2022-08-01 23:27:33 +02:00
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This page will tell you what requirements you will need to use the
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[Alpine Linux](about.md) operating system.
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2023-05-02 13:55:09 +02:00
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* [Hardware requirements](#hardware-requirements)
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* [Software requirements](#software-requirements)
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2022-08-01 23:27:33 +02:00
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# Hardware requirements
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For installation and usage consider that Alpine can run on several kinds
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of devices, from the popular PC machine to video game consoles like the
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Game Boy Advance and the 3DS, and as such you must check the following
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of your machine:
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- [Architecture](#architecture)
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- [Memory](#memory)
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- [Storage](#storage)
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- [Peripherals](#peripherals)
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2022-08-02 05:46:25 +02:00
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## Architectures
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**Architecture means kind of computer. The most popular architecture is
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the misnamed "Intel IBM PC"** or "i386" which is actually in fact the
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x86 or x64. There are other supported computer architectures that are
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not "x86", like mainframes, servers, and embedded devices (such as
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routers like Sonicwall and Cisco ones). Here are the architectures
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supported by Alpine:
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| Supported Arch | since | until | Meaning of installation and target architecture |
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| -------------- | ------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| x86\_64 | all | current | The popular AMD64 compatible 64-bit x86 based machines, i386 is not recommended for newer/latest hardware. |
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| x86 | all | current | The all popular 32 bit intel (i386 pc 32bit) and x86\_64 with 32bit compatible (i686 pc 64bit amd64) |
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| ppc64le | v3.6 | current | For the PowerPC devices with pure little-endian mode, mostly for POWER8 and POWER9 |
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| armhf | v3.0 | current | The newer ARM hard-float for newer, more powerful 32-bit devices alongside 64-bit. Including video games\! |
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| armv7 | v3.9 | current | The 32-bit ARM only execution state of the ARMv7 devices machines. Including video game consoles\! |
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| aarch64 | v3.5 | current | The 64-bit ARM only execution state of the ARMv8 device machines. Like Rasberri's |
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| ppc64le | v3.6 | current | for 64-bit big-endian PowerPC and Power ISA processors like some MAC computers. |
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| s390x | v3.6 | v3.15.0 | For the Super powered IBM mainframes, especially IBM Z and IBM LinuxONE servers. |
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#### CPU
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* Intel
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* Core i3 8121U are supported from alpine v3.6 to v3.14 only.
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* AMD
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* AMD Semprom are pretty slower with recent kernels, so its practically not supported, use older versions of alpine or own build kernel
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## Memory
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**Means minimum amount of RAM memory. Need of RAM it depends of the
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meaning of the installation**, any hardware are supported and there is
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minimum sizes for:
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| Target Arch | Mim RAM to start | Min RAM to install | Min RAM for GUI | Best for GUI work |
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| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------------ | --------------- | ----------------- |
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| x86\_64 | 512 Megs | 512 Megs | 3 Gigs | 8 Gigs |
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| x86\_32 | 128 Megs | 256 Megs | 2 Gigs | 3 Gigs |
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| ppc64le | 128 Megs | 256 Megs | 2 Gigs | 8 Gigs |
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| armhf | 256 Megs | 512 Megs | 2 Gigs | 6 Gigs |
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| armv7 | 256 Megs | 512 Megs | 2 Gigs | 6 Gigs |
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| aarch64 | 256 Megs | 512 Megs | 2 Gigs | 8 Gigs |
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| ppc64le | 256 Megs | 512 Megs | 1 Gigs | 6 Gigs |
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| s390x | 128 Megs | 256 Megs | 1 Gigs | N/A |
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## Storage
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**Means any external or internal storage device that can be added after
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or before install to use** by the Alpine Linux system. Currently depends
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of the current linux kernel supported.
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**All the PATA and SATA hard disk drives are supported, also any USB or
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SD** card that can be detected by USB BUS by the linux kernel subsystem
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during install.
