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Alpine Linux

A tiny, security-focused distribution built on musl and BusyBox, best known as the base of small Docker images.

  • Active project
  • Latest 3.24.4Nov 2026
  • Supported 3 versions
Download Official site 4 Alpine Linux guides
On this page

At a glance

Type
Linux distribution
Developer
Alpine Linux Development Team
First release
1 Aug 2005
Release cadence
Twice a year (May, November); each supported for 2 years
OS family
Linux
Package format
.apk (apk-tools)
Init system
OpenRC
C library
musl
Core utilities
BusyBox
Base image size
About 5 MB (Docker image)
License
Free software
Website
alpinelinux.org

Newest release

Alpine Linux 3.24

Released 9 Jun 2026 · latest update 3.24.4

Support status

3.24 Supported

Until 1 Jun 2028 · in 1.5 years

3.23 Supported

Until 1 Nov 2027 · in 11 months

3.22 Supported

Until 1 May 2027 · in 5 months

3.21 End of life

Ended 1 Nov 2026 · 12 days ago

Release history

VersionReleasedLatestEnd of lifeStatus
3.249 Jun 20263.24.41 Jun 2028Supported
3.234 Dec 20253.23.81 Nov 2027Supported
3.2230 May 20253.22.81 May 2027Supported
3.215 Dec 20243.21.101 Nov 2026End of life
3.2022 May 20243.20.101 Apr 2026End of life
3.197 Dec 20233.19.91 Nov 2025End of life
3.189 May 20233.18.129 May 2025End of life
3.1722 Nov 20223.17.1022 Nov 2024End of life
3.1623 May 20223.16.923 May 2024End of life
3.1524 Nov 20213.15.111 Nov 2023End of life
3.1415 Jun 20213.14.101 May 2023End of life
3.1314 Jan 20213.13.121 Nov 2022End of life
3.1229 May 20203.12.121 May 2022End of life
3.1119 Dec 20193.11.131 Nov 2021End of life
3.1019 Jun 20193.10.91 May 2021End of life
3.929 Jan 20193.9.61 Nov 2020End of life
3.826 Jun 20183.8.51 May 2020End of life
3.730 Nov 20173.7.31 Nov 2019End of life
3.624 May 20173.6.51 May 2019End of life
3.522 Dec 20163.5.31 Nov 2018End of life
3.431 May 20163.4.61 May 2018End of life
3.319 Dec 20153.3.31 Nov 2017End of life
3.226 May 20153.2.31 May 2017End of life
3.110 Dec 20143.1.41 Nov 2016End of life
3.04 Jun 20143.0.61 May 2016End of life
2.76 Jan 20112.7.91 Nov 2015End of life
2.615 Dec 20102.6.81 May 2015End of life
2.512 Aug 20102.5.41 Nov 2014End of life
2.47 Jul 20102.4.111 May 2014End of life
2.319 May 20102.3.61 Nov 2013End of life
2.24 May 20102.2.51 May 2013End of life
2.130 Dec 20092.1.61 Nov 2012End of life

Release data: endoflife.date and vendor announcements, checked 13 Nov 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Support timeline

The 12 most recent releases, from release day to the end of support.

  • Active support
  • Today
3.24
3.23
3.22
3.21
3.20
3.19
3.18
3.17
3.16
3.15
3.14
3.13

History

Alpine Linux began in 2005 as a fork of the LEAF router project. It is built around musl libc and BusyBox, uses OpenRC for init and the apk package manager, and compiles packages with hardening options. A minimal container image is only a few megabytes, which made Alpine the default base for small Docker images. Stable branches are released every May and November and are supported for two years.

Milestones

  1. 2005Alpine Linux starts as a fork of the LEAF router project
  2. 2014Alpine 3.0 switches from uClibc to musl
  3. 2016Docker moves its official images towards Alpine for smaller sizes
  4. 2026Alpine 3.24 is released

Alpine Linux guides

Frequently asked questions

What is the latest version of Alpine Linux?

The newest Alpine Linux release is Alpine Linux 3.24, released on 9 Jun 2026. Its latest update is 3.24.4 (5 Nov 2026).

Which Alpine Linux versions are still supported?

As of 13 Nov 2026, 3 versions are supported: Alpine Linux 3.24 (until 1 Jun 2028); Alpine Linux 3.23 (until 1 Nov 2027); Alpine Linux 3.22 (until 1 May 2027).

Is Alpine Linux 3.21 still supported?

No. Alpine Linux 3.21 reached end of life on 1 Nov 2026 and no longer gets free security updates. Upgrade to Alpine Linux 3.24.

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