Introduction

Welcome, brave sysadmin! Today we’ll guide you through installing Obarun, the Arch-inspired, systemd-free Linux distro powered by runit. Whether you’re seeking fine-grained control over your services or you just enjoy wresting with partitions for fun, this tutorial has got your back. Buckle up, grab your favorite hot beverage, and prepare to conquer Obarun.

What Is Obarun?

In a nutshell, Obarun is like Arch Linux’s rebellious cousin: it uses runit instead of systemd, provides its own repos, and strikes a balance between minimalism and user-friendliness. Want deep customization, no systemd, AND the Pacman you know and love? Here you go.

For official docs, visit the Obarun Wiki or the Obarun Homepage.

System Requirements

• 64-bit x86 CPU (or VM with virtualization support)
• 2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended)
• 20 GB free disk space (or more for multimedia/games)
• Internet connection (for pacman repositories)
• USB stick (≥4 GB) or DVD burner

Downloading the ISO

1. Head to the Obarun Download page.
2. Pick the latest live ISO (runit edition).
3. Verify the checksum:

   sha256sum obarun-YYYY.MM.DD-x86_64.iso

Creating a Bootable USB

Use dd (or Etcher, Rufus on Windows) to write the ISO:

sudo dd if=obarun-YYYY.MM.DD-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync
  

Warning: Replace /dev/sdX with your USB device. Double-check, or tears will flow.

Boot Into the Live Environment

Reboot, choose your USB from the boot menu, and select Obarun Live. You’ll land at a shell prompt as root. Congratulations—your USB stick is now the gateway to glorious runit-run services!

Partitioning the Disk

Time to slice your disk like a pro pizza chef. We’ll use cfdisk here.

cfdisk /dev/sda
  

Create partitions as per your taste. Here’s a suggested scheme:

Once done, write changes and exit.

Formatting Partitions

mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
mkswap /dev/sda2
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3
swapon /dev/sda2
  

Mounting Partitions

mount /dev/sda3 /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
  

Installing the Base System

Obarun provides a simple bootstrap script called obarun-chroot, but we can use pacstrap (from Arch) and then tweak it:

pacstrap /mnt base base-devel runit elogind-runit vim sudo grub
  

Note: elogind-runit gives you logind features without systemd. You can omit if you don’t need it.

Configuring the System

Fstab Generation

genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
  

Chroot In

arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash
  

Timezone Locale

ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Region/City /etc/localtime
hwclock --systohc
echo en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8 >> /etc/locale.gen
locale-gen
echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
  

Hostname Hosts

echo my-obarun > /etc/hostname
cat >> /etc/hosts <
Root Password  User
passwd            # set root
useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash alice
passwd alice
echo %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL >> /etc/sudoers
  
Installing the Bootloader
We’ll use GRUB here:
grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
  
If you use UEFI, ensure you created a FAT32 EFI partition and install accordingly:
pacman -S efibootmgr
mkdir /boot/efi
mount /dev/sda1 /boot/efi
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=Obarun
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
  
Enabling runit Services
Unlike systemd, runit uses symlinks in /etc/runit/runsvdir/default:
ln -s /etc/sv/sshd /etc/runit/runsvdir/default/
# Add other services: dhcpcd, cronie, etc.
  
Final Steps  Reboot

Exit chroot: exit
Unmount: umount -R /mnt
Reboot: reboot

Remove your USB, watch GRUB load, and welcome to your new Obarun system. If it hangs, panic gently and recheck logs with a live CD.
Post-Installation Tips

Install a desktop environment: pacman -S xfce4 xfce4-goodies (or GNOME/KDE)
Enable NetworkManager: ln -s /etc/sv/NetworkManager /etc/runit/runsvdir/default/
Read the Obarun Wiki for advanced runit magic
Enjoy the lean, mean, systemd-free performance! 🎉

Conclusion
You’ve just installed a powerful, minimal, and systemd-free OS with a service manager that respects the UNIX philosophy. Now go forth, tweak your .bashrc, customize your prompt, and show the world that runit is more than a footnote—it’s the main event!