Unable to update git from homebrew

I have had problems on one machine to upgrade Git from Homebrew. Let me first tell you how to fix the problem and then what homebrew is about.

The problem

The problem appeared when I tried to upgrade git

brew upgrade git

It turned out to be much more complicated than I anticipated to find the problem. The exact error message was:

Error: Failed executing: make prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/git/1.7.11.3 CC=/usr/bin/clang CFLAGS=-Os\ -w\ -pipe\ -march=native\ -Qunused-arguments\ -mmacosx-version-min=10.7 LDFLAGS=-L/usr/local/lib install (git.rb:49)
These existing issues may help you:
    https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/issues/8643
    https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/issues/10544
    https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/issues/11481
    https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/issues/12344
    https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/issues/12814
    https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/issues/13850
Otherwise, this may help you fix or report the issue:
    https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/wiki/bug-fixing-checklist

My environment was listed as:

==> Build Environment
HOMEBREW_VERSION: 0.9.2
HEAD: 53d5bfb44e8644eff1693b2a734f079d10b53043
CPU: dual-core 64-bit penryn
OS X: 10.7.4-x86_64
Xcode: 4.3.3
CLT: 4.3.0.0.1.1249367152
X11: 2.6.4 @ /usr/X11
CC: /usr/bin/clang
CXX: /usr/bin/clang++ => /usr/bin/clang
LD: /usr/bin/clang
CFLAGS: -Os -w -pipe -march=native -Qunused-arguments -mmacosx-version-min=10.7
CXXFLAGS: -Os -w -pipe -march=native -Qunused-arguments -mmacosx-version-min=10.7
CPPFLAGS: -isystem /usr/local/include
LDFLAGS: -L/usr/local/lib
MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET: 10.7
MAKEFLAGS: -j2

And the last line before the error outputs were

/usr/bin/clang -isystem /usr/local/include -Os -w -pipe -march=native -Qunused-arguments -mmacosx-version-min=10.7 -I. -DUSE_ST_TIMESPEC -DNO_GETTEXT  -DHAVE_DEV_TTY -DXDL_FAST_HASH -DSHA1_HEADER='<openssl/sha.h>'  -DNO_MEMMEM -DSHELL_PATH='"/bin/sh"' -o git-daemon -L/usr/local/lib  daemon.o libgit.a xdiff/lib.a  -lz  -liconv  -lcrypto -lssl 
Undefined symbols for architecture x86_64:
  "_iconv_open", referenced from:
Undefined symbols for architecture x86_64:
  "_iconv_open", referenced from:
      _reencode_string in libgit.a(utf8.o)
      _reencode_string in libgit.a(utf8.o)
  "_iconv", referenced from:
  "_iconv", referenced from:
      _reencode_string in libgit.a(utf8.o)
      _reencode_string in libgit.a(utf8.o)
  "_iconv_close", referenced from:
  "_iconv_close", referenced from:
      _reencode_string in libgit.a(utf8.o)
      _reencode_string in libgit.a(utf8.o)
ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture x86_64
ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture x86_64
clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
make: *** [git-daemon] Error 1
make: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
make: *** [git-credential-store] Error 1

It turned out that libiconv was the culprit. Simply uninstall it:

brew remove libiconv
brew prune
brew cleanup

Then run brew upgrade git again and things should work now.

I found the inspiration here.

What is homebrew anyways

Homebrew is a very easy to use and maintain package manager for Mac OS X environments. Anytime you want to install one of those unix-y tools, Homebrew is your friend.

Passed the initial installation, Homebrew is as simple to use as

brew install *something*

and you are good to go. Keeping versions up-to-date are very easy too

# update brew itself
brew update
# update tools installed with brew    
brew upgrade

For example here are a few things I have installed and maintain with Homebrew (aka brew for the friends).

• git
• keychain
• mvim
• mongodb
• postgresql
• rsync
• unison
• wget

That also includes some Java tools:

• gradle
• maven
• jboss-as
• ceylon

Homebrew does not install as a privileged user - it is actually discouraged. That makes it a bit picky when permissions are not right.

I have been using this trick quite regularly with success.

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://gist.github.com/raw/768518/fix_homebrew.rb)"

Enjoy