Chromebrew

The Missing Package Manager For Chrome OS

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Overview

Chromebooks with ChromeOS run a Linux kernel. The only missing pieces to use them as full-featured Linux distro were gcc and make with their dependencies. Well, these pieces aren't missing anymore. Say hello to Chromebrew!

Prerequisites

You will need a Chromebook with developer mode enabled. To do so, select your device on the ChromiumOS Wiki and follow the instructions listed there.

Warning

Please be aware of the fact that developer mode is insecure if not properly configured.

Tip

Setting a password as instructed in the VT-2 login screen is recommended. It is also recommended to enable signed boot:

sudo chromeos-setdevpasswd
sudo crossystem dev_boot_signed_only=1

Supported Systems

Architecture	Supported?
x86_64	Yes
i686	Yes*
armv7l	Yes
aarch64	Yes

* We can only provide limited support for i686 since Google has discontinued support. Although we can no longer support GUI apps, we will try to continue to support CLI programs.

Installation

Important

The beta, dev, and Canary channels are not supported and should not be used with Chromebrew. Failure to take notice of this warning will cause major issues with your Chromebrew installation.

See issue #2890 and the FAQ for more details.

Warning

On ChromeOS M117+, the Chromebrew installer will not work in crosh anymore due to the security changes introduced in ChromeOS M117.

Open a VT-2 terminal session with Ctrl+Alt+-> and login with the chronos user and password if set above. (if you are unable to do this, please have a second look at the prerequisites and make sure your Chromebook is in developer mode)

Then run the installation script below:

bash <(curl -L git.io/vddgY) && . ~/.bashrc

Help

Please check out the wiki to find out more information about Chromebrew including helpful tips, resource links and frequently asked questions.

Also please check existing issues before submitting a new one.

Usage

crew <command> <package1> [<package2> ...]

Where available commands are:

Command	Description
build	build package(s) from source and store the archive and checksum in the current working directory
check	check packages(s)
const	display constant(s)
deps	display dependencies of package(s)
diskstat	show statistics about disk space occupied by installed packages
download	download package(s) to CREW_BREW_DIR (/usr/local/tmp/crew by default), but don't install
files	display installed files of package(s)
help	get information about command usage
install	install package(s) along with dependencies after prompting for confirmation
list	available, compatible, incompatible, essential, installed packages
postinstall	display postinstall messages of package(s)
prop	display all package boolean properties
reinstall	remove and install package(s)
remove	remove package(s)
search	look for package(s)
sysinfo	show system information in markdown style
update_package_file	update package file binary hashes
update	update crew itself
upgrade	update all or specific package(s)
upload	upload binaries for all or specific package(s)
upstream	check if an upstream version is available for package(s)
version	check for the Chromebrew version, or if a package is specified, the package version
whatprovides	regex search for package(s) that contains file(s)

Available packages are listed in the packages directory.

Chromebrew will wipe its BREW_DIR (/usr/local/tmp/crew by default) after installation unless you pass -k or --keep when running crew install.

crew install --keep [...]

License

Copyright 2013-2025 Michal Siwek and all the awesome contributors.

This project including all of its source files is released under the terms of GNU General Public License (version 3 or later). This project embeds docopt.rb at lib/docopt.rb. We retain its MIT license.