unix_setup

Modular system setup script for fresh Linux installs. Supports Arch (and derivatives), Fedora, Ubuntu, and Debian. Installs packages, configures the system, sets up the SwayFX desktop, mounts Proton Drive, and applies dotfiles.

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/0llieJ/unix_setup.git ~/unix_setup
bash ~/unix_setup/setup.sh

Preview what it would do without changing anything:

DRY_RUN=true bash ~/unix_setup/setup.sh

Run a single module:

bash ~/unix_setup/setup.sh --only 05

Skip a module:

bash ~/unix_setup/setup.sh --skip 07

Run the bootstrap as your normal user, not with sudo. The script requests privileges for individual system operations. Firewall setup prompts for firewalld, ufw, nftables, or no firewall. Set FIREWALL=firewalld, FIREWALL=ufw, FIREWALL=nftables, or FIREWALL=none to select non-interactively.

What it does

Module	Name	What it does
01	system	Base package-manager configuration and full system upgrade
02	repos	Third-party repos — paru (Arch), RPM Fusion + COPRs (Fedora), Brave/NetBird (Ubuntu/Debian)
03	packages	CPU microcode, applications, firewall, groups, ClamAV and Podman
10	sway-config	Configures the login manager and Sway before userland and dotfiles
04	userland	mise tools, Flatpak apps, Homebrew formulae
05	github	Tools from GitHub/install scripts — Claude Code, DevPod, OpenAI Codex, Nerd Fonts
06	atomic	Snapper snapshots, Timeshift, boot menu integration (GRUB / systemd-boot / Limine)
07	proton	Proton Drive via rclone, mounted as `~/ProtonDrive` on login
08	dotfiles	SSH key setup, chezmoi init/update + apply
09	updates/done	Weekly automatic updates, summary and follow-up actions

Additional modules:

Module	Name	What it does
11	remove	Cleanly removes a tool and its config files (see below)
12	hardware	Optional GPU drivers and userspace acceleration packages
13	hibernate	Hibernation setup — encrypted swap keyfile, resume= kernel param, initramfs hooks

Install guide

For a fresh Arch installation, follow guides/archinstall.md. It covers Archinstall, encrypted LVM, the first bootstrap run, verification, hibernation, and recovery backups.

See guides/encrypted-installation.md for the equivalent storage design across other common installers.

The older guides/archinstall-bare-metal.md documents the legacy separate-swap layout and is not recommended for new installations.

Package lists

All package decisions live in packages/ as plain text files — one package per line, comments with #. Edit these to add or remove software without touching any script logic.

File	What it controls
`common.txt`	Packages with identical names on all distros
`arch.txt`	Arch-specific package names + Podman runtime deps
`arch-aur.txt`	AUR packages installed through paru
`fedora.txt`	Fedora-specific package names + COPRs
`ubuntu.txt`	Ubuntu-specific package names
`debian.txt`	Debian-specific package names
`sway.txt`	Sway desktop ecosystem — compositor, bar, lock screen, SDDM
`flatpak.txt`	Flatpak GUI apps — Zed, Bitwarden, Signal, Obsidian, etc.
`mise.txt`	Default CLI tools and language runtimes via mise
`mise-atomic.txt`	Complete user-level tool set for OSTree/rpm-ostree desktops
`homebrew.txt`	Homebrew formulae — tools not available in mise
`github.txt`	Tools installed from GitHub releases or install scripts

mise manifests

Module 04 selects one complete mise manifest in this order:

MISE_PACKAGES_FILE=/path/to/file
packages/mise-atomic.txt on OSTree/rpm-ostree systems
packages/mise-<distro>.txt, such as mise-arch.txt
packages/mise.txt

This allows mutable Arch systems to use a reduced mise-arch.txt while atomic desktops keep the complete tool set in mise.

On atomic desktops the bootstrap also skips native repository changes, package layering, AUR installation, and Snapper setup. Flatpak, mise, user-level GitHub tools, and chezmoi continue normally.

Automatic services and updates

The default run enables NetworkManager, the selected login manager, Bluetooth, PipeWire/WirePlumber, libvirt, smart-card support, Podman, SSD trimming, power profiles, the selected firewall, Snapper timers, and bootloader snapshot integration. Sway session support also includes portals, a polkit agent, GNOME Keyring, removable-media handling, XWayland, the wl-copy/wl-paste utilities, and the Flameshot background process.

Module 09 creates persistent weekly timers:

System: pacman, dnf, apt, or rpm-ostree on Sunday morning.
User: Flatpak, mise, and Linux Homebrew on Sunday afternoon.
AUR: available updates are logged but installation remains manual with paru -Sua, because unattended PKGBUILD execution bypasses review.

Updates never reboot the machine automatically. Check them with:

systemctl list-timers unix-setup-system-update.timer
systemctl --user list-timers unix-setup-user-update.timer

Proton Drive is enabled on login only after the proton: rclone remote has been configured. Hibernation is intentionally enabled separately with bash ~/unix_setup/setup.sh --only 13 after persistent swap has been verified.

Recommended partition layout

Use an unencrypted boot area and one LUKS2 container holding LVM root and swap volumes. This encrypts the hibernation image and keeps bootloader repair separate from the operating-system data.

/dev/nvme0n1p1   fat32   ESP          1GB
/dev/nvme0n1p2   ext4    /boot        1-2GB    # GRUB; omit for systemd-boot
/dev/nvme0n1p3   LUKS2                rest
  └─ LVM volume group
     ├─ root       btrfs              remaining space
     └─ swap       swap               RAM + 10-20%

For systemd-boot, mount the ESP at /boot. For GRUB, mount it at /boot/efi and use the separate ext4 /boot. Root snapshots then do not modify the kernel or bootloader files.

