Manjaro 0.8.13 Linux distribution User guide
Below you will find brief information for Linux distribution 0.8.13. The Manjaro Linux 0.8.13 distribution includes a user-friendly graphical installer, pre-installed access to the latest games, and a simplified, user-friendly installation process. Manjaro 0.8.13 is based on the independently developed Arch Linux distribution, designed to be accessible to newcomers, while Arch is aimed at experienced users.
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M A N J A R O L I N U X 0 . 8 . 1 3
U S E R G U I D E
T H E M A N J A R O D E V E L O P M E N T T E A M
Copyright © 2015 the Manjaro Development Team.
Licensed under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence (the “Licence”); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the Licence at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the Licence is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied. See the Licence for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the Licence.
The source code for this documentation can be downloaded from: https://github.com/manjaro/manjaro-user-guide/
The Manjaro Development Team
Core Team
Alexandre A. Arnt Developer
Guillaume Benoit Server Manager, Developer, Packager
Ramon Buldó Developer, Packager
Alexandru Ianu Systems Integrator, Packager
Łukasz Matysiak Developer
Rob McCathie Systems Integrator, Packager
Wlad Meixner Web Developer, Web Consultant
Mateusz Mikolajczyk Developer
Demiray Muhterem Manjaro KDE Edition Maintainer, Turkish IRC and web support, Manjaro Artwork
Philip Müller Project Leader, Project Management and Coordination,
Mirrors Manager, Packager, Developer, Web Developer
Roland Singer Founder, Designer, Developer, Web Developer, Packager
Artwork
Lane Wiscombe (anex) Manjaro Artwork, MATE Community Edition
Maintainer
David Linares (mcder3) Manjaro Artwork: Plasma5 Designer, Theme designer, Installer visual design
OpenRC Team
Artoo Packaging, Porting, Infrastructure
Aaditya Bagga Documentation, Testing, ISOs
Community and Support
Ringo de Kroon Community Support and IRC Manager dicktater Community Global Moderator
Esclapion LXQt Community Edition Maintainer, Community Support excalibur1234 Community Support user guide 5
6 manjaro linux 0
.8.13
Jonathan Community Global Moderator shariebeth Community Global Moderator
Documentation
Jonathon Fernyhough Editor of the User Guide 0.8.9-0.8.13, Community Moderation
Sabras Wiki
Alumni
Carl Duff Community, Documentation and Wiki Management, Scripting and Configuration
Cumali Cinnamon and Gnome Community Editions Maintainer
Dan S. Openbox Editions Maintainer
Handy Global Moderator, Wiki Contributor, Community Support
Joshua Strot Developer, Graphics Developer
Acknowledgements
The awesome community on forum.manjaro.org and #manjaro
A note about Manjaro and Arch
Manjaro is based on another distribution called Arch Linux. As such, it is also able to draw software packages from the communitymaintained Arch User Repository (AUR). However, please note that
Manjaro is not Arch, and any enquiries about the Manjaro operating system should be directed towards the Manjaro forums and Internet
Relay Chat (IRC) channels alone. For example, although Ubuntu is derived from Debian - and therefore shares some similarities with its parent - there are still substantial differences between these operating systems and how they work. Such is the case with Manjaro, which is far from just being an “easy to install” or “pre-configured”
Arch operating system. Here are some of the key differences between the Manjaro and Arch operating systems:
• Manjaro is developed independently from Arch, and by a completely different team.
• Manjaro is designed to be accessible to newcomers, while Arch is aimed at experienced users.
• Manjaro draws software from its own independent repositories.
These repositories also contain software packages not provided by
Arch.
• Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the
Manjaro Hardware Detection (MHWD) utility, and the Manjaro
Settings Manager (MSM).
• Manjaro has numerous subtle differences in how it works when compared to Arch.
To reiterate, although Manjaro is indeed an Arch-derivative, it is not
Arch!
user guide 7
Contents
Introduction
11
I Getting Manjaro
13
Downloading Manjaro
15
Checking a downloaded disc image for errors
19
Writing a disc image
23
II Installing Manjaro
29
Booting the Live environment
31
Using the graphical automatic installer
33
Using the graphical installer - experienced users
41
Installing on a UEFI system
47
Advanced installation methods
57
10 manjaro linux 0
.8.13
III Welcome to Manjaro
The Manjaro desktop
63
61
Getting help
69
Maintaining your system
Index
93
73
Introduction
About Manjaro
Manjaro
is a user-friendly GNU/Linux distribution based on the independently developed Arch Linux. Within the Linux community,
Arch itself is renowned for being an exceptionally fast, powerful, and lightweight distribution that provides access to the very latest cutting-edge software. However, Arch is also traditionally aimed at more experienced or technically-minded users. As such, it is generally considered to be beyond the reach of many, especially those who lack the technical expertise (or persistence) required to use it.
Developed in Austria, France, and Germany, Manjaro aims to provide all of the benefits of Arch Linux combined with a focus on user-friendliness and accessibility. Available in both 32- and 64-bit versions, Manjaro is suitable for newcomers as well as experienced
Linux users. For newcomers, a user-friendly installer is provided, and the system itself is designed to work fully “straight out of the box” with features including:
• Pre-installed desktop environments
• Pre-installed graphical applications to easily install software and update your system
• Pre-installed codecs to play multimedia files,
• Pre-installed access to the latest games
Features
Manjaro shares many of the same features as Arch, including:
• Speed, power, and efficiency
• Access to the very latest cutting- and bleeding-edge software
• A “rolling release” development model that provides the most up-to-date system possible without the need to regularly install a new operating system release
12 manjaro linux 0
.8.13
• Access to the Arch User Repositories
• The versatility to be shaped and moulded in every respect to suit personal taste and preference.
However, Manjaro boasts a few extra features of its own, including:
• A simplified, user-friendly installation process
• Automatic detection of your computer’s hardware (e.g. graphics cards)
• Automatic installation of the necessary software (e.g. graphics drivers) for your system
• Dedicated software repositories that deliver fully tested and stable software packages
• Support for the easy installation and use of multiple kernels
1 : Welcome to Manjaro!
Part I
Getting Manjaro
Downloading Manjaro
Manjaro editions
There are three official editions of Manjaro available for download, as well as a number of unofficial ’community’ editions. Two of the three official editions come complete with a pre-installed desktop environment and a selection of popular software applications, and either of these would be a great choice for anyone who wants to try out Manjaro on a Live-CD without having to install it first. If you have the time it’s worth taking each for a test run to see which you like best!
Xfce The Xfce desktop environment is designed to be lightweight while retaining a familiar desktop interface. If you’re not sure which edition to choose, this one is a good bet. Xfce edition disc image files start with manjaro-xfce.
KDE This version includes the K Desktop Environment. It offers a highly integrated environment with plenty of functionality and options. It is also highly customisable and offers a slightly different feel than the other editions. KDE edition disc image files start with manjaro-kde.
Net This edition of Manjaro provides only a base installation, stripped of all but the most basic pre-installed software. Starting from the command line, this is suitable for more experienced users who may want to build their own Manjaro system from the ground up.
