# Install grokmirror with Homebrew, apt

Framework to smartly mirror git repositories. Version 2.0.12 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-21. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install grokmirror.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:grokmirror
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install grokmirror
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install grokmirror
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:grokmirror
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.0.12
- **Source summary:** Framework to smartly mirror git repositories
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/mricon/grokmirror>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/mricon/grokmirror>
- **Last updated:** 2026-05-21T11:31:50Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- grok-bundle (alias)
- grok-dumb-pull (alias)
- grok-fsck (alias)
- grok-manifest (alias)
- grok-pi-piper (alias)
- grok-pull (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.0.12
## Project history and usage

grokmirror is a Linux Foundation/kernel.org utility for efficiently mirroring large collections of Git repositories.

### Project history

The project was written to make replication of large Git repository collections more efficient. Its upstream README explains that an origin publishes a JSON manifest, and replicas use that manifest to decide which repositories to clone or update.

The name comes from kernel.org wordplay: `grok` is `korg` reversed, and the tool was developed at kernel.org to grok Git mirroring. Its utilities include `grok-manifest` for publishing manifests, `grok-pull` for replicas, and `grok-fsck` for repository checking and maintenance.

### Adoption history

kernel.org publicly directed would-be mirrors to use grokmirror in 2013, replacing less efficient rsync-style mirroring of Git repository trees. The same approach later fit other public Git archive collections where a manifest-driven replica is cheaper than blind directory synchronization.

### How it is used

An origin server generates a manifest from bare Git repositories and serves it over HTTP. A replica runs `grok-pull`, commonly from cron or a daemon, to fetch the manifest and update only repositories that changed.

### Why package nerds care

For package nerds, grokmirror is infrastructure plumbing: it is the kind of package that keeps enormous source trees reproducible and mirrorable. It embodies the Git-native answer to the old `rsync a tree of repositories` instinct.

### Timeline

- 2013: kernel.org announced grokmirror for public mirroring of kernel.org repositories.
- 2013: The public GitHub mirror was created.
- 2020: Upstream documentation described grokmirror 2.0 and object storage repositories.
- 2020s: Homebrew, Debian, and Ubuntu packaged grokmirror for repository-mirroring operators.

### Related projects

- Related projects include Git, git.kernel.org, kernel.org repository mirrors, public-inbox/lore.kernel.org archive mirroring, and Git hosting systems that publish large repository sets.

### Sources

- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/grokmirror/grokmirror.git>
- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/grokmirror/grokmirror.git/plain/README.rst>
- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/grokmirror/grokmirror.git/plain/setup.py>
- <https://www.kernel.org/mirroring-kernelorg-repositories.html>
- <https://www.kernel.org/pub/scm/README>


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for grokmirror. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.


## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - grokmirror - 2.0.12-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: grokmirror from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | framework to smartly mirror git repositories | https://git.kernel.org/cgit/utils/grokmirror/grokmirror.git
- Ubuntu apt - grokmirror - 2.0.11-2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: grokmirror from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | framework to smartly mirror git repositories | https://git.kernel.org/cgit/utils/grokmirror/grokmirror.git


## Combined YAML source

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