MANJARO LINUX

USER GUIDE

THE MANJARO DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Copyright © 2016 the Manjaro Development Team.

Licensed under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence (the “Licence”); you may not use this
file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the Licence at:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the Licence is
distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied. See
the Licence for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the Licence.

The source code for this documentation can be downloaded from:

https://github.com/manjaro/manjaro-user-guide/
 user guide 5

The Manjaro Development Team

Core Team
Alexandre A. Arnt Developer

Guillaume Benoit Server Manager, Developer, Packager

Ramon Buldó Developer, Packager

Alexandru Ianu Systems Integrator, Packager

Łukasz Matysiak Developer

Rob McCathie Systems Integrator, Packager

Wlad Meixner Web Developer, Web Consultant

Mateusz Mikolajczyk Developer

Demiray Muhterem Manjaro KDE Edition Maintainer, Turkish IRC

and web support, Manjaro Artwork

Philip Müller Project Leader, Project Management and Coordination,

Mirrors Manager, Packager, Developer, Web Developer

Roland Singer Founder, Designer, Developer, Web Developer, Pack-

ager

Artwork
Lane Wiscombe (anex) Manjaro Artwork, MATE Community Edition
Maintainer

David Linares (mcder3) Manjaro Artwork: Plasma5 Designer, Theme

designer, Installer visual design

OpenRC Team
Artoo Packaging, Porting, Infrastructure

Aaditya Bagga Documentation, Testing, ISOs

Community and Support

Ringo de Kroon Community Support and IRC Manager

dicktater Community Global Moderator

Esclapion LXQt Community Edition Maintainer, Community Support

excalibur1234 Community Support

6 manjaro linux

Jonathan Community Global Moderator

shariebeth Community Global Moderator

Documentation
Jonathon Fernyhough Editor of the User Guide 0.8.9-0.8.13, 15.09-16.06,
Community Management

Sabras Wiki

Alumni
Carl Duff Community, Documentation and Wiki Management, Script-
ing and Configuration

Cumali Cinnamon and Gnome Community Editions Maintainer

Dan S. Openbox Editions Maintainer

Handy Global Moderator, Wiki Contributor, Community Support

Joshua Strot Developer, Graphics Developer

Acknowledgements

The awesome community on forum.manjaro.org and #manjaro

 user guide 7

A note about Manjaro and Arch

Manjaro is based on another distribution called Arch Linux. As

such, it is also able to draw software packages from the community-
maintained Arch User Repository (AUR). However, please note that
Manjaro is not Arch, and any enquiries about the Manjaro operating
system should be directed towards the Manjaro forums and Internet
Relay Chat (IRC) channels alone. For example, although Ubuntu is
derived from Debian - and therefore shares some similarities with its
parent - there are still substantial differences between these operating
systems and how they work. Such is the case with Manjaro, which
is far from just being an “easy to install” or “pre-configured” Arch
operating system. Here are some of the key differences between the
Manjaro and Arch operating systems:

• Manjaro is developed independently from Arch, and by a com-

pletely different team.

• Manjaro is designed to be accessible to newcomers, while Arch is

aimed at experienced users.

• Manjaro draws software from its own independent repositories.

These repositories also contain software packages not provided by
Arch.

• Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the

Manjaro Hardware Detection (MHWD) utility, and the Manjaro
Settings Manager (MSM).

• Manjaro has numerous subtle differences in how it works when

compared to Arch.

To reiterate, although Manjaro is indeed an Arch-derivative, it is not

Arch!
Contents

Introduction 11

I Getting Manjaro 13

Downloading Manjaro 15

Checking a downloaded disc image for errors 19

Writing a disc image 23

II Installing Manjaro 29

Booting the Live environment 31

Using the graphical automatic installer 33

Using the graphical installer - experienced users 41

Installing on a UEFI system 47

Advanced installation methods 57

10 manjaro linux

III Welcome to Manjaro 61

The Manjaro desktop 63

Getting help 69

Maintaining your system 73

Index 93
Introduction

About Manjaro

Manjaro is a user-friendly GNU/Linux distribution based on the in-

dependently developed Arch Linux. Within the Linux community,
Arch itself is renowned for being an exceptionally fast, powerful,
and lightweight distribution that provides access to the very latest
cutting-edge software. However, Arch is also traditionally aimed at
more experienced or technically-minded users. As such, it is gener-
ally considered to be beyond the reach of many, especially those who
lack the technical expertise (or persistence) required to use it.
Developed by a worldwide team, Manjaro aims to provide all of
the benefits of Arch Linux combined with a focus on user-friendliness
and accessibility. Available in both 32- and 64-bit versions, Manjaro
is suitable for newcomers as well as experienced Linux users. For
newcomers, a user-friendly installer is provided, and the system it-
self is designed to work fully“straight out of the box” with features
including:
• Pre-installed desktop environments

• Pre-installed graphical applications to easily install software and

update your system

• Pre-installed codecs to play multimedia files

• Pre-installed access to the latest games

Features

Manjaro shares many of the same features as Arch, including:

• Speed, power, and efficiency

• Access to the very latest cutting- and bleeding-edge software

• A “rolling release” development model that provides the most up-

to-date system possible without the need to regularly install a new
operating system release
12 manjaro linux

• Access to the Arch User Repositories

• The versatility to be shaped and moulded in every respect to suit

personal taste and preference.

However, Manjaro boasts a few extra features of its own, including:

• A simplified, user-friendly installation process

• Automatic detection of your computer’s hardware (e.g. graphics

cards)

• Automatic installation of the necessary software (e.g. graphics

drivers) for your system

• Dedicated software repositories that deliver fully tested and stable

software packages

• Support for the easy installation and use of multiple kernels

1: Welcome to Manjaro!
 Part I

Getting Manjaro
Downloading Manjaro

Manjaro editions

There are three official editions of Manjaro available for download,

as well as a number of unofficial ’community’ editions. Two of the To download Manjaro go to this web
three official editions come complete with a pre-installed desktop address:http://manjaro.github.io/
download/
environment and a selection of popular software applications, and
either of these would be a great choice for anyone who wants to try
out Manjaro on a Live-CD without having to install it first. If you When you purchase retail software it
generally comes on a disc, whether
have the time it’s worth taking each for a test run to see which you
a CD or a DVD. A ’Live-CD’ has
like best! a version of the operating system
that will run without needing to be
Xfce The Xfce desktop environment is designed to be lightweight installed. This is a feature of most
while retaining a familiar desktop interface. If you’re not sure GNU/Linux and BSD-based operating
systems.
which edition to choose, this one is a good bet. Xfce edition disc
image files start with manjaro-xfce.

KDE This version includes the K Desktop Environment. It offers a

highly integrated environment with plenty of functionality and
options. It is also highly customisable and offers a slightly differ-
ent feel than the other editions. KDE edition disc image files start
with manjaro-kde.

Net This edition of Manjaro provides only a base installation, stripped

of all but the most basic pre-installed software. Starting from the
command line, this is suitable for more experienced users who
may want to build their own Manjaro system from the ground up.
A disc image for a Net edition will always begin with manjaro-
net.

