and add at the bottom:
"pypanel &
conky &
urxvt &
feh --bg-scale "/path/to/yourimage.jpg"
exec openbox"
run "sudo nano ~/.conkyrc" and make it look like this:
"background no
update_interval 1.0
double_buffer yes use_xft yes
xftfont Purisa:size=07.5
xftalpha 1.0

own_window no
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_type override
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,sk

ip_pager
#on_bottom yes
#on_top yes

minimum_size 300 50
draw_shades no
draw_outline no
draw_borders yes
draw_graph_borders no
stippled_borders 0
border_margin 3
border_width 0

default_color white
default_shade_color black
default_outline_color black

alignment top_right
gap_x 57
#gap_y 34
gap_y 10

no_buffers yes

TEXT
${color black}$nodename - $sysname $kernel on $machine Uptime:${color blue} $uptime ${color black}- CPU Usage:${color red} $cpu% ${color black}RAM Usage:${color blue}$mem/$memmax - $memperc% ${color black}Down:${color blue}${downspeed eth0} k ${color black}Up:${color blue} ${upspeed eth0} k ${color black}Swap Usage:${color blue} $swap/$swapmax - $swapperc% ${color black} Disk Usage: ${color blue} ${fs_used /bin/bash}/${fs_size /bin/bash} - ${fs_free_perc /bin/bash}% Free"

then run "sudo nano ~/.pypanelrc" and add:

"

BG_COLOR        = "0xfaebd7"    # Panel background and tint (Antique White)TASK_COLOR      = "0xffffff"    # Normal task name colorDESKTOP_COLOR   = "0xffffff"    # Desktop name colorCLOCK_COLOR     = "0xffffff"    # Clock text color

TASK_SHADOW_COLOR      = "0x000000"FOCUSED_SHADOW_COLOR   = "0x000000"SHADED_SHADOW_COLOR    = "0x000000"MINIMIZED_SHADOW_COLOR = "0x000000" DESKTOP_SHADOW_COLOR   = "0x000000"CLOCK_SHADOW_COLOR     = "0x000000"

SHADE           = 64

ABOVE           = 1             # Panel is always above other appsAPPICONS        = 1             # Show application iconsAUTOHIDE        = 0             # Autohide uses the CLOCK_DELAY timer aboveSHADOWS         = 1             # Show text shadowsSHOWLINES       = 0             # Show object separation lines"

SHOWBORDER      = 1             # Show a border around the panel"

run "sudo gpasswd -a redline audio", then "amixer set PCM 85% unmute", and "sudo alsactl store".finally, run "nano ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml" and add a keybinding for gmrun like this:"<keybind key="A-F2"><action name="execute"><execute>gmrun</execute></action></keybind>"

That's about it.

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