Quick start.

sudo vim hello

# vim hello

Installation

Image Selection

First we have to select the image that use glibc, this because is the image that has better integration and compatibility with all packages and available software:

In this guide we will be using [Virt Manager] with [Qemu] to execute a virtual machine.

Boot Loader and install process

Image selection

Here will see many option to install base image, we will select the first one

In the first login, official [void linux documentation] indicates that you nees to login with anon user with voidlinux password:

Void Installer

In this guide we will use void-installer script to install the minimal image, so we have to execute this command in root mode with su command:

Basic Installation

In this section you will see many option, let's see each one:

Keyboard

You have to select the distribution of your key board

Network

If you are using WiFi, you will need press the password and continue accepting dhcp configuration for your network

If you are using ethernet, it's the same process without need password

Source

In this case it doesn't care because in this guide we are installing the base OS, but it is preferred using Local package (from ISO image), many times you cannot have access to internet and local option is highly recommended.

Mirror

In this step you will choose from where you want to install [XBPS packages], it's highly recommended to use the closest mirror to you and select the first one, because this mirror in all cases has the more stable and updated packages.

Hostname

The name of your machine

Locale

This set up the main language of your system

Timezone

This will set up the time of your system clock

Root password

The password of root administrator user

User Account

Your user and its password. In this part also you user will be added to an specific group, in this case, we will not configure anything else in this section:

Boot Loader

In case that you desire, system can install a boot loader, it is a menu where you can choose what operative system (if you have another one) or OS option you want initialize. In this guide, we recommend you install it:

• First, select the disk where you want to install it

• Then, you will chose graphical option

Partition table

This is one of the most important steps, if you does not know about [partitioning], we highly recommend you to know more about [file systems] and [disk partition]. Here we will select cfdisk partitioning, this is the easiest way to part a disk

We recommend to follow this layout for [EFI Systems] and [BIOS Systems]

Efi System Partition table

BIOS System partition table

In this example we are using a BIOS system

Filesystem

After the previous step, the next point to configure is the respective file systems for each partition, these have been set in each partition table. For this BIOS system example is:

After the whole installation, we will select install option at the end of the menu and we will choose accept option.

At the end, we will see something like this:

We will select OK and we will leave that by default and we will reboot or turn off the system and we will remove the installation media

Configuration

Update packages

The first thing that we need to do is updating all installed packages with this command

sudo xbps-install -Su

Void already has installed sudo package to execute commands as root .

Void Linux uses a package manager called XBPS package manager. Once we have run the command, a message will be showed:

In this case we need to run sudo xbps-install -u xbps. So now, we already can execute the previous command sudo xbps-install -Su

Once we accepted the update, many packages will be installed

Configure non-free repositories

If you consider necessary, you can enable easily the non-free repositories to install private software:

sudo xbps-install -Syu void-repo-nonfree

Install firmware

Now you can install the firmware for your machine. In this example we are using a intel machine, so we are going to install intel-ucode package

sudo xbps-install -Syu intel-ucode

Manage services

Void Linux uses runit as service manager instead of [systemd]. To see more information about how to use it, you can visit [Services and Daemons])(https://docs.voidlinux.org/config/services/index.html). At this moment you just have to know this:

• To run and enable a service, this have to be linked to the runsvdir directory. In void linux services work as directory services, this means that services can be located in their own directories, in /etc/sv/. To link a service directory with the runsvdir located at etc/runit/runsvdir, the user can link the service by the path /var/service/. For example, imagine that the user is not running acpid service, to enable this service the user has to do this:

sudo ln -s /etc/sv/acpid /var/service/

And then, the status can be checked like this:

sudo sv status acpid

Service' structure

To understand better this term, you have to know that each service in void linux has this structure:

Each service has a mandatory run file, which is in charge of run the service. Some optional files to add are the next below:

• check: This executable will check whether the service is up an available
• finish: This will be run on shutdown/process stop
• conf: Contain environment variables to be sourced and referenced in run executable
• log/: This directory contain logs of run executable

When a new service is started, the supervise directory is automatically created on the first run

