euri-iso/docs/installer.md

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Calamares Installer

Euri Linux uses Calamares as its installer, with a custom launcher (calamares-next) that launches Calamares directly in online mode.

Install mode

Online-only (since v2026.07.16). The so-called "Offline Install" was removed from Calamares — it was never truly offline: the rootfs only contained live session essentials, and all DE packages were still downloaded via basestrap. All Calamares installs now use the full netinstall flow with desktop selection.

A BYODE (Bring Your Own Desktop Environment) offline installer script is available on the live desktop for users who want a bare system installed from the ISO. See BYODE. It is experimental.

Fixed issues

Audio on installed systems

The upstream artix-pipewire-launcher doesn't support dinit. The XDG autostart entry was also missing from the upstream package.

Fix: The pipewire package in [euri-pkgs] now includes pipewire.desktop installed to /etc/xdg/autostart/, and the artix-pipewire-launcher script is patched to recognize dinit (dinit|runit|s6) SUPPORT='YES').

SDDM theme showing Breeze

KDE's SDDM KCM writes a kde_settings.conf with Current=breeze, and the old pre-rebranding theme entry did not win.

Fix: The installed system uses the pixie SDDM theme (pixie-sddm-git, Material Design 3). The euri-layan-theme package vendors its own kde_settings.conf at /etc/sddm.conf.d/kde_settings.conf with Current=pixie (plus dinit halt/reboot commands). The live session uses the breeze theme for autologin — the pixie theme applies to the installed system after login.

/usr/lib/os-release showing "Artix Linux"

The filesystem package from Artix owns /usr/lib/os-release. Our euri-release also needs to install there, but it wasn't included in the basestrap operations list.

Fix: Added euri-release to the operations list in basestrap.conf so it's installed during bootstrapping with --overwrite.

Key differences from upstream Calamares

• dracut/dracutlukscfg replaced with initcpiocfg/initcpio/luksopenswaphookcfg (Artix uses mkinitcpio, not dracut)
• services-artix module instead of services-systemd (uses artix-service which detects init and runs the right commands)
• removeuser step removed, postcfg added
• packagechooser module compiled in (upstream Calamares skips it by default)

Init system

Euri Linux ships Dinit as the default and only install-time init. OpenRC, Runit, and S6 are available in the Artix repos and are supported — but they are not offered as install-time options; you switch after installation. See Changing init on an installed system for instructions. Note that OpenRC is known to have issues with service enabling on installed systems; Runit and S6 switch cleanly.

Desktop selector

The install flow begins with a dedicated desktop environment picker (packagechooser@de) before the package selection tree. This replaces the old netinstall-based "Desktop" group that installed all DEs when the parent checkbox was clicked.

The selector uses method: netinstall-add — the chosen DE's package group is dynamically added to the netinstall tree. This means users can still refine their DE packages in the subsequent netinstall step, seeing only their selected DE rather than all available options.

Step	Module	Description
1	packagechooser@de	Pick one DE (required, default: Plasma)
2	packagechooser@dm	Pick a display manager (required, default: SDDM)
3	netinstall	Refine package selection, add optional groups

Available desktops

Desktop	Repo	Type	Notes
KDE Plasma	world	Full DE	Default. Wayland + X11. Listed as individual packages in the active config; the companion copy in calamares-online/modules/ uses the plasma meta-group + euri-desktop-settings
Xfce	galaxy	Full DE	Lightweight. GTK-based. Individual packages; companion copy uses xfce4 group
Cinnamon	galaxy	Full DE	Traditional layout. GNOME-based
MATE	galaxy	Full DE	GNOME 2 continuation. Individual packages; companion copy uses mate + mate-extra
LXQt	galaxy	Full DE	Lightweight Qt desktop. Individual packages; companion copy uses lxqt group
i3	world	Tiling WM	Keyboard-driven. Individual packages (i3-wm, i3blocks, i3lock, i3status). Requires euri-i3-config for a usable experience
Sway	world	Tiling WM	i3-compatible Wayland compositor. Requires euri-sway-config
Hyprland	world	Tiling WM	Dynamic Wayland compositor with eye candy. Requires euri-hyprland-config
COSMIC	galaxy	Full DE	Rust-based desktop from System76. Alpha quality. Select greetd as display manager

Not available

• Budgie — not in any Artix repo (system, world, galaxy, lib32). Slideshow entries removed.
• GNOME — dropped non-systemd support upstream. "You really think you can get GNOME here?"