A disc image for a Net edition will always begin with manjaro-
net
.
Each edition of Manjaro is available as 32- and 64-bit versions. Disc images available for 32-bit systems will end in i686.iso and images for 64-bit systems will end in x86_64.iso. A 64-bit operating system won’t run on a 32-bit system, and although a 32-bit operating system will run on a 64-bit system it won’t be able to make full use of its resources. Try to make sure that you download the appropriate disc image for your system!
To download Manjaro go to this web address:http://manjaro.org/ get-manjaro/
When you purchase retail software it generally comes on a disc, whether a CD or a DVD. A ’Live-CD’ has a version of the operating system that will run without needing to be installed. This is a feature of most
GNU/Linux and BSD-based operating systems.
16 manjaro linux 0
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Xfce edition
KDE edition Net edition
user guide 17
Manjaro community editions
In addition to the three main Manjaro editions, there are a number of editions that have certain software or desktop environments preinstalled. This user manual assumes you are using the Xfce version, and all screenshots will be from this. However, the installation process and other software works in exactly the same way!
The edition names should give a clear indication of the desktop environment they install. Unless you have a strong preference, we suggest you stick with the Xfce version. You can of course change later, or install other desktop environments too!
There are several main community editions: Cinnamon, GNOME,
MATE, Netbook, Openbox, Openbox OpenRC, and PekWM.
Downloading a disc image
Every release of Manjaro is available for download, whether the current stable release, upcoming test builds, or previous versions for historical interest. When you visit the download page you will find a link to each of the three main editions in both 32- and 64-bit versions, as well as a checksum file for each. A checksum can be used to check the integrity of the disc image file you download to make sure it hasn’t been corrupted during the download.
Stable releases of Manjaro are intended to be used by the general public, so this will be the appropriate choice for the majority of users. The current Manjaro release can always be downloaded from the Get Manjaro page.
1
Each of the stable releases, starting from 0.8.0, can also be downloaded from the Stable Release section of the Sourceforge website.
2
Test builds of Manjaro are intended to be used by developers and testers to identify any bugs or issues during the development process. These are not suitable for use as a main operating system
by the general public.
However, should you wish to try out a test build (preferably in a virtual machine), each current release can be downloaded from the from the Test Build section of the Sourceforge website.
3
1 http://manjaro.org/get-manjaro/
2 http://sourceforge.net/projects/ manjarolinux/files/release/
3 http://sourceforge.net/projects/ manjarodev/files/testbuild/
Checking a downloaded disc image for errors
Before burning your downloaded disc image (or using it as a virtual disc in VirtualBox
4
) we strongly recommend that you first check that it hasn’t been corrupted. The potential result of not checking first, especially if you want to install Manjaro as your main operating system, should be obvious. In the best case, the installation will fail. In the worst case a corrupted image will result in a corrupted installation.
To verify the integrity of the disc image you have to download the appropriate checksum file. This will be available at the same place where you downloaded the disc image file. For example, the file manjaro-0.8.13-sha1sum.txt contains checksum hashes for all the available disc image files and will have content similar to this:
4 https://www.virtualbox.org/
831df1a4e06893de7663a159f5f22ddcfc386cc4 manjaro-kde-0.8.10-i686.iso
89240f1527d8ef8c8f8a57527fb64632a1160a16 manjaro-kde-0.8.10-x86_64.iso
6f0f26bd2a909343846c1acc8dddc3e128b6dbc4 manjaro-net-0.8.10-i686.iso
602758c12061221566a823fa6886537f293be545 manjaro-net-0.8.10-x86_64.iso
4dac7697b8c1f4ccc508d8e2ba52ad898d18aba7 manjaro-xfce-0.8.10-i686.iso
d3220e2c74f9082e0e8b366b9ffd240bfceebde0 manjaro-xfce-0.8.10-x86_64.iso
MD5 and SHA-1
You may have seen there are two checksum files. One ends -sha1sum.txt, the other ends -md5sum.txt. MD5 and SHA are two types of hashing algorithms; the ’sha’ part of the checksum file name stands for Se-
cure Hash Algorithm
. These algorithms are used to generate a hash code unique to the disc image file. The checksum file itself is just a text document that contains hash codes that should match the code generated by the MD5 or SHA-1 algorithm. Copies of the file can be checked to make sure they are exactly the same - if the file is changed in any way, either intentionally or by corruption, the code generated will be different.
Whilst MD5 is commonly used, SHA-1 is newer and more secure
20 manjaro linux 0
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and is beginning to replace MD5. For the purpose of checking the integrity of the downloaded file MD5 is “good enough” but SHA-1 is a better solution. The checking process is the same for both algorithms.
We recommend you use SHA-1. For more about hashing algorithms
Wikipedia has lots of information.
5
If the code generated from the disc image matches that contained in the checksum file, then the disc image file is fine. If the two codes don’t match then it means that the disc image file has changed in some way, most likely due to being corrupted. You can think of it like someone using a password to identify who they are: if they provide the wrong password, then something is probably wrong.
From this point on we’ll assume you are using the file manjaro-
0
.8.13-sha1sum.txt
.
5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Secure_Hash_Algorithm
Checking in Linux
Automatic verification
The program sha1sum can automatically compare the checksum of the disc image you downloaded against the value in the text file. The process is very straightforward, but the end result might look a little worrying!
For this example, I first open a terminal and change to the directory where I downloaded the disc image file and checksum file. I use the command ls to check which files are present: jonathon@box:~$ cd download jonathon@box:~/download$ ls manjaro-0.8.13-sha1sum.txt
manjaro-xfce-0.8.13-x86_64.iso
As you can see I have downloaded the 64-bit Xfce edition. Next, I run the sha1sum program to check against the values in the checksum file:
Test builds have a slightly different arrangement. Instead of a single file with all checksums, each disc image file has its own associated checksum file. If you’re running the test build I’m sure you can work it out!
jonathon@box:~/download$ sha1sum -c manjaro-0.8.13-sha1sum.txt
The next set of lines show the result of the checks. While the first few lines look worrying this is to be expected - the program can’t check disc image files that aren’t there! The second to last line is the important one. It shows that sha1sum has successfully verified the disc image I downloaded against the checksum value in the file.
sha1sum: manjaro-kde-0.8.13-i686.iso: No such file or directory manjaro-kde-0.8.13-i686.iso: FAILED open or read
user guide 21 sha1sum: manjaro-kde-0.8.13-x86_64.iso: No such file or directory manjaro-kde-0.8.13-x86_64.iso: FAILED open or read sha1sum: manjaro-net-0.8.13-i686.iso: No such file or directory manjaro-net-0.8.13-i686.iso: FAILED open or read sha1sum: manjaro-net-0.8.13-x86_64.iso: No such file or directory manjaro-net-0.8.13-x86_64.iso: FAILED open or read sha1sum: manjaro-xfce-0.8.13-i686.iso: No such file or directory manjaro-xfce-0.8.13-i686.iso: FAILED open or read sha1sum: manjaro-xfce-0.8.13-x86_64.iso: OK sha1sum: WARNING: 7 listed files could not be read
Manual verification
To manually check the integrity of your downloaded file, first open the downloaded manjaro-0.8.13-sha1sum.txt checksum file using a text editor such as Gedit. Once the checksum file has been opened, and the codes are visible, open up your terminal and change to the directory where your downloaded disc image is stored.
