Usual Hardware Requirements

At least 100 MB of RAM (A desktop system may require up to 1 GB.)
The "sys" or "data" run modes (see below) require a storage device.

Install Procedure

Similar to many other distributions, the first installation steps usually consist of

Downloading one of the latest stable-release ISOs, and comparing the image's sha265sum checksum to the one in the corresponding *.sha256 checksum file () and verify its GPG signature.
Either burning the ISO onto a blank CD with your favorite CD burning software, or creating a bootable USB drive.
Booting from the CD or USB drive, and logging in to the command line as user root with its initally empty password.

(For installing on ARM systems, see Alpine on ARM.)

However, contrary to most other distributions, this initially booted Alpinelinux (command line environment) is first copied entirely into RAM, and runs completely independent from the (slow) initial boot media. And then, the setup-alpine script, and other tools, are used to configure the initial Alpinelinux system, install further packages, and prepare the system for the next boot.

Alpinelinux can boot into three general run modes:

diskless mode This is the default boot mode of the .iso images. With the setup-alpine selection "disk=none" the whole system runs from RAM. Customized configuration and package selections may still be preserved on permanent storage media with lbu, the "local backup tool", and by using a local package cache.

data mode This mode also runs mostly from RAM, with the exception of a selected writable partition that gets mounted as /var. It is better-suited when large amounts of data need to be preserved between reboots, e.g. for mailspools, databases or log servers, and so on.

sys mode This is a traditional hard-disk install. The setup-alpine script defaults to create three partitions on the selected disk, for /boot, swap and / (filesystem root). This mode may be used for desktops, development boxes, and virtual machines.

Additional Hints

Booting from external devices

Insert the media to the proper drive or port of the computer and turn on the computer. But depending on the computer it may be necessary, e.g. to press the `F12` key to get a selection to choose the media to boot from.

The setup-alpine questions

The setup-alpine script will ask to configure several things, including:

Keyboard map (e.g. us and variant of us-nodeadkeys)
Hostname (The name for the computer.)
Network options
DNS options: Not recommended to use 8.8.8.8 (google servers).
Timezone
Proxy ("None" to connect directly to the internet.)
SSH (Openssh is part of the default images.)
NTP (Chrony is part of the default images.)
Mode (Select between "diskless", "data" or "sys" as described above.)

Booting and using the new system

After the installation is completed, depending on the run mode, the initial installation media may be removed and the system can be booted from the newly installed device. After booting one may read Alpine post install packages and setup configurations for new users and find further areas to customize the new system.

Further Documentation

Post-Install

Alpine post install packages and setup configurations for new users
Setting up Networking
Package Management (apk) (How to add/remove packages on your Alpine)
Alpine local backup (lbu) (Permanently store your modifications in case your box needs reboot)
- Back Up a Flash Memory ("diskless mode") Installation
- Manually editing a existing apkovl
Init System (OpenRC) (Configure a service to automatically boot at next reboot)
- Multiple Instances of Services
Setting up Xorg

Upgrading Alpine

Setting up a ssh-server (Using ssh is a good way to administer your box remotely)
setup-acf (Configures ACF (webconfiguration) so you can manage your box through https)
Hosting services on Alpine(Links to several mail/web/ssh server setup pages)
Changing passwords

Setting the timezone (Not needed for the default musl- or uClibc-based installs)

Setting up a new user

Installation