How do I install Bash >= 3.2.25 on Mac OS X 10.5.8?

Question

I'm following Michael Hartl's Rails tutorial, so far I've installed Git 1.7.5.4 x86_64 (I'm running OSX 10.5.8) and I'm trying to install rvm

After I run the following:

$ curl -kL get.rvm.io | bash -s stable

I get:

BASH 3.2.25 required (you have 3.2.17(1)-release)

I've tried changing the shell, using chsh -s /opt/local/bin/bash but I get shell '/opt/local/bin/bash' does not exist

Not sure where to go from here but I'd appreciate any guidance. Thanks!

Answer 1

Homebrew is generally a bit nicer than MacPorts, as it doesn't require lots of sudo action. Here's an article that guided me to upgrading my install of bash: http://concisionandconcinnity.blogspot.com/2009/03/upgrade-bash-to-40-in-mac-os-x.html

As for steps:

1. Install Homebrew from the docs on their homepage

2. Install Git using Homebrew (optional, but nice to have a more up-to-date git)

   brew install git
   

3. Now install bash:

   brew install bash
   

4. Add this install of bash to the allowed shells list:

   echo '/usr/local/bin/bash' | sudo tee -a /etc/shells;
   

   • Homebrew installs things to /usr/local/Cellar/ by default, then symlinks any binaries to /usr/local/bin, so you've now got the latest bash sitting at /usr/local/bin/bash

5. Finally, change your shell to use this new one:

   chsh -s /usr/local/bin/bash
   

6. Open a new terminal window/tab, and run these commands to double-check your work:

   $ echo $SHELL
   /usr/local/bin/bash
   $ echo $BASH_VERSION
   4.2.37(2)-release