How to Install GNOME Desktop On Arch Linux

By Raj On Feb 9, 2022

As you are aware, Arch Linux follows a minimal installation method to adhere to the KISS principle. However, this minimal installation may not be suitable for all, especially those who like to use the graphical desktop.

There are lots of graphical desktop environments available for Arch Linux. But, one such famous desktop environment is Gnome Desktop.

Here, we will see how to install GNOME desktop on Arch Linux.

Create User Account

For security reasons, logging in as a regular user is recommended instead of the privileged user (root). So, create a regular user and then enable sudo access for that user.

useradd -m regular_user
passwd regular_user
usermod -aG wheel regular_user
echo "%wheel ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL" | tee -a /etc/sudoers.d/regular_user

Update Arch Linux

First, you will need to update Arch Linux to the latest version on your system.

pacman -Syu

Then, reboot your system.

reboot

Install GNOME Desktop on Arch Linux

The base GNOME desktop and integrated application are part of the gnome group. gnome-extra contains GNOME applications like email client, IRC client, GNOME tweaks, and games.

GNOME also includes GNOME display manager (GDM) that automatically starts GNOME desktop on the bootup.

So, first, install the gnome and gnome-extra groups with the pacman command.

pacman -Sy gnome gnome-extra

Output:

.    .     .
.    .     .
   52) sushi  53) totem  54) tracker  55) tracker-miners  56) tracker3-miners
   57) vino  58) xdg-user-dirs-gtk  59) yelp
:: Repository community
   60) gnome-boxes  61) simple-scan
Enter a selection (default=all): all
# Choose the repository to get the required library
resolving dependencies...
:: There are 2 providers available for libjack.so=0-64:
:: Repository extra
   1) jack2  2) pipewire-jack
Enter a number (default=1): 1
.    .    .
.    .    .
               gnome-shell-1:41.3-1  gnome-shell-extensions-41.1-1  gnome-software-41.3-1  gnome-system-monitor-41.0-1  gnome-terminal-3.42.2-1  gnome-user-docs-41.1-1
               gnome-user-share-3.34.0-2  gnome-video-effects-0.5.0+4+g9554041-2  gnome-weather-41.0-1  grilo-plugins-1:0.3.14-1  gvfs-1.48.1-1  gvfs-afc-1.48.1-1  gvfs-goa-1.48.1-1
               gvfs-google-1.48.1-1  gvfs-gphoto2-1.48.1-1  gvfs-mtp-1.48.1-1  gvfs-nfs-1.48.1-1  gvfs-smb-1.48.1-1  mutter-41.3-2  nautilus-41.2-1  orca-41.2-1  rygel-1:0.40.3-1
               simple-scan-40.7-1  sushi-41.0-1  totem-3.38.2-1  tracker-2.3.6+7+gb27396252-3  tracker-miners-2.3.5+2+gec09554af-4  tracker3-miners-3.2.1-2  vino-3.22.0+74+g7a95e10-1
               xdg-user-dirs-gtk-0.10+9+g5b7efc6-3  yelp-41.2-1
Total Download Size:    513.13 MiB
Total Installed Size:  2254.87 MiB
:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] Y
 qemu-6.2.0-2-x86_64                                                                   11.1 MiB  3.87 MiB/s 00:03 [####################################################################] 100%
 adwaita-icon-theme-41.0-1-any                                                         10.7 MiB  9.28 MiB/s 00:01 [####################################################################] 100%
 ffmpeg-2:4.4.1-1-x86_64                                                               10.4 MiB  9.17 MiB/s 00:01 [####################################################################] 100%
 libibus-1.5.25-5-x86_64                                                                9.6 MiB  8.28 MiB/s 00:01 [####################################################################] 100%
.     .     .
.     .     .
(18/22) Probing GTK3 input method modules...
(19/22) Updating icon theme caches...
(20/22) Updating GTK4 module cache...
(21/22) Reloading GVFS config...
(22/22) Updating the desktop file MIME type cache...

Then, enable GNOME display manager to auto-start at the system bootup.

systemctl enable gdm

Finally, reboot the system.

reboot

Post the server reboot login with a regular user account.

Conclusion

That’s All. I hope you have learned how to install GNOME on Arch Linux.

archlinux gnome