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diff --git a/content/blog/2022-10-22-alpine-linux.org b/content/blog/2022-10-22-alpine-linux.org deleted file mode 100644 index 8d4a14b..0000000 --- a/content/blog/2022-10-22-alpine-linux.org +++ /dev/null @@ -1,269 +0,0 @@ -#+title: Alpine Linux: My New Server OS -#+date: 2022-10-22 -#+description: A retrospective on installing and configuring Alpine Linux as my new server operating system. -#+filetags: :linux: - -* Alpine Linux -[[https://alpinelinux.org][Alpine Linux]] is a very small distro, built -on musl libc and busybox. It uses ash as the default shell, OpenRC as -the init system, and apk as the package manager. According to their -website, an Alpine container "requires no more than 8 MB and a minimal -installation to disk requires around 130 MB of storage." An actual bare -metal machine is recommended to have 100 MB of RAM and 0-700 MB of -storage space. - -Historically, I've used Ubuntu's minimal installation image as my server -OS for the last five years. Ubuntu worked well and helped as my original -server contained an nVidia GPU and no onboard graphics, so quite a few -distros won't boot or install without a lot of tinkering. - -Alpine has given me a huge increase in performance across my Docker apps -and Nginx websites. CPU load for the new server I'm using to test Alpine -hovers around 0-5% on average with an Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-6100 CPU @ -3.70GHz. - -The only services I haven't moved over to Alpine are Plex Media Server -and Syncthing, which may increase CPU load quite a bit depending on how -many streams are running. - -** Installation -In terms of installation, Alpine has an incredibly useful -[[https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Installation][wiki]] that will guide -a user throughout the installation and post-installation processes, as -well as various other articles and guides. - -To install Alpine, find an appropriate -[[https://alpinelinux.org/downloads/][image to download]] and flash it -to a USB using software such as Rufus or Etcher. I opted to use the -Standard image for my x86_{64} architecture. - -Once the USB is ready, plug it into the machine and reboot. Note that -you may have to use a key such as =Esc= or =F1-12= to access the boot -menu. The Alpine Linux terminal will load quickly and for a login. - -To log in to the installation image, use the =root= account; there is no -password. Once logged-in, execute the setup command: - -#+begin_src sh -setup-alpine -#+end_src - -The setup script will ask a series of questions to configure the system. -Be sure to answer carefully or else you may have to re-configure the -system after boot. - -- Keyboard Layout (Local keyboard language and usage mode, e.g., us and - variant of us-nodeadkeys.) -- Hostname (The name for the computer.) -- Network (For example, automatic IP address discovery with the "DHCP" - protocol.) -- DNS Servers (Domain Name Servers to query. For privacy reasons, it is - NOT recommended to route every local request to servers like Google's - 8.8.8.8 .) -- Timezone -- Proxy (Proxy server to use for accessing the web. Use "none" for - direct connections to the internet.) -- Mirror (From where to download packages. Choose the organization you - trust giving your usage patterns to.) -- SSH (Secure SHell remote access server. "Openssh" is part of the - default install image. Use "none" to disable remote login, e.g. on - laptops.) -- NTP (Network Time Protocol client used for keeping the system clock in - sync with a time-server. Package "chrony" is part of the default - install image.) -- Disk Mode (Select between diskless (disk="none"), "data" or "sys", as - described above.) - -Once the setup script is finished, be sure to reboot the machine and -remove the USB device. - -#+begin_src sh -reboot -#+end_src - -** Post-Installation -There are many things you can do once your Alpine Linux system is up and -running, and it largely depends on what you'll use the machine for. I'm -going to walk through my personal post-installation setup for my web -server. - -1. Upgrade the System - - First, login as =root= in order to update and upgrade the system: - - #+begin_src sh - apk -U upgrade - #+end_src - -2. Adding a User - - I needed to add a user so that I don't need to log in as root. Note - that if you're used to using the =sudo= command, you will now need to - use the =doas= command on Alpine Linux. - - #+begin_src sh - apk