Brew: cannot load such file -- plist

[jeromecovington]

Please fill out the issue checklist below and provide all the requested information.

• ran a brew command and reproduced the problem with multiple formulae? If it's a problem with a single, official formula (not cask) please file this issue at Linuxbrew/homebrew-core: https://github.com/Linuxbrew/homebrew-core/issues/new/choose. If it's a brew cask problem please file this issue at https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask/issues/new/choose. If it's a tap (e.g. Homebrew/homebrew-php) problem please file this issue at the tap.
• [x] ran brew update and can still reproduce the problem?
• ran brew doctor, fixed all issues and can still reproduce the problem?
• ran brew config and brew doctor and included their output with your issue?

To help us debug your issue please explain:

• What you were trying to do (and why)
• What happened (include command output)
• What you expected to happen
• Step-by-step reproduction instructions (by running brew commands)

---

First of all thanks all for the work so far on this project. If I can get things working properly, I think it'll help me unblock some developer-workflow stuff for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing benefits on getting more up to date versions of some software, as well.

I installed Linuxbrew by following this tutorial, but now whenever I run:

$ brew upgrade
Traceback (most recent call last):
    7: from /home/jcovingt/.linuxbrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:15:in `<main>'
    6: from /home/jcovingt/.linuxbrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:15:in `require_relative'
    5: from /home/jcovingt/.linuxbrew/Library/Homebrew/global.rb:15:in `<top (required)>'
    4: from /usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:59:in `require'
    3: from /usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:59:in `require'
    2: from /home/jcovingt/.linuxbrew/Library/Homebrew/system_command.rb:3:in `<top (required)>'
    1: from /usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:59:in `require'
/usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:59:in `require': cannot load such file -- plist (LoadError)

The same error results when running brew doctor and brew config.

As far as I know plists only exist/work on macOS/OSX, so don't know how to install the missing gem on my Ubuntu 18 LTS system. Is there some way that Linuxbrew should be able to pave over this OS difference or am I missing something obvious?

[jeromecovington]

Hm. I think somewhere along the way I missed a cross platform ruby install that I would have gotten by using the documented installer mentioned in this repo. https://github.com/Linuxbrew/install/blob/master/install-ruby#L16

Let me back out of the tutorial that I'm following and try the official Installer. I'll reopen this issue if necessary.

[jeromecovington]

Huh. No I got more or less the same results running the installer.

$ sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Linuxbrew/install/master/install.sh)"
==> Select the Linuxbrew installation directory
- Enter your password to install to /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew (recommended)
- Press Control-D to install to /home/jcovingt/.linuxbrew
- Press Control-C to cancel installation
[sudo] password for jcovingt: 
==> This script will install:
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/doc/homebrew
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/man/man1/brew.1
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh/site-functions/_brew
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc/bash_completion.d/brew
/home/jcovingt/.cache/Homebrew/
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew
==> The following new directories will be created:
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/include
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/lib
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/sbin
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh/site-functions
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var

Press RETURN to continue or any other key to abort
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/mkdir -p /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chown jcovingt:jcovingt /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/mkdir -p /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/include /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/lib /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/sbin /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh/site-functions /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod g+rwx /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/include /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/lib /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/sbin /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh/site-functions /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod 755 /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh/site-functions
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chown jcovingt /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/include /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/lib /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/sbin /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh/site-functions /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chgrp jcovingt /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/include /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/lib /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/sbin /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/share/zsh/site-functions /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/mkdir -p /home/jcovingt/.cache/Homebrew
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod g+rwx /home/jcovingt/.cache/Homebrew
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chown jcovingt /home/jcovingt/.cache/Homebrew
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chgrp jcovingt /home/jcovingt/.cache/Homebrew
==> Downloading and installing Linuxbrew...
remote: Counting objects: 120087, done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (9/9), done.
remote: Total 120087 (delta 1), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 120078
Receiving objects: 100% (120087/120087), 27.05 MiB | 25.65 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (88094/88094), done.
From https://github.com/Linuxbrew/brew
 * [new branch]          master     -> origin/master
 * [new tag]             1.0.0      -> 1.0.0
 * [new tag]             1.0.1      -> 1.0.1
 * [new tag]             1.0.2      -> 1.0.2
 * [new tag]             1.0.3      -> 1.0.3
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 * [new tag]             1.1.0      -> 1.1.0
 * [new tag]             1.1.0.1    -> 1.1.0.1
 * [new tag]             1.1.1      -> 1.1.1
 * [new tag]             1.1.10     -> 1.1.10
 * [new tag]             1.1.11     -> 1.1.11
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 * [new tag]             1.1.2.1    -> 1.1.2.1
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 * [new tag]             1.2.5      -> 1.2.5
 * [new tag]             1.2.6      -> 1.2.6
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 * [new tag]             1.3.0      -> 1.3.0
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 * [new tag]             1.3.9      -> 1.3.9
 * [new tag]             1.4.0      -> 1.4.0
 * [new tag]             1.4.1      -> 1.4.1
 * [new tag]             1.4.2      -> 1.4.2
 * [new tag]             1.4.3      -> 1.4.3
 * [new tag]             1.5.0      -> 1.5.0
 * [new tag]             1.5.1      -> 1.5.1
 * [new tag]             1.5.10     -> 1.5.10
 * [new tag]             1.5.11     -> 1.5.11
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 * [new tag]             1.6.0      -> 1.6.0
 * [new tag]             1.6.1      -> 1.6.1
 * [new tag]             1.6.10     -> 1.6.10
 * [new tag]             1.6.11     -> 1.6.11
 * [new tag]             1.6.12     -> 1.6.12
 * [new tag]             1.6.13     -> 1.6.13
 * [new tag]             1.6.14     -> 1.6.14
 * [new tag]             1.6.15     -> 1.6.15
 * [new tag]             1.6.16     -> 1.6.16
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 * [new tag]             1.7.0      -> 1.7.0
 * [new tag]             1.7.1      -> 1.7.1
 * [new tag]             1.7.2      -> 1.7.2
 * [new tag]             1.7.3      -> 1.7.3
 * [new tag]             1.7.4      -> 1.7.4
 * [new tag]             1.7.5      -> 1.7.5
HEAD is now at 1699a7ec1 cmd/vendor-install: Use HOMEBREW_BOTTLE_DOMAIN (#847)
Traceback (most recent call last):
    7: from /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:15:in `<main>'
    6: from /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:15:in `require_relative'
    5: from /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/global.rb:15:in `<top (required)>'
    4: from /usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:59:in `require'
    3: from /usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:59:in `require'
    2: from /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/system_command.rb:3:in `<top (required)>'
    1: from /usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:59:in `require'
/usr/lib/ruby/2.5.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:59:in `require': cannot load such file -- plist (LoadError)
Failed during: /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew update --force

[sjackman]

Thanks for the bug report, Jerome. See https://github.com/Linuxbrew/install/issues/38#issuecomment-423843456 for a workaround. I'm working on a fix.

[sjackman]

Try…

HOMEBREW_FORCE_VENDOR_RUBY=1 sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Linuxbrew/install/master/install.sh)"

[jeromecovington]

Cool I should be able to give that a try soon, thanