Alpine User Handbook
What is It?
This is the Alpine User Handbook, an effort to centralize relevant Alpine Linux information. This handbook contains installation instructions for a typical user, as well as information for working with relevant system components.
This handbook will focus on the traditional "to disk" style of installation, and target primarily desktop and server systems. If your use-case is different, you should be sufficiently familiar with Linux, and can consult the Developer Handbook and manual pages for further details.
Where to Get Help?
If you run into problems, you can ask for help in the #alpine-linux IRC channel, available on the OFTC IRC network.
You can also send an email to the alpine/users mailing list.
How to Contribute?
If you believe you can help with the documentation project, or have a specific improvement in mind, you can join the #alpine-docs IRC channel, to offer help or submit your patch. You can find the sources for all of the documentation on the Alpine Gitlab instance.
If you want to help with Alpine itself, please head over to the Developer Handbook instead.
Conventions
This is, ultimately, a technical document. As such, it is impossible to escape having some technical jargon and conventions. Here are a few things to watch out for, in case you are new to computing or Linux.
Definitions
- BIOS
-
Basic Input-Output System - a very simple program that runs immediately after POST. Used on older computers to perform configuration and initially execute the bootloader.
- Bootloader
-
A small program whose job it is to execute the kernel, load the initial runtime filesystem, and pass any arguments necessary to them to ensure booting happens.
- DHCP
-
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - a very common automatic ip reservation system. If you have a consumer router, you are most likely using this.
- Ethernet
-
A relatively generic term that mostly means "wired internet". WiFi is wireless, ethernet involves some sort of wire (usually an RJ45 style jack with copper cables inside).
- Hostname
-
A name that identifies your device. A good hostname is not directly linked to the owner, or the purpose. Think of it like naming a pet - you don’t name your dog "Hannah’s Dog", do you? In case further suggestions are desired, feel free to see the relevant standard (RFC 1178).
- Kernel
-
The core program of the operating system - present in all operating systems.
- NTP
-
Network Time Protocol - a service that synchronizes your computer’s clock with another. Usually used to synchronize with a specialized pool that get their information from a highly accurate atomic clock.
- POST
-
Power-On Self Test - a process all modern computers go through at the very start of its booting process, immediately after pressing the power button.
- PXE
-
Pre-Boot eXecution Environment - a method of booting a disk image off of the network. Support for PXE booting is uncommon in consumer routers, but there is a good chance of it being present in business networks.
- Root
-
The root user is the owner of the system - think of it like a super administrator - it has all the rights that are possible to have. It is not intended for day-to-day use.
- SLAAC
-
StateLess Address AutoConfiguration - a method specific to ipv6 to generate a link-local (not accessible through routers) access.
- Shell
-
A program that can interpret what you type into it as an instruction to execute commands or programs on your disk in a specific way.
- SSH
-
Secure SHell - a convenient way to use a shell on another system in a secure way. Commonly used in Linux.
- Terminal emulator
-
A display or window, usually with a black background and white font, that can host a shell.
- UEFI
-
Unified Extendible Firmware Interface - a more complex and more flexible replacement for the BIOS, that can, however, make manual and automatic setup more complex and difficult, under some circumstances.