As we know that the running of the applications is very important in the open source operating system but it is very important to use the lightweight and good quality distribution if you are looking for a good experience. Today in this article we are going to talk about the Alpine Linux, What it is, what are the features of it and many more that you should know about it.
What is Alpine Linux?
Alpine Linux is a small, secure and efficient Linux distribution which is used to run the applications on the Linux distribution . It is used in places where simplicity and speed are important factors and It is built with musl libc and busybox which makes it much lighter than other popular Linux versions. These design choices make Alpine safer and lighter which is why it is perfect for containers like those used with Docker.
Alpine Linux is popular with DevOps teams because it is fast and uses some resources and Its small size and only a few megabytes which means it loads quickly and uses less memory in applications that run in containers . Docker has an official Alpine Linux image which is a preferred lightweight base for building and running containers. When we talk about the security Alpine Linux focuses on security and using tools like PaX and grsecurity in older versions while it has shifted from grsecurity and Alpine is still a good choice for secure systems.
Features of Alpine Linux
There are many different features of Alpine Linux but here we will discuss some of the important features.
Size
Alpine Linux is very small and lightweight so it works very well on systems with little memory and storage like small devices. You can also set it up to run from RAM which means it can keep running even if part of the disk has problems.
Security
Alpine Linux has a strong and secure kernel and includes protections to stop memory errors and stack overflow problems and It also uses all its main programs as Position Independent Executables which helps to improve security.
Customizable
Alpine Linux is also very customizable so system administrators and engineers can adjust it according to their needs which is one of the amazing features of Alpine Linux.
Cloud infrastructure
The size of the Alpine Linux is small and the efficient resource use makes it a very good and great choice for cloud systems. It can create lightweight and secure virtual machines or containers for cloud environments.
What are the Alpine linux system requirements
Alpine Linux needs very few requirements so it can work in a very good way on many devices like virtual machines, old computers and small systems because it can run with just 256 MB of RAM but 512 MB or more is better for smoother use. When we talk about the storage it only needs about 130 MB for a basic setup but this can go up if you add more programs and settings. Alpine works with both x86 and x64 and ARM types of hardware.
Alpine Linux is a small and secure Linux system which is made for those which need to use very few resources but still work very fast and it is especially popular for container apps because it’s small, starts quickly and has very few security risks. Alpine is efficient because it uses musl libc and BusyBox as main parts which makes it smaller and faster than other Linux systems like Ubuntu or CentOS.
How to use and install Alpine Linux in Virtual Box
Here is a step by step Guide to install Alpine Linux in VirtualBox.
Download the Alpine Linux ISO
First of all, go to the Alpine Linux official website and download the latest Virtual ISO image that matches your system requirements.
Create a New Virtual Machine in VirtualBox
- Next open VirtualBox and then click on New.
- Give a new name to your virtual machine.
- Now set the type to Linux and the version to Other Linux according to your ISO.
- Set the required amount of RAM and CPU for your machine.
Create a Virtual Hard Disk
- Choose to create a virtual hard disk when you have prompted
- Then Select VDI as the format.
- Choose Dynamically allocated so the disk space is used only as needed.
Set the Boot Disk
- Go to the settings of your newly created virtual machine.
- In the Storage section click the empty CD icon under Controller: IDE.
- Select the Alpine Linux ISO that you downloaded.
Start the Virtual Machine and Begin Installation
- Now start the virtual machine.
- When the boot menu appears select the option to boot from the ISO.
- Follow the on screen instructions to partition the virtual hard disk and complete the system setup.
- You will also need to set a password during the installation.
Conclusion
In the end, Alpine Linux is a small and secure and efficient Linux distribution which is used to run the applications on the Linux distribution and it is very simple to install it on your system. You can just install it by following the following steps that we discussed above if you have the small requirements that we provided you above in the requirement section.
