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Arch installation with ins arch ​

INFO

There are two installers in circulation right now:

  • ins arch (Rust, instantCLI): the new installer command
  • instantARCH (bash): the legacy installer used by older ISOs and the instantos.io/install script

Both are documented below so you can match what you see on your system.

ins arch (instantCLI) ​

ins arch is the Rust-based installer built into instantCLI. It follows the Arch install flow (partitioning, pacstrap, fstab, bootloader) while layering instantOS defaults and options on top. If you want a clean Arch system, you can enable Minimal Mode to keep things close to vanilla Arch.

Quick start ​

bash
ins arch install

This runs the full wizard: asks all questions, executes the install steps, and shows the finished menu. If you are not root, it will prompt for sudo and relaunch itself. You can still run sudo ins arch install if you prefer.

Features and advantages ​

  • Guided wizard for disks, partitioning, locale, user, and system basics
  • Automatic or manual partitioning
  • Dual boot feasibility checks with resize guidance
  • Disk encryption
  • Minimal-mode for a vanilla Arch install
  • Asks questions first, then runs all install steps in one go

Requirements ​

  • Arch or instantOS environment
  • x86_64 architecture
  • Working internet connection

Common commands ​

ins arch install ​

Run the full installation wizard.

ins arch setup ​

Set up instantOS on an existing Arch Linux installation (not a live ISO).

bash
sudo ins arch setup --user alice
sudo ins arch setup --dry-run

ins arch info ​

Show detected system information (boot mode, architecture, GPU). Safe to run on any distro.

ins arch dualboot info ​

Analyze disks for dual boot feasibility and show partition details. Root access may be needed for full disk info.

ins arch upload-logs ​

Upload /var/log/instantos/install.log to snips.sh for troubleshooting.

Automation and scripting ​

ins arch list ​

List all available question IDs. Useful for scripts that call ins arch ask.

ins arch ask [question-id] ​

Run the interactive questionnaire. Without an ID it asks all questions and writes a TOML config file.

bash
ins arch ask
ins arch ask <question-id>
ins arch ask --output-config /tmp/instantos-questions.toml

ins arch exec [--step <step-id>] ​

Execute installation steps based on a questions file.

bash
ins arch exec --questions-file /etc/instant/questions.toml
ins arch exec --dry-run

ins arch finished ​

Show the post-install menu (reboot, shutdown, or continue in live session).

Files and logs ​

  • /etc/instant/questions.toml stores the generated installation answers
  • /var/log/instantos/install.log captures the installer logs

Legacy: instantARCH (bash) ​

instantARCH is the older bash-based installer built around instantmenu. It is still what the instantos.io/install script runs and what older instantOS ISOs ship with.

  • Run from an Arch live ISO with bash <(curl -L instantos.io/install)
  • Debug mode: set INSTALLDEBUG=1 or create /tmp/installdebug
  • Optional log tag: put an identifier in /tmp/debugname

For deeper development notes, see instantARCH development docs.