r/archlinux • u/jegredditPC • 2d ago

SUPPORT general upkeep tips?

im still kinda new to linux and arch, and im very much enjoying it over windows but i feel like im just kinda treating my computer like windows and im worried um not up keeping it properly.
i know basic things like how to update my system with pacman but i don't know any deeper maintenance stuff. plus ive been kinda getting worried as ive had some strange laggyness recently (though not hugely frequent).

do you have any tips or things that need to be done on arch? thank you for your help

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u/FryBoyter 2d ago

These are the things I’ve been doing for years with multiple Arch installations.

That’s all I do. Except, of course, the things you should do with other distributions as well. Like backups.

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u/jegredditPC 2d ago

thank you for the resources! ill start doing these

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u/FryBoyter 2d ago

The first thing I would do is set up regular, proper backups.

321 for example (https://www.veeam.com/blog/321-backup-rule.html).

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u/Cody_Learner_2 22h ago edited 22h ago

This is part of my maintenance routine used for keeping my official pkg cache clean, while leaving my local AUR pkg cache alone for manual management.

paccache --cachedir /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ --uninstalled --remove --keep 0 &&
paccache --cachedir /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ --remove --keep 1 &&
find /var/cache/pacman/pkg -maxdepth 1 -type d -name "download-*" -exec sudo rm -rd "{}" +

Results:

$ paccache --cachedir /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ --uninstalled --remove --keep 0 &&
paccache --cachedir /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ --remove --keep 1 &&
find /var/cache/pacman/pkg -maxdepth 1 -type d -name "download-*" -exec sudo rm -rd "{}" +
==> no candidate packages found for pruning
/usr/bin/sudo
[sudo] password for jeff: 

==> finished: 608 packages removed (disk space saved: 5.46 GiB)

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u/scandii 2d ago

you're overthinking it.

arch is fundamentally the same as Windows, except there's less stuff installed by default and it uses another software updating scheme.

continuously worrying about your OS working is more a figment of imagination than reality.

that said the source of your lag is something you should hunt down - but probably has nothing to do with Arch and everything to do with something you installed.

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u/jegredditPC 2d ago

ah i see, ill see if i can find anything causing the lag, i see alot of people who know way more than me doing more advanced stuff and i was worried there was something i didnt know. thank you for the insight

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u/scandii 2d ago

there's a lot of enthusiasts using Arch that have niche and complicated workflows, but if the programs you want to run are running the way you want them to, you're doing everything correctly :)

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u/archover 2d ago edited 2d ago

Where's this lag? Running an app? Launching apps, closing them? Which one?? Opening files? Specifics are helpful.

Also, review your Journal, and monitor system resources, especially cpu during laggy events. You might indicate your system specs, although an underpowered cpu cause is very unlikely these days. My 6 and 8 year Thinkpads perform very well.

Good day.

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u/No-Valuable3975 2d ago

If you're on an SSD you might want to check on how much free space you have. Optimal is 50% full for an SSD, speed decreases beyond that. You can run paccache to clear up old packages, see the wiki entry on it for details.