Alpine Linux in Docker

This Docker Image (linuxcontainers/alpine) is based on the minimal Alpine Linux.

Alpine Version 3.17.0 (Released Nov 22, 2022)

This docker image is the base Alpine Linux. For more info on versions & support see Releases

What is Alpine Linux?

Alpine Linux is a Linux distribution built around musl libc and BusyBox. The image is only 10 MB in size and has access to a package repository that is much more complete than other BusyBox based images. This makes Alpine Linux a great image base for utilities and even production applications. Read more about Alpine Linux here and you can see how their mantra fits in right at home with Docker images.

Features

Minimal size only, minimal layers
Memory usage is minimal on a simple install

Multiplatform Image

Alpine has the following platforms available:

linux/386
linux/amd64
linux/arm/v6
linux/arm/v7
linux/arm64
linux/ppc64le
linux/s390x

Source Repository and Builds

The source repository is maintained on GitHub. The images are built on Github and pushed to Docker Hub, as well as the Github Container Registry using Github Actions.

Docker Tags and Versioning Scheme

Each image pushed to Docker Hub and the Github Container Registry is tagged as follows:

The tag latest indicates, well, the latest image.
Tags of the form MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (such as 3.17.0) indicate the SemVer of the Alpine image used as the base.
Tags of the form MAJOR.MINOR (e.g., 3.13) correspond to the most recent patch level of the Alpine image used as the base. For example, if 3.17.0 is the latest release, then 3.13 maps to this as well.
Tags of the form MAJOR (e.g., 3) correspond to the most recent patch level of the Alpine image used as the base, with major corresponding major version. For example, if 3.17.0 is the latest release, then 3 maps to this as well.

Semantic Versioning uses version numbers of the form: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, where differences in MAJOR correspond to incompatible changes, differences in MINOR correspond to introduction of backwards compatible new functionality, and PATCH corresponds to backwards compatible bug fixes.

Installation and Usage

The pre-built image is hosted on both Docker Hub and the Github Container Registry. You can use it in the following ways.

Docker Pull Command

Pull the latest image from Docker Hub with the following (replace latest with a specific version number if you prefer):

docker pull linuxcontainers/alpine:latest

Pull from the Github Container Registry with:

docker pull ghcr.io/linuxcontainers/alpine:latest

Use as a base image in a Dockerfile

Use as a base image in a Dockerfile (replace latest with a specific version number if you prefer):

FROM linuxcontainers/alpine:latest

# The rest of your Dockerfile would go here.

Or you can use as a base image (via the Github Container Registry) with:

FROM ghcr.io/linuxcontainers/alpine:latest

# The rest of your Dockerfile would go here.

A specific example usage can be found in the Dockerfile of the generate-sitemap Github action.

p- / alpine