Arch Linux

bionor

Member

Registered: 2020-08-23

Posts: 15

Copy/paste during initial installation

Hello new friends

I'm not a total newbie as I've done the LFS and the complete BLFS a couple of times and used Linux sporadically for a number of years, so I expect to be able to install Arch without too many issues, but as I'm now about to install Arch I just wonder about the best procedure for doing it as efficiently as possible.

I will most likely just boot the live iso which means I won't have any GUI alongside to speed things up (make guides more readable and using mouse for copy/paste etc).

I tried booting it and noticed there was no built-in mouse support, at least not for me. I'm on a desktop with regular USB mouse.

So, are there any keyboard shortcuts for copy/paste? I tried just doing "pacman -S GPM" as the first command, but I guess that was premature as I only got errors.

How do people normally go around installing Arch? Is it better to somehow use chroot while inside another booted Linux? Perhaps I could ssh in from my laptop and do it that way?

Zod

Member

From: Hoosiertucky

Registered: 2019-03-10

Posts: 636

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Installation_guide

This is the supported method for installing ArchLinux.

bionor

Member

Registered: 2020-08-23

Posts: 15

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

Is there at least some way I can copy/paste from that guide to speed things up, while in the booted Arch live?

fistrosan

Member

Registered: 2020-04-01

Posts: 171

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

If you have done LFS, archlinux install should be a piece of cake for you. I am surprised you are in such a hurry and asking about copy/paste. You can do the initial arch install with a just a few dozen commands.

Having said that, why don't you copy & paste all the commands into a shell/bash script and run it ? I do not recommend it, but hey, if you really want to rush things through ...

bionor

Member

Registered: 2020-08-23

Posts: 15

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

Alright, point taken. I just have bad memories from the LFS experience of spending hours manually typing in commands. I think it traumatized me That's where the "rush" comes from. Seeing that lynx UI gave me PTSD (joking of course, but you get my point).

Last edited by bionor (2020-08-23 11:11:42)

E3LDDfrK

Member

Registered: 2019-10-24

Posts: 73

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

I'm also interested if it's possible to copy paste from elinks or the available browser when installing arch.

Zod

Member

From: Hoosiertucky

Registered: 2019-03-10

Posts: 636

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

http://elinks.or.cz/documentation/manual.html

3.2. How does cutting and pasting work?

The reason why normal cut and paste does not work is that ELinks requests all mouse event info even if it is compiled without GPM. Therefore it is necessary to hold down the Shift key when cutting or pasting text. If you do not need to use the mouse for navigation you can disable mouse support by passing --disable-mouse to configure.

E3LDDfrK

Member

Registered: 2019-10-24

Posts: 73

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

Isn't that the case when we have a cursor/mouse? I meant when we are installing arch. I tried to google "copy pasting from elinks without mouse" bud didn't find anything definite.

bionor

Member

Registered: 2020-08-23

Posts: 15

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

For my part, I think I'll just do the initial installation by typing manually and then get an SSH server up as soon as possible and do the rest from my laptop.

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 77,739

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

@E3LDDfrK, marvel in wonders ;-)
(Though idk whether it's available in the iso)

@bionor
Arch is not a copy-and-paste distro.
You're expected and required to actually understand what you're doing and blindly copying and pasting stuff from the install guide will end in a disaster (well, at least some broken stuff)

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bionor

Member

Registered: 2020-08-23

Posts: 15

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

@seth

I have clumsy fingers and type slowly. Nobody's talking about blindly copying anything. I take offense to that assumption.

Last edited by bionor (2020-08-24 11:04:43)

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: The Wirral

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 9,003

Website

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

It is possible to install Arch from another distribution's graphical live environment: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … stribution

And to install GPM in the Arch live environment use

# pacman -Sy gpm

Just don't try that in an installed system: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sy … nsupported

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Jin, Jîyan, Azadî

bionor

Member

Registered: 2020-08-23

Posts: 15

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

It is possible to install Arch from another distribution's graphical live environment: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … stribution

And to install GPM in the Arch live environment use

# pacman -Sy gpm

Just don't try that in an installed system: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sy … nsupported

That's very helpful, thank you

Slithery

Administrator

From: Norfolk, UK

Registered: 2013-12-01

Posts: 5,776

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

I always tend to do my installs over SSH. The installation media already has openssh installed, you just need to create a root password and start the sshd service.

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Closing -- for deletion; Banning -- for muppetry. - jasonwryan

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bionor

Member

Registered: 2020-08-23

Posts: 15

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

I always tend to do my installs over SSH. The installation media already has openssh installed, you just need to create a root password and start the sshd service.

Yeah I found out, thankfully. Such a massive boost of efficiency.

I assume most of you with a lot of experience have been through the same as me, of initially doing things slowly and inefficiently until you learn a better way and then never looking back. Like, going through a full LFS and BLFS build locally on the machine itself, not knowing all the tips and tricks that help speed it up, manually typing every command (LFS is a bit different to Arch in that there you actually are supposed to not change most of the commands much) is something you don't do too many times before deciding to never do it that way again

Thanks.

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,517

Website

Re: Copy/paste during initial installation

I find it odd that you take offense to someone else's assumption about you (which apparently was incorrect, but not an unreasonable inference) yet you persist in writing in second person assuming everyone else feels the same way you do.  I type commands in the terminal all the time, and when I install arch, I type all the commands (all ~420 keystrokes of it).

Last edited by Trilby (2020-08-24 12:43:22)

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman