10 Alpine Linux apk Command Examples

Author: Vivek Gite Last updated: August 10, 2020 1 comment

I am new Alpine Linux system admin user. How do I use apk command line utility for the package management on Apline Linux server running in cloud or a Linux container? How can I use the apk command for the package management?

apk command details
Description	APK command
Category	N/A
Difficulty	Easy
Root privileges	Yes
Estimated completion time	10m
Contents » Syntax » Examples » Update the package list » Search for package » Install a package » Remove/delete a package » Upgrade running system » List installed packages » Show statistics » See also

Alpine Linux is a free and open source Linux-based distro. It uses musl and busybox. It is designed with security in mind and targeted at power users who wants secure distro out of the box. It uses PaX and grsecurity for Linux kernel protection. All binaries are compiled with stack smashing protection. APK stands for Alpine Linux package manager. You use the apk command to delete, install, upgrade, or list software on a running Alpine Linux based system. Like most modern Linux distro all software packages for Alpine Linux are digitally signed to avoid security problems. You can install packages from local disk (such as CDROM or a USB stick) or the internet archive location (repositories) such as http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.5/main. The list of repositories is stored in /etc/apk/repositories configuration file. Use the cat command to view /etc/apk/repositories file i.e. type cat /etc/apk/repositories. Alpine Linux package often has the .apk extension and called as “a-packs”. The apk command is equivalent to apt command / apt-get command on Debian/Ubuntu on yum command on CentOS Linux.

Purpose

Use apk for installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing apps/programs for an Alpine Linux operating system in a consistent manner.

Syntax

The basic syntax is as follows:

apk [options] command apk [options] command pkgName apk [options] command pkgName1 pkgName2

Alpine Linux apk command examples

Let us see how to use the apk command to install security updates or new set of packages on an Alpine Linux server.

How to update the package list

To update your package list, enter:
# apk update
Sample outputs:

Fig.01: How to update the package list in Alpine Linux

How to search for package(s)

The syntax is:
# apk search pkgName
For example, search a package named htop, run:
# apk search htop
Sample outputs:

htop-doc-2.0.2-r0
htop-2.0.2-r0

To search and display description:
# apk search -v -d 'htop'
Sample outputs:

htop-doc-2.0.2-r0 - An interactive process viewer (documentation)
htop-2.0.2-r0 - An interactive process viewer

To list all packages available, along with their descriptions

# apk search -v
Sample outputs:

gettext-0.19.8.1-r0 - GNU locale utilities
gst-plugins-base0.10-dev-0.10.36-r3 - GStreamer Multimedia Framework Base Plugins (development files)
xcb-util-keysyms-dev-0.4.0-r0 - Utility libraries for XC Binding - keysyms (development files)
openlibm-0.5.4-r0 - High quality system independent, portable, open source libm implementation
imapsync-doc-1.727-r1 - IMAP synchronisation, sync, copy or migration tool (documentation)
evince-lang-3.22.1-r0 - Languages for package evince
jack-1.9.10-r2 - The Jack Audio Connection Kit
php7-intl-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: intl
php5-5.6.30-r0 - The PHP language runtime engine
samba-libs-4.5.7-r0 - Samba core libraries
gst-plugins-bad1-1.8.3-r0 - GStreamer bad plugins
docker-bash-completion-1.12.6-r0 - Bash completion for Docker
mesa-gl-12.0.3-r0 - Mesa libGL runtime libraries
nagios-plugins-mrtg-2.1.4-r2 - Nagios plugin check_mrtg
.....
..
....
nrpe-2.15-r4 - NRPE allows you to remotely execute Nagios plugins on other Linux/Unix machines.
py2-psycopg2-2.6.2-r1 - A Python-PostgreSQL Database Adapter (for python2)
perl-mime-types-2.13-r0 - Definition of MIME types
perl-net-http-doc-6.09-r0 - Net::HTTP perl module (documentation)
shared-mime-info-lang-1.8-r0 - Languages for package shared-mime-info
altermime-0.3.11-r0 - alterMIME - MIME encoded email pack alteration tool
at-3.1.20-r0 - AT and batch delayed command scheduling utility and daemon
fbida-2.12-r0 - Few applications to display and elementary edit images

How do I search package by wildcards?

The syntax is as follows to search all php7 packages or php5 packages:
# apk search -v 'php5*' ### OR ### # apk search -v 'php7*'
Sample outputs:

php7-intl-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: intl
php7-openssl-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: openssl
php7-dba-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: dba
php7-sqlite3-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: sqlite3
php7-pear-7.0.16-r0 - PHP Extension and Application Repository
php7-phpdbg-7.0.16-r0 - Interactive PHP debugger
php7-litespeed-7.0.16-r0 - PHP LiteSpeed SAPI
php7-gmp-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: gmp
php7-pdo_mysql-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: pdo_mysql
php7-pcntl-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: pcntl
php7-common-7.0.16-r0 - The PHP language runtime engine - 7th branch (common config)
php7-xsl-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: xsl
php7-fpm-7.0.16-r0 - PHP FastCGI Process Manager
php7-mysqlnd-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: mysqlnd
php7-enchant-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: enchant
php7-pspell-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: pspell
php7-snmp-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: snmp
....
..
...
php7-sockets-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: sockets
php7-soap-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: soap
php7-apcu-5.1.8-r0 - PHP extension APC User Cache
php7-sysvmsg-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: sysvmsg
php7-zlib-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: zlib
php7-ftp-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: ftp
php7-sysvsem-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: sysvsem
php7-pdo-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: pdo
php7-bz2-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: bz2
php7-mysqli-7.0.16-r0 - PHP7 extension: mysqli

How to install a package(s) by name

The syntax is:
# apk add pkgName # apk add pkgName1 pkgName2
To install a htop package, run:
# apk add htop
Sample outputs:

(1/1) Installing htop (2.0.2-r0)
Executing busybox-1.25.1-r0.trigger
OK: 39 MiB in 28 packages

To install Apache2 along with PHP7 and modules, run:
# apk add apache2 php7-apache2 php7-gd php7-mysqli
Sample outputs:

(1/28) Installing libuuid (2.28.2-r1)
(2/28) Installing apr (1.5.2-r1)
(3/28) Installing expat (2.2.0-r0)
(4/28) Installing apr-util (1.5.4-r2)
(5/28) Installing pcre (8.39-r0)
(6/28) Installing apache2 (2.4.25-r0)
Executing apache2-2.4.25-r0.pre-install
(7/28) Installing php7-common (7.0.16-r0)
(8/28) Installing libedit (20150325.3.1-r3)
(9/28) Installing libxml2 (2.9.4-r2)
(10/28) Installing php7-apache2 (7.0.16-r0)
(11/28) Installing libxau (1.0.8-r1)
(12/28) Installing libxdmcp (1.1.2-r2)
(13/28) Installing libxcb (1.12-r0)
(14/28) Installing libx11 (1.6.4-r0)
(15/28) Installing libxext (1.3.3-r1)
(16/28) Installing libice (1.0.9-r1)
(17/28) Installing libsm (1.2.2-r0)
(18/28) Installing libxt (1.1.5-r0)
(19/28) Installing libxpm (3.5.12-r0)
(20/28) Installing libbz2 (1.0.6-r5)
(21/28) Installing libpng (1.6.25-r0)
(22/28) Installing freetype (2.7-r1)
(23/28) Installing libjpeg-turbo (1.5.1-r0)
(24/28) Installing libwebp (0.5.2-r0)
(25/28) Installing php7-gd (7.0.16-r0)
(26/28) Installing mariadb-common (10.1.22-r0)
(27/28) Installing mariadb-client-libs (10.1.22-r0)
(28/28) Installing php7-mysqli (7.0.16-r0)
Executing busybox-1.25.1-r0.trigger
OK: 64 MiB in 56 packages

How to hold a specific package back and not upgrade it

If you want to upgrade Alpine Linux system, but keep or hold a specific package add version number. For instance, to hold the bash package to the version 5.0.0-r0 level or lower, run:
# apk add bash=5.0.0-r0
One can do regex based version matching to hold the version to a major/minor release. For example:
# apk add bash=~5.0
Now, upgrade the system. However, apk will upgrade the entire system, keeping the bash package at the 5.0.0-r0 or lower level:
# apk upgrade
It is possible to remove holding. For example, make sure upgrade bash to the current lastest version, run:
# apk add bash>5.0.0-r0

How do install a local .apk file package?

The syntax is as follows to add a local package named foo.apk:
# apk add --allow-untrusted /path/to/foo.apk apk add --allow-untrusted pkg1.apk pkg2.apk

How to remove or delete a package(s) by name

The syntax is:
# apk del pkgName # apk del pkgName1 pkgName2
To delete a htop package run:
# apk del htop
Sample outputs:

(1/1) Purging htop (2.0.2-r0)
Executing busybox-1.25.1-r0.trigger
OK: 39 MiB in 27 packages

How do I delete old packages caches on Alpine Linux?

To remove out older versions of packages, run the clean command as follows:
# apk cache clean ## or ## # apk -v cache clean
One can also clean cache and download missing packages in one step:
# apk cache -v sync

How to upgrade running Alpine Linux

The syntax is:
# apk update && apk upgrade
You can create a bash shell alias as follows in ~/.bashrc
# echo "alias update='apk update && apk upgrade'" >> /.bashrc
Run it as follows:
# update

How do I upgrade selected packages only?