1 : Verifying the checksum displayed in gedit against the output of sha1sum
For example, if your disc image file is located in a directory named download , you would first change to that directory: jonathon@box:~$ cd download
Then you can generate an SHA-1 hash code for the disc image using: jonathon@box:~/download$ sha1sum manjaro-xfce-0.8.13-x86_64.iso
22 manjaro linux 0
.8.13
This command generates a hash code for the 64-bit Manjaro Xfce
0
.8.13 disc image which can then be manually compared to the code contained in the checksum file.
Checking in Microsoft Windows
Unlike Linux, Microsoft Windows does not have any suitable builtin tools so you will need to download and install a checksum utility application. A web search will turn up several examples of free software, or you can look on the Download.com website.
6
Another free checksum utility which has positive reviews is Raymond’s MD5 &
SHA Checksum Utility
.
7
This is the program we will use in the following example.
6 http://download.cnet.com/
7 http://raylin.
wordpress.com/downloads/ md5-sha-1-checksum-utility/
2
: Verifying the checksum in
Microsoft Windows using Raymond’s MD5 & SHA Checksum
Utility.
Once you have downloaded the checksum utility, the checking process is very straightforward. Simply Browse to the downloaded disc image, select it, and click Open. The program will then calculate the checksums for the disc image file. To verify the checksum is correct, open the manjaro-0.8.13-sha1sum.txt in a text editor such as
Notepad, copy the checksum for the disc image file you have downloaded, and paste it into the verification box. Then click Verify. If there are no problems with the disc image file the program will inform you that the hash matched.
To speed up the process it’s probably a good idea to deselect the hashes you are not verifying.
Writing a disc image
A disc image is not a copy-and-paste duplication of files: it’s a bitfor-bit copy of the raw data that makes up the files and folders of that disc. This is why just copying a disc image file to a disc (or USB flashdrive) to begin installing won’t work: you’ll need to use a disc burning or image writing application to translate that raw data into the files and folders.
Once converted, the files can be used to run Manjaro in Live-CD mode without having to install it to your system, and/or install Manjaro on your system. It’s important to note Manjaro will not have full functionality when run in Live-CD mode. For example, you will not be able to save any changes to the system, install updates or add new applications.
Due to the amount of software included on the full edition disc images you may need to use a DVD instead of a CD. Check the following table as a guide if you’re not sure:
There is an exception to this rule. If you intend on installing Manjaro in a virtual machine environment using Oracle’s
VirtualBox, then there will be no need to burn the image as VirtualBox will be able to read from the disc image file directly as a virtual disc.
Edition
KDE
Xfce
Net
Filename
manjaro-kde-0.8.13-i686.iso
Size Media
1
.7GB
DVD manjaro-kde-0.8.13-x86_64.iso
1
.9GB
manjaro-xfce-0.8.13-i686.iso
1 .2GB
DVD manjaro-xfce-0.8.13-x86_64.iso
1
.4GB
manjaro-net-0.8.13-i686.iso
540
MB manjaro-net-0.8.13-x86_64.iso
670 MB
CD
Many people routinely use a DVD rather than a CD even for the smallest disc image files. Not only is a DVD faster to burn but they allow higher data access rates so the Live-CD loads faster and the installation completes sooner.
However, with the increasing capacity and decreasing cost of USB flash media this presents an even more attractive method than the traditional burning process; it is far faster and more flexible than using optical media. Both CD/DVD burning and USB flash media installation methods are covered in this guide.
Table 1: Manjaro Edition disc image file sizes
If your system will boot from a USB device, and you have one of sufficient capacity that you can erase, we recommend the use of a USB flash drive over traditional CD/DVD media.
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Burning to a CD/DVD in Linux
If not already installed, several different software burning applications should be available for installation from your distribution’s
Software Center / Software Manager / Package Manager / repositories. Popular burners include XFBurn, K3b, and Brasero. Which one you choose is entirely down to personal choice, though your operating system will usually install one suitable for your desktop environment. To simplify things a little, the following steps for burning your downloaded Manjaro disc image use Brasero.
Burning using Brasero
1
. Insert a blank CD/DVD.
2 . Start the Brasero software burner.
3
. Click the Burn Image - Burn an existing CD/DVD image to disc button to open the Image Burning Setup window.
4
. Click the button beneath the title Select a disc image to write to open up your file manager. Locate and double-click the downloaded disc image file to load it. Upon automatically returning to the Image Burning Setup window, note that the disc image file is now listed as the disc image to write.
5
. The blank CD/DVD you inserted should be automatically listed underneath the title Select a disc to write to. If not, click the button to select it manually.
6
. Click the properties button to open the properties window, and then click the button beneath the title Burning Speed. We strongly recommend you select the slowest speed available. Once selected, click the Close button.
7 . Click the Burn button to start the burning process. If necessary, follow any on-screen instructions provided.
Burning to a CD/DVD in Microsoft Windows
Newer versions of Microsoft Windows (Windows 7 and later) include a disc image burner. If you do not have a newer version of Microsoft
Windows you will need to download one of the many free disc burning software utilities.
Burning using Windows Disc Image Burner
Selecting the disc image file and clicking on Burn disc image, or simply double-clicking on the file itself, will start the Windows Disc
Xfce environments tend to include
XFBurn. KDE environments tend to include K3b. GNOME environments tend to include Brasero.
It’s a good idea to use rewriteable disc
(e.g. CD-RW or DVD-RW). Although slightly more expensive individually than a write-once disc you can reuse the disc again and again, for example when the next version of Manjaro is released!
We strongly recommend you select the slowest speed available when burning to disc in order minimise the possibility of corruption during the burning process.
It’s also a good idea to avoid using any applications which make intensive use of system resources while burning, and in particular avoid heavy disc access. If the burner software can’t read the disc image file quickly enough the burning process can be interrupted.
user guide 25
Image Burner
program. This makes the process of burning to a disc very straightforward:
1
. Insert a blank CD/DVD into your disc drive.
2
. Start Windows Disc Image Burner.
3
. Click Burn.
For more information about this program see: http://windows.
microsoft.com/en-gb/windows7/ burn-a-cd-or-dvd-from-an-iso-file
1 : Windows Disc Image Burner in Microsoft Windows 7
Burning using a third-party application
For versions of Microsoft Windows earlier than Windows 7 (e.g.
Windows XP) you will need to download and install third-party disc burning software. There are many free examples available that will be found by a web search, but here are some of the most popular:
Name Website Video tutorial
Imgburn http://imgburn.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XihCQgmeGV4
CDBurnerXP http://cdburnerxp.se/en/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxYkFdwn1qI
InfraRecorder http://infrarecorder.org/
The burning process for each of these applications is similar, with small differences in user interface. The websites listed above will provide information about features and screenshots of the applications themselves. For a little more information about each of these applications, an overview of each is available in the CD/DVD Burn-
ing Article
on the TechSupportAlert website.
8
Alternative burning software may also be found on the Download.com website,
9 although
Table 2: Third-party disc burning software for Microsoft Windows
8 http://www.techsupportalert.com/ best-free-cd-dvd-burning-software.
htm
9 http://download.cnet.com/
26 manjaro linux 0
.8.13
you will have to filter the search results to view only free applications. It will also be worthwhile to take the time to read any reviews provided for your choice(s).
Writing to a USB flash drive in Linux
To take advantage of the faster access times and much quieter nature of a USB flash drive, there are a number of methods of writing the disc image file. One of the easiest is to use ImageWriter.
ImageWriter should be available for installation from your distribution’s Software Center / Software Manager / Package Manager / repositories. Once Imagewriter has been downloaded and installed, ensure that your USB flash drive is plugged in before starting the application.
The process of using ImageWriter is very straightforward:
1
. Click on the centre icon.
2 . Navigate to where you downloaded the disc image file, and select it.
3 . Ensure that your USB flash drive has been selected from the dropdown menu.
4
. Click on the Write button.
5
. Once it has finished, reboot your system, making sure to select the
USB flash drive as the boot device.
Using the CLI
If you don’t want to install extra software, and you are comfortable using the command line, there’s an even easier way of writing a disc image to a USB device.
1 . Connect the USB flash drive to your PC, open a terminal and cd to where you downloaded the disc image.
2 . Check the device identifier with: sudo fdisk -l.
3
. Write the image with: sudo dd if=manjaro-0.8.13-x86_64.iso of=/dev/(Device identifier from above) bs=4M
My USB drive is at /dev/sdc so I would use: sudo dd if=manjaro-0.8.13-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdc bs=4M
4 . Once completed reboot your system and boot from the USB drive in the normal way.
2 : ImageWriter https://en.opensuse.org/
SDB:Live_USB_stick
user guide 27
Writing to a USB flash drive in Microsoft Windows
For Windows users using USB media, Rufus
10 is highly recommended. Rufus should use the following settings:
Device: "choose your USB" (Attention: choose correctly, the device selected here will be formatted!)
Partition scheme: MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI
File system: FAT32 (Default)
Cluster size: 4096 bytes (Default)
Volume label: MJRO0813
Format Options: Quick format. Create a bootable disk using: ISO
Image (Click on the DVD icon to select your downloaded disc image). Create extended label and icon files.
Click Start, and you are done! (though it takes between around two and five minutes to complete).
10 http://rufus.akeo.ie/
3
: Rufus with recommended settings
Part II
Installing Manjaro
Booting the Live environment
Booting the Live environment, whether from CD/DVD or USB flash drive, will give you an overview of the Manjaro Linux environment and let you test how well it will run on your machine. This is very useful to check before committing to install a new operating system!
For best results you should be connected to the Internet. If you have a wired Ethernet connection, and plug in before booting the
Live environment, Manjaro will automatically set up a connection.
If you have a wireless (Wi-Fi) connection you can set up the wireless network once you have reached the Manjaro desktop.
The method of selecting the boot device varies considerably across machines. You may need to hold one key, for example <Esc>, <Del>, or <F10>, to select the boot device. Or, you may need to set the option in your BIOS. If you’re not sure, your machine’s user guide will have detail of the method you need, alternatively a web search will also quickly turn up the answer.
The boot menu
When you boot from your installation media (CD/DVD or USB flash drive) you should be presented with the Manjaro boot screen. This screen provides several options to help get the best experience from the Live environment.
It is possible at this stage to set your preferred language and keyboard layout before using Manjaro. This means that you will be able to use and install Manjaro in your native language straight away.
Setting your language and keyboard layout
First, set your preferred language by pressing the <F2> key. The options available can be highlighted for selection by using the arrow keys on your keyboard. In this instance, English (UK) has been highlighted for the user.
Once selected, press <Enter> to confirm and to be taken back to the boot menu.
1 : Boot menu
2
: Language selection
32 manjaro linux 0
.8.13
Selecting the language will also set a keyboard layout appropriate to that language, for example it will select QWERTY for English and
AZERTY for French. If this doesn’t match your layout, or perhaps you have a US layout but speak German, press <F2> again, but this time select Keyboard. Pick the language that matches your keyboard layout, and press <Enter> to confirm and return to the boot menu.
Choosing the drivers
There are two main sets of drivers that can be used by Manjaro: Free and non-Free. The differences are not minor, and your choice can depend on your computer hardware.
Free drivers are open-source, like Manjaro itself, written and updated by a large community. For older hardware and that with
Intel-based integrated graphics, this is the best choice.
Non-Free drivers are closed-source, written and updated only by the hardware manufacturers. This is generally the best choice for newer hardware with AMD or Nvidia dedicated graphics. At the time of writing, non-Free drivers are the best choice for Nvidia graphics and AMD graphics newer than the 8000-series. For older
AMD and Nvidia hardware the Free drivers work very well. For
AMD graphics older than the HD5000-series Free drivers are the best choice.
To start Manjaro with Free drivers, choose Start Manjaro Linux from the boot menu.
To start Manjaro with non-Free drivers, choose Start (non-free
drivers)
from the boot menu.
Welcome to Manjaro
Once you select Start, Manjaro will boot up. You may see a lot of scrolling text - don’t worry, this shows the system is working! After a little while, assuming your hardware is compatible, you will be presented with a Live desktop environment and a nice friendly welcome screen.
The welcome screen gives some links to common tasks, documentation (like the thing you’re reading now!) and the support channels.
There are also links to the installation programs. Don’t worry if you close the welcome screen: you can load it again, and all the links are also present elsewhere in the menus.
If in doubt, choose Free drivers. If you want to play games, choose non-Free drivers.
3
: Start Manjaro Linux
4
: Welcome to Manjaro!
Using the graphical automatic installer
This guide is intended for those with limited technical knowledge and experience. With these steps it won’t be necessary to manually partition your computer’s hard disc or to manually edit any configuration files. However, the overall flexibility of the process is not as great as the advanced installation process.
Where possible, make sure you are connected to the internet before booting from your installation media into the Live environment.
This allows the installer to update itself to the very latest available version. If you have a hard-wired connection via an Ethernet cable then Manjaro will automatically connect to the internet without you having to do anything. Otherwise, once you have booted into Manjaro’s desktop, you will need to select and then connect to your wireless network.
For a constantly-updated version, check out the wiki:
User guide: http://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php?title=Graphical_
Installation_Guide_for_Beginners_0.8.13
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Choose your language
Choose your location
1
: If you selected your preferred language before booting then it should already be selected for you.
Once selected, click Forward to proceed to the next step.
2
: The locations available to choose will depend upon the language you selected in the previous step.
Once selected, click Forward to proceed to the next step.
Check the minimum requirements
Set your timezone
user guide 35
3
: Your computer will automatically be checked to make sure that Manjaro can safely be installed. This will include checking that enough storage space is available.
Once satisfied that your system meets the minimum requirements necessary, click Forward to proceed to the next step.
