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Alpine Linux

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Alpine Linux
DeveloperAlpine Linux development team
OS familyLinux(Unix-like)
Working stateActive
Source modelOpen source
Initial releaseAugust 2005;19 years ago(2005-08)[1]
Latest release3.20.2[2]/ 22 July 2024;39 days ago(22 July 2024)
Repository
Marketing targetGeneral-purpose. Security, embedded systems and other resource-constrained systems, such as containers.[3]
Available inMultilingual
Package managerapk-tools
Platforms
KerneltypeMonolithic(Linux)
UserlandBusyBox
Default
user interface		Ash
Official websitealpinelinux.org

Alpine Linuxis aLinux distributiondesigned to be small, simple, and secure.[3]It usesmusl,BusyBox,andOpenRCinstead of the more commonly usedglibc,GNU Core Utilities,andsystemd.[4][5][6][7][8]This makes Alpine one of few Linux distributions not to be based on the GNU Core Utilities.[9]

For security, Alpine compiles alluser-spacebinaries asposition-independent executableswithstack-smashing protection.[10]

Because of its small size and rapid startup, it is commonly used incontainersproviding quick boot-up times,[11][12]onvirtual machinesas well as on real hardware inembedded devices,such asrouters,serversandNAS.[citation needed]

History

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Originally, Alpine Linux began as an embedded-first distribution for devices such aswireless routers,based onGentoo Linux,[13]inspired byGNAPand the Bering-uClibc branch of theLEAF Project.[1]Founder Natanael Copa has said that the name was chosen as abackronymfor "A Linux-Powered Network Engine" or some similar phrase, but that the exact phrase has since been forgotten.[14]

Alpine'spackage managementsystem, the Alpine Package Keeper,[15]was originally a collection of shell scripts[16]but was later rewritten inC.[17]The aim of this package manager is to achieve a high install and update speed, which it does by writing new data directly in-place into the operating system'sfile system,rather than employingcachingorcompression.[14]

In 2014, Alpine Linux switched fromuClibctomuslas itsC standard library.[18]

APaXhardened kernel was included in the default distribution to aid in reducing the impact of exploits and vulnerabilities,[19]but Alpine's maintainers chose to discontinue this support due to the PaX patch no longer being made publicly available.[20]Alpine still uses ahardenedtoolchain and position-independent executables to minimize the potential forstack-based attacks,[14]but is now based on the standard long term stable distribution of the Linux kernel.

Features

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Alpine's primary feature is its small size, which enables it to start quickly and run in environments very low in memory and storage, such ascontainersorembedded devices.

Alpine Linux can optionally be installed as arun-from-RAMoperating system. This allows Alpine to work reliably in demanding embedded environments or to (temporarily) survive partial disk failures as sometimes experienced in public cloud environments. By default, Alpine running in this mode will only load a few key packages, but a tool calledLBU(Alpine Local Backup)[21]is made available that allow changes in this boot configuration to be written to a special file called an APK overlay file (usually shortened toapkovl), atar.gzfile that by default stores a copy of all files in /etc that have been changed from the default configuration, with the option to track more directories as needed.

Alpine offers a number of preinstalled configuration scripts which guide the user through initial configuration of the system for common computing tasks.[22]In addition, Alpine also offers awebserver-based tool known as the Alpine Configuration Framework, which allows users less familiar with Alpine or the command line to configure the operating system in a way similar to that allowed byDebian'sdebconfutility. Alpine's configuration scripts are written entirely as UNIXshell scripts,which call a smallISO imageparsing utility written in C and distributed in Alpine. The Alpine Configuration Framework is scripted inLua.[23]

Derivatives

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postmarketOS,a Linux distribution formobile devices,is based on Alpine Linux.[24]

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Due to its robustness and compactness, Alpine Linux got tightly integrated with popular developer and system administrator environments and toolsets.

References

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  1. ^ab"Re: [leaf-devel] 2.6.x kernel support?".SourceForge.
  2. ^"Alpine 3.20.2 released".22 July 2024. Archived fromthe originalon 23 July 2024.Retrieved23 July2024.
  3. ^ab"about | Alpine Linux".alpinelinux.org.
  4. ^says, GigaTux (24 August 2010)."Alpine Linux 2 review | LinuxBSDos".
  5. ^Security-Oriented Alpine Linux 3.7 Has UEFI Support, GRUB Support in Installer,Softpedia News
  6. ^10 Most Secure Linux Distros For Complete Privacy & Anonymity | 2017 Edition,FossBytes
  7. ^Noyes, Katherine (9 February 2016)."Is Docker ditching Ubuntu Linux? Confusion reigns".Network World.
  8. ^"OpenRC - Alpine Linux".wiki.alpinelinux.org.
  9. ^"What is Alpine Linux? | Definition from TechTarget".IT Operations.Retrieved24 November2023.
  10. ^"Alpine Linux official website under Secure section".alpinelinux.org/.
  11. ^"Meet Alpine Linux, Docker's Distribution of Choice for Containers".28 March 2017.
  12. ^"Review: Alpine Linux is made for Docker".InfoWorld.10 July 2017.
  13. ^"Re: [leaf-devel] 2.6.x kernel support?".SourceForge.
  14. ^abcSmall, Simple, and Secure: Alpine Linux under the Microscope,retrieved30 June2023
  15. ^"Alpine Package Keeper - Alpine Linux".wiki.alpinelinux.org.
  16. ^"apk-tools".SourceForge.18 April 2013.
  17. ^"apk-tools - Alpine package manager".git.alpinelinux.org.
  18. ^"Release notes".alpinelinux.org.Retrieved6 May2018.
  19. ^"Alpine 3.8.0 released | Alpine Linux".alpinelinux.org.Retrieved27 April2022.
  20. ^"How does Alpine Linux harden its kernel? — alpinelinux lists".lists.alpinelinux.org.Retrieved30 June2023.
  21. ^"Alpine local backup - Alpine Linux".wiki.alpinelinux.org.
  22. ^alpine-conf,Alpine Linux, 17 June 2023,retrieved30 June2023
  23. ^"Alpine Configuration Framework Design - Alpine Linux".wiki.alpinelinux.org.
  24. ^"postmarketOS // real Linux distribution for phones".postmarketos.org.28 April 2022.
  25. ^"Get Alpine WSL from the Microsoft Store".apps.microsoft.Retrieved14 April2023.
  26. ^"How to Use the Alpine Docker Official Image | Docker".docker.8 September 2022.Retrieved14 April2023.
  27. ^sdwheeler (17 March 2023)."Installing PowerShell on Alpine Linux - PowerShell".learn.microsoft.Retrieved14 April2023.
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