I am trying to install an application which is trying to create a folder under usr/local/bin but fails and says the bin directory does not exist. When I check for the bin directory it only has an executable file under usr/local called bin. How do I access the usr/local/bin directory or allow the application to create a new folder under usr/local/bin to install to?
MacBook Pro (2020 and later)
Remove that executable named bin in your /usr/local path. You need to create that bin directory under /usr/local:
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
Enter your admin password at the prompt. It will not echo to the Terminal window. Once you create that bin directory, then you need to make it your own:
sudo chown -R $(id -nu):admin /user/local/bin
This is how mine is configured and I can add items to /usr/local/bin afterward without the use of sudo.
In the Terminal:
file /usr/local/bin
"/usr/local/bin: directory"
If you get any other result than a directory, then do as I mentioned and remove the bin file, before applying that mkdir -p syntax as I previously stated. Unless you do that, mkdir -p will fail as it cannot overwrite a bin file with a directory of the same name.
This is how I set up my homebrew on an Intel Mac. On M1 Macs, homebrew wants /opt/homebrew/bin because it will build native arm64 package binaries there. That also requires an adjustment to your PATH environment variable too.
Homebrew and New Relic Monitoring software.
Tried that and it did not work. There is a file in usr/local called bin
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
Password:
mkdir: /usr/local/bin: Not a directory
Just curious, in my install of Monterey, bin is a folder, not an executable. Any thoughts?
In Monterey, /usr/local/bin is a folder, not a file or executable.
Okie doke. Just wondered where the user's executable came from.
Deleted the bin file and created the bin folder. You're awesome thank you!
You are welcome.
And with homebrew, it is sometimes informative to visualize what dependencies (and their dependencies) will be installed before you install a package. The following will not install anything…
brew deps --tree --installed package_name | more -r
What app is this? /usr is read only.
Unable to install program to usr/local/bin folder