Arch Linux

Switching up cloud providers and deploying Arch Linux

After a few years with the Finnish cloud platform provider UpCloud, I decided to move my services to Germany and try out Hetzner Online. UpCloud has been excellent, but I felt like it was time for a change, and Hetzner Online offers a lot of bang for your bucks.

A start job is running for /dev/disk/by-uuid

As I was booting up my Arch Linux box, systemd informed me of a start job running for /dev/disk/by-uuid. 90 seconds later, the job timed-out and some fashionable colored messages flashed by with the speed of light.

Arch Linux boot halts on Reached target Multi-User System

Arch pushed out Gnome 3.28 today but unfortunately for me, my system failed to boot properly after the upgrade. The system simply locked up after the “Reached target Graphical Interface” stage. GDM (The GNOME Display Manager) was a prime suspect in my book, so the first order of business was booting into a lower runlevel to figure out what was going on.

Reached target Multi-User System

I’m using systemd-boot (because you can never have enough systemd…) so to enter the kernel command line, I simply hit the “e” key from the boot menu. Adding the kernel parameters systemd.unit=multi-user.target will boot the system into runlevel 3 (no display manager).

Unexpected VPN bypass attempts on Arch Linux

So I was minding my own business while connected to my VPN service when I noticed several blocked outbound network connections appearing in my firewall log. For some reason my wifi adapter (wlp3s0) was trying to connect directly to the internet without having traffic routed through my VPN interface (tun0). Was this my reward for not reviewing AUR PKGBUILD files, or was there another explanation as to why wlp3s0 wanted to disclose my real IP address?

Windows 10 Creators Update - Error 0xc1900200

My plan to install the latest Windows 10 Creators Update fell short during the weekend due to an error identified as 0xc1900200. I was using the “Windows 10 Update Assistant” to perform the upgrade, and the assistant did initially confirm that my system was ready for the upgrade.

Arch Linux - Failed to start Verify integrity of password and group files

The shadow.service unit reported that it had failed and threw the following error message: “user ‘colord’: directory ‘/var/lib/colord’ does not exist”. I had no recollection of housing such a user, but by issuing the command below there was hard proof (image to the right) that colord was indeed a homeless user on my system, and her home was supposed to have been /var/lib/colord.

Arch Linux 2014 review - Livin' on the edge

I’ve not been doing any serious distro hopping since 2008 and figured it was about time to see if there is anything new under the sun. Enter Arch Linux, a highly touted and matured distribution with a development model and philosophy I can appreciate. Honestly though, writing a review of Arch is somewhat daft as each installation will depend upon your own choices and preferences.