Software management

2025-07-17T23:55:23Z

Candrew: Change Arch Linux bootstrap download to zst

This page documents various ways to manage software in Alpine Linux. [[#Graphical software manager|Graphical software managers]] are available to supplement [[#Alpine Package Keeper|apk]] to manage official software packages along with [[#Flatpak|Flatpaks]].

This page also documents ways to [[#Running glibc programs|run software compiled with glibc]] including graphical programs like {{ic|Visual Studio Code}}, {{ic|google-chrome}}, {{ic|obsidian}} etc...

== Alpine package keeper ==
{{Main|Alpine Package Keeper}}
The official package manager in Alpine Linux [[Alpine Package Keeper|Alpine Package Keeper(apk)]] is a cli tool. [[Comparison_with_other_distros#Comparison_chart/Rosetta_Stone|Rosetta stone]] shows how standard package management tasks are done in Alpine Linux compared to other popular distributions.

== Graphical software manager ==

The following graphical tools are available to manage software packages from [[Repositories|official repositories]] and [[#Flatpak|Flatpaks]].

=== Gnome software ===

Gnome [[GNOME#Configuration|Software]] can be used as a GUI front end for apk for managing official software packages and flatpaks.

=== KDE Discover ===

KDE [[KDE#Discover|Discover]] can be used as a GUI front end for apk for managing official software packages and flatpaks.

== Flatpak ==
{{Main|Flatpak}}

[[Flatpak#Installing_Flatpak|Flatpak]] is by far the easiest method for running programs not available in the official Alpine Linux [[Repositories|repositories]]. To use flatpaks, ensure that [[Flatpak#Installing_Flatpak|Flathub repository]] is enabled.

== Running glibc programs ==

If you want to run [https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/ glibc] programs in Alpine Linux, there are a few ways of doing so.

For simpler binaries, you can install [[#gcompat|gcompat]] a compatibility layer or you could do it the easy way and use [[#Flatpak|Flatpaks]]. See [[#Containers|containers]] or [[#Chroot|chroot]] section for ways to run glibc programs including graphical ones.

=== gcompat ===

[https://git.adelielinux.org/adelie/gcompat gcompat] is a library which provides glibc-compatible APIs for use on musl libc systems like Alpine Linux. To install issue the command: {{cmd|apk add {{pkg|gcompat}}}}
After that you run your binaries as normal.

For an usage example, refer [[Firefox#DRM_content_using_Widevine_workaround|Firefox]] page, where gcompat is used to run glibc compiled Widevine binary.

== Chroot ==
{{Main|Chroot}}
An option that's easier to generalize to other glibc applications is installing a glibc-based distribution into a chroot. You can then either chroot into it, or use a symlink and some configuration to make its glibc (and associated libraries) usable from Alpine.

{{Tip|The most reliable way to enter a chroot is to use the [[Chroot#Enter_chroot|start-chroot]] script.}}

After setting up a chroot using any of the methods described below, the loader can be set up in Alpine like so (these instructions are for a Debian chroot in /var/chroots/debian, on x86_64, but can be adapted to other systems by using the appropriate paths):

{{cmd|mkdir -p /lib64
ln -s /var/chroots/debian/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ld-2.33.so /lib64
printf '/var/chroots/debian/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu\n/var/chroots/debian/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu\n' > /etc/ld.so.conf
/var/chroots/debian/sbin/ldconfig}}

=== Gentoo Linux ===

Select a stage3 from [https://www.gentoo.org/downloads/ here] and portage latest from [https://www.gentoo.org/downloads/mirrors/ here] at gentoo/snapshots/portage-latest.tar.xz.

First,{{cmd|doas apk add {{pkg|xz}}}}

Enter the chroot:
{{cmd|mkdir ~/chroot
cd ~/chroot
tar -xvf stage3-*.tar.xz
tar -xvf portage-latest.tar.xz
mv portage usr
doas mount --bind /dev dev
doas mount --bind /sys sys
doas mount -t proc proc proc
cp /etc/resolv.conf etc
doas chroot . /bin/bash}}

And voilà, you have your working Gentoo chroot!<br>

You can now take a look at [https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:Main_Page Gentoo's Handbook] to find out how you can configure and install your system, or simply extract/copy the program you need to run in your chroot enviroment and execute it.

Here is a wrapper script that is similar to <code>arch-chroot</code> when you frequently reuse this chroot:

Also, create an account with the same user name as host current user to the chroot or make changes to the userspec option to chroot line.

{{Cat|gentoo-chroot.sh|<nowiki>!/bin/bash
CHROOT_PATH="/home/$USER/chroot"
cd $CHROOT_PATH
mount | grep $CHROOT_PATH/dev || doas mount --bind /dev dev
mount | grep $CHROOT_PATH/sys || doas mount --bind /sys sys
mount | grep $CHROOT_PATH/proc || doas mount -t proc proc proc
cp /etc/resolv.conf etc
doas chroot --userspec=$USER:users . /bin/bash
echo "You must manually unmount $CHROOT_PATH/dev, $CHROOT_PATH/sys, $CHROOT_PATH/proc."
</nowiki>
}}

Do at <code>chmod +x gentoo-chroot.sh</code> to get it to work.

