apk Operations

The apk module manages packages on Alpine Linux systems using the apk package manager.

Functions

packages

Install, remove, or update apk packages.

from pyinfra.operations import apk

apk.packages(
    name="Install web utilities",
    packages=["nginx", "curl"],
    update=True,
)

str | list[str]

List of packages to ensure.

bool

default:true

Whether the packages should be installed.

bool

default:false

Whether to upgrade packages without a specified version.

bool

default:false

Run apk update before installing packages.

bool

default:false

Run apk upgrade before installing packages.

Package versions can be pinned like apk: <pkg>=<version>

Examples

from pyinfra.operations import apk

# Update package list and install packages
apk.packages(
    name="Install Asterisk and Vim",
    packages=["asterisk", "vim"],
    update=True,
)

from pyinfra.operations import apk

# Install the latest versions of packages (always check)
apk.packages(
    name="Install latest Vim",
    packages=["vim"],
    latest=True,
)

from pyinfra.operations import apk

# Upgrade all packages before installing new ones
apk.packages(
    name="Install packages after system upgrade",
    packages=["git", "python3"],
    upgrade=True,
)

update

Update apk package indexes.

from pyinfra.operations import apk

apk.update(
    name="Update apk repositories",
)

This operation is not idempotent - it will always execute.

upgrade

Upgrade all apk packages.

from pyinfra.operations import apk

apk.upgrade(
    name="Upgrade all packages",
    available=True,
)

bool

default:false

Force all packages to be upgraded (recommended on whole Alpine version upgrades).

This operation is not idempotent - it will always execute.

Common Use Cases

Basic System Setup

from pyinfra.operations import apk

# Update repositories
apk.update(
    name="Update package repositories",
)

# Install essential packages
apk.packages(
    name="Install essential tools",
    packages=[
        "bash",
        "curl",
        "wget",
        "git",
        "vim",
    ],
)

Container Base Image Setup

from pyinfra.operations import apk

# Minimal installation for containers
apk.packages(
    name="Install runtime dependencies",
    packages=[
        "ca-certificates",
        "tzdata",
    ],
    update=True,
)

Development Environment

from pyinfra.operations import apk

# Install build tools
apk.packages(
    name="Install build dependencies",
    packages=[
        "build-base",
        "gcc",
        "g++",
        "make",
        "cmake",
    ],
    update=True,
)

# Install development tools
apk.packages(
    name="Install development tools",
    packages=[
        "git",
        "vim",
        "bash",
        "curl",
    ],
)

Python Development

from pyinfra.operations import apk

# Install Python and dependencies
apk.packages(
    name="Install Python development environment",
    packages=[
        "python3",
        "python3-dev",
        "py3-pip",
        "py3-virtualenv",
    ],
    update=True,
)

System Upgrade

from pyinfra.operations import apk

# Update repositories
apk.update(
    name="Update repositories",
)

# Upgrade all packages
apk.upgrade(
    name="Upgrade all packages",
    available=True,
)

Alpine-Specific Tips

Virtual Packages

Alpine supports virtual packages for build dependencies that can be easily removed:

from pyinfra.operations import apk

# Install build dependencies as virtual package
apk.packages(
    name="Install build dependencies",
    packages=[".build-deps", "gcc", "musl-dev"],
)

# Later, remove all build dependencies
apk.packages(
    name="Remove build dependencies",
    packages=[".build-deps"],
    present=False,
)

Edge Repository

For latest packages, you may need to use the edge repository:

from pyinfra.operations import server

# Add edge repository
server.shell(
    name="Enable edge repository",
    commands=[
        'echo "http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main" >> /etc/apk/repositories',
        'echo "http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community" >> /etc/apk/repositories',
    ],
)

No Cache Option

For minimal container images, use —no-cache:

from pyinfra.operations import server

server.shell(
    name="Install without cache",
    commands=["apk add --no-cache nginx"],
)

Overview

Package Managers

Language Packages

Service Management

System Operations

Containers

Databases

Version Control

Security

Functions

packages

Examples

update

upgrade

Common Use Cases

Basic System Setup

Container Base Image Setup

Development Environment

Python Development

System Upgrade

Alpine-Specific Tips

​Functions

​packages

​Examples

​update

​upgrade

​Common Use Cases

​Basic System Setup

​Container Base Image Setup

​Development Environment

​Python Development

​System Upgrade

​Alpine-Specific Tips

Functions

packages

Examples

update

upgrade

Common Use Cases

Basic System Setup

Container Base Image Setup

Development Environment

Python Development

System Upgrade

Alpine-Specific Tips