Void Linux Automated Installation Script

Automated installer for Void Linux with LUKS2 encryption, BTRFS filesystem, and UEFI support.

Inspired by: easy-arch, VoidLinuxInstaller and SysGuides

Features

• Full Disk Encryption (LUKS2)
• BTRFS with Subvolumes (snapshots, compression)
• UEFI Boot (GRUB with encryption support)
• Security (AppArmor enabled)
• Performance (zram swap, optimized mount options)
• Snapshot Management (snapper for root and home, grub-btrfs for bootable snapshots)

Prerequisites

• Boot from Void Linux live image
• UEFI-capable system
• Internet connection configured (the easiest way is via void-installer)

Installation Steps

1. Initial Setup:

# Download and run
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/debelio/void-install/refs/heads/main/void-install.sh
chmod +x void-install.sh
sudo ./void-install.sh

What the Script Does

1. Preparation: Checks permissions, updates packages
2. User Input: Passwords, hostname, user account
3. Partitioning: Creates ESP (1GB) + encrypted root
4. Encryption: LUKS2 with keyfile for boot
5. Filesystem: BTRFS with subvolumes
6. Installation: Base system + essential packages + AppArmor + zram + snapper + grub-btrfs + the XBPS source packages collection
7. Configuration: Timezone, locales, users, services
8. Boot Setup: GRUB with LUKS2 support

BTRFS Layout

The installation creates separate BTRFS subvolumes for different parts of the filesystem:

/                  (@)
/home              (@home)
/home/.snapshots   (@home/.snapshots)   - snapper snapshots for home
/opt               (@opt)
/.snapshots        (@.snapshots)        - snapper snapshots for root
/var/cache         (@var/cache)
/var/lib/docker    (@var/lib/docker)
/var/lib/libvirt   (@var/lib/libvirt)
/var/log           (@var/log)
/var/spool         (@var/spool)
/tmp               (@tmp)

This layout allows:

• Separate snapshots for root and home directories via snapper
• Selective exclusion of cache, logs, and temporary data from snapshots
• Optimized mount options (compression, noatime, SSD support)
• Boot into any snapshot via GRUB menu (grub-btrfs integration)

Post-Installation

Network Configuration

Use nmcli or nmtui after installation to set up networking.

XBPS Snapshot Wrappers

Important: As far as I know, unlike some package managers (like APT with apt-btrfs-snapshot or DNF with dnf-plugin-snapper), XBPS does not have built-in hooks for automatic snapshot creation.

To work around this limitation, 01-base-system.sh creates wrapper scripts that automatically create btrfs snapshots before and after package operations:

• /usr/local/bin/vpm-snap - Wrapper for vpm (Void Package Manager helper)
• /usr/local/bin/xbps-install-snap - Wrapper for xbps-install
• /usr/local/bin/xbps-remove-snap - Wrapper for xbps-remove

How the Wrappers Work

1. Pre-snapshot: Creates a numbered snapshot before the package operation
2. Package operation: Runs the actual xbps command
3. Post-snapshot: Creates a matching post-snapshot
4. GRUB update: Automatically updates GRUB menu (if grub-btrfsd isn't running)

Create the Wrappers

/usr/local/bin/vpm-snap:

#!/bin/sh
# vpm wrapper with snapper snapshots

# Skip snapshots if requested
if [ -n "$SNAP_XBPS_SKIP" ]; then
    exec /usr/bin/vpm "$@"
fi

# Check if this is an operation that modifies packages
case "$1" in
    install|i|update|up|upgrade|u|remove|rm|r)
        # Check if snapper is available
        if command -v snapper >/dev/null 2>&1; then
            # Create pre-snapshot
            PRE_NUM=$(snapper --config root create --type pre --cleanup-algorithm number --print-number --description "vpm $*" 2>/dev/null)
            [ -n "$PRE_NUM" ] && echo ":: Created pre-snapshot #$PRE_NUM"

            # Run vpm
            /usr/bin/vpm "$@"
            RESULT=$?

            # Create post-snapshot
            if [ -n "$PRE_NUM" ]; then
                POST_NUM=$(snapper --config root create --type post --pre-number "$PRE_NUM" --cleanup-algorithm number --print-number --description "vpm $*" 2>/dev/null)
                [ -n "$POST_NUM" ] && echo ":: Created post-snapshot #$POST_NUM"

