Manjaro is a solid GNU/Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. Using the default setting while installing Manjaro, it comes with some useful and commonly used software preinstalled.
Manjaro can be used right after the installation.
Doing some changes and installing additional software, Manjaro becomes more useful.
I use Manjaro KDE (Plasma desktop) and tweaked my environment with these commands, they will work in other Desktop Environments such as XFCE or GNOME.
Let’s do the steps together.
Determine and set the fastest mirror
The first thing to do is to determine and set up the mirror list and select the fastest (and likely the nearest) site to you when refreshing the Manjaro system and downloading software from repositories. Open the Terminal application and type the following command:
sudo pacman-mirrors --fasttrack
Install Update and optimize the Pacman database
It is truly standard yet for me installing the update is an unquestionable requirement. Manjaro is a rolling release Linux distribution which implies you will consistently get the latest updates. Along these lines, how about we do it in the first place? You can utilize the GUI Software Update to do it.
If you are comfortable with the command line, it is pretty straightforward to update Manjaro.
sudo pacman -Syu
Enable AUR (Arch User Repositories)
Manjaro maintains its own official Repo. All core apps sit here. Manjaro User community manages another amazing collection of apps called, the AUR (Arch User Repositories). Popular software, like, OBS Studio, Dropbox, Sublime Text, Google Chrome, Koala (SCSS Preprocessor), and, many more are maintained and kept for your use.
To use AUR, first launch the Manjaro Start Menu, and then click “Add / Remove Software” from the menu. Select the “Preferences” option by clicking on 3 bars (or, dots) from the top-right corner in the resulting form.
Turn on Enable AUR Support, then turn on check Keep built packages in the cache and Check for updates from AUR. Then close.
After enabling AUR, you can now download your favorite software from its packages.
Synchronizing the system’s Clock
To synchronize dates and times with the International time-keeper server, Manjaro provides a standard way in its distro.
To do it, start Manjaro Start Menu, type in “Time and Date” and click it to invoke a new setting box. Tick on the option “Set Time and date automatically” and press the “Apply” button to save your setting permanently. Press the “Quit” button to remove the setting box.
Thus, your system will now keep pace with the Internal time-keeper server.
Check for errors
No matter how good the operating system is, mistakes can happen at any time. Linux is no exception. If an error occurs in Manjaro, there is a way to find out. This is done using the systemd process.
Open a terminal and run this command:
sudo systemctl --failed
Look at the message in the output, “0 loaded units listed.“. This is good that your system has not logged any errors. There are no failed processes.
To query in log files for other system errors, execute the following command:
sudo journalctl -p 3 -xb
To learn about any error, if any, simply search in Google and try to find a fix for it. By the way, this command waits for user input to end. Press the “Q” to return to your Terminal command prompt.
Switching Kernel
Instead of using the Manjaro Settings Manager GUI to identify, choose, add, and remove kernels everything can be achieved from a terminal as well.
Identifying the Kernel Being Used This terminal command will give your system’s kernel information:
mhwd-kernel -li
As an example, once the Terminal is opened, the following command will install a new kernel (4.19) without deleting the existing kernel currently being used:
sudo mhwd-kernel -i linux419
Enable TRIM for SSD
TRIM is a program that helps to clean blocks in your SSD. Using this command, Manjaro will use it more efficiently and extend the lifespan of your SSD. If your system uses an SSD, then enabling TRIM is one thing you need to do after installing Manjaro.
To enable TRIM on Manjaro, run the following command in a terminal:
sudo systemctl enable fstrim.timer
After that, you need to reboot your system for the changes to take effect. By enabling TRIM, you will extend the lifespan of your SSD. However, for those who are not using an SSD, you can skip this step with pleasure.
Install Vim Editor
sudo pacman -S vim
In case you get any error while installing the package, try the command below and repeat the previous commands:
sudo pacman -Rs vim
Install traceroute
sudo pacman -S traceroute
In case you get any error while installing the package, try the command below and repeat the previous commands
sudo pacman -Rs traceroute
Install Google Chrome
- Open “Add/Remove Software“. Make sure you have enabled AUR.
- Search for “google-chrome” and build to install Chrome.
- That’s it.
Install Putty (SSH client)
- Open the terminal. (Ctrl+Alt+T)
- Enter the following command to the terminal
sudo pacman -S putty
Putty is now installed.
In case you get any error while installing the package, try the command below and repeat the previous commands
sudo pacman -Rs puttyKoala SASS (.scss) Preprocessor
- Search “ruby” (version 2.7.0.1) in AUR and install it.
- Ruby also installs “rvm” (version 1.29.9.-2).
- Start Terminal. Run this command to install the “gconf” package:
sudo pacman -S gconf
- Search “koala” (version 2.3.0.3) in AUR and install it.
Install .TTF fonts
Copy all .ttf fonts to /usr/share/fonts/TTF folder and run the following command from Terminal:
fc-cache -vf
Final Thoughts
The Manjaro Distro can be customized to your liking. Everyone has their likes and dislikes. The settings discussed here may not be the best solution for many.
Manjaro has a huge community. Anyone can customize their desktop environment and install the software of their choice and take the help of the community in their work.
I would be very happy if my article is of any use to you. If you have benefited from this article, please share this article on your favorite social media.
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