Getting started with Alpine Linux

Alpine Linux is an ultra-lightweight, security-focused distribution that shines on low-RAM, performance-oriented VPS. If you bought a budget plan (especially a NAT machine), Alpine helps limited resources go further. Here's how to get going.

Why Alpine

• Tiny: the base system is only tens of MB, so it boots fast and uses little disk.
• Low memory: built on BusyBox + musl libc, idle RAM usage is minimal — great for 512MB or smaller boxes.
• Clean and secure: fewer default components means a smaller attack surface.

Pick an Alpine image under your dashboard's service detail page → Reinstall OS, then log in via the browser SSH console or VNC console.

Managing packages with apk

apk is Alpine's blazing-fast package manager:

apk update                 # refresh package index
apk upgrade                # upgrade installed packages
apk add curl vim           # install packages
apk del vim                # remove a package
apk search nginx           # search for a package

Managing services with OpenRC

Alpine uses OpenRC, not systemd:

rc-service nginx start     # start a service
rc-service nginx restart   # restart a service
rc-update add nginx        # enable at boot
rc-update del nginx        # disable at boot
rc-status                  # list running services

Set the timezone and add a user

apk add tzdata
cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/Asia/Shanghai /etc/localtime
echo "Asia/Shanghai" > /etc/timezone

adduser steven             # create a user
addgroup steven wheel      # add to wheel for privilege escalation
apk add doas && echo "permit persist :wheel" >> /etc/doas.d/doas.conf

The musl caveat

Alpine ships musl libc, not glibc. A few closed-source apps (some precompiled binaries, certain Java packages) may not run. If you hit a not found error, try apk add gcompat, or switch to a Debian/Ubuntu image via Reinstall OS.

Still stuck?

Open a ticket at 控制台 → 工单 (/dashboard/tickets/new) and link the affected service — we'll help you out.