Homebrew<\/strong> is a package manager for macOS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simple meaning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Homebrew helps you install, update, remove, and manage software from the terminal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without Homebrew, you may need to manually download installers, configure paths, manage dependencies, and update tools one by one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With Homebrew, you can do:<\/p>\n\n\n\n and Homebrew automatically downloads PHP, installs it, links it, and manages dependencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Homebrew is mainly used for installing developer tools and applications on macOS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For GUI apps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is very simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n is the command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n is the software behind that command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Same like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your command shows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This means Homebrew is installed here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Apple Silicon Macs like M1, M2, M3, M4, Homebrew normally installs into:<\/p>\n\n\n\n On older Intel Macs, it usually installs into:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So your Homebrew installation is normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You ran:<\/p>\n\n\n\n and got:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are Homebrew\u2019s internal folders and files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This contains executable commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you run:<\/p>\n\n\n\n macOS usually finds PHP from:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can check:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where Homebrew stores actual installed packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you install PHP, the real files are stored inside Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may see a version folder like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meaning PHP version 8.4.x is installed there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This contains stable shortcut links to installed packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is very useful because package versions change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, real PHP path may be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But stable path is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So in Apache config, we prefer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n instead of hardcoding a version path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This stores configuration files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For your PHP, Apache, and MySQL setup, this is very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apache config:<\/p>\n\n\n\n PHP config:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This stores variable data like web files, database files, logs, and runtime data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Important examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Apache web root:<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is why your website files go here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This contains libraries used by installed software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example: PHP, Apache, MySQL, OpenSSL, and other packages may use shared library files from here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually you do not manually edit this folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This contains header files used when compiling software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mostly useful for developers compiling C\/C++ libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Normally you do not touch this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This stores shared files like documentation, examples, shell completions, manual pages, and package resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This contains system\/admin-level binaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example: some server tools may place commands here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is used by Homebrew Cask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Homebrew Cask installs GUI applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those cask-related files are managed here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is Homebrew\u2019s own internal code and formula system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It contains the logic Homebrew uses to install packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should not manually edit this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This may contain macOS framework files used by some packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually you do not touch it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are Homebrew project files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For normal usage, you do not need to edit these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For PHP, Apache, MySQL development, remember only these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check Homebrew location:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check where PHP is installed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check where Apache is installed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check where MySQL is installed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check installed packages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check installed services:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check PHP command path:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check Apache command path:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check MySQL command path:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check package info:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mostly no<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do not manually delete or edit these folders:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But you may edit config files inside:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And you may add website files inside:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of Homebrew like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when you run:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Homebrew puts PHP mainly into:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then creates easy command links in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And stable reference links in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is the whole magic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1. What is Homebrew? Homebrew is a package manager for macOS. Simple meaning: Homebrew helps you install, update, remove, and manage software from the terminal. Example: Without… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-macos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":998,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions\/998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
brew install php\nbrew install httpd\nbrew install mysql@8.4\nbrew install git\nbrew install wget\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew install php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2. What are the use cases of Homebrew?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Common use cases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Use Case<\/th> Example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Install programming languages<\/td> PHP, Python, Node.js, Go, Ruby<\/td><\/tr> Install web servers<\/td> Apache\/httpd, Nginx<\/td><\/tr> Install databases<\/td> MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB<\/td><\/tr> Install DevOps tools<\/td> Docker CLI, Terraform, Ansible, kubectl, Helm<\/td><\/tr> Install command-line tools<\/td> wget, curl, tree, jq, htop<\/td><\/tr> Install GUI apps<\/td> Chrome, VS Code, Postman, Slack<\/td><\/tr> Manage services<\/td> Start\/stop MySQL, Apache, Redis<\/td><\/tr> Upgrade tools<\/td> Keep packages updated<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n brew install terraform\nbrew install kubectl\nbrew install helm\nbrew install ansible\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew install --cask google-chrome\nbrew install --cask visual-studio-code\nbrew install --cask postman\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n3. How is Homebrew different from
brew<\/code>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\nTerm<\/th> Meaning<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Homebrew<\/strong><\/td> The package manager software\/system<\/td><\/tr> brew<\/strong><\/td> The command used to operate Homebrew<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Homebrew = application\/platform\nbrew = command-line tool to use that platform\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew install php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nHomebrew\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nGit = software\ngit = command\n\nDocker = platform\/software\ndocker = command\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n4. What is
\/opt\/homebrew<\/code>?<\/h1>\n\n\n\npwd\n\/opt\/homebrew\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/usr\/local\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n5. What are these files and folders?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
ls\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAGENTS.md\nCODEOWNERS\nCellar\nLICENSE.txt\nbin\netc\nmanpages\nsbin\nCHANGELOG.md\nCONTRIBUTING.md\nDockerfile\nLibrary\ncompletions\ninclude\nopt\nshare\nCLAUDE.md\nCaskroom\nFrameworks\nREADME.md\ndocs\nlib\npackage\nvar\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nImportant folders explained<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1.
bin<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/bin\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/bin\/brew\n\/opt\/homebrew\/bin\/php\n\/opt\/homebrew\/bin\/mysql\n\/opt\/homebrew\/bin\/httpd\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nphp -v\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/bin\/php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nwhich php\nwhich brew\nwhich mysql\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2.
