Automic VaultAutomic Vault

brew

Install crosstool-ng with Homebrew, apk, pacman, zypper

Tool for building toolchains. Version 1.28.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install crosstool-ng

local Homebrew formula metadata

overview

Package summary

Tool for building toolchains

Commands and aliases

  • ct-ng

history

Project history and usage

crosstool-NG is a configurable toolchain builder focused on producing cross-compilation toolchains. It is a package-nerd staple because it automates the otherwise tedious assembly of binutils, GCC, C libraries, kernel headers, debuggers, and target-specific patches.

Project history

The project traces its lineage to Dan Kegel's original crosstool scripts, patch repository, and prepared configuration files. Yann E. Morin later reorganized that work, added uClibc and menu-driven configuration support, and released the new implementation as crosstool-NG, short for crosstool Next Generation.

The official documentation says Yann Morin became busy with Buildroot and other projects in late 2014, after which Bryan Hundven became the new maintainer. The GitHub README also records older Mercurial repositories as read-only and points current development to GitHub.

Adoption history

crosstool-NG grew around embedded Linux and cross-compilation communities, where prebuilt toolchains are often either too generic, too old, or mismatched to a target. Its documentation keeps a direct connection to the crossgcc mailing list and to projects such as Buildroot, ptxdist, and OpenEmbedded.

How it is used

Users configure crosstool-NG through a Linux-kernel-style menuconfig flow, producing a `.config` file that controls target architecture, component versions, installation prefix, samples, and options. Typical workflows start from a sample tuple, run `ct-ng menuconfig`, and then build a native, cross, cross-native, or Canadian Cross toolchain.

Because `ct-ng` is implemented as a make script, the project is familiar to source-based packaging users: it downloads and builds upstream components, applies version-specific patches, and installs an isolated toolchain such as under `/opt/x-tools/${CT_TARGET}`.

Why package nerds care

crosstool-NG matters in package history because it turns a compiler stack into a reproducible configurable artifact. It sits between full root filesystem builders and ad hoc compiler builds: unlike Buildroot or OpenEmbedded, its stated target is only the toolchain, leaving the resulting compiler usable by other build systems and package workflows.

Timeline

  • 2000s: Dan Kegel's crosstool provides the precursor scripts and patches
  • 2000s: Yann E. Morin releases crosstool-NG with uClibc and menu-driven configuration support
  • 2014: Bryan Hundven becomes maintainer
  • 2025: crosstool-ng 1.28.0 release

Related projects

  • The documentation compares crosstool-NG with Buildroot, ptxdist, and OpenEmbedded, and credits the original crosstool project as its direct ancestor.

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

  • narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

  • metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
  • Installs with 18 runtime dependencies.
  • Build metadata lists 2 build dependencies.

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.

Unix
.config

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
ct-ngcliglobal 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 generated2026-07-08
manager version1.28.0
manager updated2026-06-22
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/crosstool-ng/crosstool-ng

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:crosstool-ng
Version1.28.0
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/crosstool-ng
Homepagehttps://crosstool-ng.github.io/
Repositoryhttps://github.com/crosstool-ng/crosstool-ng
Upstream docshttps://crosstool-ng.github.io/docs
LicenseGPL-2.0-only
Source archivehttps://github.com/crosstool-ng/crosstool-ng/releases/download/crosstool-ng-1.28.0/crosstool-ng-1.28.0.tar.xz
Last updated2026-06-22T14:03:06-07:00
Pulseupdated
Dependenciesautoconf, automake, bash, binutils, bison, coreutils, flex, gawk, gettext, gnu-sed, grep, libtool, lzip, m4, make, ncurses, python@3.14, xz
Build dependencieshelp2man, texinfo
Bottleavailable (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Namecrosstool-ng
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Head VersionHEAD
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • head
  • 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.

apk95%

crosstool-ng 1.28.0-r1

Versatile tool for building (cross-)toolchains

https://crosstool-ng.github.io/

sudo apk add crosstool-ng
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later AND GPL-2.0-or-later AND CC-BY-SA-2.5
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: crosstool-ng
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Crosstool Ng
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: crosstool-ng from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

crosstool-ng-bash-completion 1.28.0-r1

Bash completions for crosstool-ng

https://crosstool-ng.github.io/

sudo apk add crosstool-ng-bash-completion
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later AND GPL-2.0-or-later AND CC-BY-SA-2.5
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: crosstool-ng
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Crosstool Ng
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: crosstool-ng-bash-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

crosstool-ng-doc 1.28.0-r1

Versatile tool for building (cross-)toolchains (documentation)

https://crosstool-ng.github.io/

sudo apk add crosstool-ng-doc
  • License: LGPL-2.1-or-later AND GPL-2.0-or-later AND CC-BY-SA-2.5
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: crosstool-ng
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Crosstool Ng
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: crosstool-ng-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
pacman95%

crosstool-ng 1.28.0-1

A versatile (cross-)toolchain generator

https://crosstool-ng.github.io/

sudo pacman -S crosstool-ng
  • License: CC-BY-SA-2.5 AND GPL-2.0-only AND LGPL-2.1-only
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • 9 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Crosstool Ng
Arch Linux sync databases · geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com · Arch Linux sync databases: crosstool-ng from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
zypper95%

crosstool-ng 1.25.0-1.11

Toolchain building framework

http://crosstool-ng.org

sudo zypper install crosstool-ng
  • License: GPL-2.0-only AND GPL-2.0-or-later AND GPL-3.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.1-only AND LGPL-3.0-or-later
  • Category: Development/Tools/Building
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: crosstool-ng
  • 15 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Crosstool Ng
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: crosstool-ng from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

package graph

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

Related tools

  • autoconfRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • automakeRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • bashRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • binutilsRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • bisonRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • coreutilsRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • flexRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • gawkRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.

Same workflow

  • aarch64-elf-binutilsShares av.db curated category or tags: build-tools, cli, cross-compilation, developer-tools.
  • colormakeShares av.db curated category or tags: build-tools, cli, developer-tools.
  • compiledbShares av.db curated category or tags: build-tools, cli, developer-tools.
  • i686-elf-binutilsShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cross-compilation, developer-tools.
  • i686-elf-gccShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, compilers, cross-compilation, developer-tools.
  • lazymakeShares av.db curated category or tags: build-tools, cli, developer-tools.

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