My Arch Linux post-installation steps

After installing Arch Linux , it’s time to install a few packages to get the most out of your machine.

Useful packages for the GNOME desktop environment#

For GNOME Shell integration with web browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave):

# Install the GNOME browser connector (replaces chrome-gnome-shell)
sudo pacman -S gnome-browser-connector

# Additional GNOME packages
sudo pacman -S gnome-power-manager gnome-software-packagekit-plugin

Then install the corresponding browser extension:

• Chrome/Edge/Brave: Chrome Web Store
• Firefox: Mozilla Add-ons

Useful packages for devops/sysops users#

Note: These commands require an AUR helper such as yay, paru, or pikaur.

# Base packages from official repositories
sudo pacman -S --needed curl git htop strace lsof base-devel

# VSCodium (VSCode without telemetry) from AUR
yay -S vscodium-bin

Generally useful packages#

sudo pacman -S vlc rsync firefox keepassxc wipe xclip

• Enable the SSH daemon at startup: sudo systemctl enable sshd
• Install a graphical package manager: pamac — guide here
• Package for creating and managing BTRFS snapshots: yay -S timeshift

Timeshift configuration: Timeshift requires a task scheduler. Install cronie or use timeshift-systemd-timer:

# Option 1: With cronie
sudo pacman -S cronie
sudo systemctl enable --now cronie

# Option 2: With systemd timer (AUR)
yay -S timeshift-systemd-timer

When installing Arch Linux inside a VirtualBox virtual machine, it is essential to install the guest extensions:

# Install VirtualBox guest utilities
sudo pacman -S virtualbox-guest-utils

# Enable the service (loads modules and syncs time)
sudo systemctl enable --now vboxservice

# Reboot recommended to take effect
sudo reboot

Note: The vboxservice service automatically loads the required modules (vboxguest, vboxsf, vboxvideo) and launches VBoxClient-all via XDG Autostart for graphical features.