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Is the "Cellar" folder only used for Homebrew? If I am not using Homebrew, I can safely remove it?

airsquared
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Yoga
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3 Answers3

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The script for uninstalling Homebrew removes it completely, so it's probably safe to remove it.

https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/wiki/FAQ

How do I uninstall Homebrew?

If you installed to /usr/local then you can use the script in this gist to uninstall — it will only remove Homebrew and the stuff Homebrew installed leaving anything else in /usr/local alone.

Provided you haven’t put anything else in Homebrew’s prefix (brew --prefix), you can generally just rm -rf that directory. This is because Homebrew won’t touch files outside its prefix.

Community
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Lri
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    From one of the comments, I was hesitated...The FAQ says that this gist uninstalls ONLY the homebrew stuff. The FAQ says that Cellar is the place to install non-homebrew stuff. This gist removes Cellar. – Yoga Sep 20 '12 at 04:03
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    @Yoga If you look closely, the FAQ says "it will only remove Homebrew and the stuff Homebrew installed". The homebrew homepage says "Homebrew installs packages to their own directory and then symlinks their files into /usr/local." Check this useful article about using usr/local by Dan Benjamin of 5by5. – myhd Sep 26 '12 at 21:01
  • @myhd - that article is not that useful - FHS is Linux and not Unix, /usr/local is for stuff you compiled yourslef but many unicies also have /opt (as also does Macports) and other directories that are not affected by system installs – mmmmmm Sep 27 '12 at 01:22
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    Still, it is very common for ./configure with no --prefix= argument to just assume you want to install in /usr/local; and the Homebrew FAQ does suggest installing stuff you've compiled yourself there, and then using brew link on it. – echristopherson Sep 27 '12 at 21:49
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    To clarify: The "Cellar" directory is a location that Homebrew made up for its own use. (The name fits with Homebrew's "beer" theme: the "cellar" is where you store your "kegs" of "homebrew".) No other software uses it. So if you don't need Homebrew and the programs you installed using Homebrew, you can delete Cellar. @myhd - when homebrew says "to their own directory", that "own directory" is located under "Cellar". – Andrew Janke Apr 25 '13 at 19:12
  • @myhd Thanks for Dan Benjamin article link! Just what I need to understand the differences btw usr/bin and usr/local. – YCode Feb 07 '19 at 02:31
5

Yes. You can remove Cellar directory.

MEM
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5

According to its installation instructions, Java Service Wrapper is also using a Cellar directory:

/opt/local/Cellar/wrapper

but it is distinct from the Homebrew Cellar which is in

/opt/homebrew/Cellar

for Apple Silicon mac and

/usr/local/Cellar

for Intel mac.

Ortomala Lokni
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