Kernels
Alpine Linux has several kernels (see linux-*), designed to suit different situations.
- linux-lts — Long-term support kernel, configured for a generous selection of hardware.
- linux-virt — Long-term support kernel, configured for VM guests (disables most hardware in favor of a commonly-virtualized subset of drivers).
- linux-stable — Stable kernel, configured for a generous selection of hardware – only supported in
community. For Alpine Linux 3.22 and older there was linux-edge; see Release Notes for Alpine 3.23.0: linux-stable replaces linux-edge. - linux-rpi — Raspberry Pi's kernel, configured for the Raspberry Pi. For Alpine 3.18 and older there is also linux-rpi2 and linux-rpi4, optimized for the Raspberry Pi 2 and 4, respectively.
- linux-openpax — Kernel with OpenPAX patches that provide a layer of defense against memory safety-related vulnerabilities – only supported in
community.
For installing a custom kernel, see Custom Kernel. To select a specific kernel or firmware packages during installation from the Alpine ISO, simply install the desired kernel flavor and firmware packages with apk add before running setup-alpine.
Firmware
The linux-firmware meta-package is included in the default installation and depends on all firmware. It is a large download and due to this reason, installation of this package can produce errors on diskless or data disk modes. If such errors occur, switch to system disk mode.
You may be better served by installing only the firmware that you need (see linux-firmware-*), or linux-firmware-none if you do not require any firmware. If you are unsure which firmware you need, boot with no firmware installed, and then run the command below to to get an idea.
# dmesg|grep firmware
Be aware that most firmware is non-free.
Alpine Kernel Module Support (AKMS) page has information about the out-of-tree kernel module driver packages available in Alpine Linux and how to use them.
Experimental Kernels
Some kernels are not well tested and are therefore only available in the testing repository. Use at your own risk.
- linux-asahi — Apple Silicon devices, see https://asahilinux.org/
- linux-elm — Elm chromebooks
- linux-gru — Gru chromebooks
- linux-eswin — Linux lts kernel - RISC-V
- linux-sophgo — Sophgo RISC-V SoC's
- linux-p550 — SiFive P550 RISC-V SoC's
- linux-starfive — Starfive RISC-V SoC's
- linux-jh7100 — Starfive JH7100 SoC
- linux-spacemit — SpacemiT RISC-V SoC's