Although the absolute minimum allowed is 6 Gigabytes, at least 15 Gigabytes of free space is recommended.
While it’s not necessary to have an active internet connection to install
Manjaro it’s highly recommended.
4
: To set your timezone, either click on the map or pick from the menus. Zone is the continent you live on. Region is the city closest to where you live. We recommend keeping Network Time Protocol synchronisation enabled so your clock will never be wrong!
This relies on an active internet connection, however.
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Choose your keyboard layout
Set the installation type
5
: Just because you live in a certain location that doesn’t mean you have to use the keyboard layout native to it. This screen allows you to choose your keyboard layout and variant such as ’Dvorak’ or one with ’dead keys’ for extended punctuation.
To choose your desired layout simply click first on a Layout, then on a Variant. Variants shown will depend on the layout chosen.
Once satisfied that these details are correct, click Forward to proceed to the next step.
6
: To proceed with the ’automatic’ (and very easy) installation method make sure that the
Erase disc and install Manjaro
(automatic)
option has been selected. Be aware that this
will wipe the disc you choose in the next step and erase all its data.
Once complete, click Forward to proceed to the next step.
It is generally recommended that you Set your Home in a different
partition/volume
. This keeps your documents separate from the operating system files.
Choose your disk
Add your user account
user guide 37
7
: If you have more than one hard drive on your computer, then you will need to decide which one to wipe so you can install Manjaro.
Once selected, click Install
Now!
to proceed to the next step.
8
: Now it’s time to personalise your installation! Enter your real name, a name for your computer (just enter ’manjaro’ if you can’t think of one), and your username. Your username will be the name of your personal account in Manjaro.
You will also need to enter your intended password twice. Remember that the use of upper and lower case letters matters
(e.g. ’abc123’ is not the same as
’ABC123’).
All done! Once satisfied that these details are correct, click
Forward
to view the installation process.
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Installation...
...complete!
9
: The automatic installation process is well underway. While you wait for it to complete, useful information about Manjaro and its community will be displayed.
10
: Once the installation has finished you will be asked if you want to restart your system. Select Yes to reboot immediately, or No to close the installer and continue using the
Manjaro Live environment.
Boot your new operating system
user guide 39
11
: When you reboot, if you accidentally boot from the Live
CD or USB drive you used to install Manjaro, you can choose
Boot from Hard Disk
and press
<Enter>
.
Log in
12 : Once Manjaro has booted enter your username and password and enjoy your fresh
Manjaro system!
If you like Manjaro, you might consider joining the Manjaro community on its forums or
IRC channel. We look forward to meeting you!
Using the graphical installer - experienced users
This guide is intended for those with sufficient technical knowledge to manually create their own partitions. As such, this guide focuses on providing an example of how to use the ’Advanced’ installation method in general, rather than outlining the entire installation process, or listing all the popular partition schemes that may be used.
This guide also assumes you have read the Automatic installation guide steps 1-5 as these are exactly the same.
Where possible, make sure you are connected to the internet before booting from your installation media into the Live environment.
If you have a hard-wired connection via an Ethernet cable, then Manjaro will automatically connect to the internet without you having to do anything. Otherwise, once you have booted into Manjaro’s desktop, you will need to select and then connect to your wireless network.
For a constantly-updated version of this guide, check out the wiki page:
User guide: http://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php?title=Graphical_
Installation_Guide_for_Experienced_Users_0.8.13
For a refresher on partitioning your disk, check out the wiki pages on partitioning and partitioning scenarios:
Partitioning: http://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php?title=Partitioning_
Overview_and_Existing_Partition_Tables
Partitioning scenarios: http://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php?title=
Cfdisk_Basic_Partitioning_Scenarios
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Start the advanced installation method
1
: When you reach the sixth step of the installation process, select Manage your partitions
and where to install Manjaro
(advanced)
and then click For-
ward
to proceed.
Choose your disk
2
: If you have more than one hard drive on your computer select the one you want to partition. This example already has a partition layout, but we’re going to start fresh by clicking
New partition table
.
Create a partition table
GPT on a non-EFI system
user guide 43
3
: The partition table type you chose will normally depend on your system. Non-EFI systems are normally best with MBR, whereas EFI systems should use GPT. Once you’re happy, click OK to create the partition table.
4
: You will get a warning if you create a GPT partition table on a non-EFI system. You can still proceed if you want, but be aware of the extra partition.
Don’t delete it!
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A two-partition scenario
Partition 1: Root and Boot
5 : In this scenario we will cover the most common partition layout. Root and Boot files will be in a single partition and
Home in a second partition to keep documents separate from system files. We’ll add an optional swap partition in the remaining space. As there are only three partitions total, each can be Primary partitions.
With the free space highlighted, we’ll click +Add to create the first partition.
6
: The first partition will contain the system and boot files (/ and /boot). As such, we must allocate enough space for all system programs. 20GB is generally sufficient, but if you have a smaller disc you can reduce this. We have selected XFS as the file system and made sure to set the mountpoint to /
(root).
Partition 2: Home
Swap partition
user guide 45
7
: We’ve added a second partition to hold our user documents. It’s set to be 60GB in size, with the XFS file system, and the mountpoint is set to /home (Home).
8
: Finally, we’ve added a swap partition. This will act as extra
(very, very slow) RAM if we run out. It’s not really suitable as anything other than a last resort but can sometimes make the difference between losing work and quitting cleanly. This is set to take the remainder of the free space, about 4GB.
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Finalising the partitions
Verify partitioning actions
9 : The partition layout is ready, but before continuing it’s worth checking over. You can change and adapt the layout freely at this point as nothing has been written to disc.
Once you are happy, click In-
stall now!
to proceed.
10
: As a final check, the installer will ask you to verify that you want to write the partition layout to disc. If you want to go back and make a change, click Cancel. Otherwise to continue to install Manjaro, click
OK
. The rest of the process is the same as for the Automatic installer, so we’re done here!
Installing on a UEFI system
UEFI is the commonly agreed on name for both the EFI & UEFI standards which merged. It does not include the old EFI v1, or Apple’s own non-standard version of EFI.
If you have a relatively new computer (e.g. post-2012) it will probably have UEFI support; it certainly will if it came with Microsoft Windows 8 or later installed. At this point in time, installing a Linux distribution on a UEFI system can be tricky. Thankfully Manjaro’s installer, Thus, does a good job of correctly setting up everything.
However, there are still important considerations, especially when it comes to the partitioning table.
Booting in UEFI mode
The most important step is to ensure that your machine does not have Secure Boot enabled
. Only a very limited number of operating systems will boot with this enabled. You must disable this in your
BIOS before proceeding; if you don’t know how to do this please refer to your computer’s user manual.
Once you have booted the system from the Live CD/USB you will be presented with the Manjaro boot selection screen. It has two main options for the drivers it will use (either Free or non-Free). The main difference is the lack of any option for language or keyboard layout. However, this is actually not that important! When you run
Thus and choose your language and keyboard layout this will take effect within the Live environment, along with setting these for the installed system.
