macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install libirecoverylocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install libirecoveryMacPorts ports tree · devel/libirecovery/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install libirecovery with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix
Library and utility to talk to iBoot/iBSS via USB. Version 1.3.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add libirecoveryAlpine Linux edge package indexes · libirecovery · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install irecoveryDebian stable package indexes · irecovery · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install libirecoveryFedora Rawhide package metadata · libirecovery · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#libirecoverynixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/li/libirecovery/package.nix · source: api.github.com
overview
Package summary
Library and utility to talk to iBoot/iBSS via USB
Project links
Commands and aliases
- irecovery
history
Project history and usage
libirecovery is the libimobiledevice-family library and irecovery command for talking to iBoot and iBSS on Apple iOS devices over USB. It occupies the recovery-mode corner of the broader open source Apple-device stack.
Project history
The README describes libirecovery as a cross-platform library for communicating with iBoot and iBSS over USB and says it is a fork of an older version from former openjailbreak.org. The project is intended for use with idevicerestore and the larger libimobiledevice project.
The repository tags show early 0.1-era tags in 2011, while the project's first 1.0.0 GitHub release was part of the June 15, 2020 libimobiledevice release round that also included idevicerestore 1.0.0 and libimobiledevice 1.3.0. Later releases continued to track Apple hardware IDs, recovery-mode behavior, and Windows and macOS build details.
Adoption history
libirecovery is adopted mostly through restore, recovery, and device-support tooling rather than end-user applications. Its presence in Homebrew, Debian and Ubuntu as irecovery, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, and Alpine reflects the need for a packaged recovery-mode utility in open source Apple-device workflows.
How it is used
The irecovery tool is used for low-level recovery-mode interaction, and the library is used by idevicerestore and related utilities that need USB communication with iBoot or iBSS. This is a lower-level workflow than ordinary device info, backup, or AFC file access through libimobiledevice.
Why package nerds care
For package maintainers, libirecovery is notable because it is small but version-sensitive: device databases, USB backends, readline support, libimobiledevice-glue, and idevicerestore compatibility all matter. It is the package that makes recovery-mode support available without bundling restore tooling into every consumer.
Timeline
- 2011-03-04: The repository records a 0.1 tag-era commit for early libirecovery code.
- 2020-06-15: libirecovery 1.0.0 was announced in the libimobiledevice release round alongside idevicerestore 1.0.0.
- 2023-05-13: libirecovery 1.1.0 was published on GitHub releases.
- 2024-03-23: libirecovery 1.2.0 was published on GitHub releases.
- 2025-09-12: libirecovery 1.3.0 added iOS 1 and iOS 2 recovery-mode support and updated the device database.
- 2025-10-17: libirecovery 1.3.1 added support for M5-family devices and fixed MSVC array-initialization compatibility.
Related projects
- Related projects include idevicerestore, libimobiledevice, libimobiledevice-glue, libusb, Apple iBoot and iBSS, and historical openjailbreak.org recovery tooling.
Sources
- https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libirecovery
- https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libirecovery/releases
- https://libimobiledevice.org/news/2020/06/15/release-galore/
- https://libimobiledevice.org/news/2025/09/12/libirecovery-1.3.0-release/
- https://libimobiledevice.org/news/2025/10/17/libirecovery-1.3.1-release/
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/libimobiledevice/libirecovery/master/README.md
security posture
Risk level: green
library-like package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- library-like package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:library-like
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Installs with 2 runtime dependencies.
- Build metadata lists 4 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.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
irecovery | 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 version1.3.1
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libirecovery
- infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
- infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libirecoverynone confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:libirecovery |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.3.1 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/libirecovery |
| Homepage | https://www.libimobiledevice.org/ |
| Repository | https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libirecovery |
| Upstream docs | https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libirecovery#readme |
| License | LGPL-2.1-only |
| Source archive | https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libirecovery/releases/download/1.3.1/libirecovery-1.3.1.tar.bz2 |
| Dependencies | libimobiledevice-glue, libplist |
| Build dependencies | autoconf, automake, libtool, pkgconf |
| 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 | libirecovery |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Head Version | HEAD |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
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%
irecovery 1.2.1-1
Command line utility to communication with iOS recovery systems
https://www.libimobiledevice.org/
sudo apt install irecovery- Section: utils
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
Debian apt95%
libirecovery-1.0-5 1.2.1-1
Library allowing communication with iBoot/iBSS of iOS devices via USB
https://www.libimobiledevice.org/
sudo apt install libirecovery-1.0-5- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 4 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
Debian apt95%
libirecovery-1.0-dev 1.2.1-1
Development files for libirecovery
https://www.libimobiledevice.org/
sudo apt install libirecovery-1.0-dev- Section: libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
Debian apt95%
libirecovery-common 1.2.1-1
Common files for libirecovery
https://www.libimobiledevice.org/
sudo apt install libirecovery-common- Section: libs
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: libirecovery
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
Nix95%
libirecovery
nix profile install nixpkgs#libirecovery- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
Ubuntu apt95%
irecovery 1.0.0-5build2
Command line utility to communication with iOS recovery systems
https://www.libimobiledevice.org/
sudo apt install irecovery- Section: universe/utils
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
Ubuntu apt95%
libirecovery-1.0-3 1.0.0-5build2
Library allowing communication with iBoot/iBSS of iOS devices via USB
https://www.libimobiledevice.org/
sudo apt install libirecovery-1.0-3- Section: universe/libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 3 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
Ubuntu apt95%
libirecovery-1.0-dev 1.0.0-5build2
Development files for libirecovery
https://www.libimobiledevice.org/
sudo apt install libirecovery-1.0-dev- Section: universe/libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
Ubuntu apt95%
libirecovery-common 1.0.0-5build2
Common files for libirecovery
https://www.libimobiledevice.org/
sudo apt install libirecovery-common- Section: universe/libs
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: libirecovery
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
apk95%
libirecovery 1.3.1-r0
Library and utility to talk to iBoot/iBSS via USB on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
sudo apk add libirecovery- License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
apk95%
libirecovery-dev 1.3.1-r0
Library and utility to talk to iBoot/iBSS via USB on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux (development files)
sudo apk add libirecovery-dev- License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
apk95%
libirecovery-progs 1.3.1-r0
Tools that talks iPhone and iPod Touch devices' protocols on Linux
sudo apk add libirecovery-progs- License: LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
dnf95%
libirecovery 1.3.1-1.fc45
Library and utility to talk to iBoot/iBSS via USB
https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libirecovery
sudo dnf install libirecovery- License: LGPL-2.1-only
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: i686
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 5 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
dnf95%
libirecovery-devel 1.3.1-1.fc45
Development files for libirecovery
https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libirecovery
sudo dnf install libirecovery-devel- License: LGPL-2.1-only
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: i686
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 4 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
dnf95%
libirecovery-utils 1.3.1-1.fc45
Utilites for libirecovery
https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libirecovery
sudo dnf install libirecovery-utils- License: LGPL-2.1-only
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: libirecovery
- 5 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
MacPorts95%
libirecovery
sudo port install libirecovery- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Libirecovery
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.
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