Linux - how to install homebrew on system with password-less login

[bbutler-tssg]

Additional Info

• I am using Windows Subsystem for Linux

Output of brew config

The problem happens before brew is installed and configured.

Output of brew doctor

The problem happens before brew is installed and configured.

Description of issue

I am trying to install homebrew on a VM where I log in with a public-private keypair (so no password is used). When I run the homebrew login script, I am asked for a password which I don't have. So the installation fails.

For a full description of the issue, please see this serverfault quewstion.

The serverfault question provides more context on the problem, what I have tried to resolve it, etc. Generally sudo uses my key in other circumstances, but not when installing homebrew....

[SMillerDev]

When I run the homebrew login script, I am asked for a password which I don't have.

You mean the installer? Because then you should probably read: https://docs.brew.sh/Installation

[bbutler-tssg]

Oops - you are right. I meant to write the "installer script". The sentence above should read: "When I run the homebrew installer script, I am asked for a password which I don't have".

[gromgit]

Just to be sure, what's the output of the following command, right up till the point you get asked for a passphrase?

/bin/bash -xc "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

[bbutler-tssg]

Here is the output you requested:

{name}@{host}:~$ /bin/bash -xc "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

• set -u
• '[' -z '5.0.17(1)-release' ']'
• [[ -n '' ]]
• [[ -n '' ]]
• [[ -n '' ]]
• [[ -t 1 ]]
  ++ tty_escape '4;39'
  ++ printf '\033[%sm' '4;39'
• tty_underline=''
  ++ tty_mkbold 34
  ++ tty_escape '1;34'
  ++ printf '\033[%sm' '1;34'
• tty_blue=''
  ++ tty_mkbold 31
  ++ tty_escape '1;31'
  ++ printf '\033[%sm' '1;31'
• tty_red=''
  ++ tty_mkbold 39
  ++ tty_escape '1;39'
  ++ printf '\033[%sm' '1;39'
• tty_bold=''
  ++ tty_escape 0
  ++ printf '\033[%sm' 0
• tty_reset=''
• [[ 0 -gt 0 ]]
• [[ -z '' ]]
• [[ -n '' ]]
• [[ ! -t 0 ]]
• [[ -z {name} ]]
  ++ uname
• OS=Linux
• [[ Linux == \L\i\n\u\x ]]
• HOMEBREW_ON_LINUX=1
• [[ -n '' ]]
  ++ uname -m
• UNAME_MACHINE=x86_64
• HOMEBREW_PREFIX=/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew
• HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY=/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew
• HOMEBREW_CACHE=/home/bbutler/.cache/Homebrew
• STAT_PRINTF=("/usr/bin/stat" "--printf")
• PERMISSION_FORMAT=%a
• CHOWN=("/bin/chown")
• CHGRP=("/bin/chgrp")
  ++ id -gn
• GROUP=staff
• TOUCH=("/bin/touch")
• INSTALL=("/usr/bin/install" -d -o "${USER}" -g "${GROUP}" -m "0755")
• CHMOD=("/bin/chmod")
• MKDIR=("/bin/mkdir" "-p")
• HOMEBREW_BREW_DEFAULT_GIT_REMOTE=https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
• HOMEBREW_CORE_DEFAULT_GIT_REMOTE=https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core
• HOMEBREW_BREW_GIT_REMOTE=https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
• HOMEBREW_CORE_GIT_REMOTE=https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core
• [[ https://github.com/Homebrew/brew == \h\t\t\p\s://\g\i\t\h\u\b.\c\o\m/\H\o\m\e\b\r\e\w/\b\r\e\w.\g\i\t ]]
• [[ https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core == \h\t\t\p\s://\g\i\t\h\u\b.\c\o\m/\H\o\m\e\b\r\e\w/\h\o\m\e\b\r\e\w-\c\o\r\e.\g\i\t ]]
• export HOMEBREW_BREW_GIT_REMOTE HOMEBREW_CORE_GIT_REMOTE
• MACOS_NEWEST_UNSUPPORTED=16.0
• MACOS_OLDEST_SUPPORTED=13.0
• REQUIRED_RUBY_VERSION=2.6
• REQUIRED_GLIBC_VERSION=2.13
• REQUIRED_CURL_VERSION=7.41.0
• REQUIRED_GIT_VERSION=2.7.0
• export HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS_THIS_RUN=1
• HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS_THIS_RUN=1
• export HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS_MESSAGE_OUTPUT=1
• HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS_MESSAGE_OUTPUT=1
• unset HAVE_SUDO_ACCESS
• [[ -n 1 ]]
• no_usable_ruby
  ++ find_tool ruby
  ++ [[ 1 -ne 1 ]]
  ++ local executable
  ++ read -r executable
  +++ which -a ruby
  +++ type -P -a ruby
  ++ [[ /usr/bin/ruby != /* ]]
  ++ test_ruby /usr/bin/ruby
  ++ [[ ! -x /usr/bin/ruby ]]
  ++ /usr/bin/ruby --enable-frozen-string-literal --disable=gems,did_you_mean,rubyopt -rrubygems -e 'abort if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.to_s.dup).to_s.split('''.''').first(2) != Gem::Version.new('''2.6''').to_s.split('''.''').first(2)'
  ++ read -r executable
  ++ [[ /bin/ruby != /* ]]
  ++ test_ruby /bin/ruby
  ++ [[ ! -x /bin/ruby ]]
  ++ /bin/ruby --enable-frozen-string-literal --disable=gems,did_you_mean,rubyopt -rrubygems -e 'abort if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.to_s.dup).to_s.split('''.''').first(2) != Gem::Version.new('''2.6''').to_s.split('''.''').first(2)'
  ++ read -r executable
• [[ -z '' ]]
• outdated_glibc
• local glibc_version
  ++ ldd --version
  ++ head -n1
  ++ grep -o '[0-9.]*$'
  ++ grep -o '^[0-9]+.[0-9]+'
• glibc_version=2.31
• version_lt 2.31 2.13
• [[ 2 -lt 2 ]]
• [[ 2 -eq 2 ]]
• [[ 31 -lt 13 ]]
• [[ -x /usr/bin/sudo ]]
• /usr/bin/sudo -n -v
• trap '/usr/bin/sudo -k' EXIT
• cd /usr
• ohai 'Checking for sudo access (which may request your password)...'
  ++ shell_join 'Checking for sudo access (which may request your password)...'
  ++ local arg
  ++ printf %s 'Checking for sudo access (which may request your password)...'
  ++ shift
• printf '==> %s\n' 'Checking for sudo access (which may request your password)...'
  ==> Checking for sudo access (which may request your password)...
• [[ -n '' ]]
• [[ -w /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew ]]
• [[ -w /home/linuxbrew ]]
• [[ -w /home ]]
• have_sudo_access
• [[ ! -x /usr/bin/sudo ]]
• SUDO=("/usr/bin/sudo")
• local -a SUDO
• [[ -n '' ]]
• [[ -n '' ]]
• [[ -z '' ]]
• [[ -n '' ]]
• /usr/bin/sudo -v
  [sudo] password for {name}:

