This article has been created for experienced users who desire a quick, less detailed installation guide. It doubles as a checklist so essential installation steps are not forgotten.
Warning
This article is outdated and will be replaced soon. Until then, the draft can be used temporarily: User:Pietinger/Draft/Quick_Installation_OpenRC_for_an_UEFI_System.
Contents
- 1 Format drive
- 1.1 BIOS/MBR
- 1.2 BIOS/GPT
- 1.3 UEFI/GPT
- 2 Mount partitions
- 2.1 BIOS/MBR
- 2.2 BIOS/GPT
- 2.3 UEFI/GPT
- 3 Stage 3
- 4 Chroot
- 5 Portage
- 6 User accounts
- 7 Configure system
- 7.1 Install vi (optional)
- 7.2 Editing the fstab file
- 7.3 Locale
- 7.4 Hostname
- 7.5 Timezone
- 8 Kernel
- 8.1 Emerge
- 8.2 Configure
- 8.2.1 Manual
- 8.2.2 Automatic
- 8.3 Install
- 9 Alternative: Using a distribution kernel
- 9.1 Install
- 10 Bootloader
- 11 Network
- 12 Clean up
- 13 See also
Format drive
Note
If building within a QEMU or using a VirtIO driver, probably have to substitute the drive/partition name sda with vda throughout this article.
BIOS/MBR
Create three partitions. 128MB for /boot, 1024MB for swap, and the rest for /
root #cfdisk /dev/sda
Format the partitions:
root #mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
root #mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3
root #mkswap /dev/sda2 && swapon /dev/sda2
BIOS/GPT
Create four partitions. 128MB for /boot, 2MB for BIOS Boot, 1024MB swap and the rest goes to /
root #gdisk /dev/sda
Create GPT partition table:Command: o ↵This option deletes all partitions and creates a new protective MBR.Proceed? (Y/N): y ↵Create Partition 1 (/boot):Command: n ↵Partition Number: 1 ↵First sector: ↵Last sector: +128M ↵Hex Code: ↵Create Partition 2 (BIOS boot):Command: n ↵Partition Number: 2 ↵First sector: ↵Last sector: +2M ↵Hex Code: EF02 ↵Create Partition 3 (swap):Command: n ↵Partition Number: 3 ↵First sector: ↵Last sector: +1024MB ↵Hex Code: 8200 ↵Create Partition 4 (/):Command: n ↵Partition Number: 4 ↵First sector: ↵Last sector: ↵ (for rest of disk)Hex Code: ↵Write Partition Table To Disk:Command: w ↵Do you want to proceed? (Y/N): Y ↵
Format the partitions:
root #mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
root #mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda4
root #mkswap /dev/sda3 && swapon /dev/sda3
UEFI/GPT
Create four partitions. 128MB for /boot, 128MB for UEFI ESP, 1024MB swap and the rest goes to /
root #gdisk /dev/sda
Create GPT partition table:Command: o ↵This option deletes all partitions and creates a new protective MBR.Proceed? (Y/N): y ↵Create Partition 1 (/boot):Command: n ↵Partition Number: 1 ↵First sector: ↵Last sector: +128M ↵Hex Code: ↵Create Partition 2 (UEFI ESP):Command: n ↵Partition Number: 2 ↵First sector: ↵Last sector: +128M ↵Hex Code: EF00 ↵Create Partition 3 (swap):Command: n ↵Partition Number: 3 ↵First sector: ↵Last sector: +1024MB ↵Hex Code: 8200 ↵Create Partition 4 (/):Command: n ↵Partition Number: 4 ↵First sector: ↵Last sector: ↵ (for rest of disk)Hex Code: ↵Write Partition Table To Disk:Command: w ↵Do you want to proceed? (Y/N): Y ↵
Format the partitions:
root #mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
root #mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda4
root #mkswap /dev/sda3 && swapon /dev/sda3
root #mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sda2
Mount partitions
BIOS/MBR
root #mkdir -p /mnt/gentoo
root #mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/gentoo
root #mkdir /mnt/gentoo/boot
root #mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/gentoo/boot
BIOS/GPT
root #mkdir -p /mnt/gentoo
root #mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/gentoo
root #mkdir /mnt/gentoo/boot
root #mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/gentoo/boot
UEFI/GPT
root #mkdir -p /mnt/gentoo
root #mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/gentoo
root #mkdir /mnt/gentoo/boot
root #mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/gentoo/boot
root #mkdir /mnt/gentoo/boot/efi
root #mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/gentoo/boot/efi
Stage 3
Find nearest mirror from this list.
Navigate to the /mnt/gentoo directory:
root #cd /mnt/gentoo
Download the stage 3. Be sure to replace the keyword (amd64 and date stamp in the example below) with the correct architecture and date:
root #wget https://distfiles.gentoo.org/releases/amd64/autobuilds/current-stage3-amd64-openrc/stage3-amd64-openrc-20220320T170531Z.tar.xz
Unpack the stage 3 file:
root #tar xpf stage3*
(or with xattrs):
root #tar --xattrs-include='*.*' --numeric-owner -xpf stage3*
Chroot
Chroot into the extracted stage3:
root #cd /mnt/gentoo
root #mount --types proc /proc /mnt/gentoo/proc
root #mount --rbind /sys /mnt/gentoo/sys
root #mount --make-rslave /mnt/gentoo/sys
root #mount --rbind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev
root #mount --make-rslave /mnt/gentoo/dev
root #mount --bind /run /mnt/gentoo/run
root #mount --make-slave /mnt/gentoo/run
root #cp /etc/resolv.conf etc && chroot . /bin/bash
root #source /etc/profile
or if using Gentoo installation media:
root #cd /mnt/gentoo && cp /etc/resolv.conf etc && arch-chroot .
