Installation on a headless host: Difference between revisions

From Alpine Linux
(reordered the sections and reworded Note about author of repo)
(fine-tune instructions and description)
Line 1: Line 1:
This page documents the installation procedure for Alpine Linux on a headless host i.e a system without keyboard, mouse & display to interact with but otherwise available only through a network connection.
This page documents an easy installation procedure for Alpine Linux on a headless host i.e a system without keyboard, mouse & display to interact with but otherwise available only through a network connection.<br>
It applies to any platforms.


{{Note| These steps still require physical access to the headless host. Somebody has to insert the Install media and power up the headless host.}}
{{Note| These steps still require physical access to the headless host. Somebody has to insert the Install media and power up the headless host.}}


== Headless bootstrap ==   
== Headless bootstrap overlay file ==   


The [https://github.com/macmpi/alpine-linux-headless-bootstrap Headless bootstrap] repo provides a ready to use overlay file to bootstrap a headless system.
The [https://github.com/macmpi/alpine-linux-headless-bootstrap Headless bootstrap] repo provides a ready-to-use overlay file to bootstrap a headless system.<br>
While straightforward to use in default use-case, it also provides many optional settings and advanced modes (unattended installs scripting, secured logon, ssh keys configuration, etc): check homepage for details.


{{Note|The author of above repo macmpi also maintains a number of {{pkg|raspberrypi*|arch=|maintainer=macmpi}} packages for Alpine Linux.}}
{{Note|The author of above repo macmpi also maintains a number of {{pkg|raspberrypi*|arch=|maintainer=macmpi}} packages for Alpine Linux.}}


To Install Alpine Linux on a headless host, a bootstrapping configuration overlay file [https://github.com/macmpi/alpine-linux-headless-bootstrap  headless.apkovl.tar.gz] may be added as-is at the root of Alpine Linux [[Installation#Preparing_installation_media|Installation media]].  
To Install Alpine Linux on a headless host, just add [https://github.com/macmpi/alpine-linux-headless-bootstrap  headless.apkovl.tar.gz] overlay file as-is (along with optional config files) at the root of the Alpine Linux [[Installation#Preparing_installation_media|Installation media]], or custom side media.


To enable wifi, create a file {{Path|wpa_supplicant.conf}} in the install media as follows:{{Cat|wpa_supplicant.conf|<nowiki>country=FR
If using wifi networking, create a file {{Path|wpa_supplicant.conf}} in the same location as follows:{{Cat|wpa_supplicant.conf|<nowiki>country=FR


network={
network={
Line 19: Line 21:
}</nowiki>}}  
}</nowiki>}}  


Alternately, <code>wpa_passphrase</code> utility from {{pkg|wpa_supplicant}} package can be used to create the encrypted version of the above file as follows:{{Codeline| wpa_passphrase 'mySSID' 'myPassPhrase' > wpa_supplicant.conf}}
Alternately, <code>wpa_passphrase</code> utility from {{pkg|wpa_supplicant}} package can be used to create the encrypted version of the above file as follows:{{Codeline| wpa_passphrase 'mySSID' 'myPassPhrase' > wpa_supplicant.conf}}<br>
The above encrypted version of the {{Path|wpa_supplicant.conf}} file may be placed in the Install media.
The above encrypted version of the {{Path|wpa_supplicant.conf}} file may be placed in the same location.
<br><br>
Boot the system with the above setup: usual [[Installation#Installation_Step_Details|Installation steps]] can then be performed remotely using <code>ssh</code>.<br>
To find the ip of your headless host, one may use the {{ic|nmap}} tool from {{pkg|nmap}} package as follows: {{Codeline|nmap -v -sn 192.168.1.0/24}}


With the above setup, the usual [[Installation#Installation_Step_Details|Installation steps]] can be performed remotely using <code>ssh</code>. Use the {{ic|nmap}} tool from {{pkg|nmap}} package as follows: {{Codeline|nmap -v -sn 192.168.1.0/24}} to find the ip of your headless host.
== Alternative custom install media preparation steps==
 
== Custom install media preparation steps==


A Custom-made headless [[Diskless Mode#Apkovl|apkovl]] file can be created as per the below process.
A Custom-made headless [[Diskless Mode#Apkovl|apkovl]] file can be created as per the below process.

Revision as of 08:46, 1 April 2025

This page documents an easy installation procedure for Alpine Linux on a headless host i.e a system without keyboard, mouse & display to interact with but otherwise available only through a network connection.
It applies to any platforms.

Note: These steps still require physical access to the headless host. Somebody has to insert the Install media and power up the headless host.

Headless bootstrap overlay file

The Headless bootstrap repo provides a ready-to-use overlay file to bootstrap a headless system.
While straightforward to use in default use-case, it also provides many optional settings and advanced modes (unattended installs scripting, secured logon, ssh keys configuration, etc): check homepage for details.

Note: The author of above repo macmpi also maintains a number of raspberrypi* packages for Alpine Linux.

To Install Alpine Linux on a headless host, just add headless.apkovl.tar.gz overlay file as-is (along with optional config files) at the root of the Alpine Linux Installation media, or custom side media.

If using wifi networking, create a file wpa_supplicant.conf in the same location as follows:

Contents of wpa_supplicant.conf

country=FR network={ key_mgmt=WPA-PSK ssid="mySSID" psk="myPassPhrase" }

Alternately, wpa_passphrase utility from wpa_supplicant package can be used to create the encrypted version of the above file as follows: wpa_passphrase 'mySSID' 'myPassPhrase' > wpa_supplicant.conf
The above encrypted version of the wpa_supplicant.conf file may be placed in the same location.

Boot the system with the above setup: usual Installation steps can then be performed remotely using ssh.
To find the ip of your headless host, one may use the nmap tool from nmap package as follows: nmap -v -sn 192.168.1.0/24

Alternative custom install media preparation steps

A Custom-made headless apkovl file can be created as per the below process.

This material needs expanding ...

Please feel free to help us complete it.

  • Booting the install media on some computer with a display and keyboard attached, or in a virtual machine, and doing an intermediate "diskless" setup of just the boot media (more details below), i.e. using the offical setup-alpine to configure the system's network, possibly for dhcp if needed, a ssh server, and a login user.
  • Choosing "disks=none" for now, yet, configure to store configs on the boot media (if it is writable, otherwise on a separate storage media).
  • Use lbu commit to store the configs as local backup. Then your completed setup, including its securely created own private keys, will readily get (re)loaded on every subsequent (headless) boot from your custom-build <hostname>.apkovl.tar.gz stored on the boot media (or on an auxilary media or server location, in case the boot media is read-only).

See also

Retrieved from "https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/w/index.php?title=Installation_on_a_headless_host&oldid=29518"