Recipe: Set up an Arch Linux virtual workstation with VMWare Workstation on any x86_64 system

/docs/other/developer-workstation/arch-x86_64/vmware-workstation/

These instructions should work on Windows and Linux.

Install VMWare Workstation

  1. This product can be obtained from https://www.vmware.com/products/desktop-hypervisor/workstation-and-fusion. It appears it is now available free of charge.

Note

On some Linux distros, VMWare Workstation may be available through package repositories, which might make installation and management easier.

Obtain an Arch Linux image

  1. Download an ISO from a mirror listed on https://archlinux.org/download/ (e.g. archlinux-2024.11.01-x86_64.iso)

Run the Arch Linux image as the virtual machine to create the development VM with

  1. Run VMWare Workstation.

  2. In VMware Workstation, create a new virtual machine:

    • In the “Home” tab, select “Create a New Virtual Machine”.

    • In “Virtual Machine Configuration”, select “Typical (recommended)”. Click “Next”.

    • In “Install operating system from”, select “Use ISO image”. Using “Browse…”, select the ISO image you downloaded earlier. Ignore the warning that it could not detect which operating system is in this image. Click “Next”.

    • In “Guest Operating System”, select “Linux”, and then in the “Version” popup, “Other Linux 6.x kernel 64-bit”. Click “Next”.

    • In “Virtual Machine Name”, set the “Name” to something suitable, such as “ubosdev”. Click “Next”.

    • In “Disk Size”, set a size suitable for your needs, such as 60 GB. This only means the disk may grow up to 60GB, not that it starts out that large. Select “Split virtual disk into multiple files”. Click “Next”.

    • In “This virtual machine will be created with the following settings:”, click “Customize Hardware…”, and then:

      • In the “Hardware” tab:

        • Set Memory to a suitable amount of base memory, based on your needs, such as 8192 MB
        • Set Processors to something suitable, such as 2.
        • Leave the other settings unchanged. Click “Close”.

      • In the “Options” tab:

        • Select “Advanced”, and in “Firmware type” select “UEFI”.

      Click “Finish”.

    • In “Install the Guest Operating System” and “Install VMWare Tools”, click “Close”.

    • If a “Hint” window comes up with advice about swap space, ignore it and click “OK”.

  3. The VM is now starting. Wait for the shell to appear.

Install Arch on the empty disk and configure it

  1. Update the bootstrap VM and install some packages we need:

    # pacman -Sy
# pacman -S archlinux-keyring
# pacman -Su
# pacman -S btrfs-progs gptfdisk parted dosfstools arch-install-scripts vi

    If there is an error about the kernel image not existing, ignore it.

  2. Zero out the first bytes on the disk for extra robustness:

    # dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1M count=8 conv=notrunc

  3. Clear the partition table:

    # sgdisk --clear /dev/sda

  4. Create the partitions (UEFI, /boot and /) and change them to the right types.

    # sgdisk --new=1::+1M /dev/sda
# sgdisk --new=2::+512M /dev/sda
# sgdisk --new=3:: /dev/sda
# sgdisk --typecode=1:EF02 /dev/sda
# sgdisk --typecode=2:EF00 /dev/sda

  5. Make sure changes are in effect:

    # sync
# partprobe /dev/sda

  6. Create filesystems for partitions other than the UEFI partition:

    # mkfs.vfat  /dev/sda2
# mkfs.btrfs /dev/sda3

  7. Mount the partitions so we can install:

    # mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
# mkdir /mnt/boot
# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot

  8. Perform the actual install of the base packages:

    # pacstrap /mnt base

  9. Generate the right fstab:

    # genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab

  10. Chroot into your future root disk and finish the installation:

    # arch-chroot /mnt

    1. Install more packages:

      # pacman -Sy
# pacman -S linux grub mkinitcpio sudo vim btrfs-progs open-vm-tools \
  gdm gnome-console gnome-control-center gnome-session gnome-settings-daemon \
  gnome-shell gnome-keyring nautilus

      If asked which alternatives to install, choose the defaults.

    2. Check that the auto-generated content of /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist makes sense. Edit accordingly.

    3. Create a ramdisk:

      # mkinitcpio -p linux

    4. Configure the UEFI boot loader:

      # bootctl --path /boot install

    5. Configure grub. This is redundant given we also have a UEFI boot loader, but some people prefer a setup in which to boot from legacy BIOS.

      # grub-install --target=i386-pc --boot-directory=/boot --recheck /dev/sda
# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

    6. Install a locale:

      # perl -pi -e 's!#en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8!en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8!' /etc/locale.gen
# locale-gen

    7. Set up networking:

      # echo '[Match]' > /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo 'Name=en*' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo '' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo '[Network]' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo 'DHCP=ipv4' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo 'IPv4Forwarding=1' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network
# echo 'IPv6Forwarding=1' >> /etc/systemd/network/wired.network

# systemctl enable systemd-networkd systemd-resolved systemd-timesyncd

    8. Create a user with the right permissions and no password:

      # useradd -m ubosdev
# chmod 755 ~ubosdev
# passwd -d ubosdev
# echo ubosdev ALL = NOPASSWD: ALL > /etc/sudoers.d/ubosdev
# chmod 600 /etc/sudoers.d/ubosdev

    9. No root password:

      # passwd -d root

    10. Exit from the arch-chroot shell with ^D.

  11. Remainder of networking setup:

    # rm /mnt/etc/resolv.conf
# ln -s /run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf /mnt/etc/resolv.conf

  12. Configure UEFI:

    • Loader configuration:

      # echo timeout 4 > /mnt/boot/loader/loader.conf
# echo default arch >> /mnt/boot/loader/loader.conf

    • Boot entry configuration:

      # echo title Arch > /mnt/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
# echo linux /vmlinuz-linux >> /mnt/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
# echo initrd /initramfs-linux.img >> /mnt/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf
# echo options root=PARTUUID=$(lsblk -o PARTUUID /dev/sda3 | tail -1 ) rw >> /mnt/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf

  13. Power off the virtual machine:

    # systemctl poweroff

  14. Remove the ISO file from the VM:

    • In the tab for your VM, click “Edit virtual machine settings”.
    • Select “CD/DVD (SATA)” on the left, and then uncheck “Connected” and “Connect at power on”.
    • Click “Save”.

Remaining configuration

  1. Start the VM again.

  2. At the console, log in as ubosdev. There is no password.

  3. Fix the locale (command won’t run earlier)

    % sudo localectl set-locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8

  4. Enable Gnome:

    % sudo systemctl enable gdm

  5. Enable the VMWare Guest utilities:

    % sudo systemctl enable vmtoolsd vmware-vmblock-fuse

  6. Power off the virtual machine:

    % sudo systemctl poweroff