Homebrew is a package manager for MAC OS X. Using Homebrew you can directly download and install many open source software and unix tools. Again instead of downloading .dmg files and moving the applications you may use Homebrew Cask to install these applications. Applications like VLC, Google Chrome and many other utility applications which are not in Mac App Store can also be installed on your Mac using this package manager. Go through the steps mentioned below to know how to install Homebrew and Homebrew cask and how to install packages using Homebrew / Homebrew Cask on your Macbook.
Steps to install Homebrew and Homebrew Cask on Mac OS X
1. First of all, open the Terminal and install Xcode.
xcode-select –install
If it’s already installed you will get below message.
“command line tools are already installed, use “Software Update” to install updates.”
2. Now, run below command to install Homebrew.
ruby -e “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)”
Make sure, you are not running it from root user. It will ask for password. Provide the password and hit “Enter”. Once done press “Return” / “Enter” key to proceed further.
3. To ensure that Homebrew is working properly, run below command.
brew doctor
You should get the output as “Your system is ready to brew”
4. Now run below to install Homebrew Cask.
Debaleenas-MacBook-Pro:~ TechEntice$ brew install caskroom/cask/brew-cask
==> Tapping caskroom/cask
Cloning into '/usr/local/Library/Taps/caskroom/homebrew-cask'...
remote: Counting objects: 3058, done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (2973/2973), done.
remote: Total 3058 (delta 100), reused 718 (delta 69), pack-reused 0
Receiving objects: 100% (3058/3058), 5.77 MiB | 196.00 KiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (100/100), done.
Checking connectivity... done.
Tapped 1 formula (3037 files, 23M)
==> Installing brew-cask from caskroom/homebrew-cask
==> Cloning https://github.com/caskroom/homebrew-cask.git
Cloning into '/Library/Caches/Homebrew/brew-cask--git'...
remote: Counting objects: 2999, done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (2902/2902), done.
remote: Total 2999 (delta 117), reused 834 (delta 81), pack-reused 0
Receiving objects: 100% (2999/2999), 5.74 MiB | 317.00 KiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (117/117), done.
Checking connectivity... done.
Note: checking out '2fc9d2323950a45549e1d5c4b25481d98726b85c'.
You are in 'detached HEAD' state. You can look around, make experimental
changes and commit them, and you can discard any commits you make in this
state without impacting any branches by performing another checkout.
If you want to create a new branch to retain commits you create, you may
do so (now or later) by using -b with the checkout command again. Example:
git checkout -b new_branch_name
==> Checking out tag v0.54.1
🍺 /usr/local/Cellar/brew-cask/0.54.1: 2731 files, 11M, built in 70 seconds
Aniks-MacBook-Pro:~ TechEntice$
You may use install/uninstall/search in brew and brew cask to perform. Below we have installed sshfs using brew cask.
Debaleenas-MacBook-Pro:~ TechEntice$ brew search sshfs
homebrew/fuse/sshfs Caskroom/cask/sshfs
Debaleenas-MacBook-Pro:~ TechEntice$ brew cask install sshfs
==> We need to make Caskroom for the first time at /opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom
==> We'll set permissions properly so we won't need sudo in the future
Password:
==> Satisfying dependencies
==> Installing Cask dependencies: osxfuse
osxfuse ...
==> Downloading http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/osxfuse/osxfuse-2.7.5/osxfuse-2.7.5.dmg
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Running installer for osxfuse; your password may be necessary.
==> Package installers may write to any location; options such as --appdir are ignored.
==> installer: Package name is FUSE for OS X (OSXFUSE)
==> installer: Installing at base path /
==> installer: The install was successful.
🍺 osxfuse staged at '/opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/osxfuse/2.7.5' (6 files, 8.5M)
done
complete
==> Downloading https://github.com/osxfuse/sshfs/releases/download/osxfuse-sshfs-2.5.0/sshfs-2.5.0.pkg
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Running installer for sshfs; your password may be necessary.
==> Package installers may write to any location; options such as --appdir are ignored.
==> installer: Package name is SSHFS 2.5.0
==> installer: Upgrading at base path /
==> installer: The upgrade was successful.
🍺 sshfs staged at '/opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/sshfs/2.5.0' (3.5M)
Check man brew or man brew cask for it’s detailed usage.
