Homebrew is a
free and open-source (FOSS)
package management system that is available for
OS X/macOS
systems. Homebrew makes extensive use of
GitHub to
expand the support of several packages through user contributions. The
software was written by Max Howell in 2009; as of July 2016 there was a
team of twelve developers maintaining the software.
You can install it by opening a
Terminal window and issuing the command /usr/bin/ruby -e
"$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)". I recommend putting the
sudo command
at the beginning of the command, so you won't be prompted so many times to
provide the password for your account during the installation, i.e.,
sudo /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)". If you don't, you will see the
output and password prompts shown below, which shows the directories
being created and the
file permissions being set.
$ /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/i nstall/master/install)" ==> This script will install: /usr/local/bin/brew /usr/local/share/doc/homebrew /usr/local/share/man/man1/brew.1 /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions/_brew /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/brew /usr/local/Homebrew ==> The following existing directories will be made group writable: /usr/local/bin /usr/local/lib ==> The following existing directories will have their owner set to jasmith1: /usr/local/bin /usr/local/lib ==> The following existing directories will have their group set to admin: /usr/local/bin /usr/local/lib ==> The following new directories will be created: /usr/local/Cellar /usr/local/Homebrew /usr/local/Frameworks /usr/local/etc /usr/local/include /usr/local/opt /usr/local/sbin /usr/local/share /usr/local/share/zsh /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions /usr/local/var Press RETURN to continue or any other key to abort ==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod u+rwx /usr/local/bin /usr/local/lib Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod g+rwx /usr/local/bin /usr/local/lib Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/sbin/chown jasmith1 /usr/local/bin /usr/local/lib Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/chgrp admin /usr/local/bin /usr/local/lib Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/mkdir -p /usr/local/Cellar /usr/local/Homebrew /usr/lo cal/Frameworks /usr/local/etc /usr/local/include /usr/local/opt /usr/local/sb in /usr/local/share /usr/local/share/zsh /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions /usr/local/var Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod g+rwx /usr/local/Cellar /usr/local/Homebrew /usr /local/Frameworks /usr/local/etc /usr/local/include /usr/local/opt /usr/local /sbin /usr/local/share /usr/local/share/zsh /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functio ns /usr/local/var Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod 755 /usr/local/share/zsh /usr/local/share/zsh/si te-functions Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/sbin/chown jasmith1 /usr/local/Cellar /usr/local/Homeb rew /usr/local/Frameworks /usr/local/etc /usr/local/include /usr/local/opt /u sr/local/sbin /usr/local/share /usr/local/share/zsh /usr/local/share/zsh/site -functions /usr/local/var Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/chgrp admin /usr/local/Cellar /usr/local/Homebrew /usr/local/Frameworks /usr/local/etc /usr/local/include /usr/local/opt /usr/l ocal/sbin /usr/local/share /usr/local/share/zsh /usr/local/share/zsh/site-fun ctions /usr/local/var Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/mkdir -p /Users/jasmith1/Library/Caches/Homebrew Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod g+rwx /Users/jasmith1/Library/Caches/Homebrew Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/sbin/chown jasmith1 /Users/jasmith1/Library/Caches/Hom ebrew Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/mkdir -p /Library/Caches/Homebrew Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod g+rwx /Library/Caches/Homebrew Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/sbin/chown jasmith1 /Library/Caches/Homebrew Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/chgrp admin /Library/Caches/Homebrew Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/touch /tmp/.com.apple.dt.CommandLineTools.installo ndemand.in-progress Password: ==> Installing Command Line Tools (macOS El Capitan version 10.11) for Xcode- 8.2 ==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/sbin/softwareupdate -i Command\ Line\ Tools\ (macOS\ E l\ Capitan\ version\ 10.11)\ for\ Xcode-8.2 Password: Software Update Tool Copyright 2002-2015 Apple Inc. Downloading Command Line Tools (macOS El Capitan version 10.11) for Xcode Downloaded Command Line Tools (macOS El Capitan version 10.11) for Xcode Installing Command Line Tools (macOS El Capitan version 10.11) for Xcode Done with Command Line Tools (macOS El Capitan version 10.11) for Xcode Done. ==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/rm -f /tmp/.com.apple.dt.CommandLineTools.installondem and.in-progress Password: ==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/xcode-select --switch /Library/Developer/CommandLi neTools Password: ==> Downloading and installing Homebrew... remote: Counting objects: 5976, done. remote: Compressing objects: 100% (3687/3687), done. remote: Total 5976 (delta 3368), reused 3958 (delta 2100), pack-reused 0 Receiving objects: 100% (5976/5976), 3.45 MiB | 3.28 MiB/s, done. Resolving deltas: 100% (3368/3368), done. From https://github.com/Homebrew/brew * [new branch] master -> origin/master * [new tag] 0.1 -> 0.1 * [new tag] 0.2 -> 0.2 * [new tag] 0.3 -> 0.3 * [new tag] 0.4 -> 0.4 * [new tag] 0.5 -> 0.5 * [new tag] 0.6 -> 0.6 * [new tag] 0.7 -> 0.7 * [new tag] 0.7.1 -> 0.7.1 * [new tag] 0.8 -> 0.8 * [new tag] 0.8.1 -> 0.8.1 * [new tag] 0.9 -> 0.9 * [new tag] 0.9.1 -> 0.9.1 * [new tag] 0.9.2 -> 0.9.2 * [new tag] 0.9.3 -> 0.9.3 * [new tag] 0.9.4 -> 0.9.4 * [new tag] 0.9.5 -> 0.9.5 * [new tag] 0.9.8 -> 0.9.8 * [new tag] 0.9.9 -> 0.9.9 * [new tag] 1.0.0 -> 1.0.0 * [new tag] 1.0.1 -> 1.0.1 * [new tag] 1.0.2 -> 1.0.2 * [new tag] 1.0.3 -> 1.0.3 * [new tag] 1.0.4 -> 1.0.4 * [new tag] 1.0.5 -> 1.0.5 * [new tag] 1.0.6 -> 1.0.6 * [new tag] 1.0.7 -> 1.0.7 * [new tag] 1.0.8 -> 1.0.8 * [new tag] 1.0.9 -> 1.0.9 * [new tag] 1.1.0 -> 1.1.0 * [new tag] 1.1.1 -> 1.1.1 * [new tag] 1.1.10 -> 1.1.10 * [new tag] 1.1.11 -> 1.1.11 * [new tag] 1.1.12 -> 1.1.12 * [new tag] 1.1.13 -> 1.1.13 * [new tag] 1.1.2 -> 1.1.2 * [new tag] 1.1.3 -> 1.1.3 * [new tag] 1.1.4 -> 1.1.4 * [new tag] 1.1.5 -> 1.1.5 * [new tag] 1.1.6 -> 1.1.6 * [new tag] 1.1.7 -> 1.1.7 * [new tag] 1.1.8 -> 1.1.8 * [new tag] 1.1.9 -> 1.1.9 * [new tag] 1.2.0 -> 1.2.0 HEAD is now at 6edf938 Merge pull request #2593 from reitermarkus/interrupt ==> Tapping homebrew/core Cloning into '/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-core'... remote: Counting objects: 4408, done. remote: Compressing objects: 100% (4212/4212), done. remote: Total 4408 (delta 40), reused 459 (delta 16), pack-reused 0 Receiving objects: 100% (4408/4408), 3.51 MiB | 2.93 MiB/s, done. Resolving deltas: 100% (40/40), done. Tapped 4213 formulae (4,450 files, 11MB) ==> Cleaning up /Library/Caches/Homebrew... ==> Migrating /Library/Caches/Homebrew to /Users/jasmith1/Library/Caches/Home ==> Deleting /Library/Caches/Homebrew... Already up-to-date. ==> Installation successful! ==> Homebrew has enabled anonymous aggregate user behaviour analytics. Read the analytics documentation (and how to opt-out) here: http://docs.brew.sh/Analytics.html ==> Next steps: - Run `brew help` to get started - Further documentation: http://docs.brew.sh $
When the installation is completed, if you issue the command
brew help, you will see the following information:
$ brew help Example usage: brew search [TEXT|/REGEX/] brew (info|home|options) [FORMULA...] brew install FORMULA... brew update brew upgrade [FORMULA...] brew uninstall FORMULA... brew list [FORMULA...] Troubleshooting: brew config brew doctor brew install -vd FORMULA Developers: brew create [URL [--no-fetch]] brew edit [FORMULA...] http://docs.brew.sh/Formula-Cookbook.html Further help: man brew brew help [COMMAND] brew home $
You can also obtain help on using the brew command to install
software by perusing the
man page
which is installed as /user/local/Homebrew/manpages/brew.1;
you can view the brew man page with
man brew.
