mdev
mdev is the default device manager on Alpine Linux. It is provided by busybox as alternative to systemd's udev. mdev is not a drop in replacement for udev. See eudev for that instead. mdev lacks some features which makes it not recommended for a full blown desktop enviroment.
Installation
The easy way to setup mdev is throught the setup script. For custom installation see the manually section. Note that a manual installation is only recommended for advanced users.
Setup Script
The alpine-conf package privides setup-devd to easily install and setup device managers.
Install alpine-conf if it is not already installed.
# apk add alpine-conf
Setup mdev.
# setup-devd mdev
Manually
Mdev is provided by the busybox package which is pre installed on any alpine installation. To run mdev the OpenRC init scripts are required too. If it isn't already installed install it:
# apk add busybox-mdev-openrc
If you already have a device manager installed you need to stop it before you start mdev.
Enable the mdev service.
# rc-update add mdev sysinit
# rc-update add hwdrivers sysinit
If you are not running in a chroot you will also want to start mdev.
# rc-service mdev start
# rc-service hwdrivers start
You might also want to take a look at libudev replacement if programms you want to use depend on udev.
Remove
First stop the service. This step can be skipped when you are running in a chroot.
# rc-service mdev stop
Then disable it.
# rc-update delete mdev sysinit
You might also want to uninstall the init scripts since they are not used anymore.
# apk del busybox-mdev-openrc
The mdev binary is part of the busybox package and therefor can't be uninstalled.
libudev replacement
libudev-zero provides udev apis but is independent from the device manager used. When installed it will make some udev reliant programms work with mdev. See What doesn't work.
Configuration
Custom network interfaces
See Custom network interface names
USB Printer
See configure mdev for USB printers
Raspberry Pi Bluetooth Speaker
See Raspberry Pi Bluetooth Speaker