Alpine Compatibility

Differences between Chainguard Containers and Alpine third-party images

Chainguard Containers and Alpine base images have different binaries and scripts included in their respective busybox and coreutils packages.

The following table lists common tools and their corresponding package(s) in both Wolfi and Alpine distributions.

Note that $PATH locations like /usr/bin or /sbin are not included here. If you have compatibility issues with tools that are included in both busybox and coreutils, be sure to check $PATH order and confirm which version of a tool is being run.

Generally, if a tool exists in busybox but does not have a coreutils counterpart, there will be a specific package that includes it. For example the zcat utility is included in the gzip package in both Wolfi and Alpine.

Additionally, be aware that binaries are not compatible between Alpine and Wolfi. You should not attempt to copy Alipne binaries into a Wolfi-based container image.

You can use the apk search command in Wolfi and Alpine to find out which package includes a tool.

Utility	Wolfi busybox	Alpine busybox	Wolfi coreutils	Alpine coreutils
`[`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`[[`	✅	✅
`acpid`		✅
`add-shell`	✅	✅
`addgroup`	✅	✅
`adduser`	✅	✅
`adjtimex`	✅	✅
`arch`	✅	✅
`arp`		✅
`arping`	✅	✅
`ash`	✅	✅
`awk`	✅	✅
`b2sum`			✅	✅
`base32`			✅	✅
`base64`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`basename`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`basenc`			✅	✅
`bbconfig`	✅	✅
`bc`	✅	✅
`beep`	✅	✅
`blkdiscard`		✅
`blkid`		✅
`blockdev`		✅
`brctl`		✅
`bunzip2`	✅	✅
`bzcat`	✅	✅
`bzip2`	✅	✅
`cal`	✅	✅
`cat`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`chattr`	✅	✅
`chcon`			✅	✅
`chgrp`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`chmod`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`chown`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`chpasswd`	✅	✅
`chroot`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`chrt`	✅
`chvt`		✅
`cksum`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`clear`	✅	✅
`cmp`	✅	✅
`comm`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`coreutils`			✅	✅
`cp`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`cpio`	✅	✅
`crond`		✅
`crontab`		✅
`cryptpw`	✅	✅
`csplit`			✅	✅
`cut`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`date`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`dc`	✅	✅
`dd`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`deallocvt`		✅
`delgroup`	✅	✅
`deluser`	✅	✅
`depmod`		✅
`df`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`diff`	✅	✅
`dir`			✅	✅
`dircolors`			✅	✅
`dirname`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`dmesg`	✅	✅
`dnsdomainname`	✅	✅
`dos2unix`	✅	✅
`du`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`dumpkmap`		✅
`echo`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`ed`	✅
`egrep`	✅	✅
`eject`		✅
`env`	✅	✅	✅
`ether-wake`		✅
`expand`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`expr`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`factor`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`fallocate`	✅	✅
`false`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`fatattr`		✅
`fbset`		✅
`fbsplash`		✅
`fdflush`		✅
`fdisk`		✅
`fgrep`	✅	✅
`find`	✅	✅
`findfs`	✅	✅
`flock`	✅	✅
`fmt`			✅
`fold`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`free`	✅	✅
`fsck`		✅
`fstrim`		✅
`fsync`	✅	✅
`fuser`	✅	✅
`getopt`	✅	✅
`getty`	✅	✅
`grep`	✅	✅
`groups`	✅	✅
`gunzip`	✅	✅
`gzip`	✅	✅
`halt`		✅
`hd`	✅	✅
`head`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`hexdump`	✅	✅
`hostid`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`hostname`	✅	✅
`hwclock`		✅
`id`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`ifconfig`		✅
`ifdown`		✅
`ifenslave`		✅
`ifup`		✅
`init`		✅
`inotifyd`	✅	✅
`insmod`		✅
`install`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`ionice`	✅	✅
`iostat`	✅	✅
`ip`		✅
`ipaddr`		✅
`ipcalc`		✅
`ipcrm`	✅	✅
`ipcs`	✅	✅
`iplink`		✅
`ipneigh`		✅
`iproute`		✅
`iprule`		✅
`iptunnel`		✅
`join`			✅	✅
`kbd_mode`		✅
`kill`	✅	✅
`killall`	✅	✅
`killall5`	✅	✅
`klogd`		✅
`last`		✅
`less`	✅	✅
`link`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`linux32`	✅	✅
`linux64`	✅	✅
`ln`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`loadfont`		✅
`loadkmap`		✅
`logger`	✅	✅
`login`	✅	✅
`logname`			✅	✅
`logread`		✅
`losetup`		✅
`ls`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`lsattr`	✅	✅
`lsmod`		✅
`lsof`	✅	✅
`lsusb`		✅
`lzcat`	✅	✅
`lzma`	✅	✅
`lzop`	✅	✅
`lzopcat`	✅	✅
`makemime`		✅
`md5sum`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`mdev`		✅
`mesg`		✅
`microcom`	✅	✅
`mkdir`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`mkdosfs`		✅
`mkfifo`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`mkfs.vfat`		✅
`mknod`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`mkpasswd`	✅	✅
`mkswap`		✅
`mktemp`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`modinfo`		✅
`modprobe`		✅
`more`	✅	✅
`mount`		✅
`mountpoint`	✅	✅
`mpstat`	✅	✅
`mv`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`nameif`		✅
`nanddump`		✅
`nandwrite`		✅
`nbd-client`		✅
`nc`		✅
`netstat`	✅	✅
`nice`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`nl`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`nmeter`	✅	✅
`nohup`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`nologin`	✅	✅
`nproc`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`nsenter`	✅	✅
`nslookup`		✅
`ntpd`		✅
`numfmt`			✅	✅
`od`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`openvt`		✅
`partprobe`		✅
`passwd`	✅	✅
`paste`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`pathchk`			✅	✅
`pgrep`	✅	✅
`pidof`	✅	✅
`ping`	✅	✅
`ping6`	✅	✅
`pinky`			✅	✅
`pipe_progress`	✅	✅
`pivot_root`	✅	✅
`pkill`	✅	✅
`pmap`	✅	✅
`poweroff`		✅
`pr`			✅	✅
`printenv`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`printf`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`ps`	✅	✅
`pscan`		✅
`pstree`	✅	✅
`ptx`			✅	✅
`pwd`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`pwdx`	✅	✅
`raidautorun`		✅
`rdate`		✅
`rdev`	✅	✅
`readahead`	✅	✅
`readlink`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`realpath`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`reboot`		✅
`reformime`		✅
`remove-shell`	✅	✅
`renice`	✅	✅
`reset`	✅	✅
`resize`	✅	✅
`rev`	✅	✅
`rfkill`		✅
`rm`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`rmdir`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`rmmod`		✅
`route`		✅
`run-parts`	✅	✅
`runcon`			✅	✅
`sed`	✅	✅
`sendmail`		✅
`seq`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`setconsole`		✅
`setfont`		✅
`setkeycodes`		✅
`setlogcons`		✅
`setpriv`	✅	✅
`setserial`	✅	✅
`setsid`	✅	✅
`sh`	✅	✅
`sha1sum`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`sha224sum`			✅	✅
`sha256sum`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`sha384sum`			✅	✅
`sha3sum`	✅	✅
`sha512sum`	✅	✅	✅
`showkey`		✅
`shred`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`shuf`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`slattach`		✅
`sleep`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`sort`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`split`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`stat`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`stdbuf`			✅	✅
`strings`	✅	✅
`stty`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`su`	✅	✅
`sum`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`swapoff`		✅
`swapon`		✅
`switch_root`		✅
`sync`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`sysctl`	✅	✅
`syslogd`		✅
`tac`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`tail`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`tar`	✅	✅
`tee`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`test`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`time`	✅	✅
`timeout`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`top`	✅	✅
`touch`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`tr`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`traceroute`	✅	✅
`traceroute6`	✅	✅
`tree`	✅	✅
`true`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`truncate`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`tsort`	✅		✅	✅
`tty`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`ttysize`	✅	✅
`tunctl`	✅	✅
`udhcpc`		✅
`udhcpc6`		✅
`umount`		✅
`uname`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`unexpand`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`uniq`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`unix2dos`	✅	✅
`unlink`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`unlzma`	✅	✅
`unlzop`	✅	✅
`unshare`		✅
`unxz`	✅	✅
`unzip`	✅	✅
`uptime`	✅	✅
`users`			✅	✅
`usleep`	✅	✅
`uudecode`	✅	✅
`uuencode`	✅	✅
`vconfig`	✅	✅
`vdir`			✅	✅
`vi`	✅	✅
`vlock`	✅	✅
`volname`		✅
`watch`	✅	✅
`watchdog`		✅
`wc`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`wget`		✅
`which`	✅	✅
`who`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`whoami`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`whois`		✅
`xargs`	✅	✅
`xxd`	✅	✅
`xzcat`	✅	✅
`yes`	✅	✅	✅	✅
`zcat`	✅	✅
`zcip`		✅

Last updated: 2024-03-08 15:56