Alpine setup scripts

Feature descriptions for available Alpine Linux setup scripts (/sbin/setup-*).

These scripts can be installed from alpine-conf package using apk.

(Some particular example usages can be seen at Alpine for new users install manuals.)

setup-alpine

This is the main Alpine configuration and installation script.

The script interactively walks the user through executing several auxiliary setup-* scripts, in the order shown below.

The bracketed options represent example configuration choices, formatted as they may be supplied when manually calling the auxiliary setup scripts, or using a setup-alpine "answerfile" (see below).

setup-keymap [us us]
setup-hostname [-n alpine-test]
setup-interfaces [-i < interfaces-file]
/etc/init.d/networking --quiet start &
if none of the networking interfaces were configured using dhcp, then: setup-dns [-d example.com -n "192.168.0.1 [...]"]
set the root password
if not in quick mode, then: setup-timezone [-z UTC | -z America/New_York | -p EST+5]
enable the new hostname (/etc/init.d/hostname --quiet restart)
add networking and urandom to the boot rc level, and acpid and cron to the default rc level, and start the boot and default rc services
extract the fully-qualified domain name and hostname from /etc/resolv.conf and hostname, and update /etc/hosts
setup-proxy [-q "http://webproxy:8080"], and activate proxy if it was configured
setup-apkrepos [-r (to select a mirror randomly)]
if not in quick mode, then: setup-sshd [-c openssh | dropbear | none]
if not in quick mode, then: setup-ntp [-c chrony | openntpd | busybox | none]
if not in quick mode, then: DEFAULT_DISK=none setup-disk -q [-m data /dev/sda] (see Installation#Installation_Overview about the disk modes)
if installation mode selected during setup-disk was "data" instead of "sys", then: setup-lbu [/media/sdb1]
if installation mode selected during setup-disk was "data" instead of "sys", then: setup-apkcache [/media/sdb1/cache | none]

setup-alpine itself accepts the following command-line switches

-h: Shows the up-to-date usage help message.

-a: Create an overlay file: this creates a temporary directory and saves its location in ROOT; however, the script doesn't export this variable so I think this feature isn't currently functional.

-c answerfile: Create a new "answerfile", with default choices. You can edit the file and then invoke setup-alpine -f answerfile.
-f answerfile: Use an existing "answerfile", which may override some or all of the interactive prompts.

-q: Run in "quick mode".

setup-hostname

setup-hostname [-h] [-n hostname]

Options:

-h Show help

-n Specify hostname

This script allows quick and easy setup of the system hostname by writing it to /etc/hostname. The script prevents you from writing an invalid hostname (such as one that used invalid characters or starts with a '-' or is too long). The script can be invoked manually or is called as part of the setup-alpine script.

setup-interfaces

setup-interfaces [-i < interfaces-file]

Note that the contents of interfaces-file has to be supplied as stdin, rather than naming the file as an additional argument. The contents should have the format of /etc/network/interfaces, such as:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
    hostname alpine-test

setup-dns

setup-dns [-h] [-d domain name] [-n name server]

Options:

-h Show help

-d specify search domain name

-n name server IP

The setup-dns script is stored in /sbin/setup-dns and allows quick and simple setup of DNS servers (and a DNS search domain if required). Simply running setup-dns will allow interactive use of the script, or the options can be specified.

The information fed to this script is written to /etc/resolv.conf

Example usage (with 192.168.0.1 being the local router/dns-forwarder):

setup-dns -d example.org -n 192.168.0.1

Example /etc/resolv.conf:

search example.org
nameserver 192.168.0.1

It can be run manually but is also invoked in the setup-alpine script unless interfaces are configured for DHCP.

setup-timezone

setup-timezone [-z UTC | -z America/New_York | -p EST+5]

Can pre-select the timezone using either of these switches:

-z subfolder of /usr/share/zoneinfo

-p POSIX TZ format

setup-proxy

setup-proxy [-hq] [PROXYURL]

Options:

-h Show help

-q Quiet mode prevents changes from taking effect until after reboot

This script requests the system proxy to use in the form http://<proxyurl>:<port> for example: http://10.0.0.1:8080

To set no system proxy use none. This script exports the following environmental variables:

http_proxy=$proxyurl

https_proxy=$proxyurl

ftp_proxy=$proxyurl

where $proxyurl is the value input. If none was chosen then the value it is set to a blank value (and so no proxy is used).

setup-sshd

setup-sshd [-h] [-c choice of SSH daemon]

Options:

-h Show help

-c SSH daemon where SSH daemon can be one of the following:

openssh install the openSSH daemon

dropbear install the dropbear daemon

none Do not install an SSH daemon

Example usage:

setup-sshd -c dropbear

The setup-sshd script is stored in /sbin/setup-sshd and allows quick and simple setup of either the OpenSSH or Dropbear SSH daemon & client. It can be run manually but is also invoked in the setup-alpine script.

setup-apkrepos

setup-apkrepos [-fhr] [REPO...]