add doas - adduser <username> - adduser <username> wheel - #+end_src - - You can now log out and log back in using the newly-created user: - - #+begin_src sh - exit - #+end_src - -3. Enable Community Packages - - In order to install more common packages that aren't found in the - =main= repository, you will need to enable the =community= - repository: - - #+begin_src sh - doas nano /etc/apk/repositories - #+end_src - - Uncomment the community line for whichever version of Alpine you're - running: - - #+begin_src sh - /media/usb/apks - http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.16/main - http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.16/community - #http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main - #http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community - #http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing - #+end_src - -4. Install Required Packages - - Now that the community packages are available, you can install any - packages you need. In my case, I installed the web server packages I - need for my services: - - #+begin_src sh - doas apk add nano nginx docker docker-compose ufw - #+end_src - -5. SSH - - If you didn't install OpenSSH as part of the installation, you can do - so now: - - #+begin_src sh - doas apk add openssh - #+end_src - - Next, either create a new key or copy your SSH key to the server from - your current machines: - - #+begin_src sh - # Create a new key - ssh-keygen - #+end_src - - If you need to copy an existing SSH key from a current machine: - - #+begin_src sh - # Copy key from existing machines - ssh-copy-id <username>@<ip_address> - #+end_src - -6. Firewall - - Lastly, I installed =ufw= above as my firewall. To set up, default to - deny incoming and allow outgoing connections. Then selectively allow - other ports or apps as needed. - - #+begin_src sh - doas ufw default deny incoming - doas ufw default allow outgoing - doas ufw allow SSH - doas ufw allow "WWW Full" - doas ufw allow 9418 # Git server port - #+end_src - -7. Change Hostname - - If you don't like the hostname set during installation, you just need - to edit two files. First, edit the simple hostname file: - - #+begin_src sh - doas nano /etc/hostname - #+end_src - - #+begin_src sh - <hostname> - #+end_src - - Next, edit the =hosts= file: - - #+begin_src sh - doas nano /etc/hosts - #+end_src - - #+begin_src sh - 127.0.0.1 <hostname>.local <hostname> localhost.local localhost - ::1 <hostname> <hostname>.local - #+end_src - -* Nginx Web Server -To set up my web server, I simply created the =www= user and created the -necessary files. - -#+begin_src sh -doas adduser -D -g 'www' www -mkdir /www -doas mkdir /www -doas chown -R www:www /var/lib/nginx/ -doas chown -R www:www /www -#+end_src - -If you're running a simple webroot, you can alter the main =nginx.conf= -file. Otherwise, you can drop configuration files in the following -directory. You don't need to enable or symlink the configuration file -like you do in other systems. - -#+begin_src sh -doas nano /etc/nginx/http.d/example_website.conf -#+end_src - -Once the configuration is set and pointed at the =/www= directory to -serve files, enable the Nginx service: - -#+begin_src sh -# Note that 'default' must be included or Nginx will not start on boot -doas rc-update add nginx default -#+end_src - -* Docker Containers -Docker works exactly the same as other systems. Either execute a -=docker run= command or create a =docker-compose.yml= file and do -=docker-compose up -d=. - -* Git Server -I went in-depth on how to self-host a git server in another post: -[[../git-server/][Self-Hosting a Personal Git Server]]. - -However, there are a few differences with Alpine. First note that in -order to change the =git= user's shell, you must do a few things a -little different: - -#+begin_src sh -doas apk add libuser -doas touch /etc/login.defs -doas mkdir /etc/default -doas touch /etc/default/useradd -doas lchsh git -#+end_src - -* Thoughts on Alpine -So far, I love Alpine Linux. I have no complaints about anything at this -point, but I'm not completely finished with the migration yet. Once I'm -able to upgrade my hardware to a rack-mounted server, I will migrate -Plex and Syncthing over to Alpine as well - possibly putting Plex into a -container or VM. - -The performance is stellar, the =apk= package manager is seamless, and -system administration tasks are effortless. My only regret is that I -didn't install Alpine sooner. |