apk

Additional Notes

apk is Alpine Linux's package manager. It installs, removes, upgrades, searches, and lists packages from Alpine repositories.

Use it in Alpine systems, containers, and lightweight server images. It is common in Dockerfiles based on Alpine.

Syntax

apk [options] command [package...]

Parameters

• command: Operation such as add, del, update, upgrade, search, or info.
• package: Package name to install, remove, or inspect.
• options: Repository, cache, and output controls.

Common Commands

• update: Refresh package index files.
• add PACKAGE: Install a package.
• del PACKAGE: Remove a package.
• upgrade: Upgrade installed packages.
• search TERM: Search package names.
• info PACKAGE: Show package information.
• list --installed: List installed packages.

Common Options

• --no-cache: Do not store index files locally. Common in Dockerfiles.
• -U: Update indexes before the operation.
• -v: Verbose output.
• --repository URL: Use an additional repository.

Examples

apk update

Refresh package indexes.

apk add curl

Install curl.

apk add --no-cache bash ca-certificates

Install packages without keeping cache files, useful in containers.

apk del curl

Remove a package.

Practical Notes

• Use apk add --no-cache in Dockerfiles to keep images smaller.
• Alpine uses musl libc, so some packages behave differently than on glibc distributions.
• Root privileges are usually required outside containers running as root.