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Installing Manjaro as the only operating system
With Manjaro 0.8.13, Thus does an excellent job setting up your system. Once you have loaded the Live environment the installation steps are exactly the same as for a non-UEFI installation. The main difference is in the partition layout: this is important if you wish to manually partition the drive to suit your own requirements.
In automatic mode, Thus creates a conservative partition layout that will work on all systems. However, the key extra partition for compatibility with UEFI systems is a fat32-formatted partition mounted at /boot/efi - make sure to include this if you partition manually!
1
: In UEFI mode the Manjaro boot selection screen looks quite different. However, the two main installation options are still there.
user guide 49
1 : The partition layout created by Thus in automatic mode
(with separate Home).
2
: A manual partition layout.
Note the lack of a GRUB BIOS partition; this is not necessary with a GPT partition layout under EFI.
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Installing alongside Microsoft Windows 8 or later
It is possible that you want install Manjaro but keep an existing Windows 8 installation on your computer. This is possible, but a little more complicated to set up. It’s not for the faint-of-heart, and you should make sure you have a backup of any important documents or information before proceeding.
The following instructions assume you are using a machine with
UEFI enabled, Secure Boot disabled, and are using drives with a
GUID Partition Table (GPT).
Download the installation media
First, make sure you have downloaded a 64-bit version of Manjaro. It doesn’t matter which edition you choose, but the filename must end with x86_64.iso.
Next, create the Live media by burning the disc image to a DVD or writing to a USB flash drive. The process is very similar to a non-
UEFI installation, but for Windows users using USB media, Rufus
11 is highly recommended. Rufus should use the following settings:
Device: "choose your USB" (Attention: choose correctly, the device selected here will be formatted!)
Partition scheme: GPT partition scheme for UEFI
File system: FAT32 (Default)
Cluster size: 4096 bytes (Default)
Volume label: MJRO0813
Format Options: Quick format. Create a bootable disk using: ISO
Image (Click on the DVD icon to select your downloaded disc image). Create extended label and icon files.
Click Start, and you are done! (though it takes between around two and five minutes to complete).
Boot the Live environment
Before booting, check your BIOS settings: UEFI must be on and Secure Boot off. Manjaro currently doesn’t support Secure Boot.
Boot with your Live media and select which set of drivers you would like to use:
Boot Manjaro Linux ... (default) This chooses the open-source graphics card drivers.
11 http://rufus.akeo.ie/
1 : Rufus with recommended settings
user guide 51
Boot Manjaro Linux ... (nonfree) This option chooses the proprietary graphics card drivers from Nvidia or AMD.
If you’re not sure which to use, refer back to the earlier section Boot-
ing the Live environment
.
Adjust your partition sizes
Your computer will be set up with no free space into which Manjaro can be installed. As such, you need to shrink the main Microsoft
Windows partition to make space! To do this, we will use GParted, the GNOME Partition Editor.
2
: Start GParted from the applications menu. The ’root’ password is ’manjaro’ (without quotes).
3
: Right click on the largest
NTFS partition and select Res-
ize/Move
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Once you are happy with the new partition layout, on the menu go to Edit, Apply all operations. There will be a confirmation message; to continue you must click Apply.
The resizing process will take some time. Perhaps another chance to get a cup of tea! Once it has completed, close GParted and then run Install Manjaro Linux.
4
: Make space at the end of the partition for Manjaro. Ideally this should be at least 50GB, but you can’t shrink the partition smaller than its used space
(minimum size). When you’re happy with the new size, click
Resize/Move
.
Start the advanced installation process
user guide 53
5 : When you reach the sixth step of the installation process, select Manage your partitions
and where to install Manjaro
(advanced)
and then click For-
ward
to proceed.
6
: On the partitioning screen you can see the 100GB of free space we just created. Note the
100
MB fat32 partition: this is the EFI boot partition needed by Windows. At this point you have two choices.
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7
: Firstly, you can create another, new, EFI partition just for Manjaro. This means everything is kept separate to
Windows.
A partition of 100MB should be enough, but the mountpoint
must
be /boot/efi and the partition type fat32.
8 : Otherwise, you can reuse the
EFI partition created by Windows. This is normally quite safe to do.
Select the mountpoint
/boot/efi but make sure you do not format the partition - or you won’t be able to boot Windows!
Update the GRUB bootloader, or, Where did Windows go?
Sometimes the bootloader GRUB2 doesn’t detect an existing Microsoft Windows installation when installing. This means that only
Manjaro Linux will appear in the list of options when you boot the machine.
This is easy to solve. Run the command: sudo update-grub in a terminal after booting into Manjaro and it will detect Windows and add an entry to the boot menu.
user guide 55
9
: Create the rest of partitions as normal. You need at least a root partition (mountpoint /).
Click Install now!, confirm the changes, and proceed with the rest of the installation process!
Advanced installation methods
The text-based installer
The Manjaro Live environment provides two installation tools: along with the graphical installer a text-based CLI installer is available.
This is suitable for advanced users who need extra control over the installation process, for example if they want to set up RAID or alter system configuration options. It’s also useful for very old machines and is the only installation method available for the Net edition.
The text-based installer is only recommended for advanced users.
1 : The installation process steps are very similar to the graphical installer. However, much more control is available.
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Set date and time
2 : The first menu item allows you to manually set your timezone and check the date and time set for your system.
Hard disk(s) preparation
3
: The second menu item allows full control over the partition layout.
Install system
Configure system
user guide 59
4 : The third menu item starts the installation process. You will get no confirmation before the installation begins: make certain that your partition layout is correct otherwise the process will fail. The installation can take a little bit of time, so make a cup of tea!
5
: The fourth item allows full control of your new system’s configuration. The options are quite extensive!
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Install bootloader
Quit
6 : Before rebooting you must make sure to install the bootloader to the correct drive.
Without this, you won’t be able to load Manjaro!
7 : The final step exits the installer. You can continue using the Live environment or reboot now to use your freshly installed Manjaro.
Part III
Welcome to Manjaro
The Manjaro desktop
Congratulations on installing Manjaro Linux!
Once you have logged in you will be presented with the Manjaro desktop. The Welcome Screen will load automatically and this gives you some useful links to documentation, ways to get help and support from the Manjaro community, and some ways you can get involved with the project. Remember that Manjaro is free and opensource software: it relies on contributions from its user and developer community!
1
: The Manjaro Xfce Desktop with Welcome Screen.
If you don’t want the welcome screen to load each time you log in, just untick the box Show this dialog on startup. Don’t worry: you can always find it again in the applications menu.
The applications menu is the easiest way of starting the software programs that are installed on your Manjaro system. The icon for this is in the corner of the screen. Go ahead and click on it now!
You can also press the “Windows” or
“Super” key on your keyboard. Handy!
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2
: Software applications that are installed will be displayed in the applications menu.
You can see that the five main software applications have an item in the “Favourites” menu. This allows rapid access to software you most often use. To add or remove an item from the Favourites menu, just right-click on it and select the option you want.
For now, let’s look in turn at these five applications to give an idea of what awaits you!
