Alpine (APK)
  • 15 Nov 2023
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Alpine (APK)

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Article Summary

Alpine Linux is a lightweight security-focused Linux distribution that is popular for use in Docker containers and embedded systems because of its small footprint. Its package manager is Alpine Package Keeper (APK).

Starting in ProGet 2023.22, you can create Alpine (APK) feeds to host packages for Alpine Linux.

Prerequisite Configuration

Client Configuration

In order to install APK packages from ProGet, each client must perform the following steps:

1. Trust the feed's public key

APK stores trusted public keys for package repositories in /etc/apk/keys. To trust a ProGet APK feed, save a copy of the feed's public key in that directory using the following naming scheme:

wget -O "/etc/apk/keys/<FeedName>@proget.rsa.pub" <ProGetUrl>/apk/<FeedName>/keys/<FeedName>%40proget.rsa.pub

Note that you can configure a different name for your public key if necessary. By default, it will be <FeedName>@proget.rsa.pub for all Alpine feeds.

2. Add the feed to APK's repositories file

The list of repositories to use is stored in the /etc/apk/repositories file. It is a plain text file with a repository URL on each line. To add a ProGet feed to the end of the list:

echo "<ProGetUrl>/apk/<FeedName>/" >> /etc/apk/repositories

3. Verify APK configuration

To verify that APK is able to download the package index, execute:

apk update

If the configuration is correct, this will list all repos (including the ProGet feed) without errors.

Common Tasks

Installing Packages

Alpine packages are installed using APK. To install a package hosted by ProGet, use the command:

apk add <package-name>

Creating Packages

To learn how to create an APK package, visit a resource such as Creating an Alpine package on the Alpine Linux wiki.

Publishing Packages

APK does not support uploading a package, so Proget offsers a few alternative methods to publish APK packages:

Upload from ProGet Web Application

On the feed overview page, select "Add Package" and "Upload Package" to upload an .rpm file directly from your browser.

Publish via HTTP

To push an APK package via HTTP, issue a PUT or POST request with the package file as the content to: http://{proget-server}/apk/{feed-name}/

Examples:

cURL:

curl http://{proget-server}/apk/{feed-name}/ --user <user>:<password> --upload-file {my-package}.apk

wget:

wget http://{proget-server}/apk/{feed-name}/ --http-user <user> --http-password <password> --method POST --body-file {my-package}.apk

PowerShell:

Invoke-WebRequest http://{proget-server}/apk/{feed-name}/ -Credential [System.Net.NetworkCredential]::new('<user>', '<password>') -Method PUT -InFile {my-package}.apk

Connectors for Alpine (APK)

Alpine (APK) feeds support connectors to other ProGet Alpine (APK) feeds, official Alpine repositories, and other third-party repositories.

Official Alpine Repositories

AlpineLinux.org hosts dozens of different Alpine (APK) repositories; there's generally one repository per distro (3.17, 3.18, etc.), quality (main, community, releases), and architecture (x86_64, armv7, etc.).

When creating a connector to an connecting to an official repository, we recommend using a name that follows the url conventions. For example:

URL:https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.18/main/x86_64/
Connector name:alpine-v3.18-main-x86_64

You can see a list of the default repositories in the /etc/apk/repositories file on a new Alpine installation.


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