How to Install Homebrew with a Specific Commit

Homebrew is a popular package manager for macOS, providing an easy way to install and manage software. While Homebrew itself is constantly updated, sometimes you may want to install a specific version of a formula (i.e., package) that is not the latest. In this article, we will cover how to install a specific commit of a Homebrew formula.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have Homebrew installed on your system. If not, follow the instructions on the official Homebrew website to install it.

Install a Specific Commit

To install a specific commit of a Homebrew formula, you'll need to use the git command to clone the formula's repository and checkout the desired commit. Here's a step-by-step guide:

1. Find the commit hash you want to install. You can use the Homebrew core search or the commit history to find the desired commit.
2. Open a terminal window and navigate to the directory where you want to install the formula.
3. Clone the formula's repository using the following command, replacing FORMULA_NAME with the name of the formula and COMMIT_HASH with the desired commit hash:

$ git clone https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/formula/FORMULA_NAME.git Formula-FORMULA_NAME-COMMIT_HASH
 $ cd Formula-FORMULA_NAME-COMMIT_HASH

4. Install the formula using Homebrew's install command:

$ brew install .

Example

Let's say you want to install version 1.14.2 of the mysql formula from commit 6f36887. Here's what the command would look like:

$ git clone https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/formula/mysql.git mysql-6f36887
 $ cd mysql-6f36887
 $ brew install .

Installing a specific commit of a Homebrew formula allows you to use an older version of the software. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily install a desired commit and manage your software environment.

References

• Homebrew: Install specific version of formula
• Homebrew: install