Arch Linux

Zero Contradictions

Member

Registered: 2024-09-29

Posts: 2

Website

[SOLVED] Commands aren't found after installing Arch in VirtualBox

I finished installing Arch Linux in VirtualBox for the first time, and I made sure that I typed every command correctly and properly configured everything to the best of my ability. After installing Arch, I ran the commands: useradd, pacman, whoami, journalctl, vim, emacs, and many other basic commands and things that I installed with the pacstrap command. However, the shell returned "not found" for nearly all the commands that I typed.

I checked my $PATH variable, and I think it was configured correctly. ChatGPT suggested that I run "export PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin" to ensure that the shell would recognize my commands, but it didn't help.

The Refind bootloader that I installed has been working correctly, so I tried to rebooting into the ISO installation medium to see if I could diagnose the problem. After mounting all the directories and chrooting into the system as I had done before, I noticed that I was able to run pacman, useradd, and all the other commands that I wasn't able to run when booting into the Root partition, including the ones that I installed when I ran pacstrap for the first time. I also ran "journalctl" since ChatGPT suggested it, but it said that there were no journal files found. I'll also note that I made sure to verify the signature for the Arch Linux .iso that I downloaded, before I ever tried installing anything. Since gpg returned "Good signature", I doubt that the .iso file that I downloaded is causing any problems.

Does anybody have any suggestions on what the problem(s) could be?

Last edited by Zero Contradictions (2024-09-30 00:03:28)

philo

Member

Registered: 2015-01-26

Posts: 265

Re: [SOLVED] Commands aren't found after installing Arch in VirtualBox

ChatGPT (and YouTube videos) are among the worst  places to ask for help. You should  be more successful here.

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: Belsize Park

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 8,211

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Commands aren't found after installing Arch in VirtualBox

I checked my $PATH variable, and I think it was configured correctly

If you share it here we could also check that. Please post the command used to check and the full output, thanks.

ChatGPT suggested

If ChatGPT told you to put your hand in the fire what would you do?

See also https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio … s_bullshit.

---

"It's impossible for a white person to believe in capitalism and not believe in racism. You can't have capitalism without racism."
— Malcolm X

Zero Contradictions

Member

Registered: 2024-09-29

Posts: 2

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Commands aren't found after installing Arch in VirtualBox

A friend walked me through the process step-by-step, which I will describe here:
1. We ran `pacman -Q | grep "vim\|emacs"` and `ls -l /bin /usr/bin /sbin /usr/sbin | grep "vim\|emacs"`. Vim and Emacs were installed.
2. `echo $PATH` printed `/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/bin/site_perl:/usr/bin/vendor_perl:/usr/bin/core_perl`.
3. 'which emacs' revealed that `which` was not installed.
4. We ran `pacman -S which`. Then we ran `which emacs`, and it printed `/usr/bin/emacs`.
5. I booted into the system. Apparently, I must not've read the text carefully the first time, but I was booting into an emergency shell, which would explain why I couldn't use any of the commands that I installed.
6. My friend guessed that the bootloader was the problem, so I rebooted into the installation medium.
7. After chrooting into the system, I ran `rm -rf /boot/EFI/refind/` to uninstall rEFInd.
8. I ran the following commands to install GRUB:

pacman -S grub efibootmgr
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=GRUB
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

9. I rebooted into the system. This time, I was able to login as root, booted into the correct shell, and I was able to successfully run vim, emacs, and all the other commands.

Conclusion: The problem was rEFInd did not mount the system correctly for some reason. For further information, I ran `refind-install` immediately after I installed the `refind` on the first attempt.

Since the problem has been identified and I am satisfied with my new system, this thread is resolved.

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 11,959

Re: [SOLVED] Commands aren't found after installing Arch in VirtualBox

rEFInd doesn't mount anything. It passes the command line you give it to the kernel/initramfs, that's it.