Upgrading Alpine Linux to a new release branch

This page covers upgrading to newer releases.

Doing regular security updates with the package manager is shown at Upgrading a running system.

Warning: Before actually upgrading your system, make sure that you have a backup of your important data.

Upgrading an Alpine Linux Hard-disk installation

Upgrading Alpine v2.x to v3.x

Warning: Alpine Linux 3.x switched to a different libc implementation compared to previous versions. Because the new Musl libc is not ABI compatible with uClibc, there are additional steps required for an upgrade.

Installing statically linked tools

Statically linked version of apk-tools is needed, because the old musl version would stop working after a libc change (possibly in the middle of upgrade). Static version of busybox can be handy in case of the recovery from a failure.

apk add busybox-static apk-tools-static

Changing repositories to v3.x

To begin, you need to update your /etc/apk/repositories file. Here are some shortcuts for doing so:

• Launch

  setup-apkrepos

  Enter e to edit /etc/apk/repositories. Change the version number by hand.
• Or, edit the file in place. This is how you'd change v2.7 to v3.0:

  sed -i -e 's/v2\.7/v3.0/g' /etc/apk/repositories

Upgrading system

Use statically linked version of apk to update content of repository:

apk.static update

Simulating upgrade is recommended in order to detect issues beforehand:

apk.static upgrade --no-self-upgrade --available --simulate

With no problems encountered or after resolving them, start proper upgrade:

apk.static upgrade --no-self-upgrade --available

Update Repositories File

First step is to to check the /etc/apk/repositories file and update it using one of the following methods.

Using setup-apkrepos script

Launching the corresponding Alpine setup script,

# setup-apkrepos

and pressing e to edit /etc/apk/repositories using the default vi editor. Then editing the repository lines to reflect the new version number.

Using sed command

One can also use a one-line command to edit all version numbers in the file "in place". Here's how you'd change v3.19 to v3.20:

# sed -i -e 's/v3\.19/v3\.20/g' /etc/apk/repositories

Manual editing of /etc/apk/repositories

Edit the /etc/apk/repositories file using any editor of your choice (nano for instance) to edit the Alpine Linux package repositories.

Contents of /etc/apk/repositories

http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.19/main http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.19/community

In the above file, to upgrade Alpine Linux from version 3.19 to 3.20, simply replace the number 3.19 by 3.20 in all the places, so that the updated repositories file looks like below:

Contents of /etc/apk/repositories

http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.20/main http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.20/community

Using latest-stable instead of version number

Note, subsequent manual changes of the version numbers in /etc/apk/repositories may be avoided for future release upgrades by having the repository lines refer to "latest-stable" instead of an absolute value:

Contents of /etc/apk/repositories

http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/main http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/community

Warning: Changing the repositories to latest-stable may initiate unexpected release upgrades. So beware of the consequences of unexpected release upgrades, when using latest-stable.

Updating package lists

With the correct repositories file in place, the latest index list of available packages can be obtained with:

# apk update

Tip: Adding the --update-cache or -U to another apk command, as in apk add -U ... or apk upgrade -U, has the same effect as always running apk update immediately before the other apk command. Instead of auto-update it only if the index has not been updated recently.

Upgrading packages

At times it is required to first upgrade just the Alpine Linux Package Manager itself to the latest available version, before upgrading any other package. This was the case, for example, when upgrading from a version of Alpine before 2.3.0_rc1. But simply always doing so shouldn't hurt, either:

# apk add --upgrade apk-tools

Next, to upgrade all installed packages:

# apk upgrade --available

The --available switch is used to force all packages to be upgraded, even if they have the same version numbers. Sometimes changes in musl require doing this.

Note: All services that have been upgraded need to be restarted, to begin using the upgraded version. If the kernel is upgraded, it's required to reboot to begin using the upgraded version:

sync reboot

Upgrading to Edge

An upgrade of Alpine Linux from a stable version to the rolling development version edge basically requires the same steps as Upgrading to latest release.

The crucial difference is, that when editing the /etc/apk/repositories file, all referenced repository versions (such as v3.2 or latest-stable) therein need to be pointing to edge.

When using edge branch, testing repository can be added if the packages that one needs are available only in testing repository.

Note: Remember that, packages in testing repository have no support.

Contents of /etc/apk/repositories

#/media/cdrom/apks http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing

After upgrading to edge, the currently installed edge version may be checked with

$ cat /etc/alpine-release

and referring to the build date that is attached to the release.

Warning: Do not enable stable and edge repos at the same time. This can break your system. Either use edge or stable. If you mix stable and edge repositories, you're on your own.

Upgrading from older versions

See Upgrading from older versions.

Upgrading Alpine Linux on CD

You may have an installation where the boot media being used (such as a CD, for example) is separate from the media used to store the configuration information. In this case, simply download the latest ISO, and replace the boot media contents with the contents of the latest ISO. If you are booting from a CD, this would simply mean replacing the CD with a CD made from the new image and rebooting the Alpine Linux box.

Update remaining packages from Web repository

If you are using APK caching you should also perform the following steps. Edit the /etc/apk/repositories file using any editor of your choice (nano for instance) to edit the Alpine Linux package repositories.

Contents of /etc/apk/repositories

http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.19/main http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.19/community

In the above file, to upgrade Alpine Linux from version 3.19 to 3.20, simply replace the number 3.19 by 3.20 in all the places, so that the updated repositories file looks like below:

Contents of /etc/apk/repositories

http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.20/main http://dl-3.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.20/community

If you're upgrading from a version of Alpine before 2.3.0_rc1, ensure you have the latest available version of the Alpine Linux Package Manager first before upgrading anything else:

apk add --upgrade apk-tools

Next, upgrade all your packages:

apk upgrade --available sync

The --available switch is used to force all packages to be upgraded, even if they have the same version numbers. Sometimes changes in uClibc require doing this.

After upgrading packages, save any configuration changes (you should have backed up your earlier configuration prior to upgrading).

lbu ci

Upgrading Alpine Linux on other removable media (such as CF/USB)

The following instructions are for run-from-RAM Alpine installations running on Compact Flash or USB media. Updating your repositories using the procedures detailed above, then running:

apk upgrade --update-cache --available

will suffice for some purposes. (If you want the new packages to be used after a reboot, you should enable APK caching.)

However, this is not an adequate general solution because it won't honor any kernel upgrades and the like. For the general solution, you'll need to upgrade your boot medium (Compact Flash or USB). That is what the following steps describe how to do.

Setup environment variables

To make the documentation a bit more "generic" we start by setting some environment variables.

vi /etc/lbu/lbu.conf

Make sure that the variable LBU_MEDIA is not commented (by removing the leading '#').

You also need to set a appropriate value for your LBU_MEDIA. The media you choose will be the media where you store your settings/configuration.

Note: Even if you have you alpine installed on CF, HD or USB you can still choose to save your config on some other media that suits your needs. But remember that both the media where you have your Alpine system AND the media where you have your config need to be in your box when booting it.

Examples:

LBU_MEDIA=usb

or:

LBU_MEDIA=sda1

Now that you have your /etc/lbu/lbu.conf configured for your needs, we will set the environment variables (note the leading .).

. /etc/lbu/lbu.conf

You can test if your environment variable was set:

echo $LBU_MEDIA

It should output something like usb, sda1, or whatever you just configured.

Back up your config

Before starting to upgrade, it's wise to save your configuration.

lbu ci

Upgrade Operating System

Start by checking that you have enough space on your media. For a standard Alpine image, you need at least 400MB available space.

df -h | grep "Filesystem\|$LBU_MEDIA"

Download and verify new release

Make sure the media that holds your Alpine system is mounted readwrite.

mount -oremount,rw /media/$LBU_MEDIA

If using Alpine Linux 2.2.3 or newer: Download the latest release,

wget https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.13/releases/<arch>/<image>.iso

and then use the following command to mount and copy files as needed for you:

setup-bootable -u alpine-extended-<version>-<arch>.iso /media/$LBU_MEDIA

Once the command completes, proceed to the Save changes section.

For older versions of Alpine

Start downloading a new '.iso' and a '.sha1' file

cd /media/$LBU_MEDIA wget -c {{#latestalp:alpine|url}} wget {{#latestalp:alpine|url}}.sha1

Check integrity of the downloaded files (it might take some time):

sha1sum -c {{#latestalp:alpine|file}}.sha1

The output of the above command should say 'OK'.
If says 'FAILED', delete the iso file and download it again.

If using Alpine Linux 1.10.4 or newer: there is a tool setup-bootable that will mount and copy the image you just downloaded to your boot medium. With this tool simply do:

setup-bootable -u {{#latestalp:alpine|file}} /media/$LBU_MEDIA

Instructions for older versions of Alpine are located elsewhere.

Save changes

Now that all upgrades are done, we should save our settings to our media (which you hopefully have backed up prior to doing this upgrade).

lbu ci

Load new kernel

In most cases you will need to reboot Alpine Linux (especially if there are changes in the kernel):

sync reboot

Note: If you know what you are doing, you might not need to reboot. But make sure that all services affected by the upgrade are restarted.

Update remaining packages from Web repository

If you are using APK caching you should follow the instructions to Update remaining packages from Web repository, above.