pacstrap

designed to create a new system installation from scratch

TLDR

Install base package, Linux kernel and firmware

$ sudo pacstrap /mnt base linux linux-firmware

Install base with LTS kernel and build tools

$ sudo pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux-lts

Copy host's pacman config to target

$ sudo pacstrap -P /mnt [packages]

Use alternate config file

$ sudo pacstrap -C [path/to/pacman.conf] /mnt [packages]

Use host's package cache

$ sudo pacstrap -c /mnt [packages]

Initialize empty keyring in target

$ sudo pacstrap -K /mnt [packages]

Install in interactive mode

$ sudo pacstrap -i /mnt [packages]

SYNOPSIS

pacstrap [-C config] [-c] [-G] [-i] [-K] [-M] [-N] [-P] root [packages...]

pacstrap is designed to create a new system installation from scratch. It installs packages to a specified new root directory, typically used during Arch Linux installation to bootstrap the base system.The tool handles mounting the target filesystem, installing packages using pacman, and optionally copying the host's configuration. It is part of the arch-install-scripts package.

PARAMETERS

-C _config_

Use alternate pacman configuration file

-c

Use package cache on host instead of target

-G

Avoid copying host's pacman keyring to target

-i

Prompt for package confirmation (interactive mode)

-K

Initialize empty pacman keyring in target

-M

Avoid copying host's mirrorlist to target

-N

Run in unshare mode as regular user

-P

Copy host's pacman config to target

INSTALL

sudo dnf install arch-install-scripts

sudo pacman -S arch-install-scripts

sudo apk add arch-install-scripts

sudo zypper install arch-install-scripts

nix profile install nixpkgs#arch-install-scripts

CAVEATS

Requires root privileges unless using -N flag. The target directory must be mounted before running. Package signatures are verified using the host's keyring by default. Network access is required for downloading packages.

HISTORY

pacstrap is part of the arch-install-scripts package developed by the Arch Linux team. It replaces manual chroot-based installation methods with a streamlined tool that handles the complexities of bootstrapping an Arch system.