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Getting the Image ​

This page is partially adopted from https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide

Download the ISO ​

Download the ISO from one of the mirrors at https://archlinux.org/download/.

TIP

Choosing a mirror closer to your geographic location will greatly improve download speed.

You need

  • The archlinux-yyyy.mm.dd-x86_64.iso
  • The archlinux-yyyy.mm.dd-x86_64.iso.sig signature file
  • The sha256sums.txt file (just opening it in the browser is fine)

yyyy.mm.dd is the date of the ISO release. (for example, 2023.06.01)

Put those files in the same folder. We will be running commands in that folder.

Verify the ISO ​

SHA256 ​

Open Powershell in the folder where you put the files, and use Get-FileHash cmdlet to get the hash

powershell
Get-FileHash -Path archlinux-yyyy.mm.dd-x86_64.iso -Algorithm SHA256
Get-FileHash -Path archlinux-yyyy.mm.dd-x86_64.iso -Algorithm SHA256

Compare the hash with the one in sha256sums.txt. If they match (case-incensitive), you can continue. If not, download the ISO again.

TIP

Here's an example powershell one-liner to compare the hash. Replace $url with the URL of sha256sums.txt and $file with the path of your ISO

powershell
$url="http://mirrors.acm.wpi.edu/archlinux/iso/2023.06.01/sha256sums.txt"; $file="archlinux-2023.06.01-x86_64.iso"; ((Invoke-WebRequest $url).Content.ToString() -Split "\n" | Select-String -Pattern "archlinux-\d\d\d\d\.\d\d\.\d\d-x86_64\.iso").ToString().Substring(0, 64) -eq (Get-FileHash -Path $file -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()
$url="http://mirrors.acm.wpi.edu/archlinux/iso/2023.06.01/sha256sums.txt"; $file="archlinux-2023.06.01-x86_64.iso"; ((Invoke-WebRequest $url).Content.ToString() -Split "\n" | Select-String -Pattern "archlinux-\d\d\d\d\.\d\d\.\d\d-x86_64\.iso").ToString().Substring(0, 64) -eq (Get-FileHash -Path $file -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()

It would display True if the hash matches

GPG Signature ​

You are probably fine if the hash matches. But here's how to verify the signature anyway.

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If you are on Windows you need to download and install Gpg4win from https://www.gpg4win.org/download.html. You probably don't need any optional components. Restart powershell after installing.

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Or you can gpg inside use WSL

Run the gpg command below and replace the file with path to your .iso.sig file

gpg --keyserver-options auto-key-retrieve --verify archlinux-2023.06.01-x86_64.iso.sig
gpg --keyserver-options auto-key-retrieve --verify archlinux-2023.06.01-x86_64.iso.sig

If you see something like Good Signature from xxx you are probably good.