Each edition of Manjaro is available as 32- and 64-bit versions. Disc

images available for 32-bit systems will end in i686.iso and images
for 64-bit systems will end in x86_64.iso. A 64-bit operating system
won’t run on a 32-bit system, and although a 32-bit operating system
will run on a 64-bit system it won’t be able to make full use of its
resources. Try to make sure that you download the appropriate disc
image for your system!
16 manjaro linux

Xfce edition

KDE edition Net edition

 user guide 17

Manjaro community editions

In addition to the three main Manjaro editions, there are a number

of editions that have certain software or desktop environments pre-
installed. This user manual assumes you are using the Xfce version,
and all screenshots will be from this. However, the installation pro-
cess and other software works in exactly the same way!
The edition names should give a clear indication of the desktop
environment they install. Unless you have a strong preference, we
suggest you stick with the Xfce version. You can of course change
later, or install other desktop environments too!
There are many community editions to choose from, including:
Cinnamon, GNOME, MATE, Netbook, Openbox, Openbox OpenRC,
and PekWM.

Downloading a disc image

Every release of Manjaro is available for download, whether the

current stable release, upcoming test builds, or previous versions
for historical interest. When you visit the download page you will
find a link to each of the three main editions in both 32- and 64-bit
versions, as well as a checksum file for each. A checksum can be used
to check the integrity of the disc image file you download to make
sure it hasn’t been corrupted during the download.

Stable releases of Manjaro are intended to be used by the general

public, so this will be the appropriate choice for the majority of
users. The current Manjaro release can always be downloaded
from the Get Manjaro page.1 1
http://manjaro.github.io/
Each of the stable releases, starting from 0.8.0, can also be down- download/

loaded from the Stable Release section of the Sourceforge website.2 2

http://sourceforge.net/projects/
manjarolinux/files/release/
Test builds of Manjaro are intended to be used by developers and
testers to identify any bugs or issues during the development pro-
cess. These are not suitable for use as a main operating system
by the general public. However, should you wish to try out a
test build (preferably in a virtual machine), each current release
can be downloaded from the from the Test Build section of the
Sourceforge website.3 3
http://sourceforge.net/projects/
manjarodev/files/testbuild/
Checking a downloaded disc image for errors

Before burning your downloaded disc image (or using it as a virtual

disc in VirtualBox4 ) we strongly recommend that you first check that 4
https://www.virtualbox.org/
it hasn’t been corrupted. The potential result of not checking first,
especially if you want to install Manjaro as your main operating sys-
tem, should be obvious. In the best case, the installation will fail. In
the worst case a corrupted image will result in a corrupted installa-
tion.
To verify the integrity of the disc image you have to download the
appropriate checksum file. This will be available at the same place
where you downloaded the disc image file. For example, the file
manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64-sha256sum.txt contains checksum
hashes for all the available disc image files and will have content
similar to this:

ce7471ddb5496abdbe484a9615ff0b6b42cedc47258aa5ad37fa5c252e28371d manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64.iso

MD5 and SHA-256

You may have seen there are three checksum files. One ends -sha256sum.txt,
one in -sha1sum.txt, and the other ends -md5sum.txt. MD5 and
SHA are two types of hashing algorithms; the ’sha’ part of the
checksum file name stands forSecure Hash Algorithm. These al-
gorithms are used to generate a hash code unique to the disc image
file. The checksum file itself is just a text document that contains
hash codes that should match the code generated by the MD5 or
SHA algorithms. Copies of the file can be checked to make sure they
are exactly the same - if the file is changed in any way, either inten-
tionally or by corruption, the code generated will be different.
Whilst MD5 is commonly used, SHA-256 is newer and more se-
cure and is beginning to replace MD5. For the purpose of checking
the integrity of the downloaded file MD5 is“good enough” but SHA-
256 is a better solution. The checking process is the same for both
algorithms. We recommend you use SHA-256. For more about hash-
20 manjaro linux

ing algorithms Wikipedia has lots of information.5 5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
If the code generated from the disc image matches that contained Secure_Hash_Algorithm

in the checksum file, then the disc image file is fine. If the two codes
don’t match then it means that the disc image file has changed in
some way, most likely due to being corrupted. You can think of it like
someone using a password to identify who they are: if they provide
the wrong password, then something is probably wrong.
From this point on we’ll assume you are using the file manjaro-
xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64-sha256sum.txt.

Checking in Linux

Automatic verification
The programsha256sumcan automatically compare the checksum of
the disc image you downloaded against the value in the text file. The
process should be very straightforward!
For this example, I first open a terminal and change to the direct-
ory where I downloaded the disc image file and checksum file. I use
the commandls to check which files are present:

jonathon@box:~$ cd download
jonathon@box:~/download$ ls
manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64-sha256sum.txt manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64.iso

As you can see I have downloaded the 64-bit Xfce edition. Next, I run
thesha1sum program to check against the values in the checksum file:

jonathon@box:~/download$ sha256sum -c manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64-sha256sum.txt

The line shows the result of the checks. In this case, it shows thatsha256sum
has successfully verified the disc image I downloaded against the
checksum value in the file.

sha256sum: manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64.iso: OK

If it failed, I’d need to download the image again...

Manual verification
To manually check the integrity of your downloaded file, first open
the downloaded manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64-sha256sum.txt check-
sum file using a text editor such as Gedit. Once the checksum file has
been opened, and the codes are visible, open up your terminal and
change to the directory where your downloaded disc image is stored.
For example, if your disc image file is located in a directory named
download, you would first change to that directory:
 user guide 21

1: Verifying the checksum dis-

played in gedit against the
output of sha1sum

jonathon@box:~$ cd download

Then you can generate an SHA-1 hash code for the disc image using:

jonathon@box:~/download$ sha256sum manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64.iso

This command generates a hash code for the 64-bit Manjaro Xfce disc
image which can then be manually compared to the code contained
in the checksum file.

Checking in Microsoft Windows

Unlike Linux, Microsoft Windows does not have any suitable built-in
tools so you will need to download and install a checksum utility
application. A web search will turn up several examples of free soft-
ware, or you can look on the Download.com website.6 Another free 6
http://download.cnet.com/
checksum utility which has positive reviews is Raymond’s MD5
& SHA Checksum Utility.7 This is the program we will use in the 7
http://raylin.
wordpress.com/downloads/
following example.
md5-sha-1-checksum-utility/
Once you have downloaded the checksum utility, the checking
process is very straightforward. Simply Browse to the downloaded
disc image, select it, and click Open. The program will then calcu-
late the checksums for the disc image file. To verify the checksum is To speed up the process it’s probably
a good idea to deselect the hashes you
correct, open the manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64-sha256sum.txt in a
are not verifying.
text editor such as Notepad, copy the checksum for the disc image
file you have downloaded, and paste it into the verification box. Then
22 manjaro linux

2: Verifying the checksum in

Microsoft Windows using Ray-
mond’s MD5 & SHA Checksum
Utility.

click Verify. If there are no problems with the disc image file the
program will inform you that the hash matched.
Writing a disc image

A disc image is not a copy-and-paste duplication of files: it’s a bit-

for-bit copy of the raw data that makes up the files and folders of
that disc. This is why just copying a disc image file to a disc (or USB
flashdrive) to begin installing won’t work: you’ll need to use a disc
burning or image writing application to translate that raw data into
the files and folders. There is an exception to this rule. If you
intend on installing Manjaro in a virtual
Once converted, the files can be used to run Manjaro in Live-
machine environment using Oracle’s
CD mode without having to install it to your system, and/or install VirtualBox, then there will be no need
Manjaro on your system. It’s important to note Manjaro will not have to burn the image as VirtualBox will
be able to read from the disc image file
full functionality when run in Live-CD mode. For example, you will directly as a virtual disc.
not be able to save any changes to the system, install updates or add
new applications.
Due to the amount of software included on the full edition disc
images you may need to use a DVD instead of a CD. Check the fol-
lowing table as a guide if you’re not sure:

Edition Filename Size Media

KDE manjaro-kde-15.09-rc3-i686.iso 1.7GB DVD Table 1: Manjaro Edition disc
manjaro-kde-15.09-rc3-x86_64.iso 1.9GB image file sizes
Xfce manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-i686.iso 1.3GB DVD
manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64.iso 1.5GB
Net manjaro-net-15.09-rc3-i686.iso 540MB CD
manjaro-net-15.09-rc3-x86_64.iso 670MB

Many people routinely use a DVD rather than a CD even for the
smallest disc image files. Not only is a DVD faster to burn but they
allow higher data access rates so the Live-CD loads faster and the
installation completes sooner.
However, with the increasing capacity and decreasing cost of USB
flash mediathis presents an even more attractive method than the If your system will boot from a USB
traditional burning process; it is far faster and more flexible than device, and you have one of sufficient
capacity that you can erase, we recom-
using optical media. Both CD/DVD burning and USB flash media mend the use of a USB flash drive over
installation methods are covered in this guide. traditional CD/DVD media.
24 manjaro linux

Burning to a CD/DVD in Linux

If not already installed, several different software burning applic-

ations should be available for installation from your distribution’s
Software Center / Software Manager / Package Manager / repos-
itories. Popular burners include XFBurn, K3b, and Brasero. Which Xfce environments tend to include
one you choose is entirely down to personal choice, though your XFBurn. KDE environments tend to
include K3b. GNOME environments
operating system will usually install one suitable for your desktop tend to include Brasero.
environment. To simplify things a little, the following steps for burn-
ing your downloaded Manjaro disc image use Brasero.

Burning using Brasero

1. Insert a blank CD/DVD. It’s a good idea to use rewriteable disc

(e.g. CD-RW or DVD-RW). Although
slightly more expensive individually
2. Start the Brasero software burner. than a write-once disc you can reuse the
disc again and again, for example when
the next version of Manjaro is released!
3. Click the Burn Image - Burn an existing CD/DVD image to disc
button to open the Image Burning Setup window.

4. Click the button beneath the title Select a disc image to write to
open up your file manager. Locate and double-click the down-
loaded disc image file to load it. Upon automatically returning to
the Image Burning Setup window, note that the disc image file is
now listed as the disc image to write.

5. The blank CD/DVD you inserted should be automatically lis-

ted underneath the title Select a disc to write to. If not, click the
button to select it manually.

6. Click the properties button to open the properties window, and

then click the button beneath the title Burning Speed. We strongly
recommend you select the slowest speed available. Once selected,
click the Close button. We strongly recommend you select the
slowest speed available when burning
to disc in order minimise the possibility
7. Click the Burn button to start the burning process. If necessary, of corruption during the burning
follow any on-screen instructions provided. process.
It’s also a good idea to avoid using
any applications which make intensive
use of system resources while burning,
Burning to a CD/DVD in Microsoft Windows and in particular avoid heavy disc
access. If the burner software can’t read
the disc image file quickly enough the
Newer versions of Microsoft Windows (Windows 7 and later) include burning process can be interrupted.
a disc image burner. If you do not have a newer version of Microsoft
Windows you will need to download one of the many free disc burn-
ing software utilities.
 user guide 25

Burning using Windows Disc Image Burner

Selecting the disc image file and clicking on Burn disc image, or
simply double-clicking on the file itself, will start the Windows Disc
Image Burner program. This makes the process of burning to a disc
very straightforward:

1. Insert a blank CD/DVD into your disc drive.

2. Start Windows Disc Image Burner. For more information about this
program see:http://windows.
microsoft.com/en-gb/windows7/
3. Click Burn.
burn-a-cd-or-dvd-from-an-iso-file

1: Windows Disc Image Burner

in Microsoft Windows 7

Burning using a third-party application

For versions of Microsoft Windows earlier than Windows 7 (e.g.
Windows XP) you may need to download and install third-party disc
burning software. There are many free examples available that will
be found by a web search, but here are some of the most popular:

Name Website Video tutorial

Imgburn http://imgburn.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XihCQgmeGV4
CDBurnerXP http://cdburnerxp.se/en/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxYkFdwn1qI
InfraRecorder http://infrarecorder.org/

The burning process for each of these applications is similar, with Table 2: Third-party disc burn-
small differences in user interface. The websites listed above will ing software for Microsoft
Windows
26 manjaro linux

provide information about features and screenshots of the applica-

tions themselves. Of course, it might also be worthwhile to take the
time to read around and choose one for yourself!

Writing to a USB flash drive in Linux

To take advantage of the faster access times and much quieter nature
of a USB flash drive, there are a number of methods of writing the
disc image file. One of the easiest is to use ImageWriter.
ImageWriter should be available for installation from your distri-
bution’s Software Center / Software Manager / Package Manager /
repositories. Once Imagewriter has been downloaded and installed, 2: ImageWriter
ensure that your USB flash drive is plugged in before starting the https://en.opensuse.org/
application. SDB:Live_USB_stick
The process of using ImageWriter is very straightforward:
1. Click on the centre icon.

2. Navigate to where you downloaded the disc image file, and select
it.

3. Ensure that your USB flash drive has been selected from the drop-
down menu.

4. Click on the Write button.

5. Once it has finished, reboot your system, making sure to select the
USB flash drive as the boot device.

Using the CLI

If you don’t want to install extra software, and you are comfortable
using the command line, there’s an even easier way of writing a disc
image to a USB device.
1. Connect the USB flash drive to your PC, open a terminal and cd
to where you downloaded the disc image.

2. Check the device identifier with: sudo fdisk -l.

3. Write the image with:

sudo dd if=manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64.iso of=/dev/(Device
identifier from above) bs=4M

My USB drive is at /dev/sdc so I would use:

sudo dd if=manjaro-xfce-15.09-rc3-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdc
bs=4M

4. Once completed reboot your system and boot from the USB drive
in the normal way.
 user guide 27

Writing to a USB flash drive in Microsoft Windows

For Windows users using USB media, Rufus8 is highly recommen- 8

http://rufus.akeo.ie/
ded. Rufus should use the following settings:

Device: "choose your USB" (Attention: choose correctly, the device

selected here will be formatted!)

Partition scheme: MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI

File system: FAT32 (Default)

Cluster size: 4096 bytes (Default)

Volume label: MJRO1509

Format Options: Quick format. Create a bootable disk using: ISO

Image (Click on the DVD icon to select your downloaded disc
image). Create extended label and icon files.

Click Start, and you are done! (though it takes between around two
and five minutes to complete).
3: Rufus with recommended
settings
 Part II

Installing Manjaro
Booting the Live environment

Booting the Live environment, whether from CD/DVD or USB flash

drive, will give you an overview of the Manjaro Linux environment
and let you test how well it will run on your machine. This is very
useful to check before committing to install a new operating system!
For best results you should be connected to the Internet. If you
have a wired Ethernet connection, and plug in before booting the
Live environment, Manjaro will automatically set up a connection.
If you have a wireless (Wi-Fi) connection you can set up the wireless
network once you have reached the Manjaro desktop.
The method of selecting the boot device varies considerably across
machines. You may need to hold one key, for example <Esc>, <Del>,
or <F10>, to select the boot device. Or, you may need to set the op-
tion in your BIOS. If you’re not sure, your machine’s user guide will
have detail of the method you need, alternatively a web search will
also quickly turn up the answer.

The boot menu

When you boot from your installation media (CD/DVD or USB flash
drive) you should be presented with the Manjaro boot screen. This
screen provides several options to help get the best experience from
the Live environment.
It is possible at this stage to set your preferred language and key-
board layout before using Manjaro. This means that you will be able
to use and install Manjaro in your native language straight away.
1: Boot menu
Setting your language and keyboard layout

First, set your preferred language by pressing the<F2> key. The op-
tions available can be highlighted for selection by using the arrow
keys on your keyboard. In this instance, English (UK) has been high-
lighted for the user.
Once selected, press <Enter> to confirm and to be taken back to
the boot menu.

2: Language selection
32 manjaro linux

Selecting the language will also set a keyboard layout appropriate

to that language, for example it will select QWERTY for English and
AZERTY for French. If this doesn’t match your layout, or perhaps
you have a US layout but speak German, press <F2> again, but this
time select Keyboard. Pick the language that matches your keyboard
layout, and press <Enter> to confirm and return to the boot menu.

Choosing the drivers

There are two main sets of drivers that can be used by Manjaro: Free
and non-Free. The differences are not minor, and your choice can
depend on your computer hardware. If in doubt, choose Free drivers. If you
want to play games, choose non-Free
Free drivers are open-source, like Manjaro itself, written and updated drivers.
by a large community. For older hardware and that with Intel-
based integrated graphics, this is the best choice.

Non-Free drivers are closed-source, written and updated only by

the hardware manufacturers. This is generally the best choice for
newer hardware with AMD or Nvidia dedicated graphics. At the
time of writing, non-Free drivers are the best choice for Nvidia
graphics and AMD graphics newer than the 8000-series. For older
AMD and Nvidia hardware the Free drivers work very well. For
AMD graphics older than the HD5000-series Free drivers are the
best choice.

To start Manjaro with Free drivers, choose Start Manjaro Linux from
the boot menu.
To start Manjaro with non-Free drivers, choose Start (non-free
drivers) from the boot menu. 3: Start Manjaro Linux

Welcome to Manjaro

Once you select Start, Manjaro will boot up. You may see a lot of
scrolling text - don’t worry, this shows the system is working! After
a little while, assuming your hardware is compatible, you will be
presented with a Live desktop environment and a nice friendly wel-
come screen.
The welcome screen gives some links to common tasks, document-
ation (like the thing you’re reading now!) and the support channels.
There are also links to the installation programs. Don’t worry if you
close the welcome screen: you can load it again, and all the links are 4: Welcome to Manjaro!
also present elsewhere in the menus.
Using the graphical automatic installer

This guide is intended for those with limited technical knowledge

and experience. With these steps it won’t be necessary to manually
partition your computer’s hard disc or to manually edit any config-
uration files. However, the overall flexibility of the process is not as
great as the advanced installation process.
Where possible, make sure you are connected to the internet be-
fore booting from your installation media into the Live environment.
This allows the installer to update itself to the very latest available
version. If you have a hard-wired connection via an Ethernet cable
then Manjaro will automatically connect to the internet without
you having to do anything. Otherwise, once you have booted into
Manjaro’s desktop, you will need to select and then connect to your
wireless network.
For a constantly-updated version, check out the wiki:

User guide:http: // wiki. manjaro. org/ index. php? title= Graphical_ Installation_ Guide_ for_ Beginners_ 0. 8. 8
34 manjaro linux

Choose your language

1: If you selected your preferred

language before booting then it
should already be selected for
you.
Once selected, click Forward to
proceed to the next step.

Choose your location

2: The locations available to

choose will depend upon the
language you selected in the
previous step.
Once selected, click Forward to
proceed to the next step.
 user guide 35

Check the minimum requirements

3: Your computer will auto-

matically be checked to make
sure that Manjaro can safely
be installed. This will include
checking that enough storage
space is available.
Once satisfied that your system
meets the minimum require-
ments necessary, click Forward
to proceed to the next step.

Although the absolute minimum

allowed is 6 Gigabytes, at least 15 Giga-
bytes of free space is recommended.
While it’s not necessary to have an
active internet connection to install
Set your timezone Manjaro it’s highly recommended.

4: To set your timezone, either

click on the map or pick from
the menus. Zone is the con-
tinent you live on. Region is
the city closest to where you
live. We recommend keeping
Network Time Protocol syn-
chronisation enabled so your
clock will never be wrong!
This relies on an active internet
connection, however.
36 manjaro linux

Choose your keyboard layout

5: Just because you live in a cer-

tain location that doesn’t mean
you have to use the keyboard
layout native to it. This screen
allows you to choose your key-
board layout and variant such
as ’Dvorak’ or one with ’dead
keys’ for extended punctuation.
To choose your desired layout
simply click first on a Layout,
then on a Variant. Variants
shown will depend on the
layout chosen.
Once satisfied that these details
are correct, click Forward to
proceed to the next step.

Set the installation type

6: To proceed with the ’auto-

matic’ (and very easy) installa-
tion method make sure that the
Erase disc and install Manjaro
(automatic) option has been
selected. Be aware that this
will wipe the disc you choose
in the next step and erase all
its data.
Once complete, click Forward
to proceed to the next step.

It is generally recommended that

you Set your Home in a different
partition/volume. This keeps your
documents separate from the operating
system files.
 user guide 37

Choose your disk

7: If you have more than one

hard drive on your computer,
then you will need to decide
which one to wipe so you can
install Manjaro.
Once selected, click Install
Now! to proceed to the next
step.

Add your user account

8: Now it’s time to personalise

your installation! Enter your
real name, a name for your
computer (just enter ’manjaro’
if you can’t think of one), and
your username. Your user-
name will be the name of your
personal account in Manjaro.
You will also need to enter your
intended password twice. Re-
member that the use of upper
and lower case letters matters
(e.g. ’abc123’ is not the same as
’ABC123’).
All done! Once satisfied that
these details are correct, click
Forward to view the installation
process.
38 manjaro linux

Installation...

9: The automatic installation

process is well underway. While
you wait for it to complete,
useful information about Man-
jaro and its community will be
displayed.

...complete!

10: Once the installation has

finished you will be asked
if you want to restart your
system. Select Yes to reboot
immediately, or No to close the
installer and continue using the
Manjaro Live environment.
 user guide 39

Boot your new operating system

11: When you reboot, if you

accidentally boot from the Live
CD or USB drive you used to
install Manjaro, you can choose
Boot from Hard Disk and
press<Enter>.

Log in

12: Once Manjaro has booted

enter your username and pass-
word and enjoy your fresh
Manjaro system!
If you like Manjaro, you might
consider joining the Manjaro
community on its forums or
IRC channel. We look forward
to meeting you!
Using the graphical installer - experienced users

This guide is intended for those with sufficient technical knowledge

to manually create their own partitions. As such, this guide focuses
on providing an example of how to use the ’Advanced’ installation
method in general, rather than outlining the entire installation pro-
cess, or listing all the popular partition schemes that may be used.
This guide also assumes you have read the Automatic installation
guide steps 1-5 as these are exactly the same.
Where possible, make sure you are connected to the internet be-
fore booting from your installation media into the Live environment.
If you have a hard-wired connection via an Ethernet cable, then Man-
jaro will automatically connect to the internet without you having
to do anything. Otherwise, once you have booted into Manjaro’s
desktop, you will need to select and then connect to your wireless
network.
For a constantly-updated version of this guide, check out the wiki
page:

User guide:http: // wiki. manjaro. org/ index. php? title= Graphical_ Installation_ Guide_ for_ Experienced_ Users_

For a refresher on partitioning your disk, check out the wiki pages on
partitioning and partitioning scenarios:

Partitioning:http: // wiki. manjaro. org/ index. php? title= Partitioning_ Overview_ and_ Existing_ Partition_ Tabl

Partitioning scenarios:http: // wiki. manjaro. org/ index. php? title= Cfdisk_ Basic_ Partitioning_ Scenarios
42 manjaro linux

Start the advanced installation method

1: When you reach the sixth

step of the installation process,
select Manage your partitions
and where to install Man-
jaro (advanced) and then click
Forward to proceed.

Choose your disk

2: If you have more than one

hard drive on your computer
select the one you want to par-
tition. This example already
has a partition layout, but we’re
going to start fresh by clicking
New partition table.
 user guide 43

Create a partition table

3: The partition table type you

chose will normally depend on
your system. Non-EFI systems
are normally best with MBR,
whereas EFI systems should
use GPT. Once you’re happy,
click OK to create the partition
table.

GPT on a non-EFI system

4: You will get a warning if you

create a GPT partition table
on a non-EFI system. You can
still proceed if you want, but
be aware of the extra partition.
Don’t delete it!
44 manjaro linux

A two-partition scenario

5: In this scenario we will cover

the most common partition lay-
out. Root and Boot files will be
in a single partition and Home
in a second partition to keep
documents separate from sys-
tem files. We’ll add an optional
swap partition in the remaining
space. As there are only three
partitions total, each can be
Primary partitions.
With the free space highlighted,
we’ll click+Add to create the
first partition.

Partition 1: Root and Boot

6: The first partition will con-

tain the system and boot files (/
and /boot). As such, we must
allocate enough space for all
system programs. 20GB is gen-
erally sufficient, but if you have
a smaller disc you can reduce
this. We have selected XFS as
the file system and made sure
to set the mountpoint to/ (root).
 user guide 45

Partition 2: Home

7: We’ve added a second par-

tition to hold our user docu-
ments. It’s set to be 60GB in
size, with the XFS file system,
and the mountpoint is set to
/home (Home).

Swap partition

8: Finally, we’ve added a swap

partition. This will act as extra
(very, very slow) RAM if we
run out. It’s not really suitable
as anything other than a last
resort but can sometimes make
the difference between losing
work and quitting cleanly. This
is set to take the remainder of
the free space, about 4GB.
46 manjaro linux

Finalising the partitions

9: The partition layout is ready,

but before continuing it’s worth
checking over. You can change
and adapt the layout freely at
this point as nothing has been
written to disc.
Once you are happy, click In-
stall now! to proceed.

Verify partitioning actions

10: As a final check, the in-

staller will ask you to verify
that you want to write the parti-
tion layout to disc. If you want
to go back and make a change,
click Cancel. Otherwise to con-
tinue to install Manjaro, click
OK. The rest of the process is
the same as for the Automatic
installer, so we’re done here!
Installing on a UEFI system

UEFI is the commonly agreed on name for both the EFI & UEFI stand-
ards which merged. It does not include the old EFI v1, or Apple’s own
non-standard version of EFI.

If you have a relatively new computer (e.g. post-2012) it will prob-

ably have UEFI support; it certainly will if it came with Microsoft
Windows 8 or later installed. At this point in time, installing a Linux
distribution on a UEFI system can be tricky. Thankfully Manjaro’s
installer, Thus, does a good job of correctly setting up everything.
However, there are still important considerations, especially when it
comes to the partitioning table.

Booting in UEFI mode

The most important step is to ensure that your machine does not
have Secure Boot enabled. Only a very limited number of operating
systems will boot with this enabled. You must disable this in your
BIOS before proceeding; if you don’t know how to do this please
refer to your computer’s user manual.
Once you have booted the system from the Live CD/USB you
will be presented with the Manjaro boot selection screen. It has two
main options for the drivers it will use (either Free or non-Free). The
main difference is the lack of any option for language or keyboard
layout. However, this is actually not that important! When you run
Thus and choose your language and keyboard layout this will take
effect within the Live environment, along with setting these for the
installed system.
48 manjaro linux

1: In UEFI mode the Manjaro

boot selection screen looks
quite different. However, the
two main installation options
are still there.

Installing Manjaro as the only operating system

With Manjaro, Thus does an excellent job setting up your system.

Once you have loaded the Live environment the installation steps are
exactly the same as for a non-UEFI installation. The main difference
is in the partition layout: this is important if you wish to manually
partition the drive to suit your own requirements.
In automatic mode, Thus creates a conservative partition layout
that will work on all systems. However, the key extra partition for
compatibility with UEFI systems is a fat32-formatted partition moun-
ted at /boot/efi - make sure to include this if you partition manu-
ally!
 user guide 49

1: The partition layout created

by Thus in automatic mode
(with separate Home).

2: A manual partition layout.

Note the lack of a GRUB BIOS
partition; this is not necessary
with a GPT partition layout
under EFI.
50 manjaro linux

Installing alongside Microsoft Windows 8 or later

It is possible that you want install Manjaro but keep an existing Win-
dows 8 installation on your computer. This is possible, but a little
more complicated to set up. It’s not for the faint-of-heart, and you
should make sure you have a backup of any important documents or
information before proceeding.
The following instructions assume you are using a machine with
UEFI enabled, Secure Boot disabled, and are using drives with a
GUID Partition Table (GPT).

Download the installation media

First, make sure you have downloaded a 64-bit version of Manjaro. It
doesn’t matter which edition you choose, but the filename must end
with x86_64.iso.
Next, create the Live media by burning the disc image to a DVD
or writing to a USB flash drive. The process is very similar to a non-
UEFI installation, but for Windows users using USB media, Rufus9 is 9
http://rufus.akeo.ie/
highly recommended. Rufus should use the following settings:

Device: "choose your USB" (Attention: choose correctly, the device

selected here will be formatted!)