The syntax is
# apk add -u pkgName
To upgrade a htop only package:
# apk update # apk add -u htop

How do I list installed packages?

The syntax is:
# apk info # apk info -vv | grep 'foo' # apk info -vv | sort

Fig.02: How do I show/list installed packages in Alpine Linux

Find out which package a file belongs to..

to determine which package a file named /etc/passwd or /sbin/apk belongs to:
# apk info --who-owns /etc/passwd /etc/passwd is owned by alpine-baselayout-3.0.4-r0 # apk info --who-owns /sbin/apk /sbin/apk is owned by apk-tools-2.6.8-r2

List contents of the PACKAGE

# apk -L info pkgName # apk -L info htop
Sample outputs:

htop-2.0.2-r0 contains:
usr/bin/htop
usr/share/applications/htop.desktop
usr/share/pixmaps/htop.png

Check if PACKAGE is installed

# apk -e info pkgName ############################################# ### find out if atop PACKAGE is installed ### ############################################# # apk -e info atop
No output displayed if PACKAGE is NOT installed.

List packages that the PACKAGE depends on

# apk -R info atop # apk -R info atop
Sample outputs:

atop-2.2_p3-r0 depends on:
so:libc.musl-x86_64.so.1
so:libncursesw.so.6
so:libz.so.1

List all packages depending on PACKAGE

# apk info -r pkgName # apk info -r bash
Sample outputs:

bash-completion-2.4-r0

Show installed size of PACKAGE

# apk info -s pkgName # apk info -s atop
Sample outputs:

atop-2.2_p3-r0 installed size:
520192

Print description for PACKAGE

# apk info -d pkgName # apk info -d bash
Sample outputs:

bash-4.3.46-r5 description:
The GNU Bourne Again shell

Print all information about PACKAGE

# apk info -a pkgName # apk info -a bash
Sample outputs:

apk info -a bash
bash-4.3.46-r5 description:
The GNU Bourne Again shell

bash-4.3.46-r5 webpage:
http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/bash.html

bash-4.3.46-r5 installed size:
700416

bash-4.3.46-r5 depends on:
busybox
so:libc.musl-x86_64.so.1
so:libncursesw.so.6
so:libreadline.so.6

bash-4.3.46-r5 provides:

bash-4.3.46-r5 is required by:
bash-completion-2.4-r0

bash-4.3.46-r5 contains:
bin/bashbug
bin/bash

bash-4.3.46-r5 triggers:

bash-4.3.46-r5 has auto-install rule:

bash-4.3.46-r5 affects auto-installation of:
bash-doc-4.3.46-r5

bash-4.3.46-r5 replaces:

bash-4.3.46-r5 license:
GPL3+

How do I see statistics about repositories and installations?

Run the command:
# apk stats
Sample outputs:

installed:
  packages: 28
  dirs: 163
  files: 7097
  bytes: 41205760
  triggers: 1
available:
  names: 11710
  packages: 7961
atoms:
  num: 5934
bash-4.3# 
bash-4.3# apk stats
installed:
  packages: 28
  dirs: 163
  files: 7097
  bytes: 41205760
  triggers: 1
available:
  names: 11710
  packages: 7961
atoms:
  num: 5934

apk command options and examples

Command	Usage	Example
apk update	Update the package list	apk update
apk upgrade	Upgrade the system	apk update apt ugrade
apk add pkg	Add a package	apk add apache
apk del pkg	Delete a package	apk del nginx
apk search -v	Search for packages	apk search -v apk search -v -d ‘nginx’ apk search -v ‘apache’
apk info	List all installed pacakges	apk info
apk fix	Repair package or upgrade it without modifying main dependencies	apk fix
apk policy pkg	Show repository policy for packages	apk policy bash
apk stats	Show statistics about repositories and installations	apk stats

Category	List of Unix and Linux commands
File Management	cat
Firewall	Alpine Awall • CentOS 8 • OpenSUSE • RHEL 8 • Ubuntu 16.04 • Ubuntu 18.04 • Ubuntu 20.04
Network Utilities	dig • host • ip • nmap
OpenVPN	CentOS 7 • CentOS 8 • Debian 10 • Debian 8/9 • Ubuntu 18.04 • Ubuntu 20.04
Package Manager	apk • apt
Processes Management	bg • chroot • cron • disown • fg • jobs • killall • kill • pidof • pstree • pwdx • time
Searching	grep • whereis • which
User Information	groups • id • lastcomm • last • lid/libuser-lid • logname • members • users • whoami • who • w
WireGuard VPN	Alpine • CentOS 8 • Debian 10 • Firewall • Ubuntu 20.04