alpine-wiki

Alpine WAYLAND desktop setup: FF version

===========================================================

Alpine must be previously installed. This will install a light modern desktop, for more traditional check ../../newbie/alpine-newbie-xfce-desktop.md

How to use this guide
Preparation
Licensing clarifications
See also

preparation Alpine

Warning YOU MUST HAVE DIRECT WIRED INTERNET, if not configure a wireless network connection as alpine-tutorial-wifi-routering.md

Feels lost here? check How to use this guide section of this document

setup OS configuration

sed -i -r 's|#PermitRootLogin.*|PermitRootLogin no|g' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
rc-service sshd restart;rc-update add sshd default

cat > /root/.cshrc << EOF
unsetenv DISPLAY || true
HISTCONTROL=ignoreboth
EOF

cat > /etc/apk/repositories << EOF
http://dl-4.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v$(cat /etc/alpine-release | cut -d'.' -f1,2)/main
http://dl-4.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v$(cat /etc/alpine-release | cut -d'.' -f1,2)/community
EOF

apk update

apk add tcsh && add-shell '/bin/csh'

adduser -D -g "" -u 998 -h /opt/daru -s /bin/csh daru
 echo "daru:daru" | chpasswd

rm -f /opt/daru/*
mkdir /opt/daru
cat > /opt/daru/.cshrc << EOF
unsetenv DISPLAY
export PAGER=less
set autologout = 6
set prompt = "$ "
set history = 0
set ignoreeof
EOF
cp /opt/daru/.cshrc /opt/daru/.bashrc
chown -R daru:daru /opt/daru

cat > /etc/apk/repositories << EOF
http://dl-4.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v$(cat /etc/alpine-release | cut -d'.' -f1,2)/main
http://dl-4.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v$(cat /etc/alpine-release | cut -d'.' -f1,2)/community
EOF

apk update

apk add mandoc man-pages nano binutils coreutils readline \
 sed attr dialog lsof less groff wget curl terminus-font \
 file lz4 gawk tree pciutils usbutils lshw tzdata tzdata-utils \
 zip p7zip xz tar cabextract cpio binutils lha acpi musl-locales musl-locales-lang \
 e2fsprogs btrfs-progs exfat-utils f2fs-tools dosfstools xfsprogs jfsutils \
 arch-install-scripts util-linux docs

apk add font-terminus

setfont /usr/share/consolefonts/ter-120n.psf.gz

sed -i "s#.*consolefont.*=.*#consolefont="ter-120n.psf.gz"#g" /etc/conf.d/consolefont

rc-update add consolefont boot

setup system users

apk add bash shadow shadow-uidmap shadow-login doas lang musl-locales

cat > /etc/doas.d/apkgeneral.conf << EOF
permit nopass general as root cmd apk
permit keepenv daru as root
EOF

cat > /tmp/tmp.tmp << EOF
set history = 10000
set prompt = "$ "
EOF

mkdir /etc/skel
cat /tmp/tmp.tmp > /etc/skel/.cshrc
cat /tmp/tmp.tmp > /etc/skel/.bashrc

cat > /etc/skel/.Xresources << EOF
Xft.antialias: 1
Xft.rgba:      rgb
Xft.autohint:  0
Xft.hinting:   1
Xft.hintstyle: hintslight
EOF

cat > /etc/default/useradd << EOF
# useradd defaults file
HOME=/home
INACTIVE=-1
EXPIRE=
SHELL=/bin/bash
SKEL=/etc/skel
CREATE_MAIL_SPOOL=yes
EOF

cat > /etc/login.defs << EOF
USERGROUPS_ENAB yes
SYSLOG_SU_ENAB		yes
SYSLOG_SG_ENAB		yes
SULOG_FILE	/var/log/sulog
SU_NAME		su
EOF

useradd -m -U -c "" -G wheel,input,disk,floppy,cdrom,dialout,audio,video,lp,netdev,games,users,ping general

for u in $(ls /home); do for g in disk lp floppy audio cdrom dialout video lp netdev games users ping; do addgroup $u $g; done;done

for u in $(ls /home); do chown -R $u:$u /home/$u; done

echo "general:general" | chpasswd

Warning your user name must be general here password is general, you can put a “human name” as you wish, later and change password later.

For more details check ../../documents/alpine-newbie-xfce-desktop.md

setup hardware support

apk add acpi acpid acpid-openrc alpine-conf \
 eudev eudev-doc eudev-rule-generator eudev-openrc \
 pciutils util-linux arch-install-scripts zram-init acpi-utils rsyslog \
 fuse fuse-exfat-utils fuse-exfat avfs pcre2 cpufreqd bluez bluez-deprecated bluez-openrc \
 wpa_supplicant dhcpcd chrony macchanger wireless-tools iputils linux-firmware \
 networkmanager networkmanager-lang networkmanager-openvpn networkmanager-openvpn-lang

modprobe btusb && echo "btusb" >> /etc/modprobe
setup-devd udev

rc-update add rsyslog
rc-update add udev
rc-update add acpid
rc-update add cpufreqd
rc-update add fuse
rc-update add bluetooth
rc-update add chronyd
rc-update add wpa_supplicant
rc-update add networkmanager

rc-service networking restart

rc-service wpa_supplicant restart

rc-service bluetooth restart

rc-service udev restart 

rc-service fuse restart

rc-service cpufreqd restart

rc-service rsyslog restart

For more details check ../../documents/alpine-newbie-xfce-desktop.md

setup audio and video

Note on olders alpine gtk3 will force xorg dependencies.. for 3.16+ will use gtk4 and SDL2

apk add mesa mesa-gl mesa-utils mesa-osmesa mesa-egl mesa-gles \
 mesa-dri-gallium mesa-va-gallium libva-intel-driver intel-media-driver \
 xf86-video-intel libva-intel-driver intel-media-driver \
 xf86-video-amdgpu xf86-video-nouveau xf86-video-ati \
 xf86-input-evdev xf86-video-modesetting xf86-input-libinput \
 linux-firmware-amdgpu linux-firmware-radeon linux-firmware-nvidia linux-firmware-i915 linux-firmware-intel
 dbus dbus-x11 udisks2 udisks2-lang

dbus-uuidgen > /var/lib/dbus/machine-id

rc-update add dbus

apk add font-noto-all ttf-dejavu ttf-linux-libertine ttf-liberation \
 font-bitstream-type1 font-bitstream-100dpi font-bitstream-75dpi \
 font-adobe-utopia-type1 font-adobe-utopia-75dpi font-adobe-utopia-100dpi \
 font-isas-misc

apk add alsa-lib alsa-utils alsa-plugins alsa-tools alsaconf sndio \
 pipewire pipewire-pulse pipewire-alsa pipewire-spa-bluez wireplumber-logind

modprobe snd-pcm-oss
modprobe snd-mixer-oss
sed -i '/snd-pcm-oss/d' /etc/modules
sed -i '/snd-mixer-oss/d' /etc/modules
echo -e "snd-pcm-oss\nsnd-mixer-oss" >> /etc/modules
rc-service alsa restart
amixer sset Master unmute;  amixer sset PCM unmute;  amixer set Master 100%;  amixer set PCM 100%

cat > /etc/security/limits.d/audio-limits.conf << EOF
@audio - memlock 4096
@audio - nice -11
@audio - rtprio 88
@pipewire - memlock 4194304
@pipewire - nice -19
@pipewire - rtprio 95
EOF

rc-update add alsa

rc-service dbus restart

rc-service alsa restart

Warning your user name must be general, you can put a “human name” as you wish, later.

Instalation of WAYLAND graphical base

Wayland relies on the GPU/KMS, so then only some chips will work and limited to AMD (radeonHD+ only), Intel (HDgraphics/UHD/Iris) and nVidia (NV40 to NV170 only) but Nvidia displays only support own framebuffer code (since 554.10) so performance may vary in alpine linux. Some VMWARE and MAtrox gpu support KMS but unneficient.

apk add gtk-update-icon-cache xdg-user-dirs \
 xdg-desktop-portal-gtk xdg-desktop-portal-wlr \
 hicolor-icon-theme paper-gtk-theme adwaita-icon-theme \
 numix-icon-theme numix-themes numix-themes-gtk2 numix-themes-gtk3 \
 numix-themes-metacity

apk add xwayland wayland-libs-server wlr-randr wayland wlroots \
 foot sway sway-doc bemenu wmenu grim swaylock swaylockd swaybg swayidle \
 weston weston-backend-wayland weston-backend-x11 weston-backend-drm \
 weston-backend-wayland weston-backend-headless weston-shell-desktop \
 weston-desktop-x11 weston-clients weston-terminal \
 weston-xwayland weston-shell-desktop weston-shell-fullscreen \

At this point you have graphics support but no desktop or session installed.