Partition scheme: GPT partition scheme for UEFI

File system: FAT32 (Default)

Cluster size: 4096 bytes (Default)

Volume label: MJRO1509

Format Options: Quick format. Create a bootable disk using: ISO

Image (Click on the DVD icon to select your downloaded disc
image). Create extended label and icon files.

ClickStart, and you are done! (though it takes between around two
and five minutes to complete). 1: Rufus with recommended
settings
Boot the Live environment
Before booting, check your BIOS settings: UEFI must beon and Se-
cure Boot off. Manjaro currently doesn’t support Secure Boot.
Boot with your Live media and select which set of drivers you
would like to use:

Boot Manjaro Linux ... (default) This chooses the open-source graphics
card drivers.
 user guide 51

Boot Manjaro Linux ... (nonfree) This option chooses the proprietary
graphics card drivers from Nvidia or AMD.

If you’re not sure which to use, refer back to the earlier section Boot-
ing the Live environment.

Adjust your partition sizes

Your computer will be set up with no free space into which Manjaro
can be installed. As such, you need to shrink the main Microsoft
Windows partition to make space! To do this, we will use GParted,
the GNOME Partition Editor.

2: Start GParted from the ap-

plications menu. The ’root’
password is ’manjaro’ (without
quotes).

Once you are happy with the new partition layout, on the menu go
to Edit, Apply all operations. There will be a confirmation message;
to continue you must click Apply.
The resizing process will take some time. Perhaps another chance
to get a cup of tea! Once it has completed, close GParted and then
run Install Manjaro Linux.
52 manjaro linux

3: Right click on the largest

NTFS partition and select Res-
ize/Move

4: Make space at the end of the

partition for Manjaro. Ideally
this should be at least 50GB,
but you can’t shrink the parti-
tion smaller than its used space
(minimum size). When you’re
happy with the new size, click
Resize/Move.
 user guide 53

Start the advanced installation process

5: When you reach the sixth

step of the installation process,
select Manage your partitions
and where to install Man-
jaro (advanced) and then click
Forward to proceed.

6: On the partitioning screen

you can see the 100GB of free
space we just created. Note the
100MB fat32 partition: this is
the EFI boot partition needed
by Windows. At this point you
have two choices.
54 manjaro linux

7: Firstly, you can create an-

other, new, EFI partition just
for Manjaro. This means
everything is kept separate
to Windows.
A partition of 100MB should
be enough, but the mountpoint
must be /boot/efi and the
partition type fat32.

8: Otherwise, you can reuse the

EFI partition created by Win-
dows. This is normally quite
safe to do.
Select the mountpoint
/boot/efi but make sure you
do not format the partition -
or you won’t be able to boot
Windows!
 user guide 55

9: Create the rest of partitions

as normal. You need at least a
root partition (mountpoint /).
Click Install now!, confirm the
changes, and proceed with the
rest of the installation process!

Update the GRUB bootloader, or, Where did Windows go?

Sometimes the bootloader GRUB2 doesn’t detect an existing Mi-
crosoft Windows installation when installing. This means that only
Manjaro Linux will appear in the list of options when you boot the
machine.
This is easy to solve. Run the command:

sudo update-grub

in a terminal after booting into Manjaro and it will detect Windows

and add an entry to the boot menu.
Advanced installation methods

The text-based installer

The Manjaro Live environment provides two installation tools: along

with the graphical installer a text-based CLI installer is available.
This is suitable for advanced users who need extra control over the
installation process, for example if they want to set up RAID or alter
system configuration options. It’s also useful for very old machines
and is the only installation method available for the Net edition.
The text-based installer is only recommended for advanced
users.

1: The installation process steps

are very similar to the graphical
installer. However, much more
control is available.
58 manjaro linux

Set date and time

2: The first menu item allows

you to manually set your
timezone and check the date
and time set for your system.

Hard disk(s) preparation

3: The second menu item al-

lows full control over the parti-
tion layout.
 user guide 59

Install system

4: The third menu item starts

the installation process. You
will get no confirmation before
the installation begins: make
certain that your partition lay-
out is correct otherwise the
process will fail. The installa-
tion can take a little bit of time,
so make a cup of tea!

Configure system

5: The fourth item allows full

control of your new system’s
configuration. The options are
quite extensive!
60 manjaro linux

Install bootloader

6: Before rebooting you must

make sure to install the boot-
loader to the correct drive.
Without this, you won’t be able
to load Manjaro!

Quit

7: The final step exits the in-

staller. You can continue using
the Live environment or re-
boot now to use your freshly
installed Manjaro.
 Part III

Welcome to Manjaro
The Manjaro desktop

Congratulations on installing Manjaro Linux!

Once you have logged in you will be presented with the Manjaro
desktop. The Welcome Screen will load automatically and this gives
you some useful links to documentation, ways to get help and sup-
port from the Manjaro community, and some ways you can get in-
volved with the project. Remember that Manjaro is free and open-
source software: it relies on contributions from its user and developer
community!

1: The Manjaro Xfce Desktop

with Welcome Screen.

If you don’t want the welcome screen to load each time you log in,
just untick the box Show this dialog on startup. Don’t worry: you
can always find it again in the applications menu.
The applications menu is the easiest way of starting the software
programs that are installed on your Manjaro system. The icon for this
is in the corner of the screen. Go ahead and click on it now! You can also press the“Windows”
or“Super” key on your keyboard.
Handy!
64 manjaro linux

2: Software applications that

are installed will be displayed
in the applications menu.

You can see that the five main software applications have an item
in the“Favourites” menu. This allows rapid access to software you
most often use. To add or remove an item from the Favourites menu,
just right-click on it and select the option you want.
For now, let’s look in turn at these five applications to give an idea
of what awaits you!

3: Add to Favourites

4: Remove from Favourites

 user guide 65

Terminal Emulator

5: Terminal Emulator, or
terminal, allows you to per-
form text-based commands.
Although it initially seems
unfriendly it is incredibly
powerful and allows access to
commands that are difficult to
accomplish with a graphical in-
terface. In this example, I have
listed (ls) the files in my home
directory.
Learning how to use the ter-
minal is not needed for running
Manjaro. It’s highly recommen-
ded, however; check out sites
likehttp://linuxcommand.org/
!
File Manager

6: File Manager is a graphical

interface for managing your
documents and directories.
Most file managers work in
a similar way; if you’ve used
another, you can probably use
this one! Hint: you can find
this user guide in the Manjaro
directory!
66 manjaro linux

Web Browser

7: Web Browser allows you

to visit and view web pages
so you can read news stories,
check the weather forecast, and
all the rest. The software ap-
plication that is installed will
depend on the Edition of Man-
jaro you installed, but they all
work in a similar way. If you
have a particular preference
you can easily add or remove
software.

Mail Reader

8: Mail Reader allows you to

read and send email. You will
have to add your email account
when you first run the applic-
ation (in a similar way to all
mail readers) but once that is
set up you should be good to
go! As with the web browser,
there are a range of choices for
mail reader. For example, if you
prefer Claws or Sylpheed you
can install it!
 user guide 67

Add/Remove Software

9: ThePackage Manager allows

you to search for, install, and
remove software applications.
In this example I have searched
for the Chromium web browser,
and am about to install it. Once
I’m happy with my selections
I can click on the tick to con-
tinue.
There are two main software
managers in Manjaro:Pamac
(installed with the Xfce edition)
andOctopi (installed with the
KDE edition).
Getting help

There are a variety of ways of getting help and support about Man-
jaro, as well as finding out more about the project. You can just
browse, or register if you want to get involved!
Remember that Manjaro is run by its community. Without a com-
munity there would be no Manjaro!

