Post installation
 This page "should" contain accurate and up to date information but is a work in progess |
General Notes
- When # is displayed before a command that means the command needs to be run with root privileges,
- Anything in < > is likely just a placeholder that you need to replace (example: <editor> file.txt)
- Some information in here might be a repeat of information in other wiki pages, if you find a section where that is the case please add a link to the original wiki page.
Network setup
Wi-Fi
Ethernet (Wired)
 Documentation on Ethernet (Wired) internet setup needs to be created/expanded, maybe information from other wiki's/docs might be helpful? |
Creating a new user account
After installing Alpine by default you only get a root account. You will probably want to create an account that is not root,
# adduser <YourUsername>
replace <YourUsername> with the username of your choice
You will probably want to install doas so you can allow <YourUsername> to use root privileges
# apk add doas
If you want your user to be able to use root privileges add them to the Wheel group
# adduser <YourUsername> wheel
Allow members of the Wheel group to use root privileges with doas:
# <editor> /etc/doas.d/doas.conf
add this to a new line:
# permit persist :wheel
Switch to the new account type exit in the shell and login with the new user,
Repositories
The AlpineLinux software repositories have three branches:
- Main: Main packages are the Alpine software that has direct support and updates from the Alpine core and main team. They also have official special documentation, are always available for all releases and will have substitutions if some are not continued from upstream. Commonly, those packages are selected due to their responsibility and stability with respect to upstream availability. When those in testing perform well or are mature, they go to the main branch.
- Community: Community packages are those made by users in concert with the official developers and integrated into the Alpine packages. They are user supported. Support could end if the user ends support with respect to Alpine work. For example, could not include substitution in next release due to lack of support by the upstream author. They are in edge and when accepted, go to the community branch.
- Edge: New packages come into testing repositories of the edge Alpine version and are those made by any contributor or man power on Alpine. The edge contains unstable current development content. This branch has no release linked or related to Alpine. They are in testing and when accepted, go to the community branch.
By default only the main repository is enabled, most users will probably want to enable the community repository, to enable a repository remove the # in front of the url along with any blank space.
(Example) Disabled:
Contents of /etc/apk/repositories
(Example) Enabled:
Contents of /etc/apk/repositories
To edit the repositories open the file in a text editor:
# <editor> /etc/apk/repositories
Example default configuration:
Contents of /etc/apk/repositories
To avoid having to manually update the verison in /etc/apk/repositories for each Alpine Linux update, change v.3.15 to latest-stable
Example:
Contents of /etc/apk/repositories
For security reasons it may be a good idea to change the url's from http to https
Example:
Contents of /etc/apk/repositories
Once you have edited /etc/apk/repositories sync the repositories with:
# apk update
Installing a Display Server (for graphical sessions)
Xorg
Most desktop enviroments (DE) or Windows Managers (WM) require Xorg (also called: X11, X), although in the future many will fully migrate to Wayland currently Xorg is still widely used,
There is two ways you can get Xorg installed,
By default Alpine Linux provides a script that will install Xorg, run the following command to install Xorg:
# setup-xorg-base
or
# apk add xorg-server xorg-server-common xorg-server-dev xorgproto xorgxrdp xorgxrdp-dev
Wayland
See also: Wayland
Wayland documentation needs to be expanded |
Fonts
If you plan to use a graphical environment you may need/want to setup fonts
See: Fonts
Installing a desktop environment or window manager
See: Desktop environments and Window managers
Sound
By default Alpine doesnt come with any Sound managment out of the box, these are your options:
Troubleshooting
I dont have permission to do anything in my user's home directory
By default the permissions of your new user(s) home directory may be limited to the root account, run one of these commands to change that:
# chmod 700 /home/<YourUsername>
or
# chmod 777 /home/<YourUsername>