Installing VasakOS

This guide covers installing from scratch. If all you want is the VasakOS applications on an Arch Linux you already have, skip to   package repository .

Before you start#

  • Make a backup. Any installation can touch the partition table. VasakOS is in Alpha; treat it accordingly.
  • You will need an 8 GB USB stick or larger and an internet connection during the installation.
  • Check the system   requirements .

1. Download and verify the ISO#

Get the image from   Downloads and verify the checksum before writing it:

1

sha256sum vasakos-2026.06.14-x86_64.iso

The result has to match, character for character, the SHA256 published on the downloads page. If it does not match, the download was cut short or the mirror is compromised: get it again, preferably from a different mirror.

2. Create the bootable USB#

  Ventoy is installed on the stick once, and after that the ISOs are copied as ordinary files. You can keep several distributions on the same stick and do not have to reformat it every time.

With dd#

1
2
3

lsblk                       # identify the stick: /dev/sdb, /dev/sdc…
sudo umount /dev/sdX*       # unmount any mounted partition
sudo dd if=vasakos-2026.06.14-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync

dd neither asks nor warns. If you put the wrong disk in of=, that disk is lost. Check twice with lsblk before you run it.

From Windows#

  Rufus in DD mode, or   balenaEtcher .

3. Boot from the USB#

  1. Enter the machine’s boot menu. Depending on the manufacturer it is usually F12, F11, F9, F8 or Esc shortly after the machine powers on.
  2. Choose the USB stick. If it appears twice, prefer the UEFI entry.
  3. If the machine ignores the stick, go into the BIOS/UEFI and disable Secure Boot. VasakOS does not yet sign its kernel for Secure Boot.

4. Try it before installing#

The ISO boots in Live mode: the whole system runs from the stick without touching the disk. Take the chance to check the things that usually fail:

  • Wifi: that the networks appear and you can connect.
  • Sound: that you can hear it and the volume control works.
  • Screen: correct resolution, and adjustable brightness on laptops.
  • Touchpad: gestures and tap-to-click.
  • Suspend: closing and reopening the lid.

If any of these does not work in Live mode, it will not work installed either. This is the moment to   report it .

5. Install#

The installer is   Calamares and it opens from the icon on the desktop.

  1. Language and time zone.
  2. Keyboard: try it in the test field, especially if you use a Latin American layout.
  3. Partitioning:
    • Erase disk: the simplest option, it removes everything.
    • Install alongside: shrinks an existing partition and uses the freed space.
    • Manual: if you know what you are doing. At minimum you need a 20 GB root / partition and, on UEFI machines, a 512 MB EFI partition mounted at /boot/efi.
  4. User and password. The user’s password is also used to unlock the   keyring .
  5. Summary and confirmation. This is the last point at which you can go back.

When it finishes, reboot and remove the USB stick.

6. After installing#

1

sudo pacman -Syu

The VasakOS repository is already configured in the ISO, so that single command updates both the Arch base system and the VasakOS applications.

If something goes wrong#

  • The machine boots into the previous system and does not see VasakOS → the boot entry was not written. See   troubleshooting .
  • It stays on a black screen after the logo → it may be the video driver. Try adding nomodeset to the kernel parameters to boot, and install the right driver from there.
  • Anything else:   how to report bugs .
Next →
Package repository