Initial setup

Start by booting Alpine (see these instructions on how to do that)

Enable Community Repository

We need the Community Repository available for access to the OpenBox packages. Instructions are available on the Enable Community Repository page.

Install packages

Install openbox, xterm, and terminus font.

# apk add openbox xterm terminus-font

xterm is needed so you have a way to access the terminal in X. There are alternatives but this is the classic. Terminus is needed because without any fonts, you will not be able to see any text in OpenBox.

Configure xorg-server

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

# setup-xorg-base

Configure user

To make Xorg work as normal user you need to add user to these groups: video, input.

# addgroup <username> input

# addgroup <username> video

acpid

If you installed your Alpine Linux as a VirtualBox or VMWare guest, you might find it handy to be able execute an ACPI shutdown.

# rc-update add acpid

Set openbox as the default WM

$ echo 'exec openbox-session' >> ~/.xinitrc

Copy the config files to your home folder

$ mkdir /home/<newuser>/.config

$ cp -r /etc/xdg/openbox ~/.config

Note: The default configuration is minimal and most menu options won't work unless you customize and/or install additional packages. More information is available in the OpenBox configuration documentation.

Edit openbox settings

You can now edit the openbox settings for your user by editing the files located in

~/.config/openbox

The OpenBox configuration details can he studied on the OpenBox wiki.

Start your X!

$ startx

Note: The default OpenBox menu (right click on desktop) will have a lot of options that won't work because we didnt install anything else! Luckily XTerm will work if you added the package in the first step, and you can use that to add additional packages.

The default configuration is minimal and most menu options won't work unless you customize and/or install additional packages. More information is available in the OpenBox configuration documentation.