Only GDM, SDDM and GREETD fully supports wayland:

apk add elogind elogind-openrc greetd greetd-gtkgreet cage \
 polkit polkit-openrc polkit-elogind  networkmanager-elogind linux-pam \
 network-manager-applet network-manager-applet-lang vte3 shadow-login

cat > /etc/greetd/config.toml << EOF
[terminal]
vt = next
switch = true
[default_session]
command = "cage -s -m extend -- gtkgreet"
user = greetd
EOF
cat > /etc/conf.d/greetd << EOF
cfgfile="/etc/greetd/config.toml"
# supervisor=supervise-daemon
rc_need=elogind
EOF
cat > /etc/greetd/environments <<EOF
dbus-run-session -- labwc
dbus-run-session -- sway
dbus-run-session -- openbox-session
EOF

addgroup greetd video

rc-update add elogind
rc-update add polkit
rc-update add greetd

rc-service networking restart

rc-service networkmanager restart

rc-service elogind restart

rc-service polkit restart

rc-service greetd restart

Warning : some older alpines result in a blank screen, check https://github.com/swaywm/sway/pull/3634#issuecomment-462779163

Installing LABWC as desktop and configure it

apk add labwc labwc-doc dunst redshift grim wl-clipboard clipman wvkbd wtype \
 wdisplays kanshi swayimg zathura zathura-ps zathura-pdf-poppler \
 wlogout swaybg swaylock-effects swaylockd wlsunset \
 waybar font-jetbrains-mono font-jetbrains-mono-nl wezterm-fonts \
 nwg-launchers  lavalauncher wayvnc wf-recorder \
 foot-themes foot-extra-terminfo foot-bash-completion foot-fish-completion

mkdir -p /etc/xdg/labwc
touch /etc/xdg/labwc/autostart 
sed -i '/swaybg/d' /etc/xdg/labwc/autostart 
echo -e "swaybg -c 000000 -o \* &\n" >> /etc/xdg/labwc/autostart
sed -i '/waybar/d' /etc/xdg/labwc/autostart 
echo -e "waybar &\n" >> /etc/xdg/labwc/autostart
sed -i '/nemo\.desktop\.wm/d' /etc/xdg/labwc/autostart
echo -e 'gsettings set org.nemo.desktop show-desktop-icons false >/dev/null 2>&1&\n' >> /etc/xdg/labwc/autostart
sed -i '/gnome\.desktop\.wm/d' /etc/xdg/labwc/autostart
echo -e 'gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout "menu:minimize,maximize,close" >/dev/null 2>&1 &\n' >> /etc/xdg/labwc/autostart
cat > /etc/xdg/labwc/environment << EOF
QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=gtk2
XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=labwc
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP="labwc:wlroots"
QT_QPA_PLATFORM=wayland
GDK_BACKEND="wayland,x11"
SDL_VIDEODRIVER="wayland,x11"
_JAVA_AWT_WM_NONREPARENTING=1
EOF

mkdir -p /etc/skel/.config
mkdir -p /etc/skel/.config/jgmenu
cat > /etc/skel/.config/jgmenu/append.csv << EOF
Exit Session,labwc --exit,exit
^sep()
EOF
for u in $(ls /home); do mkdir -p /home/$u/.config/jgmenu && cp /etc/skel/.config/jgmenu/append.csv /home/$u/.config/jgmenu/append.csv; done
cat > /etc/skel/.config/Trolltech.conf << EOF
[Qt]
style=GTK+
EOF
for u in $(ls /home); do mkdir -p /home/$u/.config && cp -f /etc/skel/.config/Trolltech.conf /home/$u/.config/Trolltech.conf; done
for u in $(ls /home); do mkdir -p /home/$u/.config/labwc; done
for u in $(ls /home); do chown -R $u:$u /home/$u; done

Warning not yet working (only works natual menu) we need a normal way to make a menu root dinamically!

mkdir -p /etc/xdg/labwc
cat > /etc/xdg/labwc/menu.xml << EOF
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<openbox_menu>
<menu id="root-menu" label="Openbox 3">
  <item label="Terminal">
    <action name="Execute"><execute>foot</execute></action>
  </item>
  <item label="Applicacions">
    <action name="Execute"><execute>jgmenu-run --at-pointer</execute></action>
  </item>
  <item label="Exit">
    <action name="Exit" />
  </item>
</menu>
</openbox_menu>
EOF
for u in $(ls /home); do mkdir -p /home/$u/.config/labwc && cp /etc/xdg/labwc/menu.xml /home/$u/.config/labwc/menu.xml; done
for u in $(ls /home); do chown -R $u:$u /home/$u; done

multimedia and hardware media device access for the users

apk add gst-plugins-base gst-plugins-bad gst-plugins-ugly gst-plugins-good gst-plugins-good-gtk gst-plugin-pipewire \
 apk-gtk3 libcanberra-gtk3 libcanberra-gtk2 libcanberra-gstreamer libcanberra-pulse \
 qt5-qtwayland qt5-qtbase-x11 qt6-qtbase-x11 qt6-qtwayland gtk+3.0-demo gtk4.0-demo \
 mediainfo ffmpeg ffmpeg-doc ffmpeg-libs lame lame-doc rtkit rtkit-doc \
 mpv mpv-doc deadbeef deadbeef-lang libxinerama xrandr cairo pango pixman

apk add gvfs gvfs-fuse ntfs-3g gvfs-archive gvfs-mtp gvfs-lang gvfs-nfs \
 gvfs-smb gvfs-cdda gvfs-afp gvfs-afc gvfs-dav gvfs-gphoto2 gvfs-avahi

for u in $(ls /home); do for g in plugdev audio cdrom dialout video netdev; do addgroup $u $g; done;done

cat > /etc/network/interfaces << EOF
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
EOF

service networking restart

service wpa_supplicant restart

service networkmanager restart

How to use this guide

This guide structure all the commands in blocks, each block its separated by a line spaced, so you must type each line as is.. and hit enter, so you noted that then you typed each separated clocks of commands, copy/type only blocks separated by an empty line, all new(next) lines are made by just enter. the terminal will detect if must execute or not.

If you have another computer or gui, try to use SSH client like putty or just in terminal (MAC or Linux) do:

at the Alpine installation: sed -i 's|.*PermitRootLogin.*|PermitRootLogin yes|g' /etc/ssh/sshd_config;service sshd restart
then from other OS just connect: ssh -l root <ip> change “<ip>” with the address of your device.
copy each separated by empty line, block of command, copy only blocks separate by empty line
and paste each separated by empty line block in the remnote (ssh), do not paste all the blocks at same time!

Warning Some Linux or/and Mac terminals have security cut/paste locks, so if you paste, the first line will be preceded by garbage, check always the first char of your paste.

Warning after finish, rerun: sed -i -r 's|.*PermitRootLogin.*|PermitRootLogin no|g' /etc/ssh/sshd_config and restart ssh service sshd restart becouse security implications.

If you runs locally on same computer all commmands must be run as root unless pointed in the guide

type string by string each line of command and runs each line one by one
because you still dont have graphical interfaces you must type by hand each line and runs by hit enter key

Done? return to Preparation section of this document.

hardware used

item	minimal feature	Extra recommendations
RAM MB	4Gb DDR3	8Gb DDR3, opengl support need it
CPU	intel Core2	i3/i5/i7/Ryzen
RAM CPU	2Mb (L2) 4kb/L1
GPU	intel 630	RadeonHD, Iris/Arc, nVidia GX
RAM GPU	256Mb	1Gb For web browsers and modern apps will be need
Storage	120Gb HDD WD	256Gb SSD are mandatory for speed
ARCH	64bits (amd64)	64bits (amd64) mandatory for most
Audio	AC 97	HD audio and HDMI audio are a mess

usernames

item	name	password
remote	daru	daru
admin	root	toor
user	general	general