Whichever method you use, we look forward to meeting you!

1: The welcome screen has links

to some excellent resources. It’s
well worth taking the time to
have a look at each of them.
70 manjaro linux

Discussion forum

http://forum.manjaro.org/

2: The Manjaro discussion

forum is a great place to find
out more about the project. You
can connect at any time, leave
questions or replies, and come
back to them later.
 user guide 71

IRC channels

http://bit.ly/manjaro-irc-web/

3: Join #manjaro on
irc.freenode.net, whether via
a web or desktop client, and
you’ll find a very nice bunch of
people ready to chat! To talk on
the IRC channel you will have
to connect first. Hexchat comes
installed in the Xfce edition.
72 manjaro linux

Mailing list

http://lists.manjaro.org/listinfo/manjaro-general

4: If you prefer to use email

there are several mailing lists
that you can use to stay up-
to-date with announcements
and development, as well as
ask questions. At the moment,
though, most people use either
the forums or IRC. Maybe it
will be you who gets people
using the mailing lists!

Wiki

http://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

5: The wiki is essentially an on-

line user manual. It has a huge
range of information, hints,
tips, and instructions on getting
the most out of your Manjaro
system. If you need to know
how to do something, chances
are it’s on the wiki!
Maintaining your system

Changing settings

While the Manjaro desktop comes with a set of defaults that should
work well for most people, you might want to change things like the
desktop wallpaper and colour scheme, or perhaps how your laptop
touchpad behaves.

Xfce settings manager

1: The Xfce desktop is highly

customisable. The settings for
your user account can be ac-
cessed both via the applications
menu and the Xfce settings
manager. Either way, there’s
a lot of tweaking you can do!
Don’t worry: the changes will
only affect your user account,
not any others you might have
added.
74 manjaro linux

Manjaro Settings Manager

2: The Manjaro Settings Man-

ager provides a set of tools for
changing lower-level settings,
such as those you set dur-
ing installation. System-wide
languages, keyboard layouts,
users, and hardware drivers are
all taken care of from here. It is
available underSettings in the
applications menu.
 user guide 75

Adding a printer

Manjaro comes with excellent printing support. Most printers can be

installed just by plugging them in!
If you installed a minimal or Net edition you may have to install
printing support first:
sudo pacman -S manjaro-printer

1: When you plug in your

printer, Manjaro should detect
this and automatically install
the correct drivers...

2: ... and make the printer

available!
76 manjaro linux

3: To check on the available

printers, find and open Print
Settings in the applications
menu.

4: If the printer was success-

fully installed it will show up
here. You’re ready to print!
 user guide 77

5: Otherwise, you can add the

printer manually. Click Add to
begin the process.

6: You will need to enter your

password to allow the printer
detection process. Once you’ve
typed in your password, click
OK.
78 manjaro linux

7: All detected printers will

show in the devices list. Se-
lect your printer, then click
Forward.
If your printer does not show
up it’s possible that your
printer isn’t compatible with
Manjaro. Due to the vast num-
ber of printers out there you
may need to install drivers
manually - please visit the
forum or IRC channel for help!

8: As Manjaro installs your

printer you can change some
settings like its name and loc-
ation. These provide an easy
way of identifying the printer.
 user guide 79

9: Your printer should now

show in Printer Settings, where
you can view the print queue
and change the printer settings.
Happy printing!

Updating software

After logging in you may notice a couple of pop-ups informing you

of software updates. This is great! It means your internet connec-
tion is working correctly, and that there is new software ready and
waiting for you!

Pamac

1: Pamac’s Update Manager is

available from the system tray.
In this screenshot it has a red
icon, indicating there are soft-
ware updates. An update check
is performed automatically; all
you have to do is click Apply
and any updates will proceed
automatically!
80 manjaro linux

Octopi
Octopi is an alternative software manager for Manjaro. It is installed
with the Openbox and KDE editions as it is based on the QT toolset.
It also has a very funky icon!

2: Octopi’s update notifier is

available from the system tray.
In this screenshot it has a red
icon, indicating there are soft-
ware updates. An update check
is performed automatically;
all you have to do is click Yes
and any updates will proceed
automatically!

3: Alternatively, you can load

Octopi’s full interface. The
red star indicated there are
updated available, and the
number shows how many. To
show what is available, click
on the red icon. To install the
updates, click on the arrow next
to the red icon and then click
on Install.
 user guide 81

Installing new software

There’s a huge amount of software freely available in the Manjaro

repositories.10 If you are connected to the internet you can download 10
Be careful before enabling the AUR. It
is a community-maintained repository
and install as many of this as you want at no cost! No advertising is
of software so presents potential risks
embedded, no data gathering performed - you get just the software and problems. Make sure you are
application, unlike with some other operating systems. familiar with the build process.

Pamac

1: Pamac allows easy access

to the available software. All
software applications in the
repositories are free; no need to
worry about purchase or licens-
ing costs. Once you’ve found
the package you want to install,
right-click and select Install,
then click the tick in the top-left
corner to confirm.
82 manjaro linux

2: The packages to be installed

are listed so you can check
this is what you want to do.
When you are happy with the
selection, click OK and the soft-
ware will be downloaded and
installed.

3: To stop other users removing

important software from the
system you will have to provide
an administrative password. If
you don’t know this you can’t
go any further. There are meth-
ods to reset this password if
needed; visit the forum or IRC
channel to find out more. Enter
your administrative password
and click OK.
 user guide 83

4: The software packages will

be downloaded and installed.
You don’t have to do anything
else!

5: The new software will show

as installed within Pamac.. You
can close Pamac now if you
want.
84 manjaro linux

6: The new software is available

in the application menu ready
for you to use.

Octopi
The process of installing new software using Octopi is very similar to
Pamac.

7: Octopi allows easy access

to the available software. Do
note that the search process
is slightly different to Pamac
as you can select whether to
search by package name or
package description. Once
you’ve found the package you
want to install, right-click and
select Install, then click the
tick in the top-left corner to
confirm.
 user guide 85

8: Some software will have

other packages it can option-
ally use if they are installed.
These“optional dependencies”
can be selected here or ignored
- you can always install them
later if you want to!

9: The packages to be installed

are listed so you can check
this is what you want to do.
When you are happy with the
selection, click Yes and the soft-
ware will be downloaded and
installed.
86 manjaro linux

10: Octopi will show a confirm-

ation that it installed the new
software. You can close Octopi
now if you want.

11: The new software is avail-

able in the application menu
ready for you to use.
 user guide 87

Using Pacman

Pacman is the Arch Linuxpackagemanager. This underpins Pamac

and Octopi but doesn’t have a graphical interface. Instead, it is used
by typing commands on the terminal. The commands allow you to
install, upgrade, configure, and remove software.

