# Install gcab with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper Windows installer (.MSI) tool. Version 1.6 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:gcab ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install gcab ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install gcab ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: gnome/gcab/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install gcab ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: gcab from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install gcab ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: gcab 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#gcab ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/gc/gcab/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S gcab ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: gcab from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install gcab ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: gcab from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:gcab - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.6 - **Source summary:** Windows installer (.MSI) tool - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** LGPL-2.1-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - gcab (cli) - gcab (alias) ## Dependencies - gettext - glib ## Build dependencies - gettext - gobject-introspection - meson - ninja - pkgconf - vala ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.6 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage gcab is a GNOME-hosted command-line tool and GObject library for creating Microsoft Cabinet files. In package-manager culture it is usually encountered near msitools, libgsf, Wine-derived Windows Installer tooling, and cross-platform packaging workflows. ### Project history The gcab repository describes GCab as a GObject library to create cabinet files. The broader GNOME msitools project describes its tool family as programs for inspecting and building Windows Installer files, based on libmsi, which in turn is a portable subset of Wine's Windows Installer implementation. ### Adoption history Official GitLab tags show gcab releases from early 2013 through the 1.x series, with v1.0 tagged in January 2018 and v1.6 tagged in July 2023. That release pattern places gcab among the small infrastructure packages that desktop distributions carry because higher-level Windows packaging tools depend on them. ### How it is used The package provides the gcab command for cabinet archive work and the libgcab library interface. It is most relevant where Unix-like build systems need to assemble or inspect Windows installer-related artifacts without using native Windows tooling. ### Why package nerds care gcab matters to package maintainers because Cabinet files are a Windows packaging primitive, while GNOME's msitools stack makes those formats scriptable from Unix packaging pipelines. It is a small package, but it sits at the awkward boundary between Linux build systems and Windows installer formats. ### Timeline - 2013: Early gcab 0.x tags published in GNOME GitLab history. - 2018: gcab v1.0 tagged. - 2023: gcab v1.6 tagged. ### Related projects - Related official GNOME projects include msitools and libgsf; msitools also documents its relationship to Wine's Windows Installer implementation and WiX-like tooling. ### Sources - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** gcab - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - gcab - 1.6-1+b3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: gcab from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation tool | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Debian apt - gir1.2-gcab-1.0 - 1.6-1+b3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: gir1.2-gcab-1.0 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation library - gir bindings | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Debian apt - libgcab-1.0-0 - 1.6-1+b3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libgcab-1.0-0 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation library | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Debian apt - libgcab-dev - 1.6-1+b3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libgcab-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation library - development files | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Debian apt - libgcab-doc - 1.6-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libgcab-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation library - documentation | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Debian apt - libgcab-tests - 1.6-1+b3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libgcab-tests from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation library - as-installed tests | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Nix - gcab: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/gc/gcab/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - gcab - 1.6-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: gcab from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation tool | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Ubuntu apt - gir1.2-gcab-1.0 - 1.6-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: gir1.2-gcab-1.0 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation library - gir bindings | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Ubuntu apt - libgcab-1.0-0 - 1.6-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libgcab-1.0-0 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation library | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Ubuntu apt - libgcab-dev - 1.6-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libgcab-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation library - development files | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Ubuntu apt - libgcab-doc - 1.6-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libgcab-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation library - documentation | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - Ubuntu apt - libgcab-tests - 1.6-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libgcab-tests from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Microsoft Cabinet file manipulation library - as-installed tests | https://wiki.gnome.org/msitools - dnf - gcab - 1.6-11.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: gcab from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Cabinet file library and tool | http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/gcab - dnf - libgcab1 - 1.6-11.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: libgcab1 from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Library to create Cabinet archives | http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/gcab - dnf - libgcab1-devel - 1.6-11.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: libgcab1-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Development files to create Cabinet archives | http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/gcab ## Related links - [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. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [gettext](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gettext/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [glib](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/glib/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gobject-introspection](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gobject-introspection/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [meson](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/meson/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [ninja](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ninja/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [msitools](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/msitools/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [abi3audit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/abi3audit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, packaging. - [cargo-bundle](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cargo-bundle/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, packaging. - [charmcraft](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/charmcraft/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, packaging. - [create-dmg](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/create-dmg/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, packaging. - [dylibbundler](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dylibbundler/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, packaging. - [flit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/flit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, packaging. - [hpack](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/hpack/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, packaging. - [ghex](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ghex/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, developer, developer-tools, gettext, glib. - [gitg](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gitg/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, developer, developer-tools, gettext, glib. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/gcab.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/gcab.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - 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