# Install libicns with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper Library for manipulation of the macOS .icns resource format. Version 0.8.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:libicns ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install libicns ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install libicns ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: graphics/libicns/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install icnsutils ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: icnsutils from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install libicns ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: libicns 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#libicns ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/li/libicns/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S libicns ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: libicns from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install icns-utils ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: icns-utils from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:libicns - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.8.1 - **Source summary:** Library for manipulation of the macOS .icns resource format - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** LGPL-2.0-or-later OR LGPL-2.1-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-19T12:32:36-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - icns2png (cli) - icontainer2icns (cli) - png2icns (cli) - icns2png (alias) - icontainer2icns (alias) - png2icns (alias) ## Dependencies - jasper - libpng ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.8.1 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-19 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage libicns is a small library and utility set for manipulating Apple's .icns icon resource format outside Apple's native tooling. ### Project history The project page describes libicns as a library for the Mac OS icns resource format, including reading and writing Mac OS X icns files and reading Mac resource files and MacBinary-encoded resource forks. SourceForge release records show early public tarballs in February 2008, a steady 0.5 and 0.6 series through 2008 and 2009, and the 0.8 line in 2012. Release 0.8.0 added support for PNG icns elements, icon variants, and TOC awareness; release 0.8.1 added 1024x1024 support and packaging/build fixes. ### Adoption history libicns filled a practical packaging gap for Unix and Linux desktops: converting macOS icon resources into PNGs and generating .icns files without requiring macOS development frameworks. Its adoption stayed niche, but the utilities icns2png and png2icns made it useful in icon-theme packaging, cross-platform application packaging, and build scripts that needed to consume or emit Apple icon assets. ### How it is used Users most often install libicns for the command-line tools icns2png, png2icns, and icontainer2icns, while developers can link the library to read, write, inspect, and assemble icon-family elements. ### Why package nerds care libicns is package-nerd useful because it keeps an old platform-specific binary resource format scriptable on POSIX systems. It is not a glamorous dependency, but it is exactly the sort of tiny converter that keeps cross-platform release automation boring. ### Timeline - 2008: Early SourceForge tarballs published for the 0.0 and 0.1 series. - 2009: 0.6 and 0.7 releases improved portability, licensing, and build behavior. - 2012: 0.8.0 added PNG icns-element support and icon variant handling. - 2012: 0.8.1 added 1024x1024 support and Debian/build fixes. ### Related projects - Apple's .icns/IconFamily resource format is the direct file-format target. - Jasper and OpenJPEG are related through JPEG 2000-backed icon-element support. - IconFamily is noted by the project as a related Objective-C option for Mac OS X developers. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal. - **Geiger risk:** orange / medium - infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** libicns - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 5 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - icnsutils - 0.8.1.83.g921f972-0.1+b2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: icnsutils from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | utilities for manipulating Mac OS icns files | https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - Debian apt - libicns-dev - 0.8.1.83.g921f972-0.1+b2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libicns-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | libicns development files | https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - Debian apt - libicns1 - 0.8.1.83.g921f972-0.1+b2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libicns1 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | library for manipulation of the Mac OS icns format | https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - Nix - libicns: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/li/libicns/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - icnsutils - 0.8.1.83.g921f972-0.1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: icnsutils from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | utilities for manipulating Mac OS icns files | https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - Ubuntu apt - libicns-dev - 0.8.1.83.g921f972-0.1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libicns-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | libicns development files | https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - Ubuntu apt - libicns1 - 0.8.1.83.g921f972-0.1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libicns1 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | library for manipulation of the Mac OS icns format | https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - dnf - libicns - 0.8.1-35.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: libicns from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Library for manipulating Macintosh icns files | http://icns.sourceforge.net/ - dnf - libicns-devel - 0.8.1-35.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: libicns-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Development files for libicns | http://icns.sourceforge.net/ - dnf - libicns-utils - 0.8.1-35.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: libicns-utils from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Utilities for libicns | http://icns.sourceforge.net/ - pacman - libicns - 0.8.1-11: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: libicns from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Library for manipulating icns/IconFamily files | https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - zypper - icns-utils - 0.8.1+git20201014-1.21: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: icns-utils from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Application for manipulation of the Mac OS icns | https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - zypper - libicns-devel - 0.8.1+git20201014-1.21: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: libicns-devel from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Development files for libicns | https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - zypper - libicns1 - 0.8.1+git20201014-1.21: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: libicns1 from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | System libraries for libicns | https://icns.sourceforge.io/ - MacPorts - libicns: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: graphics/libicns/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## 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. - [jasper](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jasper/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [libpng](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libpng/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [imagemagick](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/imagemagick/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-conversion, image-processing, library, media. - [makeicns](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/makeicns/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, icns, icons, image-conversion, macos. - [babl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/babl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-processing, library, media. - [exact-image](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/exact-image/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-processing, library, media. - [gd](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gd/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-processing, library, media. - [gegl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gegl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-processing, library, media. - [graphicsmagick](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/graphicsmagick/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-conversion, image-processing, media. - [imageworsener](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/imageworsener/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-processing, library, media. - [sng](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/sng/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: cli, conversion, format, image, image-processing. - [netpbm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/netpbm/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: cli, conversion, image, image-conversion, image-processing. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/libicns.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/libicns.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