This page was archived on 2020-02-21. It's still mostly relevant for pre-UEFI systems, but will no longer be updated.

===== Installing =====
  - Enable ssh: ip addr , passwd , systemctl start sshd , ssh into VM
  - Partition drive: <code>cfdisk /dev/sda</code> (DOS table, one partition, bootable.)
  - Format: <code>mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1</code>
  - Mount root: <code>mount /dev/sda1 /mnt</code>
  - Install: <code>pacstrap /mnt base base-devel htop tmux sudo wget grub elinks</code>
  - Generate fstab: <code>genfstab -Up /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab</code>
  - chroot: <code>arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash</code>
  - set locale: <code>echo en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 > /etc/locale.gen ; locale-gen</code>
  - Set time zone <code>ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime</code>
  - set hostname: <code>echo hostname > /etc/hostname</code> (You should probably add it to /etc/hosts too)
  - create netctl profile: <code>echo -e "Interface=ens32\nConnection=ethernet\nIP=static\nAddress='10.0.0.15/8'\nGateway='10.0.0.1'\nDNS='10.0.0.1'" > /etc/netctl/enet
</code>
  - if DHCP is required, edit /etc/netctl/examples/ethernet-dhcp instead
  - enable netctl: <code>systemctl enable netctl</code>
  - enable profile: <code>netctl enable enet</code>
  - set root passwd
  - create user <code>useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash user</code>
  - set user passwd
  - configure sudo <code> echo %wheel ALL=\(ALL\) ALL >> /etc/sudoers</code>
  - install bootloader <code>grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda</code> <code>grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg</code>
  - enable ssh: <code>systemctl enable sshd</code>
  - enable vmtools: <code>systemctl enable vmtoolsd</code>
  - exit chroot
  - umount /mnt
  - sync
  - reboot & disconnect ISO

===== Other Options =====
As with everything else linux related, there are many different ways to go about this. Listed below are a few alternatives to the above steps.
==== Partitioning ====
A very quick way to create one partition with fdisk can be to echo keystrokes to it:
<code>echo -e "o\nn\n\n\n\n\nw" | fdisk /dev/sda</code>
This can be done even faster when combined directly with mkfs & mounting:
<code>echo -e "o\nn\n\n\n\n\nw" | fdisk /dev/sda; mkfs.btrfs /dev/sda1; mount /dev/sda1 /mnt</code>
==== Mirror ====
Ctrl-K-ing all of the mirrorlist can take some time, and is unnecessary. 
<code>echo Server = http:\/\/10.0.0.35\/archlinux\/\$repo\/os\/\$arch > /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist</code>
Note: This will wipe ALL of the mirrors from the mirrorlist.
==== The Whole Kaboodle ====
If you really wanted to, you could do it all in one fell swoop. I've added in a few extras.
<code>
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda count=100000; echo -e "o\nn\n\n\n\n\nw" | fdisk /dev/sda; mkfs.btrfs /dev/sda1; mount /dev/sda1 /mnt;
echo Server = http:\/\/10.0.0.35\/archlinux\/\$repo\/os\/\$arch > /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist;
pacstrap /mnt base base-devel syslinux openssh tmux open-vm-tools sudo wget; genfstab -Up /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab; 
arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash; echo en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 > /etc/locale.gen; locale-gen; ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime; 
hwclock --systohc --utc; echo hostname > /etc/hostname; 
echo -e "Interface=ens32\nConnection=ethernet\nIP=static\nAddress='10.0.0.x/8'\nGateway='10.0.0.1'\nDNS='10.0.0.1'" > /etc/netctl/enet; 
netctl enable enet; systemctl enable netctl; systemctl enable vmtoolsd; systemctl enable sshd; useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash user; 
echo %wheel ALL=\(ALL\) ALL >> /etc/sudoers; syslinux-install_update -iam
</code>
This does not include setting passwords for root or the new user, or changing /dev/sda3 to /dev/sda1 in syslinux.cfg. Chroot can be exited and /mnt umounted after this is done.