Install Alice ============= Here is a guide to installing Alice Linux on your computer using the chroot method. You can do this from your existing Linux distribution or from a live environment, such as Alice Live or another Linux distribution. Make sure your chosen environment has the necessary partitioning tools, filesystem tools, and extraction tools. Get Alice rootfs tarball ------------------------ Download the Alice rootfs tarball from the [download](https://alicelinux.org/download.html) page, along with its `sha256sum` file. ``` $ curl -O $ curl -O .sha256sum ``` Verify the checksum of the Alice rootfs tarball. ``` $ sha256sum -c alicelinux-rootfs-20240525.tar.xz.sha256sum alicelinux-rootfs-20240525.tar.xz: OK ``` Prepare the partition and filesystem ------------------------------------ Prepare the partition and filesystem of your choice. In this guide, I will use `ext4` as an example. ``` # cfdisk /dev/sdX # mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdXY ``` Mount your created partition somewhere. In this guide, I will use `/mnt/alice` as the mount point. ``` # mkdir /mnt/alice # mount /dev/sdXY /mnt/alice ``` Extract the Alice rootfs tarball -------------------------------- Extract the Alice rootfs into the mounted partition. ``` $ tar xvf alicelinux-rootfs-*.tar.xz -C /mnt/alice ``` Enter chroot ------------ First, chroot into Alice. (Replace `/mnt/alice` with your chosen mount point) ``` # /mnt/alice/usr/bin/apkg-chroot /mnt/alice ``` Any further commands after this will be executed inside the Alice environment. Configure apkg --------------- Once we have the repositories cloned, we need to configure `apkg`. `apkg` is Alice's package build system (or package manager). `apkg` configuration is environment-based -- settings are exported as environment variables. Place them in `/etc/profile.d/apkg.sh` for system-wide configuration, or in `~/.profile` for per-user configuration. First, we set `CFLAGS` and `CXXFLAGS`. Alice base packages are built using `-O3 -march=x86-64 -pipe`. You can use these settings or change them to your preference. ``` # export CFLAGS="-O3 -march=x86-64 -pipe" ``` And use whats in `CFLAGS` for `CXXFLAGS`. ``` # export CXXFLAGS="$CFLAGS" ``` Next set `MAKEFLAGS`. I will use `6` for my `8 threads` machine. ``` # export MAKEFLAGS="-j6" ``` Next, we need to set the package's build scripts path (I'll call it `package repos`) so `apkg` can find them. The `APKG_REPO` variable can accept multiple values for multiple `package repos`. Alice provides two (2) `package repos` (at the time of this writing): `core` and `extra`. `core` contains all base packages, and `extra` includes other packages beyond the base. I'm gonna use directory `/var/lib/repos/core` and `/var/lib/repos/extra` for `core` and `extra` repos respectively. ``` # export APKG_REPO="/var/lib/repos/core /var/lib/repos/extra" ``` You can also add `community` repo too. > NOTE: The `community` repo is not held to the same standards as the official repos. > Additionally all repo paths must be declared in the APKG_REPO variable, separated by a single space. ``` # export APKG_REPO="/var/lib/repos/core /var/lib/repos/extra /var/lib/repos/community" ``` Next, we will set up directories for `packages`, `sources`, and `work`. By default, these directories are inside the package port, but we will change them to `/var/cache/pkg`, `/var/cache/src`, and `/var/cache/work` respectively. You can change these to any location where you want to store these files. First, create the directories. ``` # mkdir -p /var/cache/pkg # mkdir -p /var/cache/src # mkdir -p /var/cache/work ``` export These configuration environment ``` # export APKG_PACKAGE_DIR=/var/cache/pkg # export APKG_SOURCE_DIR=/var/cache/src # export APKG_WORK_DIR=/var/cache/work ``` Configure reposync -------------------- `reposync` is a tool to sync package ports from git repositories. Like `apkg`, `reposync` configuration is environment-based. Add remote repos for `core` and `extra` to `/etc/profile.d/reposync.sh` (system-wide) or `~/.profile` (per-user). The format is `||`. ``` # export REPOSYNC_CORE="https://codeberg.org/emmett1/alicelinux|core|/var/lib/repos/core" # export REPOSYNC_EXTRA="https://codeberg.org/emmett1/alicelinux|extra|/var/lib/repos/extra" ``` If you also want the `community` repo, add it as well. > NOTE: The `community` repo is not held to the same standards as the official repos. ``` # export REPOSYNC_COMMUNITY="https://codeberg.org/emmett1/alicelinux|community|/var/lib/repos/community" ``` Now run `reposync` to sync latest ports. ``` # reposync ``` After setting up our `package repos`, make sure `apkg` can find the packages. We can use `apkg -s ` to search for packages. ``` # apkg -s sway swayidle swaybg swaylock sway ``` Lets combine with `-p` flags to show path or package port. ``` # apkg -p $(apkg -s sway) /var/lib/repos/extra/sway /var/lib/repos/extra/swaylock /var/lib/repos/extra/swaybg /var/lib/repos/extra/swayidle ``` If the output appears, then we are good to go. Full system upgrade/rebuild --------------------------- On the first install, we should upgrade the system first. Before we do, install development packages first. ``` # apkg -I muon cmake pkgconf libtool automake perl python ``` > NOTE: use uppercase 'i' for solve dependencies, lowercase 'i' without solve dependencies. Now lets upgrade our system. ``` # apkg -U ``` > NOTE: Use uppercase `U` for a system upgrade, and lowercase `u` to upgrade a specific package of your choice. If you changed `CFLAGS` and `CXXFLAGS` to something other than the default, it's a good time to perform a full rebuild first. In this case, you can skip upgrading the system because performing a full rebuild will already use the latest version in `package repos`. ``` # apkg -u $(apkg -a) ``` > NOTE: Add the `-f` flag to force rebuild of existing prebuilt package. > NOTE: `apkg -a` prints all installed packages on the system. Install kernel -------------- You can configure your own kernel from [kernel.org](https://kernel.org/) or use the one provided by Alice. > NOTE: The provided kernel will take a lot of time to compile because many options are enabled. If you want to use Alice's kernel, just run. ``` # apkg -I linux ``` Install firmware ---------------- If your hardware requires firmware, install it using. ``` # apkg -I linux-firmware ``` Hostname -------- Change `alice` to the hostname of your choice. ``` # echo alice > /etc/hostname ``` Fstab ----- Change the partition and filesystem of your choice below. ``` # echo '/dev/sda1 swap swap defaults 0 1' >> /etc/fstab # echo '/dev/sda2 / ext4 defaults 0 0' >> /etc/fstab ``` Enable runit services --------------------- Alice uses busybox's `runit` as its main service manager. Enable the required services. ``` # ln -s /etc/sv/tty1 /var/service # ln -s /etc/sv/tty2 /var/service # ln -s /etc/sv/tty3 /var/service ``` I'm enabling 3 `tty` services. `tty` is required; without it, you won't be able to log in (or run any commands). > The runit service directory is `/etc/sv`. > Create a symlink from `/etc/sv/` to `/var/service` to enable it; remove the symlink to disable it. Setup user and password ----------------------- Add your user. ``` # adduser ``` Add your user to the `wheel` group. ``` # adduser wheel ``` You might need to add your user to the `input` and `video` groups to start the Wayland compositor later, and the `audio` group to have working audio. ``` # adduser input # adduser video # adduser audio ``` Root password ------------- Set the password for the `root` user. ``` # passwd ``` Timezone -------- Install `tzdata`. ``` # apkg -I tzdata ``` Then create a symlink for your timezone to `/etc/localtime`. ``` # ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Kuala_Lumpur /etc/localtime ``` Alternatively, you can copy it and then uninstall `tzdata` to keep your installed packages minimal. ``` # cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Kuala_Lumpur /etc/localtime # apkg -r tzdata ``` Install bootloader ------------------ See the [bootloader documentation](bootloader.html) for installing and configuring a bootloader. Networking ---------- See the [networking documentation](networking.html) for setting up networking. Reboot and enjoy! ----------------- Exit the chroot environment and unmount the Alice partition, then reboot. ``` # exit # umount /mnt/alice # reboot ``` Some important notes ==================== - `Alice` uses `spm` and `apkg` as its package manager and package build system. Run with the `-h` flag to see available options. - Additional scripts are provided with the name `apkg-