Requirements
This page will tell you what requirements you will need to use the Alpine Linux operating system:
Hardware requirements
For installation and usage consider that Alpine can run on several kinds of devices, from the popular PC machine to video game consoles like the Game Boy Advance and the 3DS, and as such you must check the following of your machine:
- Architecture
- Memory
- Storage
- Peripherals
Architectures
Architecture means kind of computer. The most popular architecture is the misnamed "Intel IBM PC" or "i386" which is actually in fact the x86 or x64. There are other supported computer architectures that are not "x86", like mainframes, servers, and embedded devices (such as routers like Sonicwall and Cisco ones). Here are the architectures supported by Alpine:
| 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 games! |
| armv7 | v3.9 | The 32-bit ARM only execution state of the ARMv7 devices machines. Including video game consoles! |
| aarch64 | v3.5 | The 64-bit ARM only execution state of the ARMv8 device machines. Like Rasberri's |
| 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.
Almost any GPU are supported, but for advanced features, 3D acceleration are manager by MESA project:
- Intel: mostly any Intel by one exception, intel i810/i815 will lack of features cos only has 4Mb memory, Mesa and Linux drop theit support.
- ATI/AMD, only radeon series with exception of recent two last years respect Alpine release, Rage r128/match64 series has limited support.
- Nvidia: limited; only few are complete supported! not all features are allowed!
- Matrox: not all features are supported, just cos are shipped on most servers.
- Sis: limited features are supported, since code are not updated on Xorg and Linux kernel
- Via: limited features are supported, since openchrome code are not updated on Xorg and Linux kernel
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) | Download links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x86_64 | YES | YES | N/A | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/x86_64/ |
| x86 | YES | YES | N/A | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/x86/ |
| ppc64le | NO | YES | YES | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/ppc64le/ |
| armhf | NO | YES | YES | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/armhf/ |
| armv7 | NO | YES | YES | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/armv7/ |
| aarch64 | YES | YES | YES | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/aarch64/ |
| mips64 | YES | YES | N/A | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/mips64/ |
| s390x | YES | YES | N/A | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/s390x/ |
Checksum
Means Commands to verify the checksum and GPG signature of a downloaded image file on different systems, is complete optional!. This kind of check are made to verify if the download media ISO (for USB, CD/DVD), IMG (for Netboot) or TAR (for ROOTFS, in tar.gz) file are correct and will work. Just performs that command in your system before use that downloaded file:
| OS where media was downloaded | sha265 calculation (to be compared manually) |
GPG signature verification
|
|---|---|---|
| Linux | sha256sum -c alpine-*.iso.sha256 |
curl https://alpinelinux.org/keys/ncopa.asc |
|
| MACOS | shasum -a 256 alpine-*.iso |
- ? - |
| BSD | /usr/local/bin/shasum -a 256 alpine-*.iso |
- ? - |
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 Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
| mips64 | Vendor/OEM | ? | MINIROOTFS (TAR.GZ) |
| s390x | Vendor/OEM | BIOS, ?UEFI? | USB, CD/DVD |
If the computer does not automatically boot from the desired device, one needs to bring up the boot menu selection for choosing the media to boot from. Depending on the computer the menu may be accessed by quickly (repeatedly) pressing a key when booting starts, or sometimes it is needed to press the button before starting the computer and keep holding it when it boots. Typical keys are: `F9`-`F12`, sometimes `F7` or `F8`. If these don't bring up the boot menu, it may be necessary to enter the BIOS configuration and adjust the boot settings, for which typical keys are: `Del.` `F1` `F2` `F6` or `Esc.`
Space
This means amount of available space in disk partitions to perform a kind of install and of course will depends of type and meaning of your desired install, this are the recommended sizes but depends of the BIOS/UEFI supported you must perform and read the Alpine disk layout for UEFI/BIOS at Alpine and UEFI wiki page.
| Minimum sizes | Partition for BOOT (/boot) |
Partition for ROOT (/) |
Partition for HOME (/home) |
Partition for SWAP (N/A)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| base only | 100 Megs | 500 Megs | 1 Gigs | Optional |
| default server | 200 Megs | 2 Gigs | 2 Gigs | 4 Gigs |
| default desktop | 250 Megs | 12 Gigs | 80 Gigs | 8 Gigs |
| mail server | 200 Megs | 20 Gigs | 20+ Gigs | 8 Gigs |
| web server | 200 Megs | 10 Gigs | 20+ Gigs | 8 Gigs |
See Also