The first time you boot into your installed Maze Linux system, the Maze Welcome app opens automatically. It introduces key features and self-removes its autostart entry so it only appears once.
The Welcome app launches on first boot and walks you through:
It will not appear again after you close it on first boot.
sudo pacman -Syu
Maze uses Arch Linux's rolling release model. Updates are incremental and frequent — run this regularly.
The Maze Control Center is your central dashboard. Launch it from the application menu or run:
maze-control-center
It shows the live status of every security service, MAC randomization state, the Ollama AI runtime, and system maintenance info. Each action is displayed as a copyable terminal command — nothing runs without you explicitly executing it.
All of the following are enabled and running from first boot. Confirm they are active:
systemctl status apparmor
systemctl status firewalld
systemctl status auditd
Maze Guard monitors the network you are connected to for MITM and ARP-spoofing attacks. It autostarts on the desktop.
Flathub is already configured as a Flatpak remote. Install additional apps from KDE Discover or the terminal:
flatpak install flathub <app-id>
flatpak update
paru is the preinstalled AUR helper. Install any AUR package with:
paru -S <package-name>
paru searches both official repos and the AUR, compiles from source in an isolated environment, and installs the result.
Firefox ships with a hardened default profile:
No configuration needed — it is already private. To use a different DNS-over-HTTPS provider, go to Settings → Privacy & Security → DNS over HTTPS.
Ollama is installed and starts on boot automatically. Pull your first model:
ollama pull llama3
Check the service status:
systemctl status ollama
See the AI & Development page for model recommendations and GPU acceleration details.
Maze does not run a standalone DNSCrypt service. Encrypted DNS is one of the layers Entropy Shield turns on when you start it — together with its Tor transparent proxy and I2P options.
entropy-shield # or launch it from the menu
Out of the box the resolver is systemd-resolved. See Privacy.
fwupd is preinstalled. Check for and install firmware updates:
fwupdmgr refresh
fwupdmgr update
Virtualization is not installed by default — this is deliberate, to keep the ISO lean. The whole KVM stack is one command away:
sudo pacman -S qemu-desktop libvirt virt-manager edk2-ovmf
sudo systemctl enable --now libvirtd
sudo usermod -aG libvirt,kvm "$USER" # log out and back in
If you prefer VMware Workstation, Maze ships a helper that sets it up for you:
maze-install-vmware
Zsh with Oh My Zsh is the default shell. If you prefer bash:
chsh -s /bin/bash
| Path | Purpose |
|---|---|
/etc/maze-installer/ | Installer config templates |
/usr/local/bin/ | Maze custom scripts and tools |
/usr/local/lib/maze/ | Maze Python libraries (maze_status, maze_ui) |
/etc/sysctl.d/99-maze-hardening.conf | Kernel hardening parameters |
/etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/99-maze-cloak.conf | Maze Cloak NetworkManager rules |