# Install consul with Homebrew Cask Tool for service discovery, monitoring and configuration. Version 2.0.2 via Homebrew Cask; verified 2026-07-08. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#consul. ## Install ```sh sudo av install cask:consul ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew Cask (100%): ```sh brew install --cask consul ``` Evidence: local Homebrew cask metadata ## Package facts - **Package key:** cask:consul - **Package manager:** Homebrew Cask - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.0.2 - **Source summary:** Tool for service discovery, monitoring and configuration - **Homepage:** - **Upstream docs:** - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-07-08T13:08:09Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-25T07:20:51+00:00 ## Executables - consul (binary) - consul (alias) ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-25 - Package-manager version: 2.0.2 - Package-manager updated: 2026-07-08 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.consul.io/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage Consul is HashiCorp's distributed service networking platform for service discovery, health checking, multi-datacenter coordination, service mesh, API gateway, and dynamic application configuration. ### Project history HashiCorp released Consul 0.1.0 in April 2014. The README describes it as a distributed, highly available, datacenter-aware solution for connecting and configuring applications across dynamic infrastructure. The early changelog shows the original shape of the product: DNS and HTTP service discovery, health checks, key/value storage, sessions, locking, a web UI, ACLs, Raft behavior, and Serf/gossip membership. Later changelog entries show the product expanding into Connect service mesh, Envoy integration, mesh gateways, API gateway, peering, partitions, telemetry, and enterprise features. By the 2.0.0 changelog in May 2026, Consul was still a substantial infrastructure product with ongoing security work, Envoy upgrades, API gateway changes, Connect CA work, and enterprise operational features. ### Adoption history Consul became a common service-discovery and service-networking component because it shipped as a single cross-platform binary while offering DNS, HTTP APIs, health checks, and datacenter federation. The README lists Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, Solaris, and Windows support. Its adoption path widened as HashiCorp integrated it with Consul Template, Vault, Nomad, Envoy, Kubernetes-oriented workflows, and HCP Consul. Input metadata for this cask is narrow because Homebrew distributes it as a cask binary from HashiCorp releases, but the upstream project itself is a major infrastructure system. ### How it is used Operators run Consul agents and servers to register services, answer DNS and HTTP discovery queries, store dynamic configuration in KV, perform health checks, and coordinate distributed infrastructure across datacenters. Modern Consul usage can also include service mesh sidecars, API gateways, TLS identity, Connect CA providers, Envoy xDS configuration, Kubernetes deployments, and HCP Consul deployments. ### Why package nerds care Consul is important to package history because it represents the HashiCorp style of infrastructure distribution: one Go binary, official release zips, a CLI plus daemon, config files under /etc, and packaging across operating systems. It also became a dependency magnet. Tools such as Consul Template and consul-backinator exist because Consul's service catalog, KV store, ACLs, and operational APIs became packageable integration points. ### Timeline - 2014: Consul 0.1.0 is released as the initial release. - 2014: Consul 0.2.0 adds the web UI and read consistency modes. - 2014: Consul 0.3.0 adds sessions, key locking, DNS TTLs, and reload support. - 2018-2019: Consul Connect and Envoy-oriented service-mesh features become prominent in the changelog. - 2026: Consul 2.0.0 is released with security, API gateway, Connect CA, and enterprise changes. ### Related projects - Consul Template renders files from Consul data. - consul-backinator backs up and restores Consul KV, ACL, and prepared-query data. - Vault, Nomad, Envoy, Serf, and Raft are important adjacent technologies in Consul's docs and changelog. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for consul. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL. ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: /etc/consul.d/consul.hcl ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew cask API - **Tap:** homebrew/cask - **Full Token:** consul - **Names:** Consul - **Artifacts:** Binary: 1, Target: 1 - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - consul: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/co/consul/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman - consul - 1.22.6-2: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: consul from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | A tool for service discovery, monitoring and configuration. | https://www.consul.io - MacPorts - consul: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: net/consul/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Chocolatey - consul: normalized package name match | Chocolatey community package catalog: consul from http://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/Packages?$filter=IsLatestVersion&$select=Id&$top=1000&$skiptoken='11','cmake.portable' - Scoop - main/consul: normalized package name match | Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/consul.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Homebrew Cask packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/homebrew-cask-packages/) - Generated from Homebrew Cask package-manager metadata. - [Homebrew Cask binaries](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/homebrew-cask-binaries/) - Cask artifact metadata includes a binary. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/consul.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/consul.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - 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