Help:Reading

Users of Alpine Linux wiki must understand the following conventions when reading the wiki pages.

Root and normal user

When the hash sign (#) is displayed before a command, it indicates that the command needs to be run with root privileges:

# apk add mandoc

When the dollar sign ($) is displayed before a command, it indicates that the command should be run as a regular user.

$ apk info mandoc

Refer User Accounts page for more information on root and regular user.

Placeholder

Anything in (< >) is likely just a placeholder that you need to replace. For example, <editor> file.txt means use an editor of your choice like vi or Emacs to open the file file.txt for editing.

Package installation

Packages in the Alpine Linux official repositories are indicated as follows: libreoffice. If you click on the package name in Wiki, Alpine Linux package database page shows the details about the package and clicking on the package name lists additional information including the available subpackages. Package filter available on the page can be used to search for further information .

If you find an instruction to Install the package less, the following command must be issued:

# apk add less

The apk page provides additional information on package management in Alpine Linux.

Manage services

Whenever an article instructs to start|stop|restart or enable|add|disable|remove some service serviceName without detailed instructions, refer OpenRC Quickstart for the actual command to run. For example, Start <serviceName> now means issuing the command:

# rc-service <serviceName> start