Setup apk repositories.

options:

-f Detect and add fastest mirror

-r Add a random mirror and do not prompt

-1 Add first mirror on the list (normally a CDN)

This is run as part of the setup-alpine script.

setup-disk

DEFAULT_DISK=none setup-disk -q [-m data | sys] [mountpoint directory | /dev/sda ...]

In "sys" mode, it's an installer, it permanently installs Alpine on the disk, in "data" mode, it provides a larger and persistent /var volume.

This script accepts the following command-line switches:

-k kernel flavor
-o apkovl file: Restore system from apkovl file
-m data | sys: Don't prompt for installation mode. With -m data, the supplied devices are formatted to use as a /var volume.

-r: Use RAID1 with a single disk (degraded mode)

-L: Create and use volumes in a LVM group

-s swap size in MB: Use 0 to disable swap

-q: Exit quietly if no disks are found

-v: Verbose mode

The script also honors the following environment variables:

BOOT_SIZE

Size of the boot partition in MB; defaults to 100. Only used if -m sys is specified or interactively selected.

SWAP_SIZE

Size of the swap volume in MB; set to 0 to disable swap. If not specified, will default to twice RAM, up to 4096, but won't be more than 1/3 the size of the smallest disk, and if less than 64 will just be 0. Only used if -m sys is specified or interactively selected.

ROOTFS

Filesystem to use for the / volume; defaults to ext4. Only used if -m sys is specified or interactively selected. Supported filesystems are: ext2 ext3 ext4 btrfs xfs.

BOOTFS

Filesystem to use for the /boot volume; defaults to ext4. Only used if -m sys is specified or interactively selected. Supported filesystems are: ext2 ext3 ext4 btrfs xfs.

VARFS

Filesystem to use for the /var volume; defaults to ext4. Only used if -m data is specified or interactively selected. Supported filesystems are: ext2 ext3 ext4 btrfs xfs.

SYSROOT

Mountpoint to use when creating volumes and doing traditional disk install (-m sys). Defaults to /mnt.

MBR

Path of MBR binary code, defaults to /usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin.

BOOTLOADER

Bootloader to use, defaults to syslinux. Supported bootloaders are: grub syslinux zipl.

DISKLABEL

Disklabel to use, defaults to dos. Supported disklabels are: dos gpt eckd.

Partitioning

If you have complex partitioning needs, that go beyond above alpine-disk options, you can partition, format, and mount your volumes manually, and then just supply the root mountpoint to setup-disk. Doing so implicitly behaves as though -m sys had also been specified.

See Setting up disks manually for more information.

RAID

setup-disk will automatically build a RAID array if you supply the -r switch, or if you specify more than one device. The array will always be RAID1 (and --metadata=0.90) for the /boot volumes, but will be RAID5 (and --metadata=1.2 for non-boot volumes when 3 or more devices are supplied.

If you instead want to build your RAID array manually, see Setting up a software RAID array. Then format and mount the disks, and supply the root mountpoint to setup-disk.

LVM

setup-disk will automatically build and use volumes in a LVM group if you supply the -L switch. The group and volumes created by the script will have the following names:

volume group: vg0
swap volume: lv_swap (only created when swap size > 0)
root volume: lv_root (only created when -m sys is specified or interactively selected)
var volume: lv_var (only created when -m data is specified or interactively selected)

The lv_var or lv_root volumes are created to occupy all remaining space in the volume group.

If you need to change any of these settings, you can use vgrename, lvrename, lvreduce or lvresize.

If you instead want to build your LVM system manually, see Setting up Logical Volumes with LVM. Then format and mount the disks, and supply the root mountpoint to setup-disk.

setup-lbu

This script will only be invoked for by setup-alpine when installing data installation types (ramdisk)

In the previous step, we set up the disk used for the swap partition and for mounting /var. Here we set up where lbu commit will store its backup configuration. See Alpine local backup for more information.

When started, setup-lbu will prompt where to store your data. The options it will prompt for will be taken from the directories found in /media (except for cdrom). [not sure how these are mounted: are they automatically mounted by setup-lbu? Does the user have to manually mount using another tty?]

setup-apkcache

This script will only be invoked for by setup-alpine when installing data installation types (ramdisk)

In the previous steps, we setup the disk partitions, and told Alpine where it can save its configuration for ramdisk installations. Here we tell Alpine where to save the apk files that you will want to persist across boots. The apkcache is where apk stores cached packages, such that the system does not need to download them at each boot, and doesn't have to depend on the network. See Local APK cache for a detailed explanation.

You should be able to use a partition that you set up in the previous steps.

setup-bootable

This is a standalone script; it's not invoked by setup-alpine but must be run manually.

It allows to create boot media that boots the system running from RAM memory (diskless) like the installation images, but uses a writable (i.e. not iso9660) filesystem. So that it can also serve to store local customizations (e.g. apkovl files and cached packages).

The script first copies the contents of an ISO onto a USB key, CF, SDCard, etc., or harddisk partition. And then installs the syslinux bootloader to make the device bootable.

However, the syslinux install currently seems to fail on non-FAT partitions, so, you may use setup-bootable with the -u option to skip the syslinux install.

Tip: The Bootloaders page shows different ways to setup booting and boot menus.

The script accepts the following arguments and command-line switches (you can run setup-bootable -h to see a usage message).

setup-bootable source [dest]

The argument source can be a directory or an ISO (will be mounted to MNT or /mnt) or a URL (will be downloaded with WGET or wget). The argument dest can be a directory mountpoint, or will default to /media/usb if not supplied.

-k: Keep alpine_dev in syslinux.cfg; otherwise, replace with UUID.

-u: Upgrade mode: keep existing syslinux.cfg and don't run syslinux

-f: Overwrite syslinux.cfg even if -u was specified.

-s: Force the running of syslinux even if -u was specified.

-v: Verbose mode

The script will ensure that source and dest are available; will copy the contents of source to dest, ensuring first that there's enough space; and unless -u was specified, will make dest bootable.

For other ways to set up boot media (manually) see Creating a bootable Alpine Linux USB Stick from the command line.

setup-xorg-base

This is a standalone script; it's not invoked by setup-alpine but must be run manually.

It configures a graphical environment with basic Xorg packages and udev (replacing mdev), and is also required for Wayland sessions.

The script installs, e.g. among other packages: xorg-server xf86-video-vesa xf86-input-evdev xf86-input-mouse xf86-input-keyboard udev.

Additional packages to install may be supplied as arguments to setup-xorg-base.

For example, if you only want to start the graphical environment manually, from the command line, instead of running a display manager (service), you may add xinit.

Video packages

You will most likely want to install driver packages with specific support for your video chipset. Otherwise, X will resort to the rather slow and cumbersome VESA standard driver.

Info about the particular video cards that are installed in the computer may be found in the list of PCI devices:

# apk add pciutils $ lspci

To see available video driver packages run:

$ apk search xf86-video

For example,

For an Sis video chipset install 'xf86-video-sis'.

# apk add xf86-video-sis

Others:

For Intel video chipsets install 'xf86-video-intel' and see Intel Video.
For AMD Radeon Video see Radeon_Video
For Alix1D use xf86-video-geode.
In KVM/Qemu guests see Xorg within KVM/Qemu
In Virtualbox guests use xf86-video-vboxvideo, and install the VirtualBox guest additions as well. They contain important parts for the driver.
In VMware guests use xf86-video-vmware
In Hyper-V guests use xf86-video-fbdev and install the Hyper-V guest services as well.

Input packages

To search for xf86-input driver packages run:

$ apk search xf86-input

As good choice for the start is:

# apk add xf86-input-mouse xf86-input-keyboard

And for touchpad tapping support on many laptops, also:

# apk add xf86-input-synaptics

Also libinput is a good choice, as it's integrated best with GNOME and offers advanced functionality (e.g. palm rejection for touchpads).

# apk add xf86-input-libinput

If the Numlock service is added but does not start, or if 'setleds not found' appears during the boot sequence:

# apk add kbd

Configure xorg-server (optional)

On most systems, xorg should be able to autodetect all devices. However you can still configure xorg-server by hand by launching:

# Xorg -configure

This will create a `/root/xorg.conf.new` file. You can modify this file to fit your needs.
(When finished modifying and testing the above configuration file, move it to `/etc/X11/xorg.conf` for normal usage.)

Keyboard Layout

:!: FIXME There is no such thing like "setxkbmap" with Alpine Linux 3.13 by 2021-05-09. PLEASE UPDATE. FIXME

If you use a layout different than "us", you need to:

# apk add setxkbmap setxkbmap <%a language layout from /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/xorg.lst%>

In order to make it persistent add this section to /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Section "InputClass" Identifier "Keyboard Default" MatchIsKeyboard "yes" Option "XkbLayout" "<%a language layout from /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/xorg.lst%>" EndSection

Another way to change the keymap when logging into X is to use ~/.xinitrc. The following example loads a British keymap, simply add this line to the beginning of the file: setxkbmap gb &

Note that you will need the "setxkbmap" package for this to work!

If you need to create the ~/.xinitrc file, you may also add a second line like exec startxfce4 to start your desktop environment or window manager with xinit.

Documentation needed

setup-xen-dom0

setup-gparted-desktop

Uses openbox.

This is a standalone script; it's not invoked by setup-alpine but must be run manually.

setup-mta

Uses ssmtp.

This is a standalone script; it's not invoked by setup-alpine but must be run manually.

setup-acf

This is a standalone script; it's not invoked by setup-alpine but must be run manually.

This script was named setup-webconf before Alpine 1.9 beta 4.

See ACF pages for more information.

setup-ntp

beta.docs.alpinelinux.org