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2022-08-02 05:46:25 +02:00
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## Peripherals
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**Means any external or internal device that can be added after or
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before install to detectd** by the Alpine Linux system. Currently
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depends of the current linux kernel supported.
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##### ISA devices
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**ISA devices** are not supported since 3.8 because kernel drops support.
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those pc machines must use an older alpine linux, our wiki has good recipes
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for such cases. To support those devices use v3.8.0 alpine version as maximun.
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##### GPU devices
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**GPU devices** are supported, but for advanced features, 3D acceleration
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are manager by MESA project:
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- Intel: mostly any Intel by one exception, intel i810/i815 will lack
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of features cos only has 4Mb memory, Mesa and Linux drop theit
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support. Recent devs wants to deprecated intel support on mesa.
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- ATI/AMD, only radeon series with exception of recent two last years
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respect Alpine release, Rage r128/match64 series has limited
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support. Recently AMD "Next" gen are only basic supported.
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- Nvidia: limited; only few are complete supported\! not all features
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are allowed\! Needs 5.10 ad up kernels and have issues with
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power management. Recommended to disable Display power management.
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- Matrox: not all features are supported, this is shipped on most
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servers. Those GPU has 3D support, but with newer kernels due the
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increment of requirementes that is practically not usefully.
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- Sis: limited features are supported, since code are not updated on
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Xorg and Linux kernel
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- Via: limited features are supported, since openchrome code are not
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updated on Xorg and Linux kernel
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##### WIFI devices
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**WIFI devices** are supported well if are not hybrid ones, nomadays
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currently wifi devices are now hybrids that are mostly mix of bluetooth and wifi.
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Note that bluetooth adapter, while on the same card as your wifi will
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have a seperate hardware ID but both will be reconiced always as USB devices.
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Mostly mayor of those are not well suported unless you use kernel 5.10 and up,
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so the recommendations for recent hybrits devices are Alpine v3.16 and up.
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the only problem are few modules like Broadcom (that some not matter if
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are older or newer will require compilation and firmware) and the
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Realtek Semiconductor only if your device are so so recent.
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2022-08-02 05:46:25 +02:00
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* prism54 FullMAC PCI / Cardbus devices used to be supported only by the
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prism54 wireless driver its not supported by alpine, only debian 4, 5, and 6 supports
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2022-08-01 23:27:33 +02:00
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# Software requirements
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- [Media](#media)
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- [Booting](#booting)
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- [Storage](#storage)
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- [Firmware](#firmware)
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## Media
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**Means the files need for dump the install media, and later boot from
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the target install** machine, of course downloaded from
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http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases or main Download page.
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| Available for | ISO (for USB, CD/DVD) | IMG (for Netboot) | TAR (for ROOTFS img) | Download links recommended |
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| ------------- | --------------------- | ----------------- | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| x86\_64 | YES | YES | N/A | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/x86_64/ |
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| x86 | YES (best is v3.12.0) | YES | N/A | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.12/releases/x86/ |
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| ppc64le | NO | YES | YES | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/ppc64le/ |
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| armhf | NO | YES | YES | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/armhf/ |
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| armv7 | NO | YES | YES | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/armv7/ |
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| aarch64 | YES | YES | YES | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/latest-stable/releases/aarch64/ |
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| mips64 | YES (until v3.14.0) | YES | N/A | https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.13/releases/mips64/ |
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| s390x | YES | YES | N/A | http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.15/releases/s390x/ |
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For some architectures, those pc machines must use an older alpine linux,
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our wiki has good recipes for such cases, like the `x86` knowed widely
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as `i386` or `32bit pc`, its better to use the recomended download link,
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Contrary to everything that stupids devs will say about using up to date, fashioned
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and latest versions, **the age of these devices will require that you do
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not use software so modern things** that it always increases the requirements
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to do the same task as any recent version of same.
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## Booting
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**Means support for kind of BIOS/UEFI/OEM setup of machine, and where can be
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media downloaded will be boot**.
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| Supported Arch | Supported BIOS | Supported Types | Media Boot Recommended |
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| -------------- | ---------------------- | --------------- | ---------------------------- |
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| x86\_64 | Coreboot, Vendor/OEM | BIOS, UEFI | **USB**, CD/DVD (ISO) |
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| x86 | Coreboot, Vendor/OEM | BIOS, UEFI | **USB**, CD/DVD (ISO) |
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| ppc64le | Coreboot, Vendor/OEM | BIOS, UEFI | **USB**, CD/DVD (ISO) |
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| armhf | Uboot, Vendor/OEM | BIOS | **NET**, MINIROOTFS (TAR.GZ) |
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| armv7 | Uboot, Vendor/OEM | BIOS, UEFI | **NET**, MINIROOTFS (TAR.GZ) |
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| aarch64 | ?Coreboot?, Vendor/OEM | BIOS, ?UEFI? | **USB**, CD/DVD (ISO) |
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| mips64 | Vendor/OEM | ? | v3.14.0 end of support |
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| s390x | Vendor/OEM | BIOS, ?UEFI? | **USB**, CD/DVD |
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2023-05-08 05:03:22 +02:00
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#### Boot process
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The boot process for most common computer are described at
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the [alpine-boot-uefi-bios.md](alpine-boot-uefi-bios.md) document.
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The Uboot process for most common devices are described at
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the [apine-boot-uboot.md](alpine-boot-uboot.md) except for Odroid-C2 devices..
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2022-08-01 23:27:33 +02:00
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If the computer does not automatically boot from the desired device, one
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needs to bring up the boot menu selection for choosing the media to boot
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from. Depending on the computer the menu may be accessed by quickly
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(repeatedly) pressing a key when booting starts, or sometimes it is
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needed to press the button before starting the computer and keep holding
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it when it boots. Typical keys are: `F9`-`F12`, sometimes `F7` or
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`F8`. If these don't bring up the boot menu, it may be necessary to
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enter the BIOS configuration and adjust the boot settings, for which
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typical keys are: `Del.` `F1` `F2` `F6` or `Esc.`
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## Space
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**This means amount of available space in disk partitions to perform a
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kind of install** and of course will depends of type and meaning of your
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desired install, this are the recommended sizes but depends of the
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[BIOS/UEFI support and disk layout](alpine-and-uefi.md) wiki page.
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| Minimum sizes | Partition for BOOT (`/boot`) | Partition for ROOT (`/`) | Partition for HOME (`/home`) | Partition for SWAP (`N/A`) |
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| --------------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------- | -------------------------- |
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| base only | 100 Megs | 500 Megs | 1+ Gigs | Optional |
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| default server | 200 Megs | 2 Gigs | 2 Gigs | 4 Gigs |
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| default desktop | 250 Megs | 120 Gigs | 320 Gigs | 8 Gigs |
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| mail server | 200 Megs | 80 Gigs | 120+ Gigs | 8 Gigs |
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| web server | 200 Megs | 10 Gigs | 20+ Gigs | 8 Gigs |
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## LICENSE
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**CC BY-NC-SA**: the project allows users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material
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in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given
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to the creators involved. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified
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material under identical terms, includes the following elements:
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* **BY** – Credit must be given to the creator of each content respectivelly, starting at the first contributor.
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* **NC** – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted, with exceptions if you fill an issue here!
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* **SA** – Adaptations must be shared under the same terms, you must obey this terms and do not change it.
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For more information check the [alpine/copyright.md](copyright.md)
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2022-08-01 23:27:33 +02:00
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# See Also
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* [about.md](about.md)
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* [contribution.md](contribution.md)
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* [README (index)](README.md)
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* [README (main)](../README.md)
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* [Hardware requirements](#hardware-requirements)
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- [Architecture](#architecture)
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- [Memory](#memory)
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- [Storage](#storage)
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- [Peripherals](#peripherals)
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* [Software requirements](#software-requirements)
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- [Media](#media)
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- [Booting](#booting)
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- [Storage](#storage)
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- [Firmware](#firmware)
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