macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install nettlelocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install nettleMacPorts ports tree · devel/nettle/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install nettle with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper
Low-level cryptographic library. Version 4.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-11.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add nettleAlpine Linux edge package indexes · nettle · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install libhogweed6t64Debian stable package indexes · libhogweed6t64 · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install nettleFedora Rawhide package metadata · nettle · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#nettlenixpkgs package indexes · nettle · source: raw.githubusercontent.com
Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S nettleArch Linux sync databases · nettle · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install nettleopenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · nettle · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
Low-level cryptographic library
Project links
Commands and aliases
- nettle-hash
- nettle-lfib-stream
- nettle-pbkdf2
- pkcs1-conv
- sexp-conv
history
Project history and usage
Nettle is a low-level C cryptographic library by Niels Moller. Its design goal is deliberately narrow: provide reusable primitive implementations and simple interfaces while leaving algorithm selection, memory allocation, I/O, and higher-level protocol policy to callers.
Project history
The Nettle manual says the library is meant to fit many contexts, including object-oriented language toolkits, applications such as LSH or GnuPG, and even kernel space. It explains the core design by saying Nettle does the low-level crypto work and avoids algorithm selection, memory allocation, and I/O so higher-level toolkits can build their own interfaces on top.
Niels Moller's June 30, 2009 GNU announcement says Nettle 2.0 had been released on June 8, 2009 and that Nettle had become a GNU package. The same announcement highlights the 2.0 ABI break that split the library into libnettle for symmetric algorithms and libhogweed for public-key algorithms that depend on GMP.
The upstream GitLab tags show the later 3.x and 4.x release cadence: 3.10 on June 16, 2024, 3.10.2 on June 26, 2025, and 4.0 on February 4, 2026. Homebrew's nettle formula tracked stable 4.0 from the GNU mirror and depends on GMP.
Adoption history
Nettle's ecosystem role is much larger than its command-line tools suggest. The GnuTLS manual says its cryptographic library layer supports libnettle, and notes that older GnuTLS versions used libgcrypt before switching to nettle mainly for performance and secondarily because it was simpler to use.
Package-manager adoption is broad: the av.db input records Nettle across Homebrew, Alpine, Debian/Ubuntu via libhogweed, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, and openSUSE. Homebrew analytics generated on 2026-07-01 reported 780,093 nettle installs over 365 days, but only 8,600 installs-on-request, which is classic library behavior: most installs arrive as dependencies.
How it is used
Application developers include headers such as nettle/sha2.h and link with -lnettle for symmetric/hash code, or use libhogweed for public-key functionality that depends on GMP. The manual's SHA256 example demonstrates the intended low-level style: explicit context structs, caller-managed buffers, explicit lengths, and no hidden allocation.
End users usually meet Nettle through dependent software rather than by typing its bundled commands. The Homebrew formula exposes tools such as nettle-hash, nettle-pbkdf2, pkcs1-conv, sexp-conv, and nettle-lfib-stream, but its practical importance is as a crypto backend for TLS/security stacks and other packages.
Why package nerds care
Nettle is a package nerd's dependency graph landmark. It is small enough to audit as a C library, old enough to have stable ABI expectations, and important enough that a major version line matters to large formula rebuilds. The libnettle/libhogweed split is also a clean example of packaging ABI boundaries following real dependency boundaries.
Timeline
- 2001: The manual-history sources identify Nettle as originally written by Niels Moller in the early 2000s.
- 2009-06-08: Nettle 2.0 was released.
- 2009-06-30: Nettle was announced as a GNU package.
- 2024-06-16: Upstream tagged Nettle 3.10.
- 2025-06-26: Upstream tagged Nettle 3.10.2.
- 2026-02-04: Upstream tagged Nettle 4.0.
- 2026-07-01: Homebrew API reported stable version 4.0 and 780,093 installs over 365 days.
