# Kerno on ArchLinux (btw)

This page explains how to configure your development environment on Arch Linux to run Kerno end-to-end tests. Kerno relies on Docker to build and run a custom `docker-compose.yml` that mirrors your codebase locally and allows automated E2E testing.

### Docker Desktop on ArchLinux

Docker Desktop is not officially supported on ArchLinux. It may fail with errors such as:

```
qemu: process terminated unexpectedly: signal: aborted (core dumped)
```

These issues are commonly related to kernel updates, QEMU integration, or unsupported system configurations. For ArchLinux, Docker Engine installed directly from the distribution repositories is the recommended and supported approach. 

{% hint style="info" %}
We highly recommend uninstalling Docker Desktop and install the deamon directly instead.
{% endhint %}

### Docker installation on ArchLinux

Docker must be installed using the official Arch Linux packages. Following the Arch [Wiki documentation](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Docker):

```bash
sudo pacman -Syu
sudo pacman -S docker
sudo systemctl enable --now docker
```

You can verify the installation with:

```bash
docker info
```

### Docker Compose

Kerno requires Docker Compose v2, which uses the following syntax:

```bash
docker compose
```

The legacy `docker-compose` command is deprecated and should not be used. Installation instructions for the `docker compose` plugin are available in the official [Docker documentation](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/linux/), follow the manual installation, since ArchLinux distro isn't supported.

After installation, verify with:

```bash
docker compose version
```

### Verification checklist

Before using Kerno, ensure the following commands work without `sudo`:

```bash
docker info
docker run hello-world
docker compose version
```

If these commands succeed, your system is correctly configured to run Kerno end-to-end tests.

{% hint style="info" %}
If you encounter issues or have questions, [message us on Discord](https://discord.gg/k8yA9tZdP9), and we’ll gladly help.
{% endhint %}


---

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