ALPON X5 AI OS

ALPON X5 AI ships with a pre-installed, Sixfab-maintained Linux image tuned for the Raspberry Pi CM5 and the DEEPX DX-M1 AI accelerator. This page covers what's included in the OS, how to access the device on first boot, and how to keep it up to date.

Overview

ALPON OS is a minimal, hardened Debian-based image maintained by Sixfab. It is built on top of the Raspberry Pi OS base so that the familiar apt package manager, Docker tooling, and the broader Raspberry Pi ecosystem work out of the box on this edge AI computer.

What's pre-installed

The image is ready to boot and register with ALPON Cloud without additional setup. Key components already on the device:

Architecture

The ALPON X5 AI runs on a 64-bit ARM architecture (arm64 / aarch64). All custom binaries, containers, and third-party packages must be compiled for or compatible with arm64. x86 / amd64 binaries are not supported.

First boot & setup

The device is ready to use the moment it's powered on. On first boot it will bring up networking, register with Sixfab Connect (if provisioned), and start the DEEPX runtime. From there, you set up user access so you can log in for day-to-day administration.

Default credentials

Every ALPON X5 AI ships with a factory-configured system user. Use these credentials for initial login only — you must change them before deploying to production.

Device hostname

Each ALPON X5 AI has a unique hostname derived from its primary MAC address, in the format:

The MAC address is printed on the device label. This ensures multiple ALPON devices on the same network never conflict, and it lets you reach the device over mDNS as alpon-<MAC>.local without knowing its IP.

Set up user access

passwd alpon

sudo adduser <username>

echo "<username> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL" | sudo tee /etc/sudoers.d/<username>

sudo adduser ops
echo "ops ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL" | sudo tee /etc/sudoers.d/ops

ssh <username>@alpon-<MAC>.local

ssh [email protected]

System updates

ALPON OS uses standard Debian package tooling. Apply security patches and upgrades with apt, and manage deployed applications separately through Docker or the ALPON Cloud fleet update flow.

How do I update ALPON OS?

From a shell on the device, run the standard Debian update cycle:

1. Refresh the package index with sudo apt update.
2. Apply available upgrades with sudo apt upgrade -y.
3. Reboot if a kernel or firmware package was upgraded.

# 1. Refresh package lists
sudo apt update
 
# 2. Apply available upgrades
sudo apt upgrade -y
 
# 3. Reboot if the kernel or firmware was updated
sudo reboot

How do I update deployed applications?

Application updates are separate from OS updates. Use the method that matches how the app was deployed:

• Containers deployed through ALPON Cloud: push a new image tag from the Manage & Deploy Applications dashboard. Sixfab Connect orchestrates the pull, restart, and rollback.
• Manually-run containers: docker pull <image>:<tag> on the device, then recreate the container with docker compose up -d or docker run.
• System packages: sudo apt install --only-upgrade <package>.

Firmware and modem updates

Modem firmware, the DEEPX runtime, and the Sixfab Connect agent are delivered through the normal apt channel and, where applicable, through Sixfab Connect OTA. You don't need to manage them manually. When a Sixfab-maintained package is updated, apt upgrade will pull it in.

OS image & re-flashing

The ALPON OS image is pre-installed at the factory on every ALPON X5 AI and is not distributed as a public download. Shipping the OS on the device avoids the edge cases and hardware-specific quirks that come with end-user flashing of industrial edge AI computer images.

If your device is in a state where you believe the OS needs to be re-flashed — for example, it won't boot after a failed upgrade, or it has been misconfigured beyond recovery — contact Sixfab support. We'll confirm whether a re-flash is actually needed and walk you through the recovery path that matches your device's serial.