# Install coreutils with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, winget, zypper GNU File, Shell, and Text utilities. Version 9.11 via Homebrew; verified 2026-04-21. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:coreutils ``` ## Agent safety answer coreutils supplies file utilities that can read, delete, and transform local data at scale. - **Credential access:** Can read files and environment exposed to the agent session. - **Remote mutation:** Primarily local, but can prepare data for other remote tools. - **Publish/artifact risk:** Can delete or rewrite build outputs and generated artifacts. - **Recommended control:** Gate destructive file operations over broad or sensitive paths. - **Agent-use guidance:** Allow narrow reads; require approval for recursive deletes, overwrites, and secret-path reads. Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install coreutils ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install coreutils ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/coreutils/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add coreutils ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: coreutils from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install coreutils ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: coreutils from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install coreutils ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: coreutils from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#coreutils ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: coreutils from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S coreutils ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: coreutils from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/core/os/x86_64/core.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install coreutils ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: coreutils from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ### Windows - Scoop (92%): ```sh scoop install main/coreutils ``` Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/coreutils.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - winget (92%): ```sh winget install --id uutils.coreutils -e ``` Evidence: Windows Package Manager source index: uutils.coreutils from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:coreutils - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 9.11 - **Source summary:** GNU File, Shell, and Text utilities - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-04-21T06:54:43Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - base32 (cli) - basenc (cli) - dir (cli) - dircolors (cli) - factor (cli) - g[ (cli) - gb2sum (cli) - gbase32 (cli) - gbase64 (cli) - gbasename (cli) - gbasenc (cli) - gcat (cli) - gchgrp (cli) - gchmod (cli) - gchown (cli) - gchroot (cli) - gcksum (cli) - gcomm (cli) - gcp (cli) - gcsplit (cli) - gcut (cli) - gdate (cli) - gdd (cli) - gdf (cli) - gdir (cli) - gdircolors (cli) - gdirname (cli) - gdu (cli) - gecho (cli) - genv (cli) - gexpand (cli) - gexpr (cli) - gfactor (cli) - gfalse (cli) - gfmt (cli) - gfold (cli) - ggroups (cli) - ghead (cli) - ghostid (cli) - gid (cli) - ginstall (cli) - gjoin (cli) - glink (cli) - gln (cli) - glogname (cli) - gls (cli) - gmd5sum (cli) - gmkdir (cli) - gmkfifo (cli) - gmknod (cli) - gmktemp (cli) - gmv (cli) - gnice (cli) - gnl (cli) - gnohup (cli) - gnproc (cli) - gnumfmt (cli) - god (cli) - gpaste (cli) - gpathchk (cli) - gpinky (cli) - gpr (cli) - gprintenv (cli) - gprintf (cli) - gptx (cli) - gpwd (cli) - greadlink (cli) - grealpath (cli) - grm (cli) - grmdir (cli) - gseq (cli) - gsha1sum (cli) - gsha224sum (cli) - gsha256sum (cli) - gsha384sum (cli) - gsha512sum (cli) - gshred (cli) - gshuf (cli) - gsleep (cli) - gsort (cli) - gsplit (cli) - gstat (cli) - gstdbuf (cli) - gstty (cli) - gsum (cli) - gsync (cli) - gtac (cli) - gtail (cli) - gtee (cli) - gtest (cli) - gtimeout (cli) - gtouch (cli) - gtr (cli) - gtrue (cli) - gtruncate (cli) - gtsort (cli) - gtty (cli) - guname (cli) - gunexpand (cli) - guniq (cli) - gunlink (cli) - gusers (cli) - gvdir (cli) - gwc (cli) - gwho (cli) - gwhoami (cli) - gyes (cli) - hostid (cli) - md5sum (cli) - nproc (cli) - numfmt (cli) - pinky (cli) - ptx (cli) - realpath (cli) - sha1sum (cli) - sha224sum (cli) - sha256sum (cli) - sha384sum (cli) - sha512sum (cli) - shred (cli) - shuf (cli) - stdbuf (cli) - tac (cli) - timeout (cli) - truncate (cli) - vdir (cli) - base32 (alias) - basenc (alias) - dir (alias) - dircolors (alias) - factor (alias) - g[ (alias) - gb2sum (alias) - gbase32 (alias) - gbase64 (alias) - gbasename (alias) - gbasenc (alias) - gcat (alias) - gchgrp (alias) - gchmod (alias) - gchown (alias) - gchroot (alias) - gcksum (alias) - gcomm (alias) - gcp (alias) - gcsplit (alias) - gcut (alias) - gdate (alias) - gdd (alias) - gdf (alias) - gdir (alias) - gdircolors (alias) - gdirname (alias) - gdu (alias) - gecho (alias) - genv (alias) - gexpand (alias) - gexpr (alias) - gfactor (alias) - gfalse (alias) - gfmt (alias) - gfold (alias) - ggroups (alias) - ghead (alias) - ghostid (alias) - gid (alias) - ginstall (alias) - gjoin (alias) - glink (alias) - gln (alias) - glogname (alias) - gls (alias) - gmd5sum (alias) - gmkdir (alias) - gmkfifo (alias) - gmknod (alias) - gmktemp (alias) - gmv (alias) - gnice (alias) - gnl (alias) - gnohup (alias) - gnproc (alias) - gnumfmt (alias) - god (alias) - gpaste (alias) - gpathchk (alias) - gpinky (alias) - gpr (alias) - gprintenv (alias) - gprintf (alias) - gptx (alias) - gpwd (alias) - greadlink (alias) - grealpath (alias) - grm (alias) - grmdir (alias) - gseq (alias) - gsha1sum (alias) - gsha224sum (alias) - gsha256sum (alias) - gsha384sum (alias) - gsha512sum (alias) - gshred (alias) - gshuf (alias) - gsleep (alias) - gsort (alias) - gsplit (alias) - gstat (alias) - gstdbuf (alias) - gstty (alias) - gsum (alias) - gsync (alias) - gtac (alias) - gtail (alias) - gtee (alias) - gtest (alias) - gtimeout (alias) - gtouch (alias) - gtr (alias) - gtrue (alias) - gtruncate (alias) - gtsort (alias) - gtty (alias) - guname (alias) - gunexpand (alias) - guniq (alias) - gunlink (alias) - gusers (alias) - gvdir (alias) - gwc (alias) - gwho (alias) - gwhoami (alias) - gyes (alias) - hostid (alias) - md5sum (alias) - nproc (alias) - numfmt (alias) - pinky (alias) - ptx (alias) - realpath (alias) - sha1sum (alias) - sha224sum (alias) - sha256sum (alias) - sha384sum (alias) - sha512sum (alias) - shred (alias) - shuf (alias) - stdbuf (alias) - tac (alias) - timeout (alias) - truncate (alias) - vdir (alias) ## Dependencies - gmp ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Caveats: Commands also provided by macOS and the commands dir, dircolors, vdir have been installed with the prefix "g". If you need to use these commands with their normal names, you can add a "gnubin" directory to your PATH with: PATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/opt/coreutils/libexec/gnubin:$PATH" - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 9.11 - Package-manager updated: 2026-04-21 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage GNU Coreutils is the GNU Project's distribution of the standard command-line file, shell, and text utilities used throughout Unix-like systems. In package-manager practice it is treated less as a single application than as a portable baseline for commands such as cat, chmod, cp, date, ls, sort, tail, tr, and many checksum and text-processing tools. ### Project history The package sits in the GNU system layer: its official description presents it as the GNU file, shell, and text utilities, and the GNU FTP archive shows coreutils release tarballs from the 5.x series onward, including coreutils 5.0 in April 2003. That release trail made the name 'coreutils' the umbrella package users and distributors expect when they want GNU behavior for the traditional small utilities. ### Adoption history Coreutils became a normal dependency surface for GNU/Linux distributions and a compatibility package on non-GNU systems. The Homebrew formula exposes many commands with a g-prefix on macOS so users can opt into GNU semantics without replacing the platform-provided BSD userland. ### How it is used Users normally install coreutils for scripts and interactive shell workflows that rely on GNU options or GNU extensions. On macOS the package is especially common in development environments where cross-platform shell scripts assume commands such as gdate, gsort, greadlink, or gtimeout. ### Why package nerds care Coreutils is one of the canonical examples of packaging a userland as a coherent compatibility layer. Its release cadence, prefixing strategy on macOS, GPL licensing, and overlap with POSIX and BSD utilities make it a frequent packaging-policy test case. ### Timeline - 2003: GNU FTP archive lists coreutils 5.0 release tarballs. - 2009: GNU FTP archive lists coreutils 8.x release tarballs, reflecting continued maintenance under the coreutils package name. - Present: Homebrew packages GNU Coreutils as a system utility collection with GNU-prefixed commands on macOS. ### Related projects - Related userland packages include BusyBox, Toybox, uutils coreutils, BSD userland utilities, and GNU findutils, grep, sed, and tar. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes broad file and shell utility collection. - **Geiger risk:** blue / high - broad file and shell utility collection - **Approval gate rules:** 8 ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** coreutils - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Conflicts With:** b2sum, gfold, idutils - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - coreutils - 9.7-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: coreutils from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | GNU core utilities | https://gnu.org/software/coreutils - Nix - coreutils: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: coreutils from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix - Ubuntu apt - coreutils - 9.4-3ubuntu6: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: coreutils from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | GNU core utilities | http://gnu.org/software/coreutils - apk - coreutils - 9.11-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: coreutils from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | The basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - apk - coreutils-doc - 9.11-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: coreutils-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | The basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities (documentation) | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - apk - coreutils-env - 9.11-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: coreutils-env from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | The basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - apk - coreutils-fmt - 9.11-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: coreutils-fmt from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | The basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - apk - coreutils-sha512sum - 9.11-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: coreutils-sha512sum from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | The basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - dnf - coreutils - 9.11-2.