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brew / rank 3926

Install polkit with Homebrew, apk, dnf, Nix, pacman, zypper, apt

Toolkit for defining and handling authorizations. Version 127 via Homebrew; verified 2026-09-10. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#polkit.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install polkit

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add polkit

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · polkit · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install polkit

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · polkit · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#polkit

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/po/polkit/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S polkit

Arch Linux sync databases · polkit · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install polkit

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · polkit · source: download.opensuse.org

Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install pkexec

Debian stable package indexes · pkexec · source: deb.debian.org

overview

Package summary

Toolkit for defining and handling authorizations

Commands and aliases

  • pkaction
  • pkcheck
  • pkexec
  • pkttyagent

history

Project history and usage

polkit is a system authorization framework for defining actions, evaluating policy, and mediating requests by unprivileged processes.

Project history

The project was originally known as PolicyKit and later adopted the shorter polkit name. It provides a service and policy framework through which unprivileged processes can request authorization for privileged operations.

Adoption history

polkit is packaged across major Linux and Unix-oriented package ecosystems and is commonly installed as infrastructure beneath desktop environments and system services rather than invoked directly by most users.

How it is used

Administrators install `.policy` action definitions under `/usr/share/polkit-1/actions` and place local authorization rules under `/etc/polkit-1/rules.d`. Applications and services query the authority over D-Bus; administrators can inspect or test authorization through tools such as `pkaction`, `pkcheck`, and `pkexec`.

Why package nerds care

polkit matters to package maintainers because it sits at the boundary between desktop applications, D-Bus services, and privileged system operations. Packaging it often also means packaging action-policy files and JavaScript authorization rules with security-sensitive installation paths.

Timeline

  • PolicyKit era: The framework was introduced under the PolicyKit name.
  • Later releases: The project adopted the name polkit and JavaScript-based authorization rules.
  • Current project: Development and reference documentation are maintained by the polkit organization.

Related projects

  • D-Bus is the principal interprocess-communication mechanism used by polkit-aware applications and services.
  • pkexec is polkit's command-line program for executing a command as another user, subject to authorization policy.

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

  • narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

  • metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
  • Installs with 3 runtime dependencies.
  • Build metadata lists 5 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Linux
/usr/share/polkit-1/actions/*.policy/etc/polkit-1/rules.d/*.rules/usr/share/polkit-1/rules.d/*.rules

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
pkactioncliglobal executable
pkcheckcliglobal executable
pkexeccliglobal executable
pkttyagentcliglobal executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-09-19
manager version127
manager updated2026-09-10
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:polkit
Version127
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/polkit
Homepagehttps://github.com/polkit-org/polkit
Repositoryhttps://github.com/polkit-org/polkit
LicenseLGPL-2.0-or-later
Source archivehttps://github.com/polkit-org/polkit/archive/refs/tags/127.tar.gz
Last updated2026-09-10T21:11:52Z
Pulseupdated
Dependenciesduktape, gettext, glib
Build dependenciesgettext, gobject-introspection, meson, ninja, pkgconf
Uses from macOSexpat
Bottleavailable (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Namepolkit
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Nix95%

polkit

nix profile install nixpkgs#polkit
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/po/polkit/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
apk95%

polkit 127-r2

Application development toolkit for controlling system-wide privileges

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 1 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

polkit-common 127-r2

Common files for polkit and polkit-elogind

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit-common
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit-common from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

polkit-dev 127-r2

Application development toolkit for controlling system-wide privileges (development files)

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit-dev
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit-dev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

polkit-doc 127-r2

Application development toolkit for controlling system-wide privileges (documentation)

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit-doc
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

polkit-elogind 127-r2

Polkit with elogind session tracking

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit-elogind
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit-elogind from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

polkit-elogind-dev 127-r2

Polkit with elogind session tracking (development files)

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit-elogind-dev
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 1 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit-elogind-dev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

polkit-elogind-libs 127-r2

Polkit with elogind session tracking (libraries)

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit-elogind-libs
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit-elogind-libs from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

polkit-lang 127-r2

Languages for package polkit

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit-lang
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit-lang from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

polkit-noelogind-libs 127-r2

Application development toolkit for controlling system-wide privileges (libraries)

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit-noelogind-libs
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit-noelogind-libs from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

polkit-openrc 127-r2

Application development toolkit for controlling system-wide privileges (OpenRC init scripts)

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit-openrc
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit-openrc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

polkit-systemd 127-r2

Application development toolkit for controlling system-wide privileges (systemd files)

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo apk add polkit-systemd
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: polkit-systemd from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
dnf95%

polkit 127-5.fc45

An authorization framework

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo dnf install polkit
  • License: LGPL-2.0-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 15 dependencies
  • 6 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: polkit from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/652278618dec9c023176a80c435a32a2c8154869fb0eb662c267a54df28d77d9-primary.xml.zst
dnf95%

polkit-devel 127-5.fc45

Development files for polkit

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo dnf install polkit-devel
  • License: LGPL-2.0-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: i686
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 7 dependencies
  • 3 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: polkit-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/652278618dec9c023176a80c435a32a2c8154869fb0eb662c267a54df28d77d9-primary.xml.zst
dnf95%

polkit-docs 127-5.fc45

Development documentation for polkit

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo dnf install polkit-docs
  • License: LGPL-2.0-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 1 dependencies
  • 2 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: polkit-docs from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/652278618dec9c023176a80c435a32a2c8154869fb0eb662c267a54df28d77d9-primary.xml.zst
dnf95%

polkit-libs 127-5.fc45

Libraries for polkit

https://github.com/polkit-org/polkit

sudo dnf install polkit-libs
  • License: LGPL-2.0-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: i686
  • Source Package: polkit
  • 6 dependencies
  • 3 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Polkit
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: polkit-libs from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/652278618dec9c023176a80c435a32a2c8154869fb0eb662c267a54df28d77d9-primary.xml.zst

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Related tools

  • glibRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • gettextRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • duktapeRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • pkgconfBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • ninjaBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • mesonBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • sysprofPopular package that depends on this formula.

Same workflow

  • util-linuxShares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, linux, system.
  • dbusShares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, system, system-service.
  • keyutilsShares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, linux, system.
  • podmanShares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, linux, system.
  • systemdShares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, linux, system.
  • glibcShares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, linux, system.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated configuration and credential file locations
  • curated package history
  • external package-manager database matches
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment
  • pkg.so package database
  • pkgdb category and tag curation