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Created December 27, 2018 13:37
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brew-old-versions.md

Old versions of brew packages

Easy mode

Downgrading a brew package can sometimes be super easy with:

brew switch <package> <version>

But that's only possible if you have previously installed that version and haven't run brew cleanup every since. If that's not the case you'll get an error like:

Error: <package> does not have a version "<version>" in the Cellar.

Hard mode

If the Easy mode does not help you:

  1. Go to formulas folder

    /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-core/Formula

  2. Check git history of the package you wanna downgrade

    git log -- <package>.rb

  3. Checkout a version where package was in needed version

    git checkout <commit>

  4. Install package skipping brew's auto update

    HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1 brew install <package>

  5. Pin package to avoid future updates

    brew pin <package>

  6. Checkout master again in formulas to allow brew to work properly

    brew checkount master

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