How to get regular stuff working: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:42, 15 February 2025

Alpine Linux is built around Musl libc and BusyBox. This makes it small and very resource efficient. The utilities in BusyBox generally have fewer options and hence missing some functionality when used to daily drive. This page explains how to get the regular utilities working as found in other Linux distributions.

Core utilities

Most of the basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities commonly grouped under Core Utilities are provided by BusyBox. To replace it with original coreutils package:

# apk add coreutils

Util-linux

A set of approximately 100 basic Linux system utilities not included in GNU Core Utilities, such as mount, cfdisk, more, lsblk and kill are maintained under Util-linux. To have the complete util-linux package:

# apk add util-linux

The full featured file pager utility less can be installed from the less package.

Search utilities

Standard search tools grep and find can be installed by installing the packages grep and findutils as follows:

# apk add grep findutils

Bash shell

The default shell used by Alpine Linux is the busybox variant of the ash shell. To install bash shell:

# apk add bash bash-completion

Hardware Management

Install pciutils and usbutils for identifying and configuring PCI and USB hardware using the full featured version of lspci and lsusb commands respectively.

# apk add pciutils usbutils

The packages hwdata-pci and hwdata-usb are dependencies for the above utilities and they are installed automatically. These packages can be removed once the hardware configuration has been completed.

Disk Management

Managing (removable) disks is much easier with udisks.

# apk add udisks2

To see the mounted disks:

# udisksctl status

Network Management

For network, you may want to install iproute2.

# apk add iproute2

Subpackages and missing functionality

In Alpine Linux, binary packages are thinned out and split into subpackages to give more control over what features are installed and keeps the installation as small and efficient as possible. When a package is installed in Alpine Linux, no assumption is made on what features the user wants, so the user might get a false impression of missing functionality.

For eg: NetworkManager, a popular network configuration tool is split into 20+ subpackages based on features. If the user installs networkmanager package or network-manager-applet only the NetworkManager utility and the applet will get installed. To manage Wifi networks or to use commands like nmcli and nmtui the user is expected to add the required subpackages networkmanager-wifi, networkmanager-cli and networkmanager-tui respectively. In other Linux distributions when NetworkManager is installed, all the above features plus bluetooth, adsl, wwan, vpn, l2tp, ppp etc are automatically installed along with their dependencies.

Use package database or apk search <pkgname> to find subpackages related to a package.

Development environment

Compiling in Alpine Linux may be more challenging because it uses musl-libc instead of glibc. The build-base meta package provides regular compiler stuff such as binutils, gcc, g++, make etc..

# apk add build-base

The alpine-sdk meta package is provided to build packages for Alpine Linux. It includes abuild, build-base, and git.

# apk add alpine-sdk

To install CMake:

# apk add cmake extra-cmake-modules

ccache and a lot other tools are also available in Alpine Linux.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+Alpine Linux is built around [[Musl]] libc and [[BusyBox]]. This makes it small and very resource efficient. The utilities in BusyBox generally have fewer options and hence missing some functionality when used to [[Daily driver guide|daily drive]]. This page explains how to get the regular utilities working as found in other Linux distributions.
-== Basic commands and shell hints ==
+== Core utilities ==
+{{Main|GNU core utilities}}
-Alpine comes with busybox by default. Busybox is set up as an endpoint for numerous symlinks that substitute various utilities. Though busybox is not that bad, the busybox replacement commands may still be missing some functionality.
+Most of the basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities commonly grouped under [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GNU_Core_Utilities_commands Core Utilities] are provided by [[BusyBox]]. To replace it with original {{pkg|coreutils}} package:{{Cmd|# apk add {{pkg|coreutils}}}}
-To replace the symlinks to busybox, install:
+== Util-linux  ==
-* Shell utilities (things like grep, [[awk]], ls are all busybox symlinks)
+A set of approximately 100 basic Linux system utilities not included in GNU Core Utilities, such as <code>mount</code>, <code>cfdisk</code>, <code>more</code>, <code>lsblk</code> and <code>kill</code> are maintained under [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Util-linux Util-linux]. To have the complete {{pkg|util-linux}} package:{{Cmd|# apk add {{pkg|util-linux}}}}
-: {{Cmd|apk add {{pkg|util-linux}} {{pkg|pciutils}} {{pkg|usbutils}} {{pkg|coreutils}} {{pkg|binutils}} {{pkg|findutils}} {{pkg|grep}} {{pkg|iproute2}}}}
-* Bash
+The full featured file pager utility <code>less</code> can be installed from the {{pkg|less}} package.
-It's also easy enough to install bash itself:
-: {{Cmd|apk add {{pkg|bash}} {{pkg|bash-completion}}}}
+== Search utilities  ==
-and optionally, change the login shell with '''{{ic|chsh}}'''.
+Standard search tools <code>grep</code> and <code>find</code> can be installed by installing the packages {{pkg|grep}} and {{pkg|findutils}} as follows:{{Cmd|# apk add  {{pkg|grep}} {{pkg|findutils}} }}
+== Bash shell ==
+{{Main|Change default shell}}
+The default shell used by Alpine Linux is the busybox variant of the [[BusyBox#Ash_shell|ash shell]]. To install {{pkg|bash}} shell: {{Cmd|# apk add {{pkg|bash}} {{pkg|bash-completion}}}}
+== Hardware Management ==
+Install {{pkg|pciutils}} and {{pkg|usbutils}} for identifying and configuring PCI and USB hardware using the full featured version of <code>lspci</code> and <code>lsusb</code> commands respectively. {{Cmd|# apk add {{pkg|pciutils}} {{pkg|usbutils}}}}
+The packages {{pkg|hwdata-pci}} and {{pkg|hwdata-usb}} are dependencies for the above utilities and they are installed automatically. These packages can be removed once the hardware configuration has been completed.
 == Disk Management ==
-Managing (removable) disk is much easier with udisks
+Managing (removable) disks is much easier with udisks. {{Cmd|# apk add {{pkg|udisks2}}}}
+To see the mounted disks:{{Cmd|# udisksctl status}}
+== Network Management ==
+For network, you may want to install {{pkg|iproute2}}. {{Cmd|# apk add {{pkg|iproute2}}}}
-Installation
+== Subpackages and missing functionality  ==
-{{Cmd|apk add {{pkg|udisks2}}}}
+In Alpine Linux, binary packages are thinned out and split into subpackages to give more control over what features are installed and keeps the installation as small and efficient as possible. When a package is installed in Alpine Linux, no assumption is made on what features the user wants, so the user might get a false impression of missing functionality.
-To see the mounted disks
+For eg: [https://networkmanager.dev/ NetworkManager], a popular network configuration tool is split into 20+ subpackages based on features. If the user installs {{pkg|networkmanager}} package or {{pkg|network-manager-applet}} only the NetworkManager utility and the applet will get installed. To manage Wifi networks or to use commands like <Code>nmcli</Code> and <Code>nmtui</Code> the user is expected to add the required subpackages {{pkg|networkmanager-wifi}}, {{pkg|networkmanager-cli}} and {{pkg|networkmanager-tui}} respectively. In other Linux distributions when NetworkManager is installed, all the above features plus bluetooth, adsl, wwan, vpn, l2tp, ppp etc are automatically installed along with their dependencies.
-{{Cmd|udisksctl status}}
+Use [https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/packages package database] or {{Codeline|<Code>apk search <pkgname></Code>}} to find subpackages related to a package.
-== Compiling : a few notes and a reminder  ==
+== Development environment ==
-Compiling in Alpine may be more challenging because it uses [https://musl.libc.org/ musl-libc] instead of glibc. Please review [https://wiki.musl-libc.org/functional-differences-from-glibc.html 'The functional differences with glibc' ] if you think of porting packages or just for the sake of knowing, of course.
+Compiling in Alpine Linux may be more challenging because it uses [https://musl.libc.org/ musl-libc] instead of glibc. The {{pkg|build-base}} meta package provides regular compiler stuff such as {{pkg|binutils}}, {{pkg|gcc}}, {{pkg|g++}}, {{pkg|make}} etc..
-Alpine offers the regular compiler stuff like gcc and cmake ... possible others
+{{Cmd|# apk add {{pkg|build-base}}}}
-==== (unvalidated) apk packages to install so one can start building software ====
+The {{pkg|alpine-sdk}} meta package is provided to build packages for Alpine Linux.  It includes {{pkg|abuild}}, {{pkg|build-base}}, and {{pkg|git}}.
-{{Cmd|apk add build-base abuild}}
-==== a complete install for cmake looks like ====
+{{Cmd|# apk add {{pkg|alpine-sdk}}}}
-{{Cmd|apk add cmake extra-cmake-modules}}
+To install CMake:
-==== ccache is also available ====
+{{Cmd|# apk add {{pkg|cmake}} {{pkg|extra-cmake-modules}}}}
-{{Cmd|apk add ccache}}
+{{pkg|ccache}} and a lot other tools are also available in Alpine Linux.
 [[Category:Installation]]
+[[category: System Administration]]