See guides/archinstall.md for the complete Arch installation procedure, or guides/encrypted-installation.md for other distributions.

Snapshotting and rollback

On any system with a Btrfs root filesystem, module 06 sets up:

Snapper — timeline snapshots (5 hourly, 7 daily)
Timeshift — daily backup at 21:00
Boot menu integration — snapshots appear as bootable entries

Boot menu tool depends on your bootloader:

Bootloader	Tool
GRUB	grub-btrfs + grub-btrfsd
systemd-boot	systemd-boot-btrfs
Limine	limine-snapper-sync

To roll back:

snapper list
sudo snapper rollback <number>

Or select a snapshot from the boot menu at startup.

Bootloader recovery

Snapshots do not protect the bootloader itself. Keep current live media and the storage backups described in the installation guide.

See guides/bootloader-recovery.md for the complete encrypted-root recovery procedure covering GRUB, systemd-boot, Limine, Btrfs, LVM, Secure Boot, and Fedora Atomic systems.

Desktop (SwayFX)

SwayFX is a drop-in fork of Sway that adds rounded corners, blur, and shadows. It uses the same config file as Sway.

Run module 10 to set up the login manager and a minimal Sway config before your dotfiles are available:

bash ~/unix_setup/modules/10-sway-config.sh

This configures SDDM to auto-launch SwayFX on boot and applies the Flameshot Wayland window rule. Once your dotfiles are applied via module 08, chezmoi will replace the minimal config with your full one.

Flameshot on Wayland requires this rule in your Sway config:

for_window [app_id="flameshot"] border pixel 0, floating enable, fullscreen disable, move absolute position 0 0

Module 10 adds this automatically if it isn't already present.

Proton Drive

Proton Drive mounts at ~/ProtonDrive via rclone as a systemd user service. It requires a one-time manual auth step before module 07 can configure the mount:

rclone config
# → New remote → name: proton → type: protondrive → follow prompts

Then re-run:

bash ~/unix_setup/setup.sh --only 07

Removing a tool

Module 11 cleanly removes a tool — stops its services, uninstalls packages, and deletes config files:

# List available removal profiles
bash ~/unix_setup/modules/11-remove.sh --list

# Remove a tool
bash ~/unix_setup/modules/11-remove.sh sddm

# Preview without touching anything
DRY_RUN=true bash ~/unix_setup/modules/11-remove.sh sddm

Available profiles: sddm, gdm, lightdm, greetd, greetd-tuigreet, greetd-regreet, nwg-hello, snapper, timeshift, grub-btrfs, systemd-boot-btrfs, limine-snapper-sync, proton-drive, ufw, firewalld, nftables, clamav, sway, swayfx, waybar, podman, distrobox, toolbox.

Adding a removal profile

Add a function to modules/11-remove.sh:

_profile_mytool() {
    do_remove \
        "package-name"           \   # packages to uninstall
        "mytool.service"         \   # system services to stop/disable
        ""                       \   # user services (empty if none)
        "/etc/mytool ~/.config/mytool"  # config paths to delete
}

The function is auto-discovered — no further registration needed.

Adding a GitHub tool

Add the tool name to packages/github.txt, then add a matching function to modules/05-github.sh:

_install_mytool() {
    cmd_exists mytool && { log_info "already installed"; return; }
    local version
    version=$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/owner/mytool/releases/latest \
        | grep '"tag_name"' | sed 's/.*"v\(.*\)".*/\1/')
    run_cmd curl -fsSL -o /tmp/mytool \
        "https://github.com/owner/mytool/releases/download/v${version}/mytool-linux-amd64"
    run_cmd sudo install -m 0755 /tmp/mytool /usr/local/bin/mytool
    run_cmd rm -f /tmp/mytool
}

Distro support

Distro	Support
Arch Linux	Full
CachyOS / EndeavourOS	Full — treated as Arch
Fedora	Full — AUR packages not available
Ubuntu	Full — AUR packages not available
Debian	Full — AUR packages not available
macOS	Core — Homebrew formulae, casks, mise, dotfiles. No Sway/Flatpak/Snapper

What runs on macOS

Module	Behaviour
01 system	Application Firewall enabled. Groups skipped (managed via System Settings)
02 repos	Skipped — Homebrew is the only package source
03 packages	Skipped — formulae installed by module 04 instead
04 userland	Homebrew formulae + casks (`packages/macos-casks.txt`) + mise
05 github	Full — Claude Code, DevPod, Nerd Fonts, Codex all work on macOS
06 atomic	Skipped — use Time Machine for backups
07 proton	rclone remote checked; auto-mount skipped (no systemd). Manual mount instructions printed
08 dotfiles	Full — chezmoi works on macOS
12 hardware	Skipped — Apple manages firmware via Software Update

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unix_setup

Quick start

What it does

Install guide

Package lists

mise manifests

Automatic services and updates

Recommended partition layout

Snapshotting and rollback

Bootloader recovery

Desktop (SwayFX)

Proton Drive

Removing a tool

Adding a removal profile

Adding a GitHub tool

Distro support

What runs on macOS

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
bin		bin
guides		guides
lib		lib
modules		modules
packages		packages
.gitignore		.gitignore
README.md		README.md
setup.sh		setup.sh

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unix_setup

Quick start

What it does

Install guide

Package lists

mise manifests

Automatic services and updates

Recommended partition layout

Snapshotting and rollback

Bootloader recovery

Desktop (SwayFX)

Proton Drive

Removing a tool

Adding a removal profile

Adding a GitHub tool

Distro support

What runs on macOS

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