Basic usage

# sv up <services>
# sv down <services>
# sv restart <services>
# sv status <services>

Link a service to enable it

To enable a service, these generally are in /etc/sv/, where you can enable using:

sudo ln -s /etc/sv/<service> /var/service

If the system is not currently running, the service can be linked directly into the default runsvdir:

# ln -s /etc/sv/<service> /etc/runit/runsvdir/default/

Set another configurations in rc.conf, rc.shutdown and core-services

rc.conf

This file is set to configure some variables from stage 1 to 3 in the runit boot and work process, this file is located in /etc/rc.conf

Sourced in runit stages 1 and 3. This file can be used to set variables, including the following:

KEYMAP

Specifies which keymap to use for the Linux console. Available keymaps are listed in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps. For example:

KEYMAP=fr

For further details, refer to loadkeys(1).

HARDWARECLOCK

Set the hardwareclock in UTC or Local time.

so if you are dual-booting with Windows, you need to either configure Windows to use UTC, or set this variable to localtime.

FONT

Specifies which console you want to use in Linux console. Available listed in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts.

FONT=eurlatgr

For further details, refer to setfont(8).

rc.local

Sourced in runit stage 2. A shell script which can be used to specify configuration to be done prior to login.

rc.shutdown

Sourced in runit stage 3. A shell script which can be used to specify tasks to be done during shutdown.(before to login)

core-services

Sourced in runit stage 1. A directory containing shell scripts that are run in alphabetical order when the machine boots up, before services are started. Useful for startup oneshots.

👥 Users and Groups

In void Linux you have the next commands to add, delete and modify users respectively:

useradd
userdel
usermod

The same case with user groups using the next commands:

groupadd
groupdel
groupmod

To list all user groups use:

groups

Installing a cron service

Cron is a service that allows execute commands automatically in the system. This is important to execute fstrim, in this case this last point only apply if you have a Solid State Drivers (SSD), but we recommend you do this:

sudo xbps-install -Su cronie

Next, we will enable

sudo ln -s /etc/sv/cronie /var/service
sudo sv status cronie

For SSD

If you have an SSD disk, it is important to enable a periodic executable script to TRIM the driver:

First we need to install cronie as periodic TRIM (see the previous step), now we need to write in /etc/cron.weekly/fstrim:

#!/bin/sh

fstrim /

Save and giving writing and reading allowed rules

chmod u+x /etc/cron.weekly/fstrim

App Armor

We are going to install AppArmor because we need a mandatory access control mechanism:

sudo xbps-install -Su apparmor

Now we are going to set a init command in grub to execute in the [kernel cmdline]:

Add this line to /etc/default/grub

Now we are going to reboot the system

Network Time Protocol

It is important that every system has this service to link the system clock with the network clock:

In this case that you do not have this package, we will install chrony package with chronyd service:

Before you can ensure that you don't have this service using

sudo sv status chronyd

If you received something like this, this means that you already have chrony and it does not require to be installed again:

If you do not, execute this commands

sudo xbps-install -Syu chrony
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/chronyd /var/service
sudo sv status chronyd

Kernels

Void Linux has by default the latest stable kernel which works for all DKMS modules, if you have or want to change that, visit Kernels in Void Linux

Power management

By default, acpid service is installed and enabled. This service is in charge of the basic power usages, like suspend, hibernate and power off the system.

In this guide, we recommend you to use elogind package and service, this provides the same usages, but conflicts with acpid service. To prevent conflicts, disable acpid service and change it by elogind:

#First install dbus for elogind, if you don't have it
sudo xbps-install -Syu dbus
# Enable, because it can be disabled by default
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/dbus /var/service

# Disable acpid service
sudo rm /var/service/acpid
sudo sv status acpid

# Install and activate elogind
sudo xbps-install -Syu elogind
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/elogind /var/service
sudo sv status elogind

# Install polkit to use elogind withour root rules
sudo xbps-install -Syu polkit
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/polkitd /var/service

sudo reboot

Power saving and profiles

To enable power profiles in void, by default there is any service to manage this. In this case the recommended by [Official Void Documentation] is [TLP]:

sudo xbps-install -Syu tlp tlp-rdw tlp-pd
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/tlp /var/service
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/tlp-pd /var/service
sudo sv status tlp
sudo sv status tlp-pd

To ensure that tlp is running without reboot the system, use:

sudo tlp start

# To ensure that it is active
tlp-stat -s

You have to see something like this:

See and change the power profile

To see what power profiles are available in your pc, you can run tlpctl list:

To change the power profile execute this:

tlpctl <profile name>
# for example
# tlpctl balanced

See TLP and tlpctl documentation to know more about power profiles using TLP

Network

By default, dhcpd service is installed and enabled in void linux, in this guide we won't see much about Networking, but you can go to Official Void Documentation about networks.