3
: Add to Favourites
4 : Remove from Favourites
Terminal Emulator
File Manager
user guide 65
!
5
: Terminal Emulator, or terminal, allows you to perform text-based commands.
Although it initially seems unfriendly it is incredibly powerful and allows access to commands that are difficult to accomplish with a graphical interface. In this example, I have listed (ls) the files in my home directory.
Learning how to use the terminal is not needed for running Manjaro. It’s highly recommended, however; check out sites like http://linuxcommand.org/
6
: File Manager is a graphical interface for managing your documents and directories.
Most file managers work in a similar way; if you’ve used another, you can probably use this one! Hint: you can find this user guide in the Manjaro directory!
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Web Browser
Mail Reader
7
: Web Browser allows you to visit and view web pages so you can read news stories, check the weather forecast, and all the rest. The software application that is installed will depend on the Edition of Manjaro you installed, but they all work in a similar way. If you have a particular preference you can easily add or remove software.
8
: Mail Reader allows you to read and send email. You will have to add your email account when you first run the application (in a similar way to all mail readers) but once that is set up you should be good to go! As with the web browser, there are a range of choices for mail reader. For example, if you prefer Claws or Sylpheed you can install it!
Add/Remove Software
user guide 67
9
: The Package Manager allows you to search for, install, and remove software applications.
In this example I have searched for the Chromium web browser, and am about to install it. Once
I’m happy with my selections
I can click on the tick to continue.
There are two main software managers in Manjaro: Pamac
(installed with the Xfce edition) and Octopi (installed with the
KDE edition).
Getting help
There are a variety of ways of getting help and support about Manjaro, as well as finding out more about the project. You can just browse, or register if you want to get involved!
Remember that Manjaro is run by its community. Without a community there would be no Manjaro!
Whichever method you use, we look forward to meeting you!
1
: The welcome screen has links to some excellent resources. It’s well worth taking the time to have a look at each of them.
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Discussion forum http://forum.manjaro.org/
2 : The Manjaro discussion forum is a great place to find out more about the project. You can connect at any time, leave questions or replies, and come back to them later.
IRC channels http://manjaro.org/irc-channel/
user guide 71
3 : To talk on the IRC channel you will have to connect first.
Hexchat comes installed in the
Xfce edition.
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Mailing list http://lists.manjaro.org/listinfo/manjaro-general
4 : If you prefer to use email there are several mailing lists that you can use to stay upto-date with announcements and development, as well as ask questions. At the moment, though, most people use either the forums or IRC. Maybe it will be you who gets people using the mailing lists!
Wiki http://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
5 : The wiki is essentially an online user manual. It has a huge range of information, hints, tips, and instructions on getting the most out of your Manjaro system. If you need to know how to do something, chances are it’s on the wiki!
Maintaining your system
Changing settings
While the Manjaro desktop comes with a set of defaults that should work well for most people, you might want to change things like the desktop wallpaper and colour scheme, or perhaps how your laptop touchpad behaves.
Xfce settings manager
1 : The Xfce desktop is highly customisable. The settings for your user account can be accessed both via the applications menu and the Xfce settings manager. Either way, there’s a lot of tweaking you can do!
Don’t worry: the changes will only affect your user account, not any others you might have added.
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Manjaro Settings Manager
2 : The Manjaro Settings Man-
ager
provides a set of tools for changing lower-level settings, such as those you set during installation. System-wide languages, keyboard layouts, users, and hardware drivers are all taken care of from here. It is available under Settings in the applications menu.
user guide 75
Adding a printer
Manjaro comes with excellent printing support. Most printers can be installed just by plugging them in!
If you installed a minimal or Net edition you may have to install printing support first: sudo pacman -S manjaro-printer
1
: When you plug in your printer, Manjaro should detect this and automatically install the correct drivers...
2 : ... and make the printer available!
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3
: To check on the available printers, find and open Print
Settings
in the applications menu.
4 : If the printer was successfully installed it will show up here. You’re ready to print!
user guide 77
5
: Otherwise, you can add the printer manually. Click Add to begin the process.
6 : You will need to enter your password to allow the printer detection process. Once you’ve typed in your password, click
OK
.
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7
: All detected printers will show in the devices list. Select your printer, then click
Forward
.
If your printer does not show up it’s possible that your printer isn’t compatible with
Manjaro. Due to the vast number of printers out there you may need to install drivers manually - please visit the forum or IRC channel for help!
8 : As Manjaro installs your printer you can change some settings like its name and location. These provide an easy way of identifying the printer.
user guide 79
9
: Your printer should now show in Printer Settings, where you can view the print queue and change the printer settings.
Happy printing!
Updating software
After logging in you may notice a couple of pop-ups informing you of software updates. This is great! It means your internet connection is working correctly, and that there is new software ready and waiting for you!
Pamac
1 : Pamac’s Update Manager is available from the system tray.
In this screenshot it has a red icon, indicating there are software updates. An update check is performed automatically; all you have to do is click Apply and any updates will proceed automatically!
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Octopi
Octopi is an alternative software manager for Manjaro. It is installed with the Openbox and KDE editions as it is based on the QT toolset.
It also has a very funky icon!
2
: Octopi’s update notifier is available from the system tray.
In this screenshot it has a red icon, indicating there are software updates. An update check is performed automatically; all you have to do is click Yes and any updates will proceed automatically!
3 : Alternatively, you can load
Octopi’s full interface. The red star indicated there are updated available, and the number shows how many. To show what is available, click on the red icon. To install the updates, click on the arrow next to the red icon and then click on
Install
.
user guide 81
Installing new software
There’s a huge amount of software freely available in the Manjaro repositories. If you are connected to the internet you can download and install as many of this as you want at no cost! No advertising is embedded, no data gathering performed - you get just the software application, unlike with some other operating systems.
Pamac
1 : Pamac allows easy access to the available software. All software applications in the repositories are free; no need to worry about purchase or licensing costs. Once you’ve found the package you want to install, right-click and select Install, then click the tick in the top-left corner to confirm.
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2
: The packages to be installed are listed so you can check this is what you want to do.
When you are happy with the selection, click OK and the software will be downloaded and installed.
3 : To stop other users removing important software from the system you will have to provide an administrative password. If you don’t know this you can’t go any further. There are methods to reset this password if needed; visit the forum or IRC channel to find out more. Enter your administrative password and click OK.
user guide 83
4
: The software packages will be downloaded and installed.
You don’t have to do anything else!
5 : The new software will show as installed within Pamac.. You can close Pamac now if you want.
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6
: The new software is available in the application menu ready for you to use.
Octopi
The process of installing new software using Octopi is very similar to
Pamac.
7 : Octopi allows easy access to the available software. Do note that the search process is slightly different to Pamac as you can select whether to search by package name or package description. Once you’ve found the package you want to install, right-click and select Install, then click the tick in the top-left corner to confirm.
user guide 85
8
: Some software will have other packages it can optionally use if they are installed. These
“optional dependencies” can be selected here or ignored - you can always install them later if you want to!
9 : The packages to be installed are listed so you can check this is what you want to do.
