Quick Installation Checklist

This article has been created for experienced users who desire a quick, less detailed installation guide. It doubles as a checklist so essential installation steps are not forgotten.

BIOS/MBR
Create three partitions. 128MB for, 1024MB for swap, and the rest for

Format the partitions:

BIOS/GPT
Create four partitions. 128MB for, 2MB for BIOS Boot, 1024MB swap and the rest goes to

Format the partitions:

UEFI/GPT
Create four partitions. 128MB for, 32MB for UEFI ESP, 1024MB swap and the rest goes to

Format the partitions:

Stage3
Find nearest mirror from this list.

Navigate to the directory:

Download the stage3 tarball. Be sure to replace the keyword ( in the example below) with the correct architecture:

Unpack the stage3 file:

Chroot
Chroot into the extracted stage3:

Portage
Sync the Portage tree:

User accounts
Change the root password:

Create user(s):

/etc/fstab
Configure to match the actual partitioning performed in the step above:

/etc/portage/make.conf
Set preferred Portage options:

Locale
Set system locale:

Hostname
Edit

Keymap
Edit

Clock
Edit

Timezone
Set the appropriate timezone:

Emerge
The package is the vanilla kernel with the Gentoo patchset applied. Choose between kernel sources. The package contains binary blobs needed for some hardware (WLAN cards).

If has been selected:

Manual
Install pciutils

Discover which modules are required for the system's hardware:

Shorter version:

lspci -nnk | grep "Kernel driver in use:"

Configure kernel by enabling each necessary module in the menuconfig interface. Search for specific module names by pressing in menuconfig. Navigate to the associated feature by pressing the corresponding number listed on the left of the search results.

Once finished build kernel and modules:

Automatic
If things are working nicely in the current install environment, it is possible to use  to select all modules currently loaded by the LiveCD:

Build the kernel and modules:

Install
Install the kernel and modules:

Bootloader
Specify the correct setting for the system's firmware. BIOS/MBR is, 64-bit UEFI is  , 32-bit UEFI is  :

Emerge GRUB2:

Supposing the system has PC BIOS:

Supposing the system has UEFI firmware and the EFI partition is mounted in the directory:

Edit GRUB2's configuration file:

Below is a simple GRUB2 configuration file:

Alternatively use the grub-mkconfig command to generate the configuration file::

Network tools
Install tools needed for configuring the network interfaces:

Clean up
Exit chroot, unmount partitions, and reboot: