sudo chown /usr/bin/local not working permanently for homebrew upgrade

Question

i have tried sudo chown $whoami /usr/local/bin , after closing terminal and reopening terminal but it keeps getting permission denied, it doesn't fix it permanently.

shaunstanislaus@Master ~ $ brew upgrade
==> Upgrading 3 outdated packages, with result:
git 2.6.1, mysql 5.6.27, node 4.1.2
==> Upgrading git
Error: Permission denied - /usr/local/share/git-core

does anyone know how to resolve it permanently other than using `sudo chown $whoami /usr/local/bin` ? — Shaun Stanislaus, Oct 06 '15 at 16:56
Please compare the output of `whoami`, `echo $whoami` and `echo $(whoami)` — lit, Oct 06 '15 at 17:56
@bfontaine I'm having the same issues and yes, I'm using Sophos Anti Virus. I wonder if Sophos overwrite the permission after each reboot or something like that? — ABVincita, Nov 04 '15 at 04:52

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 04 '15 at 10:03

You will need to chown (change ownership) of the /usr/local/bin /usr/local/share, /usr/local/share/man and /usr/local/share/man/man1 directories.

To do this you do the following:

whoami - this will give you your current username
sudo chown -R 'username' /usr/local/bin /usr/local/share /usr/local/share/man /usr/local/share/man/man1 (replace username with the username from step 1)

Now run brew doctor

You shouldn't see any issues.

Then run brew upgrade

If you are using Sophos Anti-Virus, the permissions will be reset each time Sophos updates in the background.

They are pursuing a fix for this and will be in place by mid Nov 2015 according to this forum post:

https://community.sophos.com/products/free-antivirus-tools-for-desktops/f/17/t/10029

Or, just `sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local` if you have nothing else in `/usr/local` that will be adversely effected. — David C. Rankin, Oct 28 '15 at 08:25

sudo chown /usr/bin/local not working permanently for homebrew upgrade

1 Answers1