website-hadow.fr/_posts/2026-01-25-archlinux-uefi-lvm-on-luks-with-selinux-installation-guide.md

---
layout: post
author: Sam Hadow
tags: archlinux selinux sysadmin
---

This post is a guide to install archlinux in UEFI with full disk encryption (LVM on LUKS), SELinux enabled and optionally secure boot.  
**Warning:** apparmor is much easier to use on archlinux, SELinux on archlinux **will** require you to write some policies manually. Fedora is a better solution if you want SELinux working out of the box and don't want to fight SELinux writing policies. This guide is mostly for advanced users.

## preparing installation media

Follow the initial steps from archlinux [wiki](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide) to prepare your installation media, the most convenient solution is to copy the ISO to a [ventoy](https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html) USB key.  
Then boot your archlinux ISO and first check you have internet access on your computer:

```bash
ping archlinux.org
```

If using WiFi, you'll need to use [iwctl](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Iwd#iwctl)  

# installation steps

## 1) setting up LVM and preparing volumes

### 1.1) loading the required kernel modules

```bash
modprobe efivarfs
modprobe dm-crypt 
modprobe dm-mod 
```

### 1.2) partition table

Find the disk you want to use to install your system with `lsblk`. For me it's `vda` as I'm using a virtual machine to write this guide.  
**important:** Select a GPT parition table type and not MBR.  
Create a partition table with `cfdisk /dev/vda` (or your prefered tool) and create 2 partitions:
+ `/dev/vda1` as ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32) type, a size of 512MB is fine
+ `/dev/vda2` as 83 Linux filesystem type for the rest of the disk

Write the partition table to the disk.

### 1.3) setting up the encrypted volume

Create the encrypted volume, it will ask you for a confirmation and let you choose a passphrase. (Note that PBKDF2 key derivation algorithm is weaker than Argon2 but is required when using the default grub bootloader, the installation using systemd-boot will not be covered in this guide.)

```bash
cryptsetup luksFormat --type luks2 --pbkdf pbkdf2 /dev/vda2
```

Then open it with the passphrase chosen.

```bash
cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/vda2 luks
```

### 1.4) setting up LVM

We will create 3 volumes, one for the SWAP, one for the ROOT filesystem and one for the HOME filesystem. Adapt the sizes to what is appropriate for you, in my case I'm using a virtual machine with a 25GB disk so I won't create a huge root volume.

```bash
pvcreate /dev/mapper/luks
vgcreate system /dev/mapper/luks
lvcreate -L 1G -n swap system
lvcreate -L 10G -n root system
lvcreate -l 100%FREE -n home system
```

### 1.5) formating and mounting the volumes

I'll use a BTRFS filesystem but use the filesystem you prefer.

```bash
#formatting
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/vda1
fatlabel /dev/vda1 BOOT
mkswap -L SWAP /dev/mapper/system-swap
mkfs.btrfs -L ROOT /dev/mapper/system-root
mkfs.btrfs -L HOME /dev/mapper/system-home

#mounting
swapon /dev/mapper/system-swap
mount -o compress=zstd /dev/mapper/system-root /mnt 
mkdir -p /mnt/{home,boot,boot/efi,etc}
mount -o compress=zstd /dev/mapper/system-home /mnt/home
mount /dev/vda1 /mnt/boot/efi
```

Then create the fstab.

```bash
genfstab -pU /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
```

## 2) base installation

### 2.1) installing required packages

We'll use reflector to generate the mirrorlist. Adapt the country code to pick the closest mirrors.

```bash
reflector -c FR -p https -a 12 --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
```

Then install the required packages and some useful packages.

```bash
pacstrap -i /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware linux-headers pacman-contrib man-pages btrfs-progs vim git bash-completion
```

### 2.2) chroot

Chroot into the system to continue the installation.

```bash
arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash
```

#### 2.2.1) locales, hostname, clock and timezone

In the file `/etc/locale.gen`, uncomment your locales (for example `en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8`)  
You can also set your preferences for the virtual console in `/etc/vconsole.conf`, for example for a QWERTY layout:  

```ini
KEYMAP=us
FONT=lat9w-16
```

And in `/etc/locale.conf` (LC_COLLATE=C for case sensitive sorting):

```ini
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
LC_COLLATE=C 
```

And finally generate the locales:

```bash
locale-gen 
```

You can set your hostname in `/etc/hostname`.  