When you are happy with the selection, click Yes and the software will be downloaded and installed.
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10
: Octopi will show a confirmation that it installed the new software. You can close Octopi now if you want.
11 : The new software is available in the application menu ready for you to use.
user guide 87
Using Pacman
Pacman is the Arch Linux package manager. This underpins Pamac and Octopi but doesn’t have a graphical interface. Instead, it is used by typing commands on the terminal. The commands allow you to install, upgrade, configure, and remove software.
Synchronising with the Manjaro repositories
As new packages are added to the repositories you will need to regularly synchronise the package lists. This is normally taken care of automatically on a regular basis by the software managers, but to perform this manually type the following into the terminal: sudo pacman -Sy
This will only download the package lists if there has been a change.
Occasionally you may want to force the package lists to be downloaded. To do this, type: sudo pacman -Syy
Updating software
Pacman will allow you to perform an update of software already installed: sudo pacman -Su
It’s a good idea to check whether the package lists are up-to-date at the same time: sudo pacman -Syu
You can also force a package list synchronisation before performing an update: sudo pacman -Syyu
Searching for software
Finding a package by name is really straightforward. For example, to search for a text editor called Leafpad: sudo pacman -Ss leafpad
Installing software
Installing a package is equally straightforward. For example, to install Leafpad: sudo pacman -S leafpad
1
: sudo pacman -Syyu
Many software applications depend on other software packages. Thankfully, pacman will automatically detect and install these!
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Removing software
To remove a software package you need to know its name, but the command is straightforward. To remove Leafpad: sudo pacman -R leafpad
It’s also possible to remove a package and any dependencies it required when it was installed. Assuming those other packages are not being used by another piece of software, they will become orphan packages. These serve no function other than taking up space! To remove a software package with its dependencies: sudo pacman -Rs leafpad
A package may also create configuration files. Normally these are left in place so your configuration is not lost, and can be reused if you install the package again. However, if you want to remove these configuration files too, the command is: sudo pacman -Rns leafpad
If at a later date you want to remove all orphan packages and configuration files for packages that you removed some time ago, the following command will do it: sudo pacman -Rns $(pacman -Qtdq)
Be warned, though: this is an advanced command!
Other pacman commands
It’s a good idea to become familiar with the pacman commands. It can be a very useful tool in case the other software managers refuse to complete an installation, for example if an installation process is interrupted. The pacman man page is very informational: man pacman
To exit, press q.
Updating the mirror list
Manjaro Linux packages are hosted on a number of servers across the world; these servers mirror the official Manjaro software repository.
When you first install Manjaro it will try to work out which server is closest to you so that software downloads complete as quickly as possible.
Sometimes, though, the list of mirrors can get old. New mirrors can become available, and some mirrors are removed. Updates to
man
is short for manual
user guide 89
Manjaro will regularly trigger an update of the mirror list, but sometimes it’s useful to do this manually.
To update the mirror list use the following command: sudo pacman-mirrors -g
This will test the speed of all currently available mirrors and set your machine to use the best for you. Once this command has completed, you should force a download of the package lists: sudo pacman -Syyu
Choosing mirrors
If you would like more control over which mirrors to use, run the command: sudo pacman-mirrors -i
This will allow you to select which mirror, or mirrors, to try when checking for software updates and downloading new packages. It’s normally best to choose mirrors that are geographically close to you, so if you’re in Canada then Canadian and US servers are generally a good bet. Of course, you’re free to choose whichever you want!
To reset back to an automatic choice, run this command: sudo pacman-mirrors -g -c all
Remember to force a download of the package lists to use the new mirrors!
Switching branches
When you install Manjaro you will be using the stable branch. This set of packages has the most testing and so is the best for most users.
However, you may want to help test packages before they move to the stable repository: sudo pacman-mirrors -g -b testing
The testing repository has packages that have been checked by the
Manjaro development team to make sure they work correctly. However, the amount of testing done is much smaller than for the stable branch - but this is how they get tested!
If you want to live on the bleeding edge, you can switch to the unstable branch. This is normally used by the Manjaro developers.
Packages from the unstable branch can cause problems, so this is not something to do lightly: sudo pacman-mirrors -g -b unstable
2
: sudo pacman-mirrors -g
3
: sudo pacman-mirrors -i
90 manjaro linux 0
.8.13
After switching branches you will need to force an update of the package lists: sudo pacman -Syyu
If you switch away from the stable branch, but want to move back, it’s actually pretty easy: sudo pacman-mirrors -g -b stable
This will leave the newer packages on your system and these will be replaced as the stable branch catches up. However, if you want to force a downgrade of packages back to the stable version, use: sudo pacman -Syyuu
Fixing installation errors
Occasionally, an installation can go wrong. The downloaded file might be corrupted, or the process might be interrupted if you lose power. Most of the time it’s relatively easy to get your system back to a working state!
The most common error you will be something like:
:: Synchronising package databases...
error: failed to update core (unable to lock database) error: failed to update extra (unable to lock database) error: failed to update community (unable to lock database) error: failed to update multilib (unable to lock database) error: failed to synchronise any databases error: failed to init transaction (unable to lock database) error: could not lock database: File exists if you’re sure a package manager is not already running, you can remove /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
This means pacman thinks it is already running. If it is, and you try to force an installation or removal of software, the package database can be left in an inconsistent state. This would be bad. So, the first thing to check is whether an installer is running. One of the easiest ways to check is to run a terminal command: ps x | grep pacman
This might look complicated, but it’s just two small commands joined
(piped) together. First, ps x produces a list of running processes for all users. Second, grep pacman
user guide 91 searches for the text “pacman”. The pipe, |, takes the output from the first and feeds it to the second. To check whether another program is running you can just change the text “pacman” to something else: ps x | grep pamac ps x | grep octopi
Once you are sure an installer is not running, you can delete pacman’s lock file: sudo rm /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
Then try running the install process again!
If a problem persists, there is a series of commands that will fix most issues: sudo rm -f /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
sudo pacman-mirrors -g sudo pacman -Syyuu sudo pacman -Suu
In order, these commands:
• Remove pacman’s lock file;
• Update the mirror list;
• Forces an update of the package lists and an update of any packages to bring them in line with the current repository state;
• Ensures no packages are left out of line with the current repository state.
To make things easier, Manjaro 0.8.13 includes a command alias
12 that runs the above four commands: fixit
More information
Remember - there is plenty of information on the wiki http://wiki.
manjaro.org/ and discussion forum http://forum.manjaro.org/.
12 https://forum.manjaro.org/index.php?topic=12383.0
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.8.13
Index
Fixing installation errors, 90
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Key Features
- User-friendly graphical installer
- Pre-installed access to the latest games
- Simplified, user-friendly installation process
- Based on Arch Linux
- Designed to be accessible to newcomers
- Provides access to the very latest cutting-edge software
- A ‘rolling release’ development model that provides the most up-to-date system possible without the need to regularly install a new operating system release
- Access to the Arch User Repositories
- The versatility to be shaped and moulded in every respect to suit personal taste and preference.
- Automatic detection of your computer’s hardware (e.g. graphics cards)
