# Installing DITA-OT via Homebrew

An alternative installation method can be used to install DITA-OT via Homebrew, one of the most popular open-source package managers on macOS and Linux.

## Before you begin

The steps below assume you have already installed Homebrew according to the instructions at brew.sh.

Tip:
Verify that your PATH environment variable begins with the bin subfolder of the Homebrew installation directory 1 to ensure that Homebrew-installed software takes precedence over any programs of the same name elsewhere on the system.

## Procedure

1. Update Homebrew to make sure the latest package formulas are available on your system:

       $ brew update
       Already up-to-date.

   Homebrew responds with a list of any new or updated formulæ.

2. Optional: Check the version of DITA-OT that is available from Homebrew:

       $ brew info dita-ot
       dita-ot: stable 4.4.1
       DITA Open Toolkit is an implementation of the OASIS DITA specification
       https://www.dita-ot.org/
       /opt/homebrew/Cellar/dita-ot/4.4.1 (number of files, package size) *
         Poured from bottle using the formulae.brew.sh API on YYYY-MM-DD at hh:mm:ss
       From: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/master/Formula/dita-ot.rb
       License: Apache-2.0
       ==> Dependencies
       Required: openjdk ✔

   The version of the DITA-OT formula is shown, along with basic information on the package.

3. Install the `dita-ot` package:

       $ brew install dita-ot
       Downloading…

   Homebrew will automatically download the latest version of the toolkit, install it in a subfolder of the local package Cellar and symlink the dita command to the bin subfolder of the Homebrew installation directory.

4. Optional: Verify the installation:

       $ which dita
       /opt/homebrew/bin/dita

   The response confirms that the system will use the Homebrew-installed version of DITA-OT.

5. Optional: Check the DITA-OT version number:

       $ dita --version
       DITA-OT version 4.4.1

   The DITA-OT version number appears on the console.

## Results

You can now run the dita command to transform DITA content.

1 Homebrew’s default installation location depends on the operating system architecture:

- /usr/local on macOS Intel
- /opt/homebrew on macOS ARM
- /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew on Linux