How to install Alpine Linux on Proxmox
Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and busybox. Alpine Linux Homepage
Proxmox Virtual Environment is a complete open-source platform for enterprise virtualization. With the built-in web interface you can easily manage VMs and containers, software-defined storage and networking, high-availability clustering, and multiple out-of-the-box tools using a single solution. Proxmox VE Homepage
In this guide, I will show you how install and configure Alpine Linux VM in Proxmox.
Test environment
- Dell Precision 3660, CPU I7-12700, RAM 16G, SSD M2 2TB
- Proxmox 8.0.4
1. Downloading Alpine Linux ISO
Download latest iso image for you architecture here https://www.alpinelinux.org/downloads There are few version of distribution. Download VIRTUAL it is similar to standard. Slimmed down kernel. Optimized for virtual systems. I will install version x86_64 v3.18.3 (Released Aug 07, 2023).
Copy ISO url and download sha256 file 
Now let's download ISO to Proxmox storage. Insert ISO url and press
Query URL 
Select hash algorithm SHA-256 and insert hash from sha256 file 
Successefull download 
2. Creating a Proxmox VM
Follow these steps to create a new VM in Proxmox:
Click on "Create VM" in top right corner.
Configure VM name and ID
Select Alpine Linux ISO image from storage
Check Qemu Agent option
Set maximum disk size, disk will be created with minimum size and expand if needed
Set Sockets and Cores count and select Type:host
Enter minimum and maximum RAM for VM
In my environment VM work normal even with 256Mb. Adjust memory settings to
your needs of your applications.
Configure Networking
Leave all options default.
Review configuration and click Finish
3. Setting Up the VM
Install Alpine Linux by following the setup process.
Start VM and open Console to VM
Login to VM, use default user name: root. Start setup process with command:
setup-alpine
Set "keyboard layout" and other options, here is my:
Select keyboard layout:us
Select variant: us
Enter system hostname:localhost
Initialize network interface [eth0]:<enter>
Ip address for eth0: [dhcp]
Set network configuration?: [n]
Change password for root
Set timezone: [UTC]
Set network proxy: [none]
Set network repository mirror. (f - fastest mirror)
Enter mirror number (1-73) (or r/f/e/done): f
Create new user
Setup user: user1
Set ssh key: [none]
Set user password:
Set ssh server: [openssh]
Configure virtual disk, look disk name after Available disk are:
Select disk where OS will be installed: sda
How would you like to use it?: sys
Erase above disk(s) and continue? y
Reboot system
Login as root user and update system
apk update
apk upgrade
4. Install QEMU Guest Agent
Qemu Guest Agent used to exchange information between the host and guest, and to execute command in the guest. Let's install it on our VM.
Check that QEMU Guest Agent is enabled in VM
Currently Qemu Guest Agent information not available
Uncomment community repository in file /etc/apk/repositories, qemu agent
package located in community repository.
vi /etc/apk/repositories
file content should looks like this:
#/media/cdrom/apks
http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.18/main
http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.18/community
Install and start Qemu Agent
apk add qemu-guest-agent
rc-update add qemu-guest-agent
service qemu-guest-agent status
service qemu-guest-agent start
Now host can interact with VM Qemu Guest Agent and show information from VM
5. Add existing user to root group
We create user user1 on step 3, now lets add this user to root group. First login as root like we did in step 3. Then exec this commands:
apk add sudo
USER='user1'
echo "$USER ALL=(ALL) ALL" > /etc/sudoers.d/$USER && chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/$USER
exit
Here we add package sudo, create file /etc/sudoers.d/user1 and set
permission to file.
Next logout with command:exit then login as user user1 and now you can execute command with root permission.
All you need is just add sudo before command.
6. Add new user to root group
Login as root like we did in step 3. To add new user with name user2 execute these commands
apk add sudo
USER='user2'
adduser -g "${USER}" $USER
echo "$USER ALL=(ALL) ALL" > /etc/sudoers.d/$USER && chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/$USER
exit
Here we add package sudo. create user user2 and group user2, create file
/etc/sudoers.d/user2 and set permission to file.
Next logout with command:exit then login as user2 and execute command with root permission.
7. Access VM from network
Find VM IP address in Proxmox UI on VM Summary tab. Then use any ssh client and login with user user1 or user2. In my case it will looks like this:
ssh [email protected]
