1.1 Pick Your Architecture

Visit the official mirrors (choose the fastest one):

• AMD64 stage3
• x86 stage3

1.2 Download Verify

1. Download stage3-.tar.xz and the corresponding md5sum.txt.
2. Verify: md5sum -c md5sum.txt (If it fails, blame the mirror).

2.1 Create Partitions

Using fdisk or parted:

• /dev/sda1 – 512 MB – BIOS/UEFI boot or EFI System Partition (if UEFI).
• /dev/sda2 – remainder – root filesystem.
• Optionally, swap, /home, or other partitions.

2.2 Format Filesystems

• mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
• mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sda1 (for UEFI) or mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1 (for BIOS).
• mkswap /dev/sdaX swapon /dev/sdaX (if you created a swap).

3.1 Mount Root

mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/funtoo

3.2 Extract Tarball

tar xpvf stage3-.tar.xz --xattrs-include=. --numeric-owner -C /mnt/funtoo

3.3 Setup /etc/resolv.conf

cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/funtoo/etc/

4.1 Mount Virtual Filesystems

• mount -t proc proc /mnt/funtoo/proc
• mount --rbind /sys /mnt/funtoo/sys
• mount --rbind /dev /mnt/funtoo/dev

4.2 Enter Chroot

chroot /mnt/funtoo /bin/bash
source /etc/profile
export PS1=(chroot) u:w

5.1 Select Profile

List available profiles:

eselect profile list

Set your favorite, e.g.: eselect profile set 1

5.2 Update @world

It’s a fresh chroot, but updating gives you the latest overlays:

emerge --sync

emerge -uDN @world

6.1 Choose Kernel Source

Funtoo offers funtoo-sources optimized for its users.

emerge sys-kernel/funtoo-sources

6.2 Configure with Genkernel (Optional)

• emerge sys-kernel/genkernel
• genkernel all – This builds a generic kernel and initramfs.

6.3 Manual Kernel Build (Advanced)

1. cd /usr/src/linux
2. make menuconfig – enable your hardware, filesystems, networking.
3. make -j(nproc) make modules_install make install

7.1 /etc/conf.d/net

Example for DHCP on eth0:

config_eth0=( dhcp )

7.2 Enable the Interface

rc-update add net.eth0 default

8.1 GRUB2 Installation

1. emerge sys-boot/grub:2
2. grub-install /dev/sda (or your drive)
3. grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

If you used Genkernel, GRUB auto-detects the initramfs.

9.1 Set Root Password

passwd

9.2 Add a Regular User

1. useradd -m -G users,wheel,audio,video -s /bin/bash yourusername
2. passwd yourusername

9.3 Locale Timezone

Edit /etc/locale.gen, uncomment en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8, then:

locale-gen
echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/env.d/02locale

Set timezone:

echo America/New_York > /etc/timezone
emerge --config sys-libs/timezone-data

Everything set? Exit chroot, unmount, reboot:

exit
cd /
umount -l /mnt/funtoo/{dev,sys,proc}
umount /mnt/funtoo
reboot

Don’t be alarmed if the first kernel boot takes a minute—compilation-born babies sometimes crawl before they sprint.

USE Flags

Fine-tune features in /etc/portage/make.conf. Example:

USE=X alsa pulseaudio gtk qt5 kvm vmware lvm

Mount Options

Add in /etc/fstab:

/dev/sda2  /  ext4  noatime,errors=remount-ro  0 1

Kernel Optimizations

• Enable PREEMPT if you need low-latency.
• Strip unused modules.

• Official Funtoo Wiki
• Funtoo Forums
• Funtoo GitHub

Join the IRC channel #funtoo on Libera.Chat and remember: if your system breaks spectacularly, you’ve learned something. Keep calm and FUNTOO on!