For your clock and timezone: (adapt to your timezone)

```bash
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Paris /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc --utc
```

#### 2.2.2) root password and user creation

Set your root password with `passwd`  
Then create a user (named sam here) in the wheel group (to use sudo) and set its password with:

```bash
useradd -m -G wheel sam
passwd sam
```

and uncomment the line containing `%wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL` in `/etc/sudoers`

#### 2.2.3) SELinux installation (from AUR)

Log in as your created user and install an AUR helper to make things easier:

```bash
su sam
cd
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
cd yay
makepkg -si
cd
```

Then install the required packages for SELinux to work. It will ask you for replacements with conflicting packages, answer yes every time.

```bash
yay -S libsepol libselinux checkpolicy secilc setools libsemanage semodule-utils policycoreutils selinux-python python-ipy mcstrans restorecond
yay -S pam-selinux pambase-selinux coreutils-selinux findutils-selinux iproute2-selinux logrotate-selinux openssh-selinux psmisc-selinux shadow-selinux cronie-selinux
yay -S sudo-selinux
```

Note: If `sudo-selinux` fails to build, build it with `--nocheck` option:

```bash
cd ~/.cache/yay/sudo-selinux
makepkg -si --nocheck
```

Then exit your user, remodify `/etc/sudoers` to uncomment the line containing `%wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL` and relog as your user. After that:

```bash
sudo pacman -S less
yay -S systemd-selinux systemd-libs-selinux util-linux-selinux util-linux-libs-selinux
cd ~/.cache/yay/systemd-selinux
makepkg -si --nocheck
```

Due to a [cyclic dependency which won't be fixed](https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/39767) the complete build will fail at first, that's why you need to manually build systemd-selinux again after. For some reason less is also required for the build but not a build dependency.  
Then more SELinux packages and a policy:

```bash
yay -S selinux-alpm-hook dbus-selinux selinux-refpolicy-arch
```

If the check fails for `dbus-selinux` build it with `--nocheck` option:

```bash
cd ~/.cache/yay/dbus-selinux
makepkg -si --nocheck
```

If you want to apply a fedora-style user context (as root):

```bash
semanage login -m -s unconfined_u __default__
```

#### 2.2.4) necessary packages

Network for next boot:

```bash
pacman -S networkmanager
systemctl enable NetworkManager
```

grub and lvm2:

```bash
pacman -S grub efibootmgr lvm2
```

Secure boot:  
*Note: If you don't want to bother with secure boot, do not run sbctl related command, and later when generating the boot image with grub, remove* `--modules="tpm" --disable-shim-lock` *from the command*

```bash
pacman -S sbctl
sbctl create-keys
sbctl enroll-keys -m
```

If you also want to enroll hardware security keys, use [systemd-cryptenroll](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd-cryptenroll)

#### 2.2.5) opional packages

If you have an intel CPU:

```bash
pacman -S intel-ucode
```

If you have a laptop and want battery optimization:

```bash
pacman -S tlp
systemctl enable tlp
```

If you need bluetooth:

```bash
pacman -S bluez
systemctl enable bluetooth
```

If you want 32bits apps (necessary for some packages), in `/etc/pacman.conf` uncomment these lines:

```ini
#[multilib]
#include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
```

#### 2.2.5) generating boot images

in `/etc/mkinitcpio.conf` on the `MODULES=()` line, add `dm-mod` and in the `HOOKS=()` line you should have:

```ini
HOOKS=(base udev autodetect modconf block keyboard encrypt lvm2 filesystems fsck)
```

Then:

```bash
mkinitcpio -p linux
```

sbctl post-hook should automatically sign `/boot/vmlinuz-linux`. Otherwise run:

```bash
sbctl sign -s /boot/vmlinuz-linux
```

Then in `/etc/default/grub`  
+ uncomment the line `GRUB_UNABLE_CRYPTODISK=y`
+ in `GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""` add `cryptdevice=/dev/vda2:system root=/dev/mapper/system-root`
+ in `GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=""` add `lsm=selinux,landlock,lockdown,yama,integrity,bpf`

Then:  

```bash
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=arch_grub --modules="tpm" --disable-shim-lock --recheck
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
sbctl sign -s /boot/efi/EFI/arch_grub/grubx64.efi
```

*Please note that in a virtual machine you'll need an emulated TPM for the virtual machine to boot if you want secure boot enabled.* 

### 3) exit and reboot

```bash
exit    # until you exit the chroot
umount -R /mnt
swapoff -a
reboot
```

### 4) post reboot steps

#### 4.1) relabel files

check SELinux status with `sestatus`, it should be in permissive with refpolicy-arch as the loaded policy.  
Relabel all the files correctly with the following command:  

```bash
restorecon -RFv
```

you might want to clean yay cache before doing that to have less files to relabel:  

```bash
rm -rf ~/.cache/yay/*
```

