# Archbox Installs Arch Linux inside a chroot enviroment. ## Why? Ever since I'm running some niche distros like Void, Solus, I had a problem finding softwares I need in their not-so-large repositories, also I don't like how flatpak and snap works. so i decided to create an Arch Linux chroot enviroment everytime I distrohop. Why Arch Linux? They have a really, really good repositories, oh and don't mention how big AUR is. ## Installation ### Installing Archbox It's pretty easy, just run ```install.sh``` as root. ### Installing chroot enviroment Before creating chroot enviroment, edit your username in ```/etc/archbox.conf```, then do : ``` sudo archbox --create ``` ### Configuring filesystem automount Execute ```/usr/local/share/archbox/bin/archboxinit``` on boot. either create an init service, or create a @reboot cronjob. ### Removing chroot enviroment **IMPORTANT**, Make sure you've unmounted everything in chroot enviroment, if you're unsure which partitions must be unmounted, remove the init script and reboot, then delete the folder. ### Entering chroot enviroment To enter chroot, do : ``` archbox --enter ``` ### Executing commands in chroot enviroment To execute commands inside chroot envirotment, do : ``` archbox ``` for example, to update chroot, do : ``` archbox sudo pacman -Syu ``` ### Optional steps You may want to add this if you don't want to run archbox chroot without password : #### Sudo ``` %wheel ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/local/share/archbox/bin/archbox,/usr/local/share/archbox/bin/copyresolv,/usr/local/share/archbox/bin/remount_run ``` #### Doas ``` Idk you're on your own ``` ### Misc #### Systemd services Use ```servicectl``` command to manage systemd services. More info [here](https://github.com/smaknsk/servicectl) To enable service on host boot, in archbox do : ``` sudo servicectl enable ``` To start services immediately, in archbox do : ``` sudo servicectl start ``` This isn't actually uses systemd to start services, rather it parses systemd .service files and executes it. #### Lauching apps via rofi Instead of opening terminal everytime you want to run application inside chroot, you may want to launch rofi inside chroot, install rofi and do : ``` archbox rofi -show drun ``` #### Prompt If you use bash with nerd font you could add a nice little Arch Linux icon in your prompt, add : ``` [[ -e /etc/arch-release ]] && export PS1=" $PS1" ``` to your ```~/.bashrc``` #### Adding enviroment variables Edit ENV_VAR in ```/etc/archbox.conf```. For example, if you want to use qt5ct as Qt5 theme, edit it like this : ``` ENV_VAR="QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=qt5ct" ``` An example with multiple enviroment variables. ``` ENV_VAR="QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=qt5ct GTK_CSD=0 LD_PRELOAD=/var/home/lemniskett/git_repo/gtk3-nocsd/libgtk3-nocsd.so.0" ``` ### Known issues #### Musl-based distros. Although /run is mounted in chroot enviroment on boot, XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is not visible in chroot enviroment, remounting /run will make it visible. do : ``` archbox --remount-run ``` after user login, Also if you use Void Musl, you need to kill every process that runs in XDG_RUNTIME_DIR when you log out, if you use ```startx``` you need to reinstall archbox with ```--exp``` flag and use ```startx-killxdg``` instead of ```startx```. Tested in Void Linux musl and Alpine Linux. #### Polkit ```pkexec``` is kind of tricky to make it work in chroot, if you use rofi to launch GUI applications in chroot, you may not able to launch any ```.desktop``` files with ```Exec=pkexec...``` in it. If you really want them to work, you can do : ``` sudo ln -sf /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/pkexec ``` in chroot and prevent pacman from restoring ```/usr/bin/pkexec``` by editing ```NoExtract``` in ```/etc/pacman.conf```. #### No sudo password in chroot by default. You could use ```sudo``` in archbox, but you'll have no way to enter the password when doing e.g. ```archbox sudo pacman -Syu```. also you could enter the password if you do ```archbox -e < <(echo $COMMAND)```, but that would disable stdin entirely during $COMMAND.