Revision as of 17:04, 12 July 2020

This page will tell you what requirements you will need to use the Alpine Linux operating system.

Hardware requirements
- Architectures
- Memory
- Storage
- Peripherals
Software requirements
- Media
- Booting
- Storage
- Firmware

By example for server gui less any are enough and will run, but more powered task like web browsing will need recent hardware, as of minimum 2012 year.

Hardware

For installation and usage take in consideration Alpine can run in several devices, from the popular PC machine also including video consoles, yo must check:

- Architectures
- Memory
- Storage
- Peripherals

Architectures

Means kind of computer, The most popular is the misnamed "intel IBM PC" or "i386" which is actually in fact the x86 or x64, there are other computers supporteds that are not "x86" like mainframes also servers, as embebed devices.. inclusivelly routers like Sonicwall and Cisco ones. Here are the supported:

Supported Arch	Supported since	Meaning of installation and target architecture
x86_64	all	The popular AMD64 compatible 64-bit x86 based machines, i386 is not recommended for newer/latest hardware.
x86	all	The all popular 32 bit intel (i386 pc 32bit) and x86_64 (i686 pc 64bit and amd64)compatible (both)
ppc64le	v3.6	For the PowerPC devices with pure little-endian mode, mostly for POWER8 and POWER9
armhf	v3.0	The newer ARM hard-float for newer, more powerful 32-bit devices alongside 64-bit. Including video consoles!
armv7	v3.9	The 32-bit ARM only execution state of the ARMv7 devices machines. Including video consoles!
aarch64	v3.5	The 64-bit ARM only execution state of the ARMv8 device machines.
ppc64le	v3.6	for 64-bit big-endian PowerPC and Power ISA processors like some MAC computers.
s390x	v3.6	For the Super powered IBM mainframes, especially IBM Z and IBM LinuxONE servers.

Memory

Means minimum amount of RAM memory. Need of RAM it depends of the meaning of the installation, any hardware are supported and there is minimum sizes for:

Target Arch	Minimum RAM to start	Minimum RAM to install	Minimum RAM for GUI desktop	Enough for GUI work
x86_64	512 Megs	512 Megs	2 Gigs	8 Gigs
x86_32	128 Megs	256 Megs	1 Gigs	3 Gigs
ppc64le	128 Megs	256 Megs	2 Gigs	8 Gigs
armhf	256 Megs	512 Megs	1 Gigs	6 Gigs
armv7	256 Megs	512 Megs	1 Gigs	6 Gigs
aarch64	256 Megs	512 Megs	2 Gigs	8 Gigs
ppc64le	256 Megs	512 Megs	1 Gigs	6 Gigs
s390x	128 Megs	256 Megs	2 Gigs	N/A

Storage

Means any external or internal storage device that can be added after or before install to use by the Alpine Linux system. Currently depends of the current linux kernel supported.

All the PATA and SATA hard disk drives are supported, also any USB or SD card that can be detected by USB BUS by the linux kernel subsystem during install.

Peripherals

Means any external or internal device that can be added after or before install to detectd by the Alpine Linux system. Currently depends of the current linux kernel supported.

ISA devices are not supported since 3.8 because kernel drops support.

Software requirements

- Media
- Booting
- Storage
- Firmware

Media

Means the files need for dump the install media, and later boot from the target install machine, of course downloaded from http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/ or main Download page.

Available for	ISO (for USB, CD/DVD)	IMG (for Netboot)	TAR (for ROOTFS, in tar.gz)
x86_64	YES	YES	N/A
x86	YES	YES	N/A
ppc64le	NO	YES	YES
armhf	NO	YES	YES
armv7	NO	YES	YES
aarch64	YES	YES	YES
ppc64le	YES	YES	N/A
s390x	YES	YES	N/A

Booting

Means support for kind of BIOS setup of machine, and where can be media downloaded will be boot, please for more info check Alpine and UEFI wiki page.

Supported Arch	Supported bios	Supported types	Media boot recomended
x86_64	Coreboot, Vendor/OEM	BIOS, UEFI	USB, CD/DVD (ISO)
x86	Coreboot, Vendor/OEM	BIOS, UEFI	USB, CD/DVD (ISO)
ppc64le	Coreboot, Vendor/OEM	BIOS, UEFI	USB, CD/DVD (ISO)
armhf	Uboot, Vendor/OEM	BIOS, UEFI	NET, MINIROOTFS (TAR.GZ)
armv7	Uboot, Vendor/OEM	BIOS, UEFI	NET, MINIROOTFS (TAR.GZ)
aarch64	?Coreboot?, Vendor/OEM	BIOS, ?UEFI?	USB, CD/DVD (ISO)
ppc64le	?Coreboot?, Vendor/OEM	BIOS, ?UEFI?	NET, MINIROOTFS (TAR.GZ)
s390x	Vendor/OEM	BIOS, ?UEFI?	USB, CD/DVD

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 This page will tell you what requirements you will need to use the Alpine Linux operating system.
-# Hardware requirements
+* Hardware requirements
 ** Architectures
 ** Memory
 ** Storage
 ** Peripherals
-# Software requirements
+* Software requirements
 ** Media
 ** Booting
@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 {| class="wikitable sortable"
 |-
-! Target Arch !! Minimum RAM to start !! Minimum RAM to install !! Minimum RAM for GUI
+! Target Arch !! Minimum RAM to start !! Minimum RAM to install !! Minimum RAM for GUI desktop !! Enough for GUI work
 |-
-| x86_64 || 512 Megs || 512 Megs || 2 Gigs
+| x86_64 || 512 Megs || 512 Megs || 2 Gigs || 8 Gigs
 |-
-| x86_32 || 128 Megs || 256 Megs || 1 Gigs
+| x86_32 || 128 Megs || 256 Megs || 1 Gigs || 3 Gigs
 |-
-| ppc64le || 128 Megs || 256 Megs || 2 Gigs
+| ppc64le || 128 Megs || 256 Megs || 2 Gigs || 8 Gigs
 |-
-| armhf || 256 Megs || 512 Megs || 2 Gigs
+| armhf || 256 Megs || 512 Megs || 1 Gigs || 6 Gigs
 |-
-| armv7 || 256 Megs || 512 Megs || 2 Gigs
+| armv7 || 256 Megs || 512 Megs || 1 Gigs || 6 Gigs
 |-
-| aarch64 || 256 Megs || 512 Megs || 2 Gigs
+| aarch64 || 256 Megs || 512 Megs || 2 Gigs || 8 Gigs
 |-
-| ppc64le || 256 Megs || 512 Megs || 2 Gigs
+| ppc64le || 256 Megs || 512 Megs || 1 Gigs || 6 Gigs
 |-
-| s390x || 128 Megs || 256 Megs || 2 Gigs
+| s390x || 128 Megs || 256 Megs || 2 Gigs || N/A
 |}
@@ Line 100: / Line 100: @@
 ! Available for !! ISO (for USB, CD/DVD) !! IMG (for Netboot)  !! TAR (for ROOTFS, in tar.gz)
 |-
-| x86_64 || YES || YES || none
+| x86_64 || YES || YES || N/A
 |-
-| x86 || YES || YES || none
+| x86 || YES || YES || N/A
 |-
 | ppc64le || NO || YES || YES
@@ Line 112: / Line 112: @@
 | aarch64 ||  YES || YES || YES
 |-
-| ppc64le || YES || YES || none
+| ppc64le || YES || YES || N/A
 |-
-| s390x || YES || YES || none
+| s390x || YES || YES || N/A
 |}

Requirements: Difference between revisions