install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install fakeroot

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install fakeroot

MacPorts ports tree · sysutils/fakeroot/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add fakeroot

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

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install fakeroot

Debian stable package indexes · fakeroot · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install fakeroot

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · fakeroot · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#fakeroot

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/fa/fakeroot/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S fakeroot

Arch Linux sync databases · fakeroot · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install fakeroot

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

overview

Package summary

Provide a fake root environment

Project links

Commands and aliases

faked
fakeroot

history

Project history and usage

fakeroot runs a command in an environment where file manipulation appears to happen with root privileges, without granting real root access. It is a core packaging utility because archives can be built with root-looking ownership, permissions, and device metadata by unprivileged users.

Project history

fakeroot entered Debian in June 1997 as a tool by Joost Witteveen. Early changelog entries show it rapidly gaining wrappers for chown, chmod, stat, mkdir, rename, and related calls, plus IPC handling and tests needed to make dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot reliable.

The manpage explains the central implementation: fakeroot replaces selected file-manipulation library functions with wrappers loaded through LD_PRELOAD, while the faked daemon preserves the fake ownership and permission view. The design intentionally avoids wrapping some calls such as open() because too many libc interactions would create fragile loops and portability problems.

Over time fakeroot became maintained as a Debian project package, with authors and contributors including Joost Witteveen, Clint Adams, Timo Savola, Regis Duchesne, Mikhail Gusarov, J.H.M. Dassen for the manual page, and Kyle J. McKay for OS X support. The current Salsa repository tracks ongoing fixes for libc, architecture, translation, xattr, time64, and cross-build behavior.

Adoption history

fakeroot was specifically written to enable users to create Debian packages without root privileges. The manpage documents dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot and debuild -rfakeroot as normal workflows, and notes that debuild defaults to fakeroot in modern usage.

Its adoption spread beyond Debian because the problem is generic to Unix packaging: package builds often need archive metadata to say root:root even though the build user should not be root. The package-manager list in the input shows fakeroot packaged across APK, Homebrew, Debian, Fedora/DNF, MacPorts, Nix, Arch/pacman, Ubuntu, and openSUSE/zypper ecosystems.

How it is used

Typical use wraps only the packaging or archive-creation phase, not the configure or binary build phase. The manpage warns that configure-style probes can get confused when fakeroot changes apparent system behavior, and recommends letting Debian build targets call fakeroot at the correct stage.

fakeroot is also useful for tar, ar, .deb, backup, and restore workflows that need root-looking ownership or device information in an archive. Its -s and -i options can save and reload a fakeroot environment, with documented caveats about touching files outside the saved fake view.

Why package nerds care

fakeroot matters because it helped make unprivileged package builds routine. Before tools like fakeroot, a packager either needed real root privileges to create files with root ownership before archiving, or had to construct archive metadata directly.

It is also an instructive Unix packaging artifact: small, sharp, LD_PRELOAD-based, explicitly non-setuid, and honest about its limitations. Distribution maintainers care about it because subtle libc, stat, xattr, and architecture changes can affect whether huge portions of a packaging ecosystem build reproducibly without privilege.

Timeline

1997-06: Initial Debian changelog entry for fakeroot 0.0-0.
1997-07: Changelog states dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot works reliably and the package was built as non-root.
1997-08: A manpage and additional wrappers/tests are added.
2014: Debian manpage revision documents the modern fakeroot command behavior.
2018: The Debian Salsa repository is created.
2026: fakeroot 1.38.1-1 is uploaded to Debian unstable with xattr and unknown-file handling fixes.

Related projects

fakeroot is tightly connected to faked, dpkg-buildpackage, debuild, deb archives, and Debian packaging policy. The manpage also contrasts its intentionally limited wrappers with libtricks-style broader interception.

Sources

security posture

No protected-tool coverage found yet

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for fakeroot. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 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.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`faked`	cli	global executable
`fakeroot`	cli	global 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 version1.38.1

manager updated2026-05-21

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/fakeroot

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/fakerootnone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:fakeroot
Version	1.38.1
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/fakeroot
Homepage	https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/fakeroot
Repository	https://salsa.debian.org/clint/fakeroot
Upstream docs	https://manpages.debian.org/fakeroot
License	GPL-3.0-or-later
Source archive	https://deb.debian.org/debian/pool/main/f/fakeroot/fakeroot_1.38.1.orig.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-05-21T04:00:18Z
Pulse	updated
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	fakeroot
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
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%

fakeroot 1.37.1.1-1

tool for simulating superuser privileges

sudo apt install fakeroot

Section: utils
Architecture: amd64
2 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

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

Debian apt95%

libfakeroot 1.37.1.1-1

tool for simulating superuser privileges - shared libraries

sudo apt install libfakeroot

Section: libs
Architecture: amd64
Source Package: fakeroot
1 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

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

Nix95%

fakeroot

nix profile install nixpkgs#fakeroot

normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

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

Ubuntu apt95%

fakeroot 1.33-1

tool for simulating superuser privileges

sudo apt install fakeroot

Section: utils
Architecture: amd64
2 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: fakeroot from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

Ubuntu apt95%

libfakeroot 1.33-1

tool for simulating superuser privileges - shared libraries

sudo apt install libfakeroot

Section: utils
Architecture: amd64
Source Package: fakeroot
1 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libfakeroot from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

apk95%

fakeroot 1.37.2-r0

Gives a fake root environment, useful for building packages as a non-privileged user

https://packages.debian.org/fakeroot

sudo apk add fakeroot

License: GPL-3.0-or-later
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fakeroot
1 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

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

apk95%

fakeroot-dbg 1.37.2-r0

Gives a fake root environment, useful for building packages as a non-privileged user (debug symbols)

https://packages.debian.org/fakeroot

sudo apk add fakeroot-dbg

License: GPL-3.0-or-later
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fakeroot
1 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

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

apk95%

fakeroot-doc 1.37.2-r0

Gives a fake root environment, useful for building packages as a non-privileged user (documentation)

https://packages.debian.org/fakeroot

sudo apk add fakeroot-doc

License: GPL-3.0-or-later
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fakeroot
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

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

dnf95%

fakeroot 1.37.1-4.fc44

Gives a fake root environment

https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/fakeroot

sudo dnf install fakeroot

License: GPL-3.0-or-later AND LicenseRef-Callaway-LGPLv2+ AND (GPL-1.0-or-later OR Artistic-1.0-Perl)
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fakeroot
8 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: fakeroot from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

dnf95%

fakeroot-libs 1.37.1-4.fc44

Gives a fake root environment (libraries)

https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/fakeroot

sudo dnf install fakeroot-libs

License: GPL-3.0-or-later AND LicenseRef-Callaway-LGPLv2+ AND (GPL-1.0-or-later OR Artistic-1.0-Perl)
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: i686
Source Package: fakeroot
2 dependencies
2 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: fakeroot-libs from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

pacman95%

fakeroot 1:1.37.2-1

Tool for simulating superuser privileges

https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/fakeroot

sudo pacman -S fakeroot

License: GPL-3.0-or-later
Architecture: x86_64
5 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

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

zypper95%

fakeroot 1.38-1.1

Wrapper that gives a fake root environment

https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/fakeroot

sudo zypper install fakeroot

License: GPL-3.0-or-later
Category: Development/Tools/Other
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fakeroot
3 dependencies
2 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: fakeroot from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

MacPorts95%

fakeroot

sudo port install fakeroot

normalized package name match
Matched by: Fakeroot

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/fakeroot/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

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

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.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/fakeroot.yml

Used sources

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

Install fakeroot with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Additional install commands

macOS

Linux

Package summary

Project links

Commands and aliases

Project history and usage

Project history

Adoption history

How it is used

Why package nerds care

Timeline

Related projects

Sources

No protected-tool coverage found yet

Install behavior

Recommended review

Installed executables

Version and freshness

Package metadata

Source database details

Other package-manager records

Internal package links

Topical hubs

Related tools

Same workflow

Agent security guides

Generated from repository data

Combined YAML source

Used sources