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{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"Alpine Linux arm64 Tier 2 support","articleBody":"Refs: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/62764\nRefs: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/63737\nRefs: https://github.com/nodejs/docker-node/issues/2011\n\n## What do you want\n\nSupport `arm64` / `musl` as Tier 2 for Alpine Linux.\n\nThis would include adding an `arm64` / `musl` entry for Tier 2 support type to [BUILDING > Platform list](https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/main/BUILDING.md#platform-list) so that Alpine Linux on `arm64` is marked as supported.\n\nThe table currently covers `x64` / `musl` only, relating to Alpine Linux.\n\n| Operating System | Architectures    | Versions                          | Support Type | Notes                                          |\n| ---------------- | ---------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------ | ---------------------------------------------- |\n| GNU/Linux        | x64              | kernel >= 6.12, musl >= 1.2.5     | Tier 2       | e.g. Alpine 3.22                               |\n\nAn additional entry for `arm64` / `musl` would imply also additional testing of Node.js releases for this architecture combination. It also would need additional builds covering `linux-arm64-musl` to be published:\n- https://nodejs.org/en/download and\n- https://nodejs.org/download/release/\n\n## Why is it needed\n\nThe promotion of `x64` / `musl` builds for Alpine Linux from Experimental to Tier 2 (https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/63737) significantly improves the status and usage of `musl` builds, included in Node.js Docker images. The Node.js Docker README documentation section [Supported architectures](https://github.com/nodejs/docker-node#supported-architectures) describes the current supportability status of Node.js Docker images (Tier 1 / 2 / Experimental).\n\nThere remains however the mismatch of publishing Node.js Docker images to the [Docker official images hub](https://hub.docker.com/_/node) when these are based on Alpine Linux and built for `arm64` with \"Experimental\" support. This is an open issue described in https://github.com/nodejs/docker-node/issues/2011. The documentation page https://hub.docker.com/_/node#image-variants fails to mention any gap in supportability. As the issue describes, there is a reasonable assumption by users that \"official\" implies \"supported\".\n\nThis gap needs to be closed so that `arm64` / `musl` = Tier 2 supported = official.\n\nNode.js Docker images for Alpine Linux `arm64` are built in the https://github.com/docker-library/official-images environment from Node.js source code using the corresponding `node-v\u003cversion>.tar.xz` tarball from https://nodejs.org/dist. These images are not tested with the full Node.js test suite.\n\n## Impact / Risks\n\nCurrently infrastructure in the Jenkins https://ci.nodejs.org/ CI environment is not available for testing this combination. Extending the capabilities would be a hardware / funding / support resource issue.\n\nAdding a supported platform also increases the load on releasers to ensure compatibility before release.\n\nThe risk of delaying releases due to incompatibility is also increased.\n\nExpansion of support to cover `arm64` / `musl` may not be possible short-term.\n\n**This issue should be viewed as a placeholder, without any implication that it will be feasible.**\n\n","author":{"url":"https://github.com/MikeMcC399","@type":"Person","name":"MikeMcC399"},"datePublished":"2026-09-29T13:43:20Z","url":"https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/66394"}