Unsorted

Unable to Install Homebrew

Nicholas Wong

Aug 21, 2014 — 8 min read

Unable to install Homebrew with this?

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/go/install)"

What’s happening

warning: Insecure world writable dir /usr/local/bin in PATH, mode 040777 
==> This script will install: 
/usr/local/bin/brew 
/usr/local/Library/... 
/usr/local/share/man/man1/brew.1 

Press RETURN to continue or any other key to abort 
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod g+rwx /Library/Caches/Homebrew
Password: 
==> Downloading and installing Homebrew... 
remote: Counting objects: 192274, done. 
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (52298/52298), done. 
remote: Total 192274 (delta 138823), reused 192246 (delta 138803) 
Receiving objects: 100% (192274/192274), 38.59 MiB | 189 KiB/s, done. 
Resolving deltas: 100% (138823/138823), done. 
From https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew 
 * [new branch] master -> origin/master 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/0mq' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/4store' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/Secret Rabbit Code' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/ag' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/alut' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/android' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/apache-activemq' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/apache-fop' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/aws-as' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/aws-mon' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/beanstalkd' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/bjam' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/boehmgc' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/boost-jam' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to create symlink Library/Aliases/boot2docker-cli (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/bzr' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/cowthink' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/cpanm' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/csvfix' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/ctags-exuberant' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/db' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/dbus' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/dejagnu' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/eyeD3' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/fastcgi' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/fishfish' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/fluidsynth' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/gearmand' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/git-tig' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/gnu-scientific-library' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/google-go' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/gperftools' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/gpg' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/gpg2' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/gs' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/gtk' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/gtypist' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/hashdeep' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/heroku' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/hg' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/htop' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/hudson' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/ipsum' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/jocr' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/lcms' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/lcms2' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/leg' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libcryptopp' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libgd' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libgeoip' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libjpeg' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libjpeg-turbo' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libjpg' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/liblabjackusb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libmad' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libmcrypt' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libnettle' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/liboggz' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libqrencode' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libtag' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libtasn' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/libtcnative' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/littlecms' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/mc' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/mediainfo' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/mongo' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/mosh' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/mp4box' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/mpich' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/myrepos' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/node.js' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/nodejs' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/npm' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/nsis' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/o-caml' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/ocaml' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/ocio' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/offlineimap' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/ooc' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/openmpi' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/openocd' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/pgrep' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/pipeviewer' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/pkgconfig' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/pkill' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/pocketsphinx' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/postgres' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to create symlink Library/Aliases/pt (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/qt4' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/shell-fm' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/slang' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/sphinxbase' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/sqlite3' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/stax-sdk' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/style' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/svn' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/tinyfugue' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to create symlink Library/Aliases/twemproxy (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/twolame' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/unix2dos' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/urxvt' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/usb-multiplex-daemon' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to create symlink Library/Aliases/vid.stab (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/wxwidgets' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/xmlsec1' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Aliases/zmq' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/brew_bash_completion.sh' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/brew_fish_completion.fish' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/brew_zsh_completion.zsh' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-aspell-dictionaries.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-beer.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to create file Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-bundle-dir.rb (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-bundle.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-cleanup-installed' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-gist-logs.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-graph' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-man' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-profile.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-pull.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-server' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-services.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-switch.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-tap-readme.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-test-bot.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to create file Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-versions.rb (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-which.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/git' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/public/bootstrap.min.css' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/public/glyphicons-halflings-white.png' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/public/glyphicons-halflings.png' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/cmd/svn' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/example-formula.rb' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/Contributions/manpages/brew.1.md' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/3.2.6' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.2' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/ant' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/apr-1-config' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/bsdmake' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/c++' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/c89' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/c99' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/cc' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/clang' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/clang++' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/cpp' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/g++' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/g++-4.2' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/g++-4.3' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/g++-4.4' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/g++-4.5' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/g++-4.6' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/g++-4.7' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/g++-4.8' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/g++-4.9' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/gcc' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/gcc-4.2' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/gcc-4.3' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/gcc-4.4' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/gcc-4.5' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/gcc-4.6' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/gcc-4.7' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/gcc-4.8' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/gcc-4.9' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/git' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/gmake' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/i686-apple-darwin11-llvm-g++-4.2' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/i686-apple-darwin11-llvm-gcc-4.2' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/ld' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/llvm-g++' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/llvm-g++-4.2' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/llvm-gcc' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/llvm-gcc-4.2' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/make' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/mig' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/pod2man' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/sed' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/svn' (Permission denied) 
error: unable to unlink old 'Library/ENV/4.3/xcrun' (Permission denied) 
fatal: cannot create directory at 'Library/ENV/pkgconfig/10.10': Permission denied 
  Failed during: git reset --hard origin/master

Reason

Probably you have multiple users on your computer. And you uninstalled the old Homebrew and trying to re-install it.

Solution

Theorotically you can remove the directory /usr/local/Library but this will happens again when you try to use Homebrew with another user. It is better to change the permission of directory with this: