Device Manager: Difference between revisions

From Alpine Linux
(added the current recommended device manager as Include:Setup Device Manager)
(udev can be made to work without other systemd components)
 
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* '''[[eudev]]''' is a complex, full-featured one.
* '''[[eudev]]''' is a complex, full-featured one.


'''udev''' is not available in Alpine Linux, since it depends on systemd which is not available. Use [[eudev]] instead.
'''udev''' is not available in Alpine Linux, use [[eudev]] instead which includes patches to make to work better without other systemd components.
 
{{:Include:Setup Device Manager}}
{{:Include:Setup Device Manager}}



Latest revision as of 17:46, 6 September 2025

A device manager is a program that manages device files in the /dev directory. Permissions and changes in /dev are handled by it.

Alpine linux has several device managers available:

  • mdev (from busybox) is the default.
  • mdevd is standalone, compatible with mdev, more efficient.
  • eudev is a complex, full-featured one.

udev is not available in Alpine Linux, use eudev instead which includes patches to make to work better without other systemd components.

Setting up eudev as device manager on a desktop system is recommended. The alpine-conf package provides setup-devd script to easily install and setup device managers.

To set up eudev, issue the command:

# setup-devd udev

Do I need a device manager?

Yes! Even for very specific use cases you would most likely just create a custom device manager.

See also