Interface Names

Newer versions of udev(7) no longer use the traditional Linux naming scheme for interfaces (eth0, eth1, wlan0, ...).

This behavior can be reverted by adding net.ifnames=0 to the kernel cmdline.

Firewalls

We recommend you to use ufw package (Uncomplicated Fire Wall)

Wireless networks

wpa_supplicant

By default, void linux has wpa_supplicant. This service allows us connecting to a wireless network

iwd

This is the iwd package to connect us to a wireless network, as wpa_supplicant does. In this case we recommend you to use this package instead wpa_supplicant:

# Ensure that you have dbus service running (in case that is not running, enable)
sudo sv status dbus
# Installation
sudo xbps-install -Syu iwd

Once you installled, initialize with:

sudo ln -s /etc/sv/iwd /var/service
sudo sv status iwd

And then you can access to iwctl interface using

iwctl

You can configure the daemon creating or editing the /etc/iwd/main.conf

NetworkManager

This is a daemon in charge to manage ethernet, WiFi and mobile broadband network connections. To use it install the package:

sudo xbps-install -Syu NetworkManager

Then, you will be able to enable NetworkManager service:

sudo ln -s /etc/sv/NetworkManager /var/service

Now, only users inside of network group can use NetworkManager

This service comes with nmcli, a command line tool, and a text-based user interface nmtui, to control network settings.

To use Eduroam visit this website.

Network Filesystems

(Missing, this is coming soon).

Session and Seat management

Elogind

AT this point, in this guide we installed elogind as power manager and, also, it works as a session and seat manager.

Dbus

Dbus is the services in charge to manage issues related with elogind service ans graphical sessions. You can use dbus-run-session to start a graphical environment

dbus-run-session <session>
# for example: dbus-run-session sway

Graphical Session

Graphics Drivers

Intel

Intel supports linux-firmware-intel, normally, it is already installed as package

sudo xbps-install -Syu mesa-dri vulkan-loader mesa-vulkan-intel intel-video-accel

Wayland

In this guide, we are going to use Wayland as graphical server, so in this case we installed wayland packages:

sudo xbps-install -Syu dejavu-fonts-ttf xorg-fonts noto-fonts-ttf noto-fonts-cjk noto-fonts-emoji nerd-fonts qt5-wayland qt6-wayland kwayland firefox alacritty sway

Fonts

This part is very important, all desktop environments comes with fonts, and many times these come with fonts as related packages and are installed, but if you are using a Window Manager as Sway or i3, you will need to install fonts to customize correctly the interface

In the previous step we already installed fonts. If a font is not available via xbps packages you can install fonts manually and set in /usr/share/fonts, or ~/.local/share/fonts (per user).

To customize font display in your graphical session, you can use configurations provided in /usr/share/fontconfig/conf.avail/. To do so, create a symlink to the relevant .conf file in /etc/fonts/conf.d/, then use xbps-reconfigure to reconfigure the fontconfig package.

# ln -s /usr/share/fontconfig/conf.avail/70-no-bitmaps-except-emoji.conf >/etc/fonts/conf.d/
# xbps-reconfigure -f fontconfig

Use fc-conflist(1) to list which configurations are in effect.

ICONS

By default, many applications based on gtk+3 use adwaita-icon-theme, so:

If you wish to use a different theme, install the relevant package, then specify the theme in /etc/gtk-3.0/settings.ini or ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini. adwaita-icon-theme can be removed after ignoring the package.

XDG-Desktop-Portals

SOme applications in Linux, mainly flatpak apps use xdg-desktop-portals to access various system interfaces (dialogs, notifications, etc) so it is important to install that.