Cellar<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Cellar\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Cellar\/php\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Cellar\/httpd\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Cellar\/mysql@8.4\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nCellar<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nls \/opt\/homebrew\/Cellar\/php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n8.4.x\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n3.
opt<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/opt\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/opt\/php\n\/opt\/homebrew\/opt\/httpd\n\/opt\/homebrew\/opt\/mysql@8.4\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Cellar\/php\/8.4.7\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/opt\/php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nLoadModule php_module \/opt\/homebrew\/opt\/php\/lib\/httpd\/modules\/libphp.so\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n4.
etc<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/etc\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/etc\/httpd\/httpd.conf\n\/opt\/homebrew\/etc\/php\/8.x\/php.ini\n\/opt\/homebrew\/etc\/my.cnf\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/etc\/httpd\/httpd.conf\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nphp --ini\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n5.
var<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/var\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/var\/www\n\/opt\/homebrew\/var\/mysql\n\/opt\/homebrew\/var\/log\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/var\/www\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/var\/www\/index.php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n6.
lib<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/lib\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n7.
include<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/include\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n8.
share<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/share\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/share\/doc\n\/opt\/homebrew\/share\/man\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n9.
sbin<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/sbin\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n10.
Caskroom<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Caskroom\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew install --cask google-chrome\nbrew install --cask visual-studio-code\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n11.
Library<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Library\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n12.
Frameworks<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Frameworks\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n6. What are files like
README.md<\/code>, LICENSE.txt<\/code>, CHANGELOG.md<\/code>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\nFile<\/th> Meaning<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> README.md<\/code><\/td>Basic documentation<\/td><\/tr> LICENSE.txt<\/code><\/td>License information<\/td><\/tr> CHANGELOG.md<\/code><\/td>Changes between Homebrew versions<\/td><\/tr> CONTRIBUTING.md<\/code><\/td>Guide for people contributing to Homebrew<\/td><\/tr> CODEOWNERS<\/code><\/td>Maintainers\/owners for parts of the project<\/td><\/tr> Dockerfile<\/code><\/td>Used for Homebrew development\/testing<\/td><\/tr> AGENTS.md<\/code> \/ CLAUDE.md<\/code><\/td>Guidance files for AI\/dev agents inside the repo<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n7. Most important folders for you<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Folder<\/th> Purpose<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> \/opt\/homebrew\/bin<\/code><\/td>Commands like php<\/code>, mysql<\/code>, brew<\/code><\/td><\/tr>\/opt\/homebrew\/Cellar<\/code><\/td>Actual installed packages<\/td><\/tr> \/opt\/homebrew\/opt<\/code><\/td>Stable shortcut paths<\/td><\/tr> \/opt\/homebrew\/etc<\/code><\/td>Configuration files<\/td><\/tr> \/opt\/homebrew\/var\/www<\/code><\/td>Apache web root<\/td><\/tr> \/opt\/homebrew\/var\/mysql<\/code><\/td>MySQL data files<\/td><\/tr> \/opt\/homebrew\/var\/log<\/code><\/td>Logs<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n8. Useful commands to understand your Homebrew setup<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
brew --prefix\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew --prefix php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew --prefix httpd\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew --prefix mysql@8.4\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew list\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew services list\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nwhich php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nwhich httpd\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nwhich mysql\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew info php\nbrew info httpd\nbrew info mysql@8.4\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n9. Should you manually change files inside
\/opt\/homebrew<\/code>?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Cellar\n\/opt\/homebrew\/opt\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Library\n\/opt\/homebrew\/bin\n\/opt\/homebrew\/lib\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/etc\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nnano \/opt\/homebrew\/etc\/httpd\/httpd.conf\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/var\/www\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nnano \/opt\/homebrew\/var\/www\/index.php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n10. Simple mental model<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\/opt\/homebrew\n\u2502\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 bin = commands you run\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 Cellar = actual installed software\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 opt = stable shortcuts to software\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 etc = configuration files\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 var = websites, databases, logs\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 Caskroom = GUI app management\n\u2514\u2500\u2500 Library = Homebrew internal system\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nbrew install php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/Cellar\/php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/bin\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/opt\/homebrew\/opt\/php\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n