---

I have redacted my username and the hostname, but otherwise everything is as presented, up to the prompt asking for my password. The passphrase for my ssh private key is not accepted at that point....

[gromgit]

Please enclose the output in a code block, otherwise it's near-unreadable.

That said, the installer doesn't do anything unusual with sudo that I can see. Are you able to run the following sequence of commands without error, and without the second command prompting for a password?

sudo -i id
sudo -v

If not, I'd start by figuring out why not, as this should work no matter what kind of authentication method you use.

[bbutler-tssg]

Sorry about that - I noticed that github had reformatted the output after posting.
Here is the output in a code block:

{name}@{host}:~$ /bin/bash -xc "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
+ set -u
+ '[' -z '5.0.17(1)-release' ']'
+ [[ -n '' ]]
+ [[ -n '' ]]
+ [[ -n '' ]]
+ [[ -t 1 ]]
++ tty_escape '4;39'
++ printf '\033[%sm' '4;39'
+ tty_underline=''
++ tty_mkbold 34
++ tty_escape '1;34'
++ printf '\033[%sm' '1;34'
+ tty_blue=''
++ tty_mkbold 31
++ tty_escape '1;31'
++ printf '\033[%sm' '1;31'
+ tty_red=''
++ tty_mkbold 39
++ tty_escape '1;39'
++ printf '\033[%sm' '1;39'
+ tty_bold=''
++ tty_escape 0
++ printf '\033[%sm' 0
+ tty_reset=''
+ [[ 0 -gt 0 ]]
+ [[ -z '' ]]
+ [[ -n '' ]]
+ [[ ! -t 0 ]]
+ [[ -z {name} ]]
++ uname
+ OS=Linux
+ [[ Linux == \L\i\n\u\x ]]
+ HOMEBREW_ON_LINUX=1
+ [[ -n '' ]]
++ uname -m
+ UNAME_MACHINE=x86_64
+ HOMEBREW_PREFIX=/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew
+ HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY=/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew
+ HOMEBREW_CACHE=/home/bbutler/.cache/Homebrew
+ STAT_PRINTF=("/usr/bin/stat" "--printf")
+ PERMISSION_FORMAT=%a
+ CHOWN=("/bin/chown")
+ CHGRP=("/bin/chgrp")
++ id -gn
+ GROUP=staff
+ TOUCH=("/bin/touch")
+ INSTALL=("/usr/bin/install" -d -o "${USER}" -g "${GROUP}" -m "0755")
+ CHMOD=("/bin/chmod")
+ MKDIR=("/bin/mkdir" "-p")
+ HOMEBREW_BREW_DEFAULT_GIT_REMOTE=https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
+ HOMEBREW_CORE_DEFAULT_GIT_REMOTE=https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core
+ HOMEBREW_BREW_GIT_REMOTE=https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
+ HOMEBREW_CORE_GIT_REMOTE=https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core
+ [[ https://github.com/Homebrew/brew == \h\t\t\p\s\:\/\/\g\i\t\h\u\b\.\c\o\m\/\H\o\m\e\b\r\e\w\/\b\r\e\w\.\g\i\t ]]
+ [[ https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core == \h\t\t\p\s\:\/\/\g\i\t\h\u\b\.\c\o\m\/\H\o\m\e\b\r\e\w\/\h\o\m\e\b\r\e\w\-\c\o\r\e\.\g\i\t ]]
+ export HOMEBREW_BREW_GIT_REMOTE HOMEBREW_CORE_GIT_REMOTE
+ MACOS_NEWEST_UNSUPPORTED=16.0
+ MACOS_OLDEST_SUPPORTED=13.0
+ REQUIRED_RUBY_VERSION=2.6
+ REQUIRED_GLIBC_VERSION=2.13
+ REQUIRED_CURL_VERSION=7.41.0
+ REQUIRED_GIT_VERSION=2.7.0
+ export HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS_THIS_RUN=1
+ HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS_THIS_RUN=1
+ export HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS_MESSAGE_OUTPUT=1
+ HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS_MESSAGE_OUTPUT=1
+ unset HAVE_SUDO_ACCESS
+ [[ -n 1 ]]
+ no_usable_ruby
++ find_tool ruby
++ [[ 1 -ne 1 ]]
