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ARCH-PORTING.md

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Arch Support (Porting Notes)

This repository is designed around the antiX/MX live stack (Debian-family bootstrap + a custom initrd that mounts antiX/linuxfs). Arch support is being added using the “B” approach: keep the stage pipeline and ISO layout, but swap Debian-specific tooling for Arch where possible.

Current Status

  • Stage 0: supports DISTRO_FAMILY=arch and uses Template/Arch/.
  • Stage 2: uses pacstrap to create the root filesystem.
  • Stage 4 (in chroot): uses pacman + mkinitcpio, builds an archiso.img, generates locales, and creates the live user.
  • Stage 6–8: create an archiso-style ISO layout and build the ISO via grub-mkrescue (experimental).

Debian → Arch command mapping

  • Bootstrap: debootstrap → pacstrap (from arch-install-scripts)
  • Chroot helper: chroot → arch-chroot (recommended, optional)
  • Update/install: apt-get update/install → pacman -Syu / pacman -S --needed
  • Remove: apt-get purge/autoremove → pacman -Rns
  • Package list: dpkg-query -l → pacman -Qqe (or pacman -Qq)
  • Initramfs: initramfs-tools → mkinitcpio -P
  • Locale: update-locale → write /etc/locale.conf + run locale-gen

What’s still missing (bootable Arch ISO)

To boot an Arch-based live system, we must implement an Arch-compatible initramfs + boot parameters that can:

  1. discover the ISO medium,
  2. mount the squashfs (antiX/linuxfs) or change the ISO layout to an Arch-compatible one,
  3. set up overlay/persistence (optional),
  4. switch_root into the live rootfs.

Practical options:

  • Reuse existing antiX initrd: port init scripts to work with an Arch rootfs (busybox, mount helpers, udev/systemd differences, library paths).
  • Embed an archiso-style initramfs: keep this repo’s ISO assembly but adopt archiso init hooks and filesystem layout expectations.

mx-remaster considerations

~/mx-remaster/installed-to-live and live-files/* are apt/debconf oriented (repo localization, dpkg prompts). For Arch, only the generic parts are directly reusable:

  • bind-mount templating and exclude list generation,
  • persistence helpers (after adapting mount/layout expectations),
  • squashfs tooling wrappers.

Validation Checklist (once Stage 6+ is implemented)

  • Debian/MX host needs extra pacman pieces: pacman-package-manager, makepkg, archlinux-keyring (Debian installs keyrings under /usr/share/keyrings; the builder links them into /usr/share/pacman/keyrings).
  • Build host has: pacstrap, pacman, mksquashfs, ISO tool (xorriso or genisoimage), bootloader tooling used by this repo.
  • Stage 2 creates a bootable rootfs: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist exists, pacman -Q works in chroot.
  • Stage 4 produces: LIVE_USER exists, locale-gen ran, mkinitcpio -P succeeds, and basic tooling exists (e.g. hostname from inetutils).
  • If pacman reports “could not determine cachedir mount point” or “not enough free disk space”, ensure /proc is mounted in-chroot and there is sufficient free space under /var/cache/pacman/pkg (downloads are large).
  • If mount inside the chroot says “failed to read mtab”, create /etc/mtab as a symlink to /proc/self/mounts (the Arch chroot path now does this automatically).
  • If archiso is installed but /usr/share/archiso/configs/*/mkinitcpio.conf is missing, the builder falls back to a minimal mkinitcpio config that uses archiso hooks (requires the archiso mkinitcpio hooks to be installed in the target).
  • On some Arch snapshots the mkinitcpio hooks are provided by mkinitcpio-archiso; the builder will attempt to install it if hooks are missing.
  • ISO boots in UEFI+BIOS: kernel+initramfs load, live root mounts, login works.
  • Core runtime checks on the live system: pacman -Syu works, DNS works, journalctl shows no critical boot failures, shutdown/reboot work.