Synchronising with the Manjaro repositories

As new packages are added to the repositories you will need to reg-
ularly synchronise the package lists. This is normally taken care of
automatically on a regular basis by the software managers, but to
perform this manually type the following into the terminal:
sudo pacman -Sy

This will only download the package lists if there has been a change.
Occasionally you may want to force the package lists to be down-
loaded. To do this, type:
sudo pacman -Syy

Updating software
Pacman will allow you to perform an update of software already
installed:
sudo pacman -Su

It’s a good idea to check whether the package lists are up-to-date at
the same time:
sudo pacman -Syu

You can also force a package list synchronisation before performing

an update:

sudo pacman -Syyu

Searching for software

1: sudo pacman -Syyu
Finding a package by name is really straightforward. For example, to
search for a text editor called Leafpad:
sudo pacman -Ss leafpad

Installing software
Installing a package is equally straightforward. For example, to in-
stall Leafpad: Many software applications depend on
other software packages. Thankfully,
sudo pacman -S leafpad pacman will automatically detect and
install these!
88 manjaro linux

Removing software
To remove a software package you need to know its name, but the
command is straightforward. To remove Leafpad:
sudo pacman -R leafpad

It’s also possible to remove a package and any dependencies it re-

quired when it was installed. Assuming those other packages are not
being used by another piece of software, they will becomeorphan
packages. These serve no function other than taking up space! To
remove a software package with its dependencies:
sudo pacman -Rs leafpad

A package may also create configuration files. Normally these are

left in place so your configuration is not lost, and can be reused if
you install the package again. However, if you want to remove these
configuration files too, the command is:
sudo pacman -Rns leafpad

If at a later date you want to remove all orphan packages and con-
figuration files for packages that you removed some time ago, the
following command will do it:
sudo pacman -Rns $(pacman -Qtdq)

Be warned, though: this is an advanced command!

Other pacman commands

It’s a good idea to become familiar with the pacman commands. It
can be a very useful tool in case the other software managers refuse
to complete an installation, for example if an installation process is
interrupted. The pacman manpage is very informational: man is short for manual

man pacman

To exit, pressq.

Updating the mirror list

Manjaro Linux packages are hosted on a number of servers across the

world; these servers mirror the official Manjaro software repository.
When you first install Manjaro it will try to work out which server
is closest to you so that software downloads complete as quickly as
possible.
Sometimes, though, the list of mirrors can get old. New mirrors
can become available, and some mirrors are removed. Updates to
 user guide 89

Manjaro will regularly trigger an update of the mirror list, but some-
times it’s useful to do this manually.
To update the mirror list use the following command:

sudo pacman-mirrors -g

This will test the speed of all currently available mirrors and set your
machine to use the best for you. Once this command has completed,
you should force a download of the package lists:
2: sudo pacman-mirrors -g
sudo pacman -Syyu

Choosing mirrors
If you would like more control over which mirrors to use, run the
command:

sudo pacman-mirrors -i

This will allow you to select which mirror, or mirrors, to try when
checking for software updates and downloading new packages. It’s 3: sudo pacman-mirrors -i
normally best to choose mirrors that are geographically close to you,
so if you’re in Canada then Canadian and US servers are generally a
good bet. Of course, you’re free to choose whichever you want!
To reset back to an automatic choice, run this command:
sudo pacman-mirrors -g -c all

Remember to force a download of the package lists to use the new

mirrors!

Switching branches
When you install Manjaro you will be using the stable branch. This
set of packages has the most testing and so is the best for most users.
However, you may want to help test packages before they move to
the stable repository:
sudo pacman-mirrors -g -b testing

The testing repository has packages that have been checked by the
Manjaro development team to make sure they work correctly. How-
ever, the amount of testing done is much smaller than for the stable
branch - but this is how they get tested!
If you want to live on the bleeding edge, you can switch to the
unstable branch. This is normally used by the Manjaro developers.
Packages from the unstable branch can cause problems, so this is not
something to do lightly:
sudo pacman-mirrors -g -b unstable
90 manjaro linux

After switching branches you will need to force an update of the

package lists:

sudo pacman -Syyu

If you switch away from the stable branch, but want to move back,
it’s actually pretty easy:

sudo pacman-mirrors -g -b stable

This will leave the newer packages on your system and these will be
replaced as the stable branch catches up. However, if you want to
force a downgrade of packages back to the stable version, use:

sudo pacman -Syyuu

Fixing installation errors

Occasionally, an installation can go wrong. The downloaded file

might be corrupted, or the process might be interrupted if you lose
power. Most of the time it’s relatively easy to get your system back to
a working state!
The most common error you will be something like:

:: Synchronising package databases...

error: failed to update core (unable to lock database)
error: failed to update extra (unable to lock database)
error: failed to update community (unable to lock database)
error: failed to update multilib (unable to lock database)
error: failed to synchronise any databases
error: failed to init transaction (unable to lock database)
error: could not lock database: File exists
if you’re sure a package manager is not already running,
you can remove /var/lib/pacman/db.lck

This means pacman thinks it is already running. If it is, and you try
to force an installation or removal of software, the package database
can be left in an inconsistent state. This would be bad. So, the first
thing to check is whether an installer is running. One of the easiest
ways to check is to run a terminal command:

ps x | grep pacman

This might look complicated, but it’s just two small commands joined
(piped) together. First,

ps x

produces a list of running processes for all users. Second,

grep pacman
 user guide 91

searches for the text“pacman”. The pipe, |, takes the output from the
first and feeds it to the second. To check whether another program is
running you can just change the text“pacman” to something else:
ps x | grep pamac
ps x | grep octopi

Once you are sure an installer is not running, you can delete pac-
man’s lock file:
sudo rm /var/lib/pacman/db.lck

Then try running the install process again!

If a problem persists, there is a series of commands that will fix
most issues:
sudo rm -f /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
sudo pacman-mirrors -g
sudo pacman -Syyuu
sudo pacman -Suu

In order, these commands:

• Remove pacman’s lock file;

• Update the mirror list;

• Forces an update of the package lists and an update of any pack-

ages to bring them in line with the current repository state;

• Ensures no packages are left out of line with the current repository
state.

To make things easier, Manjaro includes a command alias11 that runs 11

https://forum.manjaro.org/index.php?topic=12383.0
the above four commands:

fixit

More information

Remember - there is plenty of information on the wikihttp://wiki.

manjaro.org/ and discussion forumhttp://forum.manjaro.org/.
Index

Add/Remove Software, 67 forum, 70 pacman, 87

Adding a printer, 75 pacman-mirrors, 89
Advanced installation, 41 help, 69 Pamac, 79
Automatic installation, 33 printer, 75
Installing new software, 81
branches, 89 Introduction, 11 settings, 73
Burning to a CD/DVD, 24 IRC, 71 Switching branches, 89

Licence, documentation, 4
desktop, 63 Terminal Emulator, 65
Live environment, 31
Downloading, 15 text-based installer, 57
Mail Reader, 66
editions, 15 Mailing list, 72 UEFI, 47
errors, checking for, 19 Maintaining your system, 73 Updating software, 79
Manjaro Development Team, The, 5 USB flash drive, 26
Favourites, 64 Microsoft Windows 8, 50
Features, 11 mirror, 88 Web Browser, 66
File Manager, 65 Wiki, 72
Fixing installation errors, 90 Octopi, 80 Writing a disc image, 23