.. _guided:

Guided installation
===================

Archinstall ships with a pre-programmed `Guided Installer`_ guiding you through the mandatory steps as well as some optional configurations that can be done.

.. note::

   Other pre-programmed scripts can be invoked by executing :code:`archinstall --script <script>` *(without .py)*. To see a complete list of scripts, run :code:`archinstall --script list` or check the source code `scripts`_ directory.

.. note::

   It's recommended to run ``archinstall`` from the official Arch Linux ISO.


.. warning::
    The installer will not configure WiFi before the installation begins. You need to read up on `Arch Linux networking <https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Network_configuration>`_ before you continue.

Running the guided installation
-------------------------------

To start the installer, run the following in the latest Arch Linux ISO:

.. code-block:: sh

    archinstall

Since the `Guided Installer`_ is the default script, this is the equivalent of running :code:`archinstall guided`


The guided installation also supports installing with pre-configured answers to all the guided steps. This can be a quick and convenient way to re-run one or several installations.

There are two configuration files, both are optional.

``--config``
------------

This parameter takes a local :code:`.json` file as argument and contains the overall configuration and menu answers for the guided installer.

``--config-url``
------------

This parameter takes a remote :code:`.json` file as argument and contains the overall configuration and menu answers for the guided installer.

.. note::

   You can always get the latest options for this file with ``archinstall --dry-run``, this executes the guided installer in a safe mode where no permanent actions will be taken on your system but simulate a run and save the configuration to disk.

Example usage
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. code-block:: sh

    archinstall --config config.json

.. code-block:: sh

    archinstall --config-url https://domain.lan/config.json

The contents of :code:`https://domain.lan/config.json`:

.. code-block:: json

   {
     "additional-repositories": [],
     "archinstall-language": "English",
     "audio_config": null,
     "bootloader": "Systemd-boot",
     "debug": false,
     "disk_config": {
       "config_type": "manual_partitioning",
       "device_modifications": [
         {
           "device": "/dev/sda",
           "partitions": [
             {
               "btrfs": [],
               "flags": [
                 "boot"
               ],
               "fs_type": "fat32",
               "length": {
                 "sector_size": null,
                 "total_size": null,
                 "unit": "B",
                 "value": 99982592
               },
               "mount_options": [],
               "mountpoint": "/boot",
               "obj_id": "369f31a8-2781-4d6b-96e7-75680552b7c9",
               "start": {
                 "sector_size": {
                   "sector_size": null,
                   "total_size": null,
                   "unit": "B",
                   "value": 512
                 },
                 "total_size": null,
                 "unit": "sectors",
                 "value": 34
               },
               "status": "create",
               "type": "primary"
             },
             {
               "btrfs": [],
               "flags": [],
               "fs_type": "fat32",
               "length": {
                 "sector_size": null,
                 "total_size": null,
                 "unit": "B",
                 "value": 100000000
               },
               "mount_options": [],
               "mountpoint": "/efi",
               "obj_id": "13cf2c96-8b0f-4ade-abaa-c530be589aad",
               "start": {
                 "sector_size": {
                   "sector_size": null,
                   "total_size": null,
                   "unit": "B",
                   "value": 512
                 },
                 "total_size": {
                   "sector_size": null,
                   "total_size": null,
                   "unit": "B",
                   "value": 16106127360
                 },
                 "unit": "MB",
                 "value": 100
               },
               "status": "create",
               "type": "primary"
             },
             {
               "btrfs": [],
               "flags": [],
               "fs_type": "ext4",
               "length": {
                 "sector_size": null,
                 "total_size": null,
                 "unit": "B",
                 "value": 15805127360
               },
               "mount_options": [],
               "mountpoint": "/",
               "obj_id": "3e75d045-21a4-429d-897e-8ec19a006e8b",
               "start": {
                 "sector_size": {
                   "sector_size": null,
                   "total_size": null,
                   "unit": "B",
                   "value": 512
                 },
                 "total_size": {
                   "sector_size": null,
                   "total_size": null,
                   "unit": "B",
                   "value": 16106127360
                 },
                 "unit": "MB",
                 "value": 301
               },
               "status": "create",
               "type": "primary"
             }
           ],
           "wipe": false
         }
       ]
     },
     "disk_encryption": {
       "encryption_type": "luks",
       "partitions": [
         "3e75d045-21a4-429d-897e-8ec19a006e8b"
       ]
     },
     "hostname": "archlinux",
     "kernels": [
       "linux"
     ],
     "locale_config": {
       "kb_layout": "us",
       "sys_enc": "UTF-8",
       "sys_lang": "en_US"
     },
     "mirror_config": {
       "custom_servers": [
         {
           "url": "https://mymirror.com/$repo/os/$arch"
         }
       ],
       "mirror_regions": {
         "Australia": [
           "http://archlinux.mirror.digitalpacific.com.au/$repo/os/$arch"
         ]
       },
       "optional_repositories": [
         "testing"
       ],
       "custom_repositories": [
         {
           "name": "myrepo",
           "url": "https://myrepo.com/$repo/os/$arch",
           "sign_check": "Required",
           "sign_option": "TrustAll"
         }
       ]
     },
     "network_config": {},
     "no_pkg_lookups": false,
     "ntp": true,
     "offline": false,
     "packages": [],
     "parallel downloads": 0,
     "profile_config": null,
     "save_config": null,
     "script": "guided",
     "silent": false,
     "swap": true,
     "timezone": "UTC",
     "version": "2.6.0"
   }

``--config`` options
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. warning::

   All key and value entries must conform to the JSON standard. Below is human readable examples with links, effectively breaking the syntax. Adapt the descriptions below to suit your needs and the JSON format.

.. note::

   Scroll to the right in the table to see required options.

.. csv-table:: JSON options
   :file: ../cli_parameters/config/config_options.csv
   :widths: 15, 40, 40, 5
   :escape: !
   :header-rows: 1

.. I'd like to keep this note, as this is the intended behavior of archinstall.
.. note::

   If no entries are found in ``disk_config``, archinstall guided installation will use whatever is mounted currently under ``/mnt/archinstall`` without performing any disk operations.

Options for ``--creds``
-----------------------

Creds is a separate configuration file to separate normal options from more sensitive data like passwords.
Below is an example of how to set the root password and below that are description of other values that can be set.

.. code-block:: json

    {
        "root_enc_password" : "SecretSanta2022"
    }

.. list-table:: ``--creds`` options
   :widths: 25 25 40 10
   :header-rows: 1

   * - Key
     - Values
     - Description
     - Required
   * - ``!encryption-password``
     - ``str``
     - Password to encrypt disk, not encrypted if password not provided
     - No
   * - ``root_enc_password``
     - ``str``
     - The root account password
     - No
   * - ``users``
     - .. code-block:: json

          {
              "username": "<USERNAME>",
              "enc_password": "<PASSWORD_HASH>",
              "sudo": false
          }
     - List of regular user credentials, see configuration for reference
     - Maybe


.. note::

   ``users`` is optional only if ``root_enc_password`` was set. ``users`` will be enforced otherwise and the minimum amount of users with sudo privileges required will be set to 1.

.. note::

.. _scripts: https://github.com/archlinux/archinstall/tree/master/archinstall/scripts
.. _Guided Installer: https://github.com/archlinux/archinstall/blob/master/archinstall/scripts/guided.py