++ local executable
++ read -r executable
+++ which -a ruby
+++ type -P -a ruby
++ [[ /usr/bin/ruby != /* ]]
++ test_ruby /usr/bin/ruby
++ [[ ! -x /usr/bin/ruby ]]
++ /usr/bin/ruby --enable-frozen-string-literal --disable=gems,did_you_mean,rubyopt -rrubygems -e 'abort if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.to_s.dup).to_s.split('\''.'\'').first(2) !=               Gem::Version.new('\''2.6'\'').to_s.split('\''.'\'').first(2)'
++ read -r executable
++ [[ /bin/ruby != /* ]]
++ test_ruby /bin/ruby
++ [[ ! -x /bin/ruby ]]
++ /bin/ruby --enable-frozen-string-literal --disable=gems,did_you_mean,rubyopt -rrubygems -e 'abort if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.to_s.dup).to_s.split('\''.'\'').first(2) !=               Gem::Version.new('\''2.6'\'').to_s.split('\''.'\'').first(2)'
++ read -r executable
+ [[ -z '' ]]
+ outdated_glibc
+ local glibc_version
++ ldd --version
++ head -n1
++ grep -o '[0-9.]*$'
++ grep -o '^[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+'
+ glibc_version=2.31
+ version_lt 2.31 2.13
+ [[ 2 -lt 2 ]]
+ [[ 2 -eq 2 ]]
+ [[ 31 -lt 13 ]]
+ [[ -x /usr/bin/sudo ]]
+ /usr/bin/sudo -n -v
+ trap '/usr/bin/sudo -k' EXIT
+ cd /usr
+ ohai 'Checking for `sudo` access (which may request your password)...'
++ shell_join 'Checking for `sudo` access (which may request your password)...'
++ local arg
++ printf %s 'Checking for `sudo` access (which may request your password)...'
++ shift
+ printf '==> %s\n' 'Checking for `sudo` access (which may request your password)...'
==> Checking for `sudo` access (which may request your password)...
+ [[ -n '' ]]
+ [[ -w /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew ]]
+ [[ -w /home/linuxbrew ]]
+ [[ -w /home ]]
+ have_sudo_access
+ [[ ! -x /usr/bin/sudo ]]
+ SUDO=("/usr/bin/sudo")
+ local -a SUDO
+ [[ -n '' ]]
+ [[ -n '' ]]
+ [[ -z '' ]]
+ [[ -n '' ]]
+ /usr/bin/sudo -v
[sudo] password for {name}: 

You also asked for more output:

{name}@{host}:~$ sudo -i id
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root)
{name}@{host}:~$ sudo -v
[sudo] password for {name}: 
Sorry, try again.
[sudo] password for {name}: 
sudo: 1 incorrect password attempt
{name}@{host}:~$ sudo apt install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

I added the last command to show how sudo normally works on this VM.
Thanks for investigating!

[gromgit]

That's...weird. Since your current setup seems to be able to sudo arbitrary commands, try installing Homebrew like this:

NONINTERACTIVE=1 /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

[bbutler-tssg]

That solved the problem - thanks @gromgit!

This time, there was no request for a root password. Here's the evidence that it was successful:

==> Pouring portable-ruby-3.3.7.x86_64_linux.bottle.tar.gz
Warning: /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin is not in your PATH.
  Instructions on how to configure your shell for Homebrew
  can be found in the 'Next steps' section below.
==> Installation successful!

After adding brew to the path, I now have (an empty) homebrew installation and can start adding packages now:

$ brew list
==> Formulae

==> Casks

Thank you!

[naafiyan]

Just wanted to hop in and say that I had the same problem trying to install it on an orbstack linux machine on macOS and suggestion by @gromgit fixed it!