I want to install Alpine in a VM for a local server.
I noticed that the 'virt' iso can't be installed on disk without downloading
some packages from the internet. That's annoying. What's the rationale behind
that?
If I used the 'extended' iso instead, would I be missing something compared to
'virt'?
It says the 'virt' iso is "optimized for virtual systems", so I wonder if it has
an advantage in terms of performance or resource usage.
On Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:26:31 +0000
Gilbert <gnuplus@atomicmail.io> wrote:
> I want to install Alpine in a VM for a local server.> > I noticed that the 'virt' iso can't be installed on disk without downloading> some packages from the internet. That's annoying. What's the rationale behind> that?
The reasoning is that in most cases you would need to get *something*
from internet anyway, so then we can keep the alpine-virt release image
minimal by requiring that everything is downloaded from internet.
> If I used the 'extended' iso instead, would I be missing something> compared to 'virt'?> It says the 'virt' iso is "optimized for virtual systems", so I> wonder if it has an advantage in terms of performance or resource> usage.
You get a bigger kernel with support for a lot more, that you probably
don need in a VM. (sound drivers, wifi drivers, drivers for bare-metal
etc...)
Another option could be to use the cloud images, where you get a
pre-installed disk image.
-nc
> The reasoning is that in most cases you would need to get *something*> from internet anyway, so then we can keep the alpine-virt release image> minimal by requiring that everything is downloaded from internet.
I see.
I don't like it, because I think saving some megabytes on the iso size provides
little value.
And on the other hand it annoys people like me who prefer to install offline.
I hope you reconsider it.
But thanks for the response and have a nice day!
On Mon, Aug 17, 2026 at 1:12 PM, Natanael Copa
<> wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:26:31 +0000> Gilbert <gnuplus@atomicmail.io> wrote:> > > I want to install Alpine in a VM for a local server.> >> > I noticed that the 'virt' iso can't be installed on disk without downloading> > some packages from the internet. That's annoying. What's the rationale> behind> > that?> > The reasoning is that in most cases you would need to get *something*> from internet anyway, so then we can keep the alpine-virt release image> minimal by requiring that everything is downloaded from internet.> > > If I used the 'extended' iso instead, would I be missing something> > compared to 'virt'?> > It says the 'virt' iso is "optimized for virtual systems", so I> > wonder if it has an advantage in terms of performance or resource> > usage.> > You get a bigger kernel with support for a lot more, that you probably> don need in a VM. (sound drivers, wifi drivers, drivers for bare-metal> etc...)> > Another option could be to use the cloud images, where you get a> pre-installed disk image.> > -nc