# Install memtester with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman
Utility for testing the memory subsystem. Version 4.7.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-04. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install memtester.
## Install
```sh
sudo av install brew:memtester
```
Additional install commands:
### macOS
- Homebrew (100%):
```sh
brew install memtester
```
Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata
- MacPorts (94%):
```sh
sudo port install memtester
```
Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/memtester/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
### Linux
- apk (92%):
```sh
sudo apk add memtester
```
Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: memtester from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
- Debian apt (92%):
```sh
sudo apt install memtester
```
Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: memtester from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
- dnf (92%):
```sh
sudo dnf install memtester
```
Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: memtester from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst
- Nix (92%):
```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#memtester
```
Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/me/memtester/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- pacman (92%):
```sh
sudo pacman -S memtester
```
Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: memtester from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
## Package facts
- **Package key:** brew:memtester
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 4.7.1
- **Source summary:** Utility for testing the memory subsystem
- **Homepage:**
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-04T13:13:43+09:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00
## Executables
- memtester (alias)
## Install behavior
- Bottle: not available
## Freshness
- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 4.7.1
## Project history and usage
memtester is a GPL-2-only userspace utility for stress-testing a computer's memory subsystem for faults. Unlike boot-time memory-test environments, it runs under Unix-like operating systems and allocates memory from userspace.
### Project history
The upstream README credits the original source to Simon Kirby in 1999, version 2 to Charles Cazabon in 1999, notes that version 3 was not publicly released, and describes version 4 as a 2004 rewrite by Cazabon. The rewrite focused on replacing hacky earlier code, improving portability, and making the tester fully 64-bit aware.
The project page says memtester is portable across 32- and 64-bit Unix-like systems, including unusual proprietary Unix systems and Mac OS X. The 4.x changelog shows steady maintenance from the 2004 rewrite through 2024, with changes for 64-bit offsets, physical-address testing, portability fixes, compiler compatibility, and hardware-developer use cases.
### Adoption history
memtester became a standard small system-utility package because it solves a practical diagnostic problem without needing a boot disk. The official page says prebuilt executables are included with or available for many operating systems and mentions Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora/DAG packages, NetBSD ports, MacPorts, and Solaris/SunOS sources; the batch input additionally lists apk, Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Ubuntu, and zypper package names.
### How it is used
The basic invocation is `memtester [runs]`, usually as root so pages can be locked with `mlock`. The man page warns that unlocked testing is slower and less effective, that users must choose a safe allocation size, and that overcommitting memory can make a system unusable or trigger an out-of-memory killer.
Hardware developers can use `-p` with an optional `-d` device to test a physical memory region mapped through `/dev/mem` or another device, and newer releases include options such as `-u` for uncached memory semantics on some systems. `MEMTESTER_TEST_MASK` can limit which tests run.
### Why package nerds care
memtester is a classic sysadmin package: tiny C source, no elaborate build system, broad Unix portability, a man page, and a job that is easiest to trust when installed from the system package manager. It is also valuable to embedded and hardware bring-up workflows where userspace physical-memory testing is useful.
### Timeline
- 1999: Original source by Simon Kirby; version 2 copyright by Charles Cazabon.
- 2004-08-07: memtester 4.0.0 rewrite released for cleaner code, portability, and 64-bit awareness.
- 2009-07-23: memtester 4.1.0 adds physical-region testing with `-p`.
- 2012-06-09: memtester 4.3.0 adds alternate device mapping and MEMTESTER_TEST_MASK.
- 2024-12-16: memtester 4.7.1 fixes stricter C23/gcc-15 compile compatibility.
### Related projects
- memtester is related to boot-time memory testers and hardware diagnostic tools, but its niche is userspace Unix testing. It is commonly packaged alongside other low-level system utilities rather than developer profilers.
### Sources
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-
-
- source_facts.package-manager-url
## 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 - memtester - 4.7.1-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: memtester from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Utility for testing the memory subsystem | http://pyropus.ca/software/memtester/
- Nix - memtester: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/me/memtester/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - memtester - 4.6.0-1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: memtester from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Utility for testing the memory subsystem | http://pyropus.ca/software/memtester/
- apk - memtester - 4.7.1-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: memtester from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | userspace utility for testing the memory subsystem for faults | https://pyropus.ca/software/memtester/
- apk - memtester-doc - 4.7.1-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: memtester-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | userspace utility for testing the memory subsystem for faults (documentation) | https://pyropus.ca/software/memtester/
- apk - memtester-static - 4.7.1-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: memtester-static from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | userspace utility for testing the memory subsystem for faults | https://pyropus.ca/software/memtester/
- dnf - memtester - 4.7.1-4.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: memtester from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Utility to test for faulty memory subsystem | http://pyropus.ca/software/memtester/
- pacman - memtester - 4.7.1-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: memtester from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | A userspace utility for testing the memory subsystem for faults | https://pyropus.ca./software/memtester/
- MacPorts - memtester: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/memtester/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
## Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/memtester.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/memtester.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