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brew

Install alsa-lib with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, Nix, pacman, zypper

Provides audio and MIDI functionality to the Linux operating system. Version 1.2.16.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-14.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install alsa-lib

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add alsa-lib

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · alsa-lib · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install libasound2-data

Debian stable package indexes · libasound2-data · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install alsa-lib

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · alsa-lib · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#alsa-lib

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/al/alsa-lib/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S alsa-lib

Arch Linux sync databases · alsa-lib · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install libasound2

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libasound2 · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Provides audio and MIDI functionality to the Linux operating system

Commands and aliases

  • aserver

history

Project history and usage

alsa-lib is the user-space C library for the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture, the Linux audio and MIDI stack normally abbreviated ALSA. It is the layer that lets applications talk to the ALSA kernel API through a stable library API, while adding higher-level helpers, plugin support, and configuration machinery that would be awkward for each application to implement directly.

Project history

The ALSA project was founded by Jaroslav Kysela and grew around the goal of replacing and extending the older Open Sound System model on Linux. Official ALSA documentation describes ALSA as providing audio and MIDI functionality for Linux, with modular drivers, SMP/thread-safe design, OSS compatibility, and a user-space library named alsa-lib to simplify application programming.

alsa-lib became one of the core split-out ALSA components alongside the kernel driver code, alsa-utils, alsa-tools, and later configuration packages such as alsa-ucm-conf. The official library reference credits Jaroslav Kysela, Abramo Bagnara, Takashi Iwai, and Frank van de Pol as authors and describes the library API as the preferred interface for application programmers rather than using the kernel API directly.

Adoption history

The ALSA introduction notes that ALSA driver code was included in Linux 2.6, which made the ALSA stack the default assumption for most Linux desktop, embedded, and pro-audio packaging. As a result, alsa-lib became a dependency that package maintainers encounter indirectly through audio applications, desktop environments, media players, sound servers, MIDI tools, and compatibility layers.

The library continues to be released as a separately versioned package. The ALSA project news and git history show coordinated alsa-lib releases with related ALSA components, including the 1.2.16 and 1.2.16.1 releases in June 2026.

How it is used

Developers use alsa-lib for PCM audio, mixer controls, sequencer, raw MIDI, timers, topology, and use-case manager APIs. End users usually meet it through configuration files rather than by invoking it directly: system defaults are loaded through alsa.conf and per-machine or per-user overrides are commonly placed in asound.conf or .asoundrc files.

The source configuration file loads system and user configuration snippets from locations such as /etc/asound.conf, ~/.asoundrc, and $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/alsa/asoundrc, which explains why distribution packaging and local audio troubleshooting often revolve around these paths.

Why package nerds care

For package people, alsa-lib is plumbing with a very large reverse-dependency shadow. It is small enough to look like a library package, but central enough that ABI, plugin paths, default configuration, UCM data, and cross-distro path choices can affect whole desktops and audio stacks.

It also matters historically because it marks the Unix audio transition from OSS compatibility toward the ALSA model that PulseAudio, JACK bridges, PipeWire compatibility layers, and many direct audio applications have had to understand.

Timeline

  • 2003: ALSA driver code is included in Linux 2.6.
  • 2018: The alsa-project/alsa-lib GitHub repository is created as an official source mirror/development surface.
  • 2026-06-01: ALSA releases alsa-lib 1.2.16 with related ALSA components.
  • 2026-06-12: ALSA releases alsa-lib 1.2.16.1.

Related projects

  • alsa-utils provides command-line tools such as aplay, arecord, alsamixer, and alsactl that sit beside alsa-lib in most distributions.
  • alsa-ucm-conf and alsa-topology-conf carry machine and DSP configuration data consumed through alsa-lib interfaces.
  • PipeWire, PulseAudio, JACK, media players, and many native Linux audio applications depend on ALSA compatibility or direct ALSA access.

security posture

Risk level: blue

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

Risk classifier

blue risk · medium confidence · tool

Why

  • broad file, network, media, or database tool signal

Signals

  • text:audio,server

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 2 platform targets.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Linux
/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf/etc/asound.conf~/.asoundrc~/.config/alsa/asoundrc

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
aservercliglobal executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-07
manager version1.2.16.1
manager updated2026-06-14
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected

https://www.alsa-project.org/

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:alsa-lib
Version1.2.16.1
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/alsa-lib
Homepagehttps://www.alsa-project.org/
Repositoryhttps://github.com/alsa-project/alsa-lib
Upstream docshttps://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/alsa-lib
LicenseLGPL-2.1-or-later AND GPL-2.0-or-later
Source archivehttps://www.alsa-project.org/files/pub/lib/alsa-lib-1.2.16.1.tar.bz2
Last updated2026-06-14T23:50:54Z
Pulseupdated
Bottleavailable (on arm64_linux, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Namealsa-lib
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Requirements
  • linux
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

libasound2-data 1.2.14-1

Configuration files and profiles for ALSA drivers

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libasound2-data
  • Section: libs
  • Architecture: all
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 3 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libasound2-data from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

libasound2-dev 1.2.14-1

shared library for ALSA applications -- development files

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libasound2-dev
  • Section: libdevel
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • 1 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libasound2-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

libasound2-doc 1.2.14-1

documentation for user-space ALSA application programming

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libasound2-doc
  • Section: doc
  • Architecture: all
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libasound2-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

libasound2-plugin-smixer 1.2.14-1

smixer plugin for ALSA library

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libasound2-plugin-smixer
  • Section: libs
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 3 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libasound2-plugin-smixer from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

libasound2t64 1.2.14-1

shared library for ALSA applications

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libasound2t64
  • Section: libs
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 2 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • 1 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libasound2t64 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

libatopology-dev 1.2.14-1

shared library for handling ALSA topology -- development files

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libatopology-dev
  • Section: libdevel
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 2 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libatopology-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Debian apt95%

libatopology2t64 1.2.14-1

shared library for handling ALSA topology definitions

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libatopology2t64
  • Section: libs
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 2 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libatopology2t64 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Nix95%

alsa-lib

nix profile install nixpkgs#alsa-lib
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/al/alsa-lib/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
Ubuntu apt95%

libasound2-data 1.2.11-1build2

Configuration files and profiles for ALSA drivers

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libasound2-data
  • Section: libs
  • Architecture: all
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 3 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libasound2-data from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
Ubuntu apt95%

libasound2-dev 1.2.11-1build2

shared library for ALSA applications -- development files

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libasound2-dev
  • Section: libdevel
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • 1 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libasound2-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
Ubuntu apt95%

libasound2-doc 1.2.11-1build2

documentation for user-space ALSA application programming

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libasound2-doc
  • Section: libdevel
  • Architecture: all
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libasound2-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
Ubuntu apt95%

libasound2-plugin-smixer 1.2.11-1build2

smixer plugin for ALSA library

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libasound2-plugin-smixer
  • Section: universe/libs
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 3 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libasound2-plugin-smixer from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
Ubuntu apt95%

libasound2t64 1.2.11-1build2

shared library for ALSA applications

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libasound2t64
  • Section: libs
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 2 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • 1 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libasound2t64 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
Ubuntu apt95%

libatopology-dev 1.2.11-1build2

shared library for handling ALSA topology -- development files

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libatopology-dev
  • Section: libdevel
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 2 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libatopology-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
Ubuntu apt95%

libatopology2t64 1.2.11-1build2

shared library for handling ALSA topology definitions

https://www.alsa-project.org/

sudo apt install libatopology2t64
  • Section: libs
  • Architecture: amd64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 2 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libatopology2t64 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
apk95%

alsa-lib 1.2.15.3-r0

Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) library

https://alsa-project.org/

sudo apk add alsa-lib
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: alsa-lib
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Alsa Lib
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: alsa-lib from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Related tools

  • pipewirePopular package that depends on this formula.

Same workflow

  • fluid-synthShares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, library, media, midi.
  • wildmidiShares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, library, media, midi.
  • adplugShares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, library, media.
  • chromaprintShares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, library, media.
  • freealutShares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, library, media.
  • id3libShares av.db curated category or tags: audio, cli, library, media.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • Nucleus package database
  • av.db category and tag curation
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated configuration and credential file locations
  • curated package history
  • external package-manager database matches
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment