System
Updates and channels
An installed system is updated in place. There is never a reason to install again from a new image.
Updating
| Menu entry | Does |
|---|---|
| Update › Updates | Opens the Store at what has updates |
| Update › Everything | System packages, then Flatpak applications |
| Update › System packages | doas apk upgrade -U |
| Update › Flatpak applications | flatpak update --user |
doas apk upgrade -U
flatpak update --user
Nothing updates by itself. Restart after an update that brings a new kernel.
Which version is this
Learn › About Alpymist in the menu shows the version, the channel, the system
and the packages. alpymist-about --print prints the same, which is what to
paste into a bug report.
Channels
A system follows one of two channels:
| Channel | Moves | For |
|---|---|---|
| stable | At each release | Everyone. What the installer sets up. |
| dev | On every change to the main branch | Trying what is coming. It may break. |
alpymist channel # which one this system follows
doas alpymist channel dev # follow dev, trust its key, upgrade
doas alpymist channel stable # back: distrust the key, downgrade to the release
Update › Release channel in the menu does the same. --no-upgrade only
switches, and leaves the upgrade for later. Settings › Updates only switches
too: it changes which repository the system follows, and the upgrade is then
yours to run. Going back to stable that way, a plain apk upgrade does not
downgrade; use doas alpymist channel stable.
Going back to stable downgrades the Alpymist packages to the last release, since dev's are newer. The dev channel's key is trusted only on systems that chose dev, and is removed again on the way back.
Graphics in a virtual machine
Alpine 3.24's graphics drivers lack the one that lets a virtual machine draw with its host's graphics card. Alpymist publishes Alpine's Mesa with that driver added, in a repository of its own that a system follows only when asked. In a virtual machine with a virtio-gpu display the installer offers it; afterwards:
alpymist guest # whether this system follows it
doas alpymist guest on # follow it, trust its key, upgrade
doas alpymist guest off # stop, distrust it, back to Alpine's Mesa
It does nothing for a machine that is not a virtual machine. A system that
follows it needs that repository to answer for apk upgrade to work, as it
needs its channel's.
What an update is trusting
Every package comes from a repository whose index is signed, and the index pins the hash of every package, so apk refuses one that was swapped or changed. Both channels are built and signed by GitHub Actions from the public repository. The download page says what that does and does not guarantee.