# Install osxutils with Homebrew, MacPorts, winget, apt, Nix Collection of macOS command-line utilities. Version 1.9.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with macports: sudo port install osxutils. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:osxutils ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install osxutils ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install osxutils ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/osxutils/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install mkalias ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: mkalias from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#mkalias ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/mk/mkalias/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Windows - winget (92%): ```sh winget install --id Google.JapaneseIME -e ``` Evidence: Windows Package Manager source index: Google.JapaneseIME from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:osxutils - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 1.9.0 - **Source summary:** Collection of macOS command-line utilities - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00 ## Executables - cpath (alias) - finfo (alias) - getfcomment (alias) - geticon (alias) - getvolume (alias) - google (alias) - hfsdata (alias) - lsmac (alias) - mkalias (alias) - mvtrash (alias) - osxutils (alias) - rcmac (alias) - setfcomment (alias) - setfctypes (alias) - setfflags (alias) - seticon (alias) - setlabel (alias) - setsuffix (alias) - setvolume (alias) - wikipedia (alias) - wsupdate (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 1.9.0 ## Project history and usage osxutils is a collection of Mac OS X command-line utilities for Finder metadata, aliases, icons, labels, file type/creator codes, comments, HFS data, and other Mac-specific filesystem operations. ### Project history The maintained Homebrew upstream is `specious/osxutils`, whose README says it is based on the original osxutils project by Sveinbjorn Thordarson. GitHub records `specious/osxutils` as a fork created on 2015-04-08, with `vasi/osxutils` recorded as its parent and source repository created on 2012-12-13. The package keeps alive a pre- and early-macOS style of command-line integration: utilities such as `getfcomment`, `setfcomment`, `geticon`, `seticon`, `mkalias`, `setlabel`, `setfflags`, and `lsmac` expose Finder/HFS metadata concepts that ordinary POSIX tools do not cover. ### Adoption history Homebrew and MacPorts package osxutils as a macOS utility suite. The input metadata also records related package names in Debian, Ubuntu, and Nix for `mkalias`, although those entries may refer to separate packages with the same executable name rather than the full macOS suite. ### How it is used Developers and power users reach for osxutils when shell scripts need to manipulate Mac-specific metadata rather than just file bytes and paths. The commands are useful for automation around Finder comments, custom icons, labels, volume names, aliases, and type/creator metadata. ### Why package nerds care osxutils is package-nerd interesting because it packages old Mac filesystem affordances as discrete Unix commands. It also illustrates how Homebrew often preserves small platform-native tools whose upstream history predates the dominant GitHub era. ### Timeline - 2012-12-13: GitHub records creation of `vasi/osxutils`, the parent/source repository for the maintained fork. - 2015-04-08: GitHub records creation of `specious/osxutils`, the maintained fork used by Homebrew. - 2026-03-17: GitHub records a push to `specious/osxutils`, showing the maintained fork had repository activity in 2026. ### Related projects - The `tools-osx` README lists osxutils alongside osxiconutils and other Mac OS X command-line tools, reflecting the same ecosystem of shell access to Finder and filesystem features. ### Sources - - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Other Package-Manager Records - MacPorts - osxutils: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/osxutils/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Debian apt - mkalias - 1.0.10-4: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: mkalias from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Bash alias management to facilitate alias creation | https://github.com/LucianoPC/mkalias - Nix - mkalias: installed executable or alias match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/mk/mkalias/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - mkalias - 1.0.10-4: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: mkalias from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Bash alias management to facilitate alias creation | https://github.com/LucianoPC/mkalias - winget - Google.JapaneseIME: installed executable or alias match | Windows Package Manager source index: Google.JapaneseIME from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/osxutils.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/osxutils.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