                # Update GRUB if grub-btrfsd isn't running
                if ! pgrep -x grub-btrfsd >/dev/null 2>&1; then
                    grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg >/dev/null 2>&1 &
                fi
            fi

            exit $RESULT
        fi
        ;;
esac

# For all other operations, just pass through
exec /usr/bin/vpm "$@"

/usr/local/bin/xbps-install-snap:

#!/bin/sh
# xbps-install wrapper with snapper snapshots

# Skip snapshots if requested
if [ -n "$SNAP_XBPS_SKIP" ]; then
    exec /usr/bin/xbps-install "$@"
fi

# Check if snapper is available
if command -v snapper >/dev/null 2>&1 && [ -d /.snapshots ]; then
    # Create pre-snapshot
    PRE_NUM=$(snapper --config root create --type pre --cleanup-algorithm number --print-number --description "xbps-install $*" 2>/dev/null)
    [ -n "$PRE_NUM" ] && echo ":: Created pre-snapshot #$PRE_NUM"

    # Run xbps-install
    /usr/bin/xbps-install "$@"
    RESULT=$?

    # Create post-snapshot
    if [ -n "$PRE_NUM" ]; then
        POST_NUM=$(snapper --config root create --type post --pre-number "$PRE_NUM" --cleanup-algorithm number --print-number --description "xbps-install $*" 2>/dev/null)
        [ -n "$POST_NUM" ] && echo ":: Created post-snapshot #$POST_NUM"

        # Update GRUB if grub-btrfsd isn't running
        if ! pgrep -x grub-btrfsd >/dev/null 2>&1; then
            grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg >/dev/null 2>&1 &
        fi
    fi

    exit $RESULT
fi

exec /usr/bin/xbps-install "$@"

/usr/local/bin/xbps-remove-snap:

#!/bin/sh
# xbps-remove wrapper with snapper snapshots

# Skip snapshots if requested
if [ -n "$SNAP_XBPS_SKIP" ]; then
    exec /usr/bin/xbps-remove "$@"
fi

# Check if snapper is available
if command -v snapper >/dev/null 2>&1 && [ -d /.snapshots ]; then
    # Create pre-snapshot
    PRE_NUM=$(snapper --config root create --type pre --cleanup-algorithm number --print-number --description "xbps-remove $*" 2>/dev/null)
    [ -n "$PRE_NUM" ] && echo ":: Created pre-snapshot #$PRE_NUM"

    # Run xbps-remove
    /usr/bin/xbps-remove "$@"
    RESULT=$?

    # Create post-snapshot
    if [ -n "$PRE_NUM" ]; then
        POST_NUM=$(snapper --config root create --type post --pre-number "$PRE_NUM" --cleanup-algorithm number --print-number --description "xbps-remove $*" 2>/dev/null)
        [ -n "$POST_NUM" ] && echo ":: Created post-snapshot #$POST_NUM"

        # Update GRUB if grub-btrfsd isn't running
        if ! pgrep -x grub-btrfsd >/dev/null 2>&1; then
            grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg >/dev/null 2>&1 &
        fi
    fi

    exit $RESULT
fi

exec /usr/bin/xbps-remove "$@"

Make the wrappers executable

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/{vpm,xbps-install,xbps-remove}-snap

Using the Wrappers

To use the wrappers automatically with sudo, add this to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

# Override sudo to use snapper wrapper scripts for vpm, xbps-install and xbps-remove
sudo() {
    case "$1" in
        vpm)
            shift
            command sudo /usr/local/bin/vpm-snap "$@"
            ;;
        xbps-install)
            shift
            command sudo /usr/local/bin/xbps-install-snap "$@"
            ;;
        xbps-remove)
            shift
            command sudo /usr/local/bin/xbps-remove-snap "$@"
            ;;
        *)
            command sudo "$@"
            ;;
    esac
}

Skipping Snapshots

To skip snapshot creation for a specific operation, set the environment variable:

SNAP_XBPS_SKIP=1 sudo vpm install package-name

Example Usage

# With snapshots (using the wrapper)
sudo vpm install neovim
# Output:
# :: Created pre-snapshot #42
# [package installation output]
# :: Created post-snapshot #43

# Without snapshots (skipping wrapper)
SNAP_XBPS_SKIP=1 sudo vpm install neovim

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.