Tiling WMs and default configs

i3, Sway, and Hyprland are offered as install options but will present a black screen on first boot without a configuration file. Config packages (euri-i3-config, euri-sway-config, euri-hyprland-config) are available from the [euri-pkgs] repository and are automatically included when the corresponding DE is selected.

If you prefer to supply your own config, you can deselect the config package in the netinstall refinement step.

Display manager selector

The DM selector (packagechooser@dm) uses method: netinstall-add, with each display manager's packages defined inline in the chooser items. Available options:

• SDDM — KDE's QML-based display manager (default). Ships with pixie-sddm-git theme.
• LightDM — GTK-based, cross-desktop
• LXDM — Lightweight (LXDE)
• greetd — Minimal, recommended for COSMIC
• LY — TUI-based, minimal

The selected DM's inline group is appended to the netinstall tree via the netinstallAdd key, exactly like the DE selector.

Branding

Custom branding lives in the calamares-branding-euri package, installed to /etc/calamares/branding/default/. The componentName in branding.desc must match its directory name — this is enforced by Calamares (see Branding.cpp).

GRUB configuration

The installation sequence runs grubcfg before bootloader. The grubcfg module writes /etc/default/grub on the target system; the bootloader module then runs grub-install and grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg.

The Artix grub package ships its own default /etc/default/grub. Because this file exists on the target at module runtime, the module's defaults block is only applied when overwrite is set to true. The grubcfg.conf at live-overlay/etc/calamares/modules/grubcfg.conf therefore sets overwrite: true to ensure GRUB_THEME, GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT, and GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR are written.

GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT must be "gfxterm" for the GRUB theme to render; "console" disables graphical output and prevents theme loading.

Bootloader target detection

The bootloader module auto-detects the GRUB target architecture using the system's EFI bitness and CPU type. For UEFI x86_64, it installs with --target=x86_64-efi. For Legacy BIOS boots, it falls back to --target=i386-pc. There is no configuration key to override this — a system booted in BIOS mode will always receive an i386-pc bootloader.

Installation flow

The full Calamares sequence is defined in live-overlay/etc/calamares-online/settings.conf:

Show phase:

1. welcome — branding and language
2. locale — timezone, locale
3. keyboard — keyboard layout
4. packagechooser@de — desktop environment selection
5. packagechooser@dm — display manager selection
6. netinstall — package refinement, optional groups
7. partition — disk partitioning
8. users — user account creation
9. summary — confirmation

Exec phase: 10. partition — write partitions 11. mount — mount target 12. basestrap — bootstrap base system 13. machineid — generate machine ID 14. packages — install all selected packages (DE, DM, optional groups) 15. fstab — generate fstab 16. locale — apply locale 17. keyboard — apply keyboard config 18. localecfg — locale configuration 19. luksopenswaphookcfg — LUKS config 20. luksbootkeyfile — LUKS boot key 21. initcpiocfg — mkinitcpio config 22. initcpio — generate initramfs 23. users — create user 24. displaymanager — configure SDDM/greetd/etc. 25. networkcfg — network configuration 26. hwclock — hardware clock 27. services-artix — enable dinit services 28. grubcfg — write GRUB defaults 29. bootloader — install GRUB 30. postcfg — post-install configuration 31. umount — unmount and finish

Show phase: 32. finished — reboot prompt

Launcher

The calamares-next script (/usr/bin/calamares-next) handles the installer boot flow:

1. Notice — explains why the offline mode was removed
2. Welcome — branded splash with Install button
3. Configuration — copies calamares-online/settings.conf to /etc/calamares/settings.conf
4. Launch — runs calamares with the online config

During installation, the launcher monitors pacman activity and saves the package installation log to ~/pacman-install.log. No terminal windows are opened to display progress.

Launched via the desktop entry in the live session: Exec=sudo -E calamares-next.