Installation

XDG Desktop Portals require a user D-Bus session bus. Install xdg-desktop-portal and one or more backends:

If unsure what to choose, xdg-desktop-portal-gtk is a good default choice.

sudo xbps-install -Syu xdg-desktop-portal-gtk

Configuration

The default configuration can be seen in /usr/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals.conf

Multimedia

This configuration is to set up audio in Void Linux. The most recommended are PulseAudio or PipeWire, For closed source applications, PulseAudio is more recommended based on [Void Linux Docs], but PipeWire provides a drop-in replacement for PulseAudio.

ALSA

To make work properly and set up the audio, we need this package

sudo xbps-install -Syu alsa-utils

Pipewire

In this guide, we use pipewire as audio server,

Prerequisites

• You need to have installed dbus service
• Also requires XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable to be defined in your environment to work

Installation

sudo xbps-install -Syu pipewire

This will also install a PipeWire session manager, wireplumber.

Session Management

With the previous session manager installed, we can configure PulseAudio. In resume, a session manager is going to need be launched by PipeWire. To commit this, we will execute these lines:

# mkdir -p /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d
# ln -s /usr/share/examples/wireplumber/10-wireplumber.conf /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/

The first one creates pipewire.conf.d, this directory is created to configure pipewire. The second line creates a link to that directory from wireplumber, more exactly from its config directory. This is a system-wide configuration, but you only can use the per-user configuration.

PulseAudio Interface

PulseAudio iterface is optional but is highly recommended by Official Documentation, se we are going to install that.

# mkdir -p /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d
# ln -s /usr/share/examples/pipewire/20-pipewire-pulse.conf /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/

In this case we created a link from 20-pipwire-pulse.conf to pipewire.conf.d. In this way, we already will have PulseAudio interface configurated successfully in a system-wide way.

Testing

To ensure that you have correctly done you configuration, please, run this two commands:

Once you have installed and configured all, at the first time you will need to run manually pipewire, we later will agree this command to our config file where our Window Manager starts

pipewire

After that, you will run this command

wpctl status

You will be able to see something like this (if all is already and set successfully)

PipeWire 'pipewire-0' [0.3.82, ...]
[...]

Also we will ensure that pulseaudio interface has been set successfully using:

pactl info

You should see something like this:

[...]
Server Name: PulseAudio (on PipeWire 0.3.82)
[...]

Set Launching automatically

There are many ways, in this guide, we are using sway as window manager, so, we will use the Start Script which comes with this and initializing.

You will be able to find this script in etc/sway/config

Optional (but recommended) set up

Command Line and terminal interfaces

pw-cli, pw-top and pw-cat are tools which comes with pipewire.

• wpctl can be used to control the WirePlumber session manager
• In this guide we configured PulseAudio interface, so you can also use pactl from pulseaudio-utils and ncpamixer

Graphical Interfaces

If you are not using Pulse Audio interface qpwgraph and helvum provide a node-and-graph-style interface for connecting applications and devices.

Recommended

In this guide we are using pulseAudio interface, so you can use pavucontrol, pavucontrol-qt, and widgets from other desktop environments to control audio

Bluetooth Audio

Install libspa-bluetooth package.

ALSA Integration

Install alsa-pipewire, and then enable with:

# mkdir -p /etc/alsa/conf.d
# ln -s /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf.d/50-pipewire.conf /etc/alsa/conf.d
# ln -s /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf.d/99-pipewire-default.conf /etc/alsa/conf.d

JACK interface

Install libjack-pipewire.

Use pw-jack(1) to launch JACK clients manually:

$ pw-jack <application>

Bluetooth

Use rfkill to check an remove if there are any blocks

If Bluetooth is blocked, use this

$ rfkill
ID TYPE     DEVICE      SOFT      HARD
0 wlan      phy0   unblocked unblocked
1 bluetooth hci0     blocked unblocked

# rfkill unblock bluetooth

Installation

sudo xbps-install -Syu bluez
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/bluetoothd /var/service
sudo sv status bluetoothd

then add your user to the bluetooth group and restart dbus service, or reboot the system.

To use wireless speaker or any other similar device, you may need to install bluez-alsa

You can manage using bluetoothctl, consult Arch Wiki to know how you connect a device using the command line interface.

Configuration

The main configuration file is /etc/bluetooth/main.conf.