Arch Linux: Headless Install USB Flash

Creating a USB flash drive for a headless install.

Install the needed tools:

# pacman -Syu dosfstools mtools libisoburn

Two text files are needed:

$ touch meta-data
$ nano user-data

#cloud-config
users:
  - name: root
    ssh_authorized_keys:
      - ssh-rsa <RSA KEY>

write_files:
- content: |
    [Security]
    PreSharedKey=<WIFI KEY>
  path: /var/lib/iwd/blah.psk

Create a FAT image with the label CIDATA:

$ mkfs.fat -C -n CIDATA cloud-init.img 2048

Copy the previously made files to the filesystem of the image file:

$ mcopy -i cloud-init.img meta-data user-data ::

Add this image to the installer ISO:

$ xorriso -indev archlinux-x86_64.iso -outdev archlinux-x86_64-with-cidata.iso -append_partition 3 0x0c cloud-init.img -boot_image any replay

Copy the image to the flash drive:

# pv archlinux-x86_64-with-cidata.iso > /dev/sdX