Portage
Note
Don't forget to edit the make.conf file and configure ebuild repository.
Sync the Gentoo repository and update the @world set:
root #emerge-webrsync
root #emerge -avuDN @world
User accounts
Change the root password:
root #passwd
Create user(s):
root #useradd -g users -G wheel,portage,audio,video,usb,cdrom -m username
root #passwd username
Note
Spaces are not allowed between groups.
Configure system
Install vi (optional)
Note
vi installation is optional, you can use nano as it is a default editor in stage3.
root #emerge -vq vim
Editing the fstab file
Configure /etc/fstab to match the actual partitioning performed in the step above:
FILE /etc/fstab
/dev/sda1/bootvfatnoauto,noatime1 2/dev/sda3/ext4noatime0 1/dev/sda2noneswapsw0 0/dev/cdrom/mnt/cdromautonoauto,ro0 0
Locale
Set system locale:
FILE /etc/env.d/02localeExample locale configuration
LANG="en_US.UTF-8"LC_COLLATE="C"
Add the locale to /etc/locale.gen:
FILE /etc/locale.genExample locale configuration
en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8C.UTF8 UTF-8
then generate the locale:
root #locale-gen
Hostname
Edit /etc/conf.d/hostname
FILE /etc/conf.d/hostnameExample Hostname configuration
HOSTNAME="pc"
Timezone
Set the appropriate timezone:
root #ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Helsinki /etc/localtime
Kernel
Emerge
The sys-kernel/gentoo-sources package is the vanilla kernel with the Gentoo patchset applied. Choose between kernel sources. The sys-kernel/linux-firmware package contains binary blobs needed for some hardware (WLAN cards).
If sys-kernel/gentoo-sources has been selected:
root #echo "sys-kernel/linux-firmware @BINARY-REDISTRIBUTABLE" | tee -a /etc/portage/package.license
root #emerge -av sys-kernel/gentoo-sources sys-kernel/linux-firmware sys-kernel/installkernel
root #ln -s /usr/src/linux* /usr/src/linux
root #cd /usr/src/linux
Configure
Manual
Install sys-apps/pciutils
root #emerge -av pciutils
Discover which modules are required for the system's hardware:
root #lspci -nnk
Shorter version:
root #lspci -nnk | grep "Kernel driver in use:"
Configure kernel by enabling each necessary module in the menuconfig interface. Search for specific module names by pressing / in menuconfig. Navigate to the associated feature by pressing the corresponding number listed on the left of the search results.
root #make menuconfig
Once finished build kernel and modules:
root #make -j2
Automatic
If things are working nicely in the current install environment, it is possible to use localyesconfig to select all modules currently loaded by the LiveCD:
root #make localyesconfig
Build the kernel and modules:
root #make -j2
Install
Install the kernel and modules:
root #make modules_install
root #make install
Alternative: Using a distribution kernel
If manually installing the kernel looks too hard. try distribution kernels.
Distribution kernels are ebuilds that automate the process of unpacking, configuring, compiling, installing the kernel.
For systemd-boot:
root #emerge --ask sys-kernel/installkernel-systemd
For GRUB, LILO, etc:
root #emerge --ask sys-kernel/installkernel-gentoo
Install
To build the kernel from source:
root #emerge --ask sys-kernel/gentoo-kernel
To install precompiled kernel images rather than compiling the kernel:
root #emerge --ask sys-kernel/gentoo-kernel-bin
Bootloader
Specify the correct setting for the system's firmware. BIOS/MBR is pc, 64-bit UEFI is efi-64, 32-bit UEFI is efi-32:
Note
32-bit UEFI is rare to find on PCs. Mostly older Apple hardware use this. It has nothing to do with the Gentoo architecture chosen.
if you decide to use systemd-boot install sys-boot/systemd-boot
Emerge GRUB:
root #echo 'GRUB_PLATFORMS="efi-64"' >> /etc/portage/make.conf
root #emerge --ask sys-boot/grub
Assuming the system has BIOS firmware:
root #grub-install /dev/sda
Supposing the system has UEFI firmware and the EFI partition is mounted in the /boot/efi directory:
root #grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi
Use the grub-mkconfig command to generate the configuration file:
root #grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Found vmlinuz-3.14.4-gentoo
Network
For ethernet install dhcpcd:
root #emerge --ask net-misc/dhcpcd
To start dhcpcd at boot:
root #rc-update add dhcpcd default
root #rc-service dhcpcd start
For wireless networks install wpa_supplicant and iw:
root #emerge --ask sys-apps/iproute2 net-wireless/wpa_supplicant net-wireless/iw net-wireless/wireless-tools
Clean up
Exit chroot, unmount partitions, and reboot:
root #exit
root #umount -R /mnt/gentoo
root #reboot
See also
- Gentoo Handbook — an effort to centralize essential documentation for initial Gentoo installation and basic system administration.
- Installation — an overview of the principles and practices of installing Gentoo on a running system.
