Introduction

Welcome, brave sysadmin or curious tinkerer! You’re about to embark on a quest to install Alpine Linux—
the nimble, security-oriented, and resource-sipping distro that would make even a hummingbird jealous.
In this guide, we’ll walk through every step from downloading the ISO to performing post-install tweaks,
all served with a side of lighthearted humor. Strap in, grab your favorite beverage, and let’s get Alpine!

Why Alpine Linux?

• Size: The base ISO is under 200 MB. Perfect for rehabituating old hardware or containers.
• Security: Uses musl instead of glibc and PaX/Grsecurity patches by default.
• Simplicity: A simple package manager (apk) and minimal services out of the box.
• Performance: Blazing fast boot times and low memory footprint.

Prerequisites

• A computer or virtual machine with at least 512 MB RAM (1 GB recommended).
• 4 GB storage (SSD recommended, but a spinning rust drive can work).
• Internet connection for package downloads.
• USB stick (2 GB ) or CD/DVD burner for boot media.
• Basic familiarity with Linux commands—if you’re starting from zero,
  don’t worry, we’ll spell out each command.

1. Downloading Alpine Linux

Head over to the official website:
https://alpinelinux.org/downloads/
and grab the latest Standard ISO for x86_64 (unless you’re on ARM or another arch).

2. Creating Boot Media

• On Linux/macOS:

  dd if=alpine-standard-3.x.x-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync

  Replace /dev/sdX with your USB device. Double‐check before pressing enter!

• On Windows: Use Rufus or Etcher—point to the ISO, select your USB,
  and click “Start.” No rocket science required.

3. Booting Alpine Linux

1. Insert your USB stick or boot the VM with the ISO attached.
2. Select “Alpine Linux” from the boot menu and hit Enter.
3. At the localhost login: prompt, type root (no password).

Note: If it sits there like a shy cat, press Enter one more time.

4. Setting Up the Installation

Alpine provides an interactive installer wizard called setup-alpine. Let’s launch it:

setup-alpine

The wizard will prompt you for:

• Keyboard layout (e.g. us, uk, de).
• Hostname—pick something memorable (and appropriate for DNS).
• Network interface—DHCP or static IP config.
• Time zone—no excuses for wrong timestamps in logs.
• Root password—make it strong enough to survive dictionary attacks.
• Disk selection and layout—use /dev/sda or the disk of your choice.
• Mirror—choose a geographically close Alpine repository.
• Package set—sys and sshd are typical add more later.

5. Disk Partitioning

The installer can auto-partition or let you handle it manually. For control-freaks, choose manual:

cfdisk /dev/sda

• Create a boot partition (e.g. 512 MB, type Linux).
• Create a root partition (remaining space, type Linux).
• (Optional) Create a swap partition if you need it.

6. Finalizing Installation

After partitions and package selections, the installer writes to disk, installs APK base, and
configures fstab. When prompted:

reboot

Don’t forget to remove the USB stick—or your machine will boot Alpine again with the installer!

7. First Boot and Post-Install Steps

1. Log in as root with the password you set.
2. Update package index and upgrade:

apk update
apk upgrade

3. Enable SSH if you didn’t during setup:

rc-update add sshd
rc-service sshd start

4. Create a non-root user:

adduser -h /home/youruser youruser
adduser youruser wheel

5. Allow wheel group sudoers:

sed -i s/# %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL/%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL/ /etc/sudoers

8. Advanced Tips Tricks

• Persistent Logging: Alpine logs to /var/log but by default some levels go to tmpfs.
  Mount a disk-backed log partition if you care about long-term logs.
• Add Repositories:

  echo http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.x/main >> /etc/apk/repositories

• Lightweight Desktop: Install XFCE or LXDE with just a few apk add commands.
• Container Fun: Alpine is hugely popular in Docker. Try:

  docker run -it alpine sh

• Backups: Use rsync or tar scripts to snapshot /etc and your home directories.

9. Common Pitfalls

• No Internet? Check /etc/network/interfaces and DNS in /etc/resolv.conf.
• SSH Refused: Ensure /etc/ssh/sshd_config allows root login or your user.
• Locale Issues: Alpine is minimalist about locales—install alpine-conf and re-run setup-alpine if needed.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You now have a lean, mean Alpine Linux machine humming away. Whether you’ll use it
for containers, a home server, or just to impress your friends, you’ve gained not only a distro but
also bragging rights. For more details, check the official docs:
https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/.
Go forth and conquer the digital peaks with Alpine!