Create a Bootable Device: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:18, 3 January 2016

Creating a bootable Alpine Linux USB Stick from the command line

This process applies to Alpine Linux 1.9.0 or later, and results in a run-from-ram style installation.

Warning: This process can potentially totally or partly erase the contents of your hard drive. For this reason, it is recommended to do this procedure using VirtualBox rather than your own computer.

Requirements

In order to follow this document, you will need:

Alpine Linux CD-ROM (Download a .iso file containing an Alpine release.)
A USB drive (flash, external HD, card reader, etc.)

= Alpine Linux from 3.3.0 and later

From Alpine Linux 3.3.0, the generated ISO's are a hybridISO, which means they contain a valid MBR and can be raw copied directly to the USB stick, Hard Drive (If you really know what you're doing), or burnt to a CD/DVD.

If the USB stick is in a Unix/Linux/OSX system, you will need to find out what the USB device is (I use fdisk -l), and then you can use dd to copy the iso to it:

 dd if=alpine.iso of=/dev/sdx

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Slow USB Devices

Specifying the 'waitusb=X' option at the end of the syslinux.cfg line might help with certain USB devices that take a bit longer to register. X stands for the amount of seconds kernel will wait before looking for the installation media.

append initrd=/boot/grsec.gz alpine_dev=usbdisk:vfat modules=loop,cramfs,sd-mod,usb-storage quiet waitusb=3

Configure Networking
Setting up a SSH server (Using ssh is a good way to administer your box remotely)
Package Management (apk) (How to add/remove packages on your Alpine)
Init System (rc) (Configure a service to automatically boot at next reboot)
Alpine local backup (lbu) (Permanently store your modifications in case your box needs reboot)

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 * Alpine Linux CD-ROM ([[Downloads|Download]] a .iso file containing an Alpine release.)
 * A USB drive (flash, external HD, card reader, etc.)
+=== Alpine Linux from 3.3.0 and later ==
+From Alpine Linux 3.3.0, the generated ISO's are a hybridISO, which means they contain a valid MBR and can be raw copied directly to the USB stick, Hard Drive (If you really know what you're doing), or burnt to a CD/DVD.
+If the USB stick is in a Unix/Linux/OSX system, you will need to find out what the USB device is (I use '''fdisk -l'''), and then you can use '''dd''' to copy the iso to it:
+  dd if=alpine.iso of=/dev/sdx
 {{:Include:Copying Alpine to Flash|USB stick}}