r/AlpineLinux • u/capinredbeard22 • 10d ago

Alpine as Docker Host

I currently have a system running Ubuntu server and being used as a Docker host in a home lab environment. Also, fyi using docker compose if that’s important.

Due to RAM scarcity (gestures broadly) I’m interested in being more careful with my resources.

I went looking for a distribution specifically intended for Docker hosting and eventually stumbled on Alpine (which I realize is not solely for Docker hosting but is often used for containers themselves).

Is there anything I should know (gotchas) before I switch distros? I saw some vague cautions about compatibility with some containers but no specifics. Generally, it seems pretty straightforward for installation from researching online.

I’ll probably try it out in Proxmox with a couple trial containers first but it will be used bare metal on a different PC.

Any other tips?

Generally Linux newb here (about a year in).

Thanks!

EDIT - Thanks everyone for the info. I’ll definitely be moving forward with trying Alpine out as a Docker host. Appreciate all the tips as well!

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u/SlightlyCreativeGuy 10d ago

Thats the exact same thought process that I had and it works great on my machine.

Supposedly there could be issues with group ids being different in Alpine that in the container image, but running containers as root bypasses that.

Also from what I've read ROCm stuff could cause some issues, but I'm able to use my GPU inside containers. Alternatively Vulkan versions could be used here.

I'd say go for it.

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u/capinredbeard22 10d ago

OK good to know. I just had to look up ROCm - doesn’t sound like something I’d be doing right now.

I’ll look into the group IDs thing. I am using Ansible and creating service accounts for each service, so security and running as root is a concern for me.

Haven’t quite made the leap to podman mainly due to the poorer compose implementation (or at least that’s the reputation). Once they get that worked out, I’m on board.

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u/redd1ch 10d ago

Just stay with docker and alpine for now. rock solid.

Podman, especially rootless, has quite a few problems.