Simple, modern and secure installation of Arch Linux with KDE Plasma

This is my personal installation routine, which I continously expand and redefine.

This installation script aims for a simple (read minimal) Arch Linux installation, which is modern in the way that it uses UEFI, systemd-boot and Wayland, secure in the way that it uses full-disk encryption using LUKS as well as flexibility by using Btrfs subvolumes for the root and home partition.

Tested and working as of July 2026.

Set your keyboard layout correctly

Before starting the install script you should set your keyboard layout correctly. Otherwise you might run into problems with mismatching passwords.

$ loadkeys de

To automatically install Arch Linux, clone this repository:

$ pacman -Sy git
$ git clone https://git.dataprolet.de/dataprolet/Arch-Linux-Installer.git
$ cd Arch-Linux-Installer
$ sh install.sh

Or as a one-liner:

# pacman -Sy git --noconfirm && git clone https://git.dataprolet.de/dataprolet/Arch-Linux-Installer.git && cd Arch-Linux-Installer && sh install.sh

Post-Install

Check out the list of suggested packages to install.

To switch from X11 to Wayland on an existing installation use the following command and reboot:

# pacman -S wayland xorg-xwayland && sed -i 's/plasma/plasmawayland/g' /etc/sddm.conf.d/kde_settings.conf

There are alternative versions of the script:

• install-minimal.sh- Installs only the necessary packages for Plasma.
• install-lvm.sh - Installs using Ext4 and uses LVM for /root and /home.
• install-grub.sh - Installs using GRUB for legacy BIOS (and Btrfs).
• ìnstall-x11.sh- Installs using X11 (and systemd-boot/Btrfs).

All features:

• Prompt for all user input at the start (hostname, username, passwords).
• Partitions a primary and a boot partition.
• Encrypts the primary partition using LUKS.
• Creates Btrfs filesystems with zstd compression.
• Creates Btrfs volumes for /root and /home.
• Refreshes the latest mirror list.
• Installs a base system and a minimal KDE Plasma desktop environment.
• Installs systemd-boot as a bootloader.
• Sets German keyboard layout and English locale.
• Enables SDDM auto-login to boot into Plasma after the first reboot.

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