# Install bash_unit with Homebrew, apt, Nix

Bash unit testing enterprise edition framework for professionals. Version 2.3.3 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install bash-unit.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:bash_unit
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install bash_unit
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install bash-unit
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: bash-unit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#bash_unit
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ba/bash_unit/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:bash_unit
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.3.3
- **Source summary:** Bash unit testing enterprise edition framework for professionals
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/bash-unit/bash_unit>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/bash-unit/bash_unit>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- bash_unit (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.3.3
## Project history and usage

bash_unit is a Bash unit-testing framework. It is intentionally small: an installable shell test runner for projects that want assertions and test discovery without leaving Bash.

### Project history

The official executable identifies itself as a Bash unit testing framework and carries Pascal Grange copyright years 2011-2016. Its source points to the official `bash-unit/bash_unit` repository and currently declares version v2.3.3.

The repository tag list starts at v0.0.1 and progresses through v1.x and v2.x releases, showing a long-maintained single-purpose shell testing tool rather than a recent wrapper around a larger framework.

### Adoption history

bash_unit adoption is concentrated among shell-script projects that want tests but do not need Bats or a cross-language test framework. The batch input shows Homebrew, Debian, and Nix packages, which is enough distribution coverage to make it a repeatable dependency in developer workstations and CI images.

### How it is used

Users write Bash test functions and run them with the `bash_unit` executable. The tool provides assertions, colored reporting, failure output, and a small runtime that remains close to plain shell code.

### Why package nerds care

bash_unit matters mostly as part of the Bash testing ecosystem. Package nerds care because shell code is everywhere, but many shell projects historically had little test structure; a small packaged runner lowers the friction without introducing a language runtime beyond Bash itself.

It also sits in the interesting overlap between package infrastructure and package contents: many packages are built by shell scripts, and tools like bash_unit help test that glue code.

### Timeline

- 2011: Copyright header begins for bash_unit's main executable.
- 2010s: Tag series begins at v0.0.1 and reaches v1.x.
- 2020s: v2.x release series continues through v2.3.3.
- 2020s: Homebrew, Debian, and Nix package the runner.

### Related projects

- Related Bash and shell test tools include Bats, shunit2, ShellSpec, ShellCheck, and shfmt. bash_unit occupies the minimal unit-test-runner lane among those tools.

### Sources

- Official `bash_unit` executable identifies the framework, copyright years 2011-2016, repository URL, and version v2.3.3.
- Official tags list shows v0.0.1 through v2.3.3 release tags.
- input.source_facts.package-manager lists Homebrew, Debian, and Nix packaging.


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - bash-unit - 2.3.2-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: bash-unit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | bash_unit - bash unit testing | https://github.com/pgrange/bash_unit
- Nix - bash_unit: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ba/bash_unit/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/bash_unit.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/bash_unit.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph