# Install dbus with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Message bus system, providing inter-application communication. Version 1.16.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:dbus
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install dbus
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install dbus
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: devel/dbus/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add dbus
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: dbus from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install dbus
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: dbus from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install dbus
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: dbus 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#dbus
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/db/dbus/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S dbus
```

  Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: dbus from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/core/os/x86_64/core.db.tar.gz

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install dbus-1-daemon
```

  Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: dbus-1-daemon from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:dbus
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Package manager page:** <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/dbus>
- **Version:** 1.16.2
- **Source summary:** Message bus system, providing inter-application communication
- **Homepage:** <https://wiki.freedesktop.org/www/Software/dbus>
- **Repository:** <https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/dbus/dbus>
- **Upstream docs:** <https://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/api/html>
- **License:** AFL-2.1 OR GPL-2.0-or-later
- **Source archive:** <https://dbus.freedesktop.org/releases/dbus/dbus-1.16.2.tar.xz>
- **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00

## Executables

- dbus-cleanup-sockets (cli)
- dbus-daemon (cli)
- dbus-launch (cli)
- dbus-monitor (cli)
- dbus-run-session (cli)
- dbus-send (cli)
- dbus-test-tool (cli)
- dbus-update-activation-environment (cli)
- dbus-uuidgen (cli)
- dbus-cleanup-sockets (alias)
- dbus-daemon (alias)
- dbus-launch (alias)
- dbus-monitor (alias)
- dbus-run-session (alias)
- dbus-send (alias)
- dbus-test-tool (alias)
- dbus-update-activation-environment (alias)
- dbus-uuidgen (alias)

## Build dependencies

- docbook
- docbook-xsl
- meson
- ninja
- pkgconf
- xmlto

## Uses from macOS

- expat

## Install behavior

- Post-install hook: defined
- Service: declared
- Caveats: To start the session bus now and at login: brew services start dbus To start the system bus now and on boot, install and activate the included daemon: sudo cp -f $(brew --prefix dbus)/org.freedesktop.dbus-system.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons sudo launchctl bootstrap system /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.freedesktop.dbus-system.plist If the daemon is already installed and running, restart it: sudo launchctl kickstart -k system/org.freedesktop.dbus-system
- Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-07-08
- Package-manager version: 1.16.2
- Local data: ok
- Upstream repository: https://wiki.freedesktop.org/www/Software/dbus
- info: No package-manager update timestamp was available.
- info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.
## Project history and usage

D-Bus is the freedesktop.org message bus system and reference implementation for low-overhead local IPC, providing both a protocol and the dbus-daemon used by Unix desktop and system services.

### Project history

The D-Bus specification credits authors from Red Hat, CodeFactory, Imendio, Collabora, and others, and its first released document was revision 0.8 in September 2003. The protocol was declared frozen for compatible extension in November 2006, making later changes conservative and versioned.

### Adoption history

freedesktop.org describes dbus as the reference implementation and says released versions are available in all major Linux distributions. The project page also notes that D-Bus was heavily tested in real-world use over several years before being treated as set in stone.

### How it is used

D-Bus supplies a system bus for events such as hardware or printer changes and a per-login-session bus for desktop IPC. The package also ships tools such as dbus-daemon, dbus-send, dbus-monitor, dbus-run-session, and dbus-uuidgen for debugging and service integration.

### Why package nerds care

As a package, dbus sits near the base of the modern Linux desktop graph: many GUI, service, policy, and session components do not expose D-Bus directly to users, but they rely on its daemon, activation files, bus names, and language bindings.

### Timeline

- 2003: D-Bus specification revision 0.8 is the first released document.
- 2006: D-Bus protocol is frozen for compatible extensions.
- 2024: Specification revision 0.43 documents more modern interfaces and service-loading guidance.
- 2026: freedesktop.org lists dbus 1.16.x as the stable branch and 1.14.x as a legacy branch supported for security fixes until mid-2026.

### Related projects

- Related projects include libdbus, dbus-daemon, dbus-glib, GDBus, QtDBus, sd-bus, and language bindings for Python, Ruby, Go, Rust, and other ecosystems.

### Sources

- <https://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html>
- <https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/dbus/>
- <https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/DBusBindings/>


## Security Notes

formula declares a Homebrew service.

- **Geiger risk:** orange / medium
- formula declares a Homebrew service


## 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

- Unix: /usr/share/dbus-1/system.conf, /usr/share/dbus-1/session.conf, /etc/dbus-1/system.d, /etc/dbus-1/session.d
## Source Database Details

- **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API
- **Tap:** homebrew/core
- **Full Name:** dbus
- **Version Scheme:** 0
- **Revision:** 1
- **Head Version:** HEAD
- **Bottle Stable Root URL:** <https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core>
- **Deprecated:** no
- **Disabled:** no
- **Keg Only:** no
- **URL Keys:** head, stable

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - dbus - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: dbus from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (system message bus) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Debian apt - dbus-1-doc - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: dbus-1-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (documentation) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Debian apt - dbus-bin - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: dbus-bin from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (command line utilities) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Debian apt - dbus-daemon - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: dbus-daemon from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (reference message bus) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Debian apt - dbus-session-bus-common - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: dbus-session-bus-common from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (session bus configuration) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Debian apt - dbus-system-bus-common - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: dbus-system-bus-common from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (system bus configuration) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Debian apt - dbus-tests - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: dbus-tests from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (test infrastructure) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Debian apt - dbus-user-session - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: dbus-user-session from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (systemd --user integration) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Debian apt - dbus-x11 - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: dbus-x11 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (X11 deps) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Debian apt - libdbus-1-3 - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libdbus-1-3 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (library) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Debian apt - libdbus-1-dev - 1.16.2-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libdbus-1-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple interprocess messaging system (development headers) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Nix - dbus: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/db/dbus/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - dbus - 1.14.10-4ubuntu4: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: dbus from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | simple interprocess messaging system (system message bus) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Ubuntu apt - dbus-1-doc - 1.14.10-4ubuntu4: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: dbus-1-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | simple interprocess messaging system (documentation) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Ubuntu apt - dbus-bin - 1.14.10-4ubuntu4: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: dbus-bin from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | simple interprocess messaging system (command line utilities) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/
- Ubuntu apt - dbus-daemon - 1.14.10-4ubuntu4: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: dbus-daemon from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | simple interprocess messaging system (reference message bus) | https://dbus.freedesktop.org/


## Related links

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- [Documentation packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/documentation-tools/) - Matched documentation, manual, or publishing metadata.
- [docbook](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/docbook/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [docbook-xsl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/docbook-xsl/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [meson](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/meson/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew.
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- [cups](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cups/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, system-service.
- [detach](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/detach/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, daemon, system.
- [direvent](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/direvent/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, daemon, system.
- [dwatch](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dwatch/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, daemon, system.
- [fwupd](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fwupd/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, daemon, system.
- [desktop-file-utils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/desktop-file-utils/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, desktop, system, update.
- [shared-mime-info](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/shared-mime-info/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, desktop, system, update.

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/dbus.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/dbus.yml)


## Sources

- Nucleus package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- package-page enrichment
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- 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