Sources
- https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/nettle.json
- https://git.lysator.liu.se/nettle/nettle/-/tags
- https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2009-07/msg00000.html
- https://www.gnutls.org/manual/html_node/Cryptographic-Backend.html
- https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
- https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/nettle.html
security posture
No protected-tool coverage found yet
No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for nettle. 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.
- Installs with 1 runtime 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
nettle-hash | cli | global executable | |
nettle-lfib-stream | cli | global executable | |
nettle-pbkdf2 | cli | global executable | |
pkcs1-conv | cli | global executable | |
sexp-conv | 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 version4.0
manager updated2026-05-11
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/none confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:nettle |
|---|---|
| Version | 4.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/nettle |
| Homepage | https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/ |
| Repository | https://git.lysator.liu.se/nettle/nettle |
| Upstream docs | https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/nettle.html |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later OR LGPL-3.0-or-later |
| Source archive | https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/nettle/nettle-4.0.tar.gz |
| Last updated | 2026-05-11T18:07:37Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Dependencies | gmp |
| 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 | nettle |
| Aliases |
|
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| 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%
libhogweed6t64 3.10.1-1
low level cryptographic library (public-key cryptos)
https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apt install libhogweed6t64- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: nettle
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
Debian apt95%
libnettle8t64 3.10.1-1
low level cryptographic library (symmetric and one-way cryptos)
https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apt install libnettle8t64- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: nettle
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
Debian apt95%
nettle-bin 3.10.1-1
low level cryptographic library (binary tools)
https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apt install nettle-bin- Section: misc
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: nettle
- 4 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
Debian apt95%
nettle-dev 3.10.1-1
low level cryptographic library (development files)
https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apt install nettle-dev- Section: libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: nettle
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
Nix95%
nettle
nix profile install nixpkgs#nettle- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
Ubuntu apt95%
libhogweed6t64 3.9.1-2.2build1
low level cryptographic library (public-key cryptos)
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apt install libhogweed6t64- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: nettle
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
Ubuntu apt95%
libnettle8t64 3.9.1-2.2build1
low level cryptographic library (symmetric and one-way cryptos)
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apt install libnettle8t64- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: nettle
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
Ubuntu apt95%
nettle-bin 3.9.1-2.2build1
low level cryptographic library (binary tools)
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apt install nettle-bin- Section: universe/misc
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: nettle
- 4 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
Ubuntu apt95%
nettle-dev 3.9.1-2.2build1
low level cryptographic library (development files)
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apt install nettle-dev- Section: libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: nettle
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
apk95%
nettle 3.10.2-r0
Low-level cryptographic library
https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apk add nettle- License: GPL-2.0-or-later OR LGPL-3.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: nettle
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
apk95%
nettle-dev 3.10.2-r0
Low-level cryptographic library (development files)
https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apk add nettle-dev- License: GPL-2.0-or-later OR LGPL-3.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: nettle
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
apk95%
nettle-static 3.10.2-r0
Low-level cryptographic library (static library)
https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apk add nettle-static- License: GPL-2.0-or-later OR LGPL-3.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: nettle
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
apk95%
nettle-utils 3.10.2-r0
Utils for nettle
https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo apk add nettle-utils- License: GPL-2.0-or-later OR LGPL-3.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: nettle
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
dnf95%
nettle 3.10.1-3.fc44
A low-level cryptographic library
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo dnf install nettle- License: LGPL-3.0-or-later OR GPL-2.0-or-later
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: i686
- Source Package: nettle
- 3 dependencies
- 3 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
dnf95%
nettle-devel 3.10.1-3.fc44
Development headers for a low-level cryptographic library
http://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/
sudo dnf install nettle-devel- License: LGPL-3.0-or-later OR GPL-2.0-or-later
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: i686
- Source Package: nettle
- 6 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
pacman95%
nettle 4.0-1
A low-level cryptographic library
https://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle
sudo pacman -S nettle- License: LGPL-3.0-or-later OR GPL-2.0-or-later
- Architecture: x86_64
- 2 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Nettle
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