#### 4.2) enable auditd

enable auditd service to read AVC denials from SELinux later.  

```bash
systemctl enable --now auditd
```

#### 4.3) create and load necessary policy

Create a file `requiredmod.te` with the following content:

```text
module requiredmod 1.0;

require {
        type auditd_etc_t;
        type getty_t;
        type var_run_t;
        type tmpfs_t;
        type local_login_t;
        type systemd_tmpfiles_t;
        type init_runtime_t;
        type devpts_t;
        type kernel_t;
        type device_t;
        type udev_t;
        type hugetlbfs_t;
        type udev_tbl_t;
        type policy_config_t;
        type tmp_t;
        type unconfined_t;
        type var_lib_t;
        type systemd_userdbd_runtime_t;
        type systemd_user_runtime_dir_t;
        type systemd_sessions_t;
        type systemd_userdbd_t;
        type etc_runtime_t;
        type systemd_logind_t;
        type file_context_t;
        type semanage_t;
        type selinux_config_t;
        type initrc_runtime_t;
        type sshd_t;
        class dir { write add_name remove_name getattr open read search };
        class file { getattr open read write create getattr ioctl lock relabelfrom relabelto setattr unlink };
        class sock_file write;
        class unix_stream_socket { read write ioctl connectto};
        class capability2 block_suspend;
        class filesystem { associate quotaget quotamod };
        class key { link search };
        class process { noatsecure rlimitinh siginh transition };

}

#============= getty_t ==============
allow getty_t tmpfs_t:dir { getattr open read };
allow getty_t var_run_t:file { getattr open read };
allow getty_t initrc_runtime_t:dir { getattr open read };

#============= local_login_t ==============
allow local_login_t init_runtime_t:sock_file write;
allow local_login_t systemd_logind_t:unix_stream_socket connectto;
allow local_login_t var_lib_t:dir { add_name remove_name };
allow local_login_t var_lib_t:file { create getattr lock open read setattr unlink write };

#============= sshd_t ==============
allow sshd_t local_login_t:key { link search };
allow sshd_t systemd_logind_t:unix_stream_socket connectto;
allow sshd_t unconfined_t:process { noatsecure rlimitinh siginh };

#============= systemd_tmpfiles_t ==============
allow systemd_tmpfiles_t auditd_etc_t:dir search;
allow systemd_tmpfiles_t auditd_etc_t:file getattr;

#============= systemd_sessions_t ==============
allow systemd_sessions_t kernel_t:dir search;
allow systemd_sessions_t kernel_t:file { getattr ioctl open read };

#============= systemd_user_runtime_dir_t ==============
allow systemd_user_runtime_dir_t etc_runtime_t:file { open read };
allow systemd_user_runtime_dir_t kernel_t:dir search;
allow systemd_user_runtime_dir_t kernel_t:file { getattr ioctl open read };
allow systemd_user_runtime_dir_t systemd_userdbd_runtime_t:sock_file write;
allow systemd_user_runtime_dir_t systemd_userdbd_t:unix_stream_socket connectto;
allow systemd_user_runtime_dir_t tmp_t:dir read;
allow systemd_user_runtime_dir_t tmpfs_t:filesystem { quotaget quotamod };

#============= systemd_userdbd_t ==============
allow systemd_userdbd_t initrc_runtime_t:dir { getattr open read search };

#============= devpts_t ==============
allow devpts_t device_t:filesystem associate;

#============= hugetlbfs_t ==============
allow hugetlbfs_t device_t:filesystem associate;

#============= kernel_t ==============
allow kernel_t self:capability2 block_suspend;

#============= tmpfs_t ==============
allow tmpfs_t device_t:filesystem associate;

#============= udev_t ==============
allow udev_t kernel_t:unix_stream_socket { read write ioctl };
allow udev_t udev_tbl_t:dir { write add_name };
allow udev_t var_run_t:sock_file write;
```

Run the following command to compile and load the module:
```bash
checkmodule -m -o requiredmod.mod requiredmod.te
semodule_package -o requiredmod.pp -m requiredmod.mod
semodule -i requiredmod.pp
```

And set a few booleans:

```bash
setsebool -P allow_polyinstantiation on
setsebool -P systemd_tmpfiles_manage_all on
setsebool -P ssh_sysadm_login on
```

Then in `/etc/selinux/config`, set SELinux mode to enforcing instead of permissive and reboot.  
And that's it, you now have a minimal archlinux installation in UEFI with full disk encryption, secure boot, and SELinux in enforcing mode.