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: coreutils from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | A set of basic GNU tools commonly used in shell scripts | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - dnf - coreutils-common - 9.11-2.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: coreutils-common from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | coreutils common optional components | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - dnf - coreutils-single - 9.11-2.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: coreutils-single from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | coreutils multicall binary | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - pacman - coreutils - 9.11-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: coreutils from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/core/os/x86_64/core.db.tar.gz | The basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities of the GNU operating system | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - zypper - coreutils - 9.11-3.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: coreutils from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | GNU Core Utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - zypper - coreutils-doc - 9.11-3.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: coreutils-doc from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Documentation for the GNU Core Utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - zypper - coreutils-lang - 9.11-3.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: coreutils-lang from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Translations for package coreutils | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ - zypper - coreutils-single - 9.11-3.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: coreutils-single from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | GNU Core Utilities | https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/ ## Related links - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [asn](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/asn/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [beakerlib](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/beakerlib/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [byobu](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/byobu/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [cask](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cask/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [clazy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/clazy/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [crosstool-ng](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/crosstool-ng/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [elan-init](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/elan-init/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [git-quick-stats](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/git-quick-stats/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [bc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bc/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, gnu, posix, system. - [debianutils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/debianutils/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, core-utilities, system. - [util-linux](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/util-linux/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, core-utilities, system. - [uutils-coreutils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/uutils-coreutils/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, core-utilities, system. - [acl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/acl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, posix, system. - [bash](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bash/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, gnu, system. - [cpio](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cpio/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, gnu, system. - [dash-shell](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dash-shell/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, posix, system. - [findutils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/findutils/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, file, gnu, system. - [stow](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/stow/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, file, gnu, system. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/coreutils.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/coreutils.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - approval-gate seed metadata - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph - curated agent safety answer