Alpaquita is a Linux OS designed for containers and cloud environments. It offers a secure, minimal base image that meets the stringent requirements of a secure software supply chain.
Startup time 45% faster
the Docker image is 3.76 MB only
Three mallocs and two libcs, CRaC
Alpaquita Linux is the only Linux optimized for Java™, making it a natural choice as a lightweight and secure base layer for containerized Java applications. The BellSoft support team is equipped to address any issues related to Java™ code or Linux, ensuring comprehensive assistance for your development needs.
Alpaquita Linux offers long-term support (LTS) for extended reliability and stability. This ensures that your system receives ongoing updates, security patches, and assistance for a minimum of 4 years.
Alpaquita Linux supports CRaC technology, a Checkpoint/Restore API. Together with Liberica JDK with CRaC Support it achieves instant startup at peak performance without losing the ability to further optimize performance with JIT compiler.
Alpaquita Containers can reduce memory consumption by up to 30 %, minimize disk space usage, and lower cloud costs. With Liberica JDK as the default Java runtime in Spring, Alpaquita Containers become the best choice.
Alpaquita Linux, in combination with Liberica JDK Lite, delivers production-ready containers for Java applications with an impressively compact size of just 77.1 MB. Best for dense cloud deployments and cloud costs reduction.
Enjoy 24/7 enterprise support for Alpaquita Linux and Liberica JDK, backed by BellSoft’s expert engineers in Linux and Java. Our team ensures reliable and secure operation of mission-critical Java workloads across cloud and server environments. We're your partners who understand and speak your language.
Migrating to Alpaquita Linux is a smooth process thanks to full compatibility with Alpine Linux. The added support for glibc ensures straightforward transition from glibc-based Linux systems.
Using Alpaquita in production is convenient with Liberica Runtime Containers!
Secure, performant, and regularly updated container images with Alpaquita Linux and Liberica JDK Lite are available for free on Docker Hub, GHCR, and MCR.
By integrating CRaC API support into Liberica JDK and Alpaquita Linux, we offer a comprehensive Java development and deployment solution.This solution ensures predictable scaling, higher availability, and reduced resource consumption by minimizing the startup and warm-up time of your JavaTM Workloads to near zero.
With services operating at peak performance from the get-go, resource planning becomes easy, precise and predictable — add instances as needed without over- or under-planning, thereby reducing operational costs for running and scaling your services
Get a Stream version of full-featured operating system optimized for Java
Alpaquita is the best choice for small performant containers.
All the components of Alpaquita receive regular security updates.
Enterprise level support from engineers who develop OpenJDK.
Alpaquita Linux is a lightweight and secure distribution built on Alpine Linux, optimized to run Java workloads in cloud and container environments. It offers reliability, resource efficiency, and enterprise-grade security.
Alpaquita is distinguished by multiple performance and security optimizations and LTS releases optimal for enterprise use. Alpaquita comes with three additional malloc for various workloads and best Java support. In addition, we enhanced stock musl libc. Our musl perf is similar or superior to glibc performance. We also provide two Alpaquita variants based on musl perf or glibc.
Alpaquita Stream is a free rolling release of Alpaquita with the latest updates and fixes. Alpaquita LTS is a stable version supported for four years with two-years overlap with the previous version.
Alpaquita comes in two versions, musl and glibc-based. Our musl perf is 100% compatible with musl def (a default musl implementation similar to the upstream release version), but boasts performance enhancements making it as efficient as glibc.
The process of migrating to Alpaquita depends on several factors, such as libraries utilized for development (statically or dynamically linked) and so on. If you build an application outside Docker and copy the binary into the Docker image, simply substitute the image you are currently using.
Alpaquita Linux is designed to meet the stringent requirements of a secure software supply chain. It reduces attack surfaces with its minimal and hardened design, offering security advisories and regular updates. With long-term support (LTS) releases and SLAs, Alpaquita provides a reliable and secure foundation for server and cloud deployments.
Alpaquita is distributed under EULA (End-user license agreement) — we verified all the packages regarding clean licenses and substituted some software to eliminate the risk of license violation.
Alpaquita Stream is continually updated with fresh packages, features, and fixes. It can be used by developers who want the latest software, but is not recommended for enterprise applications requiring stability. Alpaquita LTS is aligned with Linux Kernel LTS. It is a stable production-grade version with a focus on security patches and critical fixes without significant package changes.
Alpaquita uses APK as a package manager. Use apk update to update the index of available packages and apk upgrade to upgrade the currently installed packages. Docker images, ISO, and WSL are also regularly updated and available from the corresponding locations.
Alpaquita Stream is free to use. In addition, we offer enterprise-grade support for Alpaquita Cloud Native Platform.
BellSoft's subscription model includes 24x7 support both for Linux and Java, Alpaquita LTS versions, and emergency patches and bug fixes. There is no man-in-the-middle, meaning that you receive prompt help directly from our engineers.
We provide Standard and Premium support for our customers. Both options include emergency security patches, off-cycle updates and fixes, and a two-hour initial consultation. The response times are as fast as 24 hours based on SLA for Standard subscription and 1 hour for Premium. Premium customers also get a dedicated engineer.
We provide updates for Alpaquita LTS for min. four years with two-year overlap between the latest versions.
No. Alpaquita is tailored specifically for Cloud/Server deployments with low resource consumption and high performance in mind. To keep it lightweight, we refrained from the GUI functionality.
Alpaquita Linux supports both x86 and AArch64 hardware architectures, providing flexibility and compatibility for a wide range of systems.
Alpaquita comes with Docker and QEMU support.
There are several ways of obtaining Alpaquita binary: directly from our website, Linux repositories, or Docker Hub Container Image Library.
Alpaquita Linux supports various languages for application development — Java, Python, C/C++. It is also compatible with Liberica NIK, a GraalVM-based utility for native image generation.
A lightweight Linux distribution contributes to significant container size reduction. Such distribution contains only the libraries your application needs plus optional packages you can remove or add as required.
You can add, list, remove, or update packages with the APK Package Manager tool that comes pre-installed on all Alpaquita versions. A comprehensive guide on working with APK on Alpaquita can be found here.
Get guidance on migrating to Alpaquita Linux