=== Arch Linux ===
{{Seealso|Installing ArchLinux inside an Alpine chroot}}
Either use '''pacstrap''' (included with the arch-install-scripts package) or an Arch bootstrap image:

{{cmd|doas apk add {{pkg|arch-install-scripts}}
mkdir ~/chroot && cd ~/chroot
curl -O https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/archlinux/iso/latest/archlinux-bootstrap-x86_64.tar.zst
doas tar -x --zstd -f archlinux-bootstrap-x86_64.tar.zst && rm archlinux-bootstrap-x86_64.tar.zst
doas sed -i '/evowise/s/^#//' root.x86_64/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
doas sed -i '/CheckSpace/s/^/#/' root.x86_64/etc/pacman.conf
doas arch-chroot root.x86_64
[chroot]# pacman-key --init
[chroot]# pacman-key --populate archlinux}}

Once that is done, update the system and install the desired package(s) (denoted by ''"foo"'' in this example):

{{cmd|[chroot]# pacman -Syu ''foo''}}

=== Debian ===

Alpine Linux provides {{pkg|debootstrap}} package to create the Debian chroot. Here are the steps: {{cmd|<nowiki># apk add debootstrap
# mkdir -p /var/chroots/debian
# debootstrap --arch amd64 stable /var/chroots/debian/ https://deb.debian.org/debian </nowiki>}}

The {{ic|--arch}} is optional, depending on your needs.

For updating the Chroot or for installing applications i.e packages and their dependencies using {{ic|apt-get}}, mount it and then login as root:
{{cmd|<nowiki># mount --bind /dev /var/chroots/debian/dev
# mount --bind /proc /var/chroots/debian/proc
# mount --bind /dev/pts /var/chroots/debian/dev/pts
# chroot /var/chroots/debian /bin/bash
[chroot]# apt update && apt upgrade</nowiki>}}

After installing the necessary applications and what you might want to do, exit the chroot and umount the binds for /dev/pts, dev and proc to avoid issues.
{{cmd|<nowiki># umount /var/chroots/debian/dev/pts
# umount /var/chroots/debian/dev
# umount /var/chroots/debian/proc</nowiki>}}

== Containers ==

=== Distrobox + Podman ===

[[Distrobox]] combined with [[Podman|podman]] container running in rootless mode allows running [[Distrobox#Running_graphical_programs|glibc compiled graphical programs]] easy. This doesn't require root privileges once set up.

=== Bubblewrap + Chroot===

A script {{ic|glibc}} is used to create a container using [[Bubblewrap]] where a [[#Debian|Debian chroot]] is the content of that container. It's not just a chroot anymore; it's a bubblewrap powered isolated environment. This allows running graphical programs easy and doesn't require root privileges once installed.

[[Install]] the {{pkg|bubblewrap}} package.

Set up [[#Debian|Debian chroot]] at {{path|/var/chroots/debian}} and install necessary glibc applications using {{ic|apt-get}}.

Create an alias {{ic|glibc}} using bwrap in the Alpine Linux host to start applications from the [[#Debian|Debian chroot]].

{{cmd|$ alias glibc{{=}}"LANG{{=}}en_US.UTF-8 bwrap --bind /var/chroots/debian / --dev-bind /dev /dev --proc /proc --bind /sys /sys --bind /run /run --bind /home /home --ro-bind /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf --ro-bind /etc/passwd /etc/passwd --ro-bind /etc/group /etc/group"}}

To run programs that use X11/Xorg you can use:
{{cmd|$ alias glibcX11{{=}}"LANG{{=}}en_US.UTF-8 bwrap --bind /var/chroots/debian / --dev-bind /dev /dev --proc /proc --bind /sys /sys --bind /run /run --bind /home /home --ro-bind /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf --ro-bind /etc/passwd /etc/passwd --ro-bind /etc/group /etc/group --bind /tmp/.X11-unix/X0 /tmp/.X11-unix/X0 --setenv DISPLAY :0"}}

In this case you might need to use {{ic|xhost}} on the Alpine Linux host to allow local connections, e.g.:
{{cmd|# xhost + local:}}

Now we can invoke glibc-built binaries using the alias from the Alpine Linux host like so:
{{cmd|$ glibc ./binary}} or {{cmd|$ glibcX11 ./binary}}

When [[Wayland]] desktop like [[Sway]] runs without {{pkg|xwayland}} on the Alpine Linux host, electron apps like {{ic|vscode}}, {{ic|google-chrome}} etc needs to be started as follows:{{ic|<nowiki>$ glibc code --ozone-platform=wayland</nowiki>}}.

== See also ==

* [[Alpine Package Keeper]]
* [[Installing ArchLinux inside an Alpine chroot]]
* [[Compile software from source]]

[[Category:Package Manager]]
[[Category:Development]]

Alpine Linux - User contributions [en]

Software management