How to download and install MacPorts on Mac

Before you start

You need an administrator account on your Mac. MacPorts asks for Apple’s Command Line Tools first. Install them with this command in Terminal and click Install in the window that opens:

Full Xcode is optional: MacPorts tells you if a port needs it to build from source.

Don’t mix MacPorts with Homebrew without a reason. MacPorts lives in /opt/local and Homebrew in its own folder, but when MacPorts builds from source, its tools can pick up Homebrew’s libraries, especially from /usr/local, and builds fail in strange ways. MacPorts’ developers advise using one package manager.

How to install MacPorts

MacPorts has a separate .pkg installer for each macOS version. Check yours in Apple menu › About This Mac, then download the matching installer on macports.org/install.php: Tahoe, Sequoia, Sonoma, or an older system from the list of legacy installers.

1. Open the downloaded MacPorts-….pkg in your Downloads folder.
2. Click Continue, accept the license agreement and click Install.
3. Enter your Mac password and click Install Software. The installer also updates MacPorts and its list of ports, so it can take a few minutes.
4. When it’s done, click Close and open a new Terminal window: the installer adds MacPorts to your shell settings, and only new windows see it.

Take the installer only from macports.org: a .pkg installs with administrator rights.

Install and update ports

Update MacPorts and its list of ports first, and then regularly:

Then install what you need, for example wget:

• Find the exact name of a port, for example: port search wget
• Update everything you installed: sudo port upgrade outdated
• Remove old versions left after upgrades and free space: sudo port uninstall inactive
• The installer. Move the .pkg from Downloads to the Trash once MacPorts works.

If MacPorts won’t install or work

• Terminal says «port: command not found». Open a new Terminal window. If it still isn’t found, the installer couldn’t change your shell settings: add /opt/local/bin and /opt/local/sbin to your PATH.
• A port fails to build. Check that the Command Line Tools are installed, and Xcode if MacPorts asks for it, then update MacPorts: sudo port -v selfupdate Then try again.
• Ports stopped working after a macOS upgrade. MacPorts must be reinstalled for each new major macOS: follow the Migration page linked on macports.org/install.php, which installs the new .pkg and rebuilds your ports.

Alternatives to MacPorts

• HomebrewThe most popular package manager for macOS.