# Installation

Instructions for a supported install of Homebrew are on the [homepage](https://brew.sh).

This script installs Homebrew to its default, supported, best prefix (`/usr/local` for macOS Intel, `/opt/homebrew` for Apple Silicon and `/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew` for Linux) so that [you don’t need *sudo* after Homebrew's initial installation](FAQ.md#why-does-homebrew-say-sudo-is-bad) when you `brew install`. This prefix is required for most bottles (binary packages) to be used. It is a careful script; it can be run even if you have stuff installed in the preferred prefix already. It tells you exactly what it will do before it does it too. You have to confirm everything it will do before it starts.

## macOS Requirements

* A 64-bit Intel CPU or Apple Silicon CPU <sup>[1](#1)</sup>
* macOS Big Sur (11) (or higher) <sup>[2](#2)</sup>
* Command Line Tools (CLT) for Xcode (from `xcode-select --install` or
  [https://developer.apple.com/download/all/](https://developer.apple.com/download/all/)) or
  [Xcode](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835) <sup>[3](#3)</sup>
* The Bourne-again shell for installation (i.e. `bash`) <sup>[4](#4)</sup>

## Git Remote Mirroring

You can use geolocalized Git mirrors to speed up Homebrew's installation and `brew update` by setting `HOMEBREW_BREW_GIT_REMOTE` and/or `HOMEBREW_CORE_GIT_REMOTE` in your shell environment with this script:

```bash
export HOMEBREW_BREW_GIT_REMOTE="..."  # put your Git mirror of Homebrew/brew here
export HOMEBREW_CORE_GIT_REMOTE="..."  # put your Git mirror of Homebrew/homebrew-core here
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
```

The default Git remote will be used if the corresponding environment variable is unset.

## Default Tap Cloning

You can instruct Homebrew to return to pre-4.0.0 behaviour by cloning the Homebrew/homebrew-core tap during installation by setting the `HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_FROM_API` environment variable with the following:

```bash
export HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_FROM_API=1
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
```

This will make Homebrew install formulae and casks from the `homebrew/core` and `homebrew/cask` taps using local checkouts of these repositories instead of Homebrew’s API.

Note, this will take effect in supported configurations (i.e. using the default Homebrew prefix and, if on macOS, on a supported version).

## Unattended installation

If you want a non-interactive run of the Homebrew installer that doesn't prompt for passwords (e.g. in automation scripts), prepend [`NONINTERACTIVE=1`](https://github.com/Homebrew/install/#install-homebrew-on-macos-or-linux) to the installation command.

## Alternative Installs

### Linux or Windows 10 Subsystem for Linux

Check out [the Homebrew on Linux installation documentation](Homebrew-on-Linux.md).

### Untar anywhere (unsupported)

Technically, you can just extract (or `git clone`) Homebrew wherever you want. However, you shouldn't install outside the default, supported, best prefix. Many things will need to be built from source outside the default prefix. Building from source is slow, energy-inefficient, buggy and unsupported. The main reason Homebrew just works is **because** we use bottles (binary packages) and most of these require using the default prefix. If you decide to use another prefix: don't open any issues, even if you think they are unrelated to your prefix choice. They will be closed without response.

**TL;DR: pick another prefix at your peril!**

```sh
mkdir homebrew && curl -L https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/tarball/master | tar xz --strip 1 -C homebrew
```

or:

```sh
git clone https://github.com/Homebrew/brew homebrew
```

then:

```sh
eval "$(homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
brew update --force --quiet
chmod -R go-w "$(brew --prefix)/share/zsh"
```

Make sure you avoid installing into:

* Directories with names that contain spaces. Homebrew itself can handle spaces, but many build scripts cannot.
* `/tmp` subdirectories because Homebrew gets upset.
* `/sw` and `/opt/local` because build scripts get confused when Homebrew is there instead of Fink or MacPorts, respectively.

### Multiple installations (unsupported)

Create a Homebrew installation wherever you extract the tarball. Whichever `brew` command is called is where the packages will be installed. You can use this as you see fit, e.g. to have a system set of libs in the default prefix and tweaked formulae for development in `~/homebrew`.

## Uninstallation

Uninstallation is documented in the [FAQ](FAQ.md).

<a name="1"><sup>1</sup></a> For 32-bit or PPC support see [Tigerbrew](https://github.com/mistydemeo/tigerbrew).

<a name="2"><sup>2</sup></a> macOS 11 (Big Sur) or higher is best and supported, 10.11 (El Capitan) – 10.15 (Catalina) are unsupported but may work and 10.10 (Yosemite) and older will not run Homebrew at all. For 10.4 (Tiger) – 10.6 (Snow Leopard) see [Tigerbrew](https://github.com/mistydemeo/tigerbrew).

<a name="3"><sup>3</sup></a> You may need to install Xcode, the CLT, or both depending on the formula, to install a bottle (binary package) which is the only supported configuration. Downloading Xcode may require an Apple Developer account on older versions of macOS. Sign up for free at [Apple's website](https://developer.apple.com/account/).

<a name="4"><sup>4</sup></a> The one-liner installation method found on [brew.sh](https://brew.sh) uses the Bourne-again shell at `/bin/bash`. Notably, `zsh`, `fish`, `tcsh` and `csh` will not work.