blomarchy/docs/install.md

Install

./install.sh takes a machine with nothing but Arch on it to a running Blob desktop. Every step is idempotent, reports what it did, and can be previewed with --check.

Layout

Path	Role
install.sh	flags and the order the steps run in
install/helpers/lib.sh	reporting, file copies, unit queries
install/helpers/as-root.sh	as_root, a no-op when already root
install/steps/directories.sh	the directories the shell and scripts expect
install/steps/packages.sh	repo and AUR packages, and the yay bootstrap
install/steps/config.sh	the BLOB_PATH symlink and everything under ~/.config
install/steps/services.sh	system services, systemd drop-ins, user units
install/steps/login.sh	SDDM, the session entry, and the first launch

Steps

1. BLOB_PATH is symlinked to the checkout at ~/.local/share/blob. Nothing under bin/, shell/, themes/ or default/ is ever copied.

2. Directories are created, including ~/.config/systemd/user/app.slice.d and ~/wallpapers.

3. Packages come from packages/blob.packages and packages/blob-aur.packages. A machine with no AUR helper gets yay-bin built once with makepkg. See packages.md.

4. Config is copied into ~/.config: hypr/, the themed app configs, blob/shell.json, the uwsm environment, and the icon font.

5. User units land in ~/.config/systemd/user and are enabled, not started: they are all WantedBy=graphical-session.target, so they come up with the session. blob-speaker-tuning.service is left out, because blob-audio-tuning installs it only on machines with a tuning profile.

6. systemd drop-ins are written under /etc: the shutdown timeouts, the oomd pressure thresholds, the plocate prune paths, and the sleep hooks.

7. System services are enabled: NetworkManager, resolved, bluetooth, cups, avahi, docker, power-profiles-daemon, and oomd. NetworkManager-wait-online.service is masked so a slow DHCP lease cannot hold up the login screen.

8. The login screen is SDDM. Three pieces have to be in place:

   File	Why
   /usr/local/share/wayland-sessions/blob.desktop	the session SDDM offers
   /etc/sddm.conf.d/zz-blob.conf	Wayland greeter, run on Hyprland, stock theme, remember the last session
   /etc/sddm/hyprland-greeter.conf	the greeter's own tiny Hyprland config

   The greeter config matters more than it looks: SDDM's stock Wayland greeter runs on weston, which Blob does not install, so a default SDDM would fail to draw anything. sddm.service is enabled and the default systemd target is set to graphical.target, which an Arch install without a display manager does not have.

   The zz- prefix is load-bearing. SDDM reads /etc/sddm.conf.d in alphabetical order and the last file wins, so a leftover 10-wayland.conf, 10-theme.conf or autologin.conf from another desktop would otherwise override Blob's. For the same reason zz-blob.conf blanks Theme and Autologin: a greeter pointed at an uninstalled theme, or an autologin pointed at a session entry that no longer exists, leaves SDDM on a black screen it never falls back from, and the only way in is a TTY.

   The Omarchy ISO wrote exactly such an autologin, owned by no package, so it outlives Omarchy. The installer reports it and overrides it; deleting it stops the warning:

   sudo rm /etc/sddm.conf.d/autologin.conf
   

   --autologin writes zzz-blob-autologin.conf, the only file that sorts after zz-blob.conf.

9. Launch. When the installer was run from a console and nothing graphical is running, it starts sddm.service so the desktop appears without a reboot. --no-launch prints the command instead. --autologin writes /etc/sddm.conf.d/99-blob-autologin.conf for the current user.

Flags

Flag	Effect
--check	report every change, write nothing, exit 1 if anything differs
--force	overwrite files that differ from the repo copy
--skip-packages	directories, config and services only
--autologin	skip the SDDM prompt for this user
--no-launch	leave the login screen for the next reboot

Uninstall

./uninstall.sh removes the config, the user units, the /etc drop-ins, the session entry and the symlink, restoring any .bak the installer left. --keep-session keeps the session entry and the SDDM config, --keep-state keeps ~/.local/state/blob. sddm.service is left enabled either way, so the machine still reaches a login screen.