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omarchy-iso/README.md
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David Heinemeier HanssonandClaude Fable 5 f11a70c6ba Take authorized_keys on the cidata drive instead of ssh.json
The JSON wrapper was the one piece of autoinstall input that wasn't an
existing format: the other files are the configurator's own output, and
the keys end up in sshd's authorized_keys anyway. So take that file
directly -- one key per line, comments and key options work as they do
everywhere else -- and drop the parsing in between. The only thing JSON
bought was parse-error detection, and the phase still fails loudly when
the file carries no usable keys.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-04 06:08:33 -07:00

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7.2 KiB
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# Omarchy ISO
The Omarchy ISO is the only supported way to install Omarchy. It ships the Omarchy Configurator, installs Arch Linux, installs the Omarchy packages from the bundled mirror, runs target system setup in the chroot, creates the user, and runs `omarchy-setup-user` for that user.
## Downloading the latest ISO
See the ISO link on [omarchy.org](https://omarchy.org).
## Creating the ISO
Run `./bin/omarchy-iso-make`; output goes into `./release`. By default the ISO uses the Omarchy packages and tracks the `quattro` branch, from the stable mirror. Pass `--edge` to use `omarchy-dev` and `omarchy-settings-dev` from the edge mirror.
For local development, build the ISO from sibling checkouts:
```bash
./bin/omarchy-iso-make --local-source ../omarchy-installer ../omarchy-pkgs
```
Despite the local folder name, the first argument is the Omarchy source checkout (runtime commands, configs, setup scripts, themes, shell, migrations). The installer itself lives in this ISO repo.
Use `--dev` or `--rc` to build against those package channels. Both `--dev` and `--edge` select the dev packages from the edge mirror.
## Autoinstall
The shipped ISO installs itself with no keyboard when it finds its configuration on a second drive. Attach a drive labeled `cidata` alongside the ISO and the installer copies the config off it and skips the configurator; with no such drive, nothing changes and the wizard runs as usual. No rebuild, no extra boot entry.
`cidata` is the cloud-init `NoCloud` label, so Proxmox, libvirt, and Packer already know how to attach one.
### Configuration files
These are the configurator's own output files, so the way to get a starting set is to run one interactive install and copy what it wrote into `/root`.
| File | Required | Purpose |
|------|----------|---------|
| `user_configuration.json` | Yes | archinstall config: disk, hostname, timezone, keyboard |
| `user_credentials.json` | Yes | Username and password hash |
| `user_full_name.txt` | No | Git full name |
| `user_email_address.txt` | No | Git email |
| `user_encrypt_installation.txt` | No | `true` when `user_configuration.json` carries a `disk_encryption` block; defaults to false |
| `authorized_keys` | No | SSH public keys in sshd's own format, one per line |
Both required files must be present or the installer falls back to the configurator. Generate the password hash for `user_credentials.json` with `openssl passwd -6 "yourpassword"`.
Encryption itself is configured by the `disk_encryption` block inside `user_configuration.json` — which carries the passphrase in plaintext, so treat a drive built from an encrypted install accordingly. The flag file must match it: it drives the encrypted install's SDDM autologin and the final boot validation, not the encryption.
`authorized_keys` is the same file sshd reads — copy your own or write one key per line:
```
ssh-ed25519 AAAA... you@host
```
When `authorized_keys` is present, autoinstall installs it as the user's `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`, enables `sshd`, and adds a `ufw allow ssh` rule — a stock Omarchy install ships openssh with the service disabled and its firewall opens neither port 22 nor anything else beyond LocalSend. Networking needs nothing extra; NetworkManager is already enabled with DHCP. Password SSH authentication is left at the distro default. An `authorized_keys` with no usable keys fails the install rather than producing a machine nobody can reach.
### Building the drive
```bash
mkdir cidata
cp user_configuration.json user_credentials.json authorized_keys cidata/
genisoimage -output cidata.iso -volid cidata -joliet -rock cidata/
```
### Proxmox example
```bash
qm create 101 --name my-omarchy \
--bios ovmf --machine q35 --cpu host --cores 4 --memory 8192 \
--ostype l26 --scsihw virtio-scsi-single \
--efidisk0 local-lvm:0,efitype=4m,pre-enrolled-keys=0 \
--scsi0 local-lvm:40,discard=on,iothread=1 \
--net0 virtio,bridge=vmbr0 --vga virtio --serial0 socket \
--ide2 local:iso/omarchy.iso,media=cdrom \
--ide3 local:iso/cidata.iso,media=cdrom \
--boot order='scsi0;ide2'
qm start 101
```
Boot order is disk first: the empty disk falls through to the ISO on the first boot, and the installed system boots from disk afterwards. The machine reboots into Omarchy on its own when the install finishes.
Encrypted autoinstalls are not fully unattended — the LUKS passphrase prompt still needs someone at the first boot.
## Testing the ISO
Run `./bin/omarchy-iso-boot [release/omarchy.iso]`.
Run `./test/all` for the unit tests, which cover cidata autoinstall loading and the orchestrator's SSH access phase without needing a built ISO.
To exercise installation alongside existing Windows-style partitions, run
`./bin/omarchy-iso-test-windows-disk [release/omarchy.iso]`. It creates a
synthetic disk in `/tmp` with an existing ESP and data partition plus ample
unallocated space, then offers to start an interactive installation on it. The
fixture exercises Windows partition preservation but does not contain Windows.
## Acceptance testing the ISO
Run `./bin/omarchy-iso-test [release/omarchy.iso]` to install the ISO into a headless VM by driving the real interactive install flow — the harness reads each screen via QMP screendumps + OCR and answers with virtual keystrokes, so the configurator wizard, install dashboard, reboot prompt, and SDDM login are all exercised exactly as a user would. It then boots the installed system, sends real VM keyboard shortcuts for the primary shell and window-management actions, and runs the in-guest acceptance suite (`test/acceptance` in the omarchy repo). The suite checks session and service health, the complete core-package manifest, user defaults, representative applications, menus, panels, live weather, launchers, visual selectors, notifications, clipboard, and other interactive shell behavior.
Visual checkpoints are saved as `success-<step>.png` or `failure-<step>.png` alongside the serial and install logs in `test-runs/<iso>/runs/<timestamp>/`. Independent test files and applications continue after a failure so one broken surface does not hide the rest of the report. The harness then stops the VM and opens the ordered screenshots in `imv` for quick visual review.
The harness syncs the acceptance suite from `$OMARCHY_PATH` when it is available. The install phase produces a reusable base image, so iterating against another checkout is fast:
```bash
./bin/omarchy-iso-test release/omarchy.iso --install-only # once per ISO
./bin/omarchy-iso-test release/omarchy.iso --reuse-base \
--sync-omarchy ../omarchy # fast loop against local tests
```
Pass `--encrypt` to drive the encrypted install flow (including typing the LUKS passphrase at boot) instead of the unencrypted one. Pass `--no-preview` to collect the same visual artifacts without opening them in `imv` when the run finishes.
## Signing the ISO
Run `./bin/omarchy-iso-sign [release/omarchy.iso]`. The signing key is retrieved from the shared Omarchy vault with the 1Password CLI.
## Uploading the ISO
Run `./bin/omarchy-iso-upload [release/omarchy.iso]`. This requires rclone configuration (`rclone config`).
## Full release of the ISO
Run `./bin/omarchy-iso-release VERSION` to create, test, sign, and upload the ISO in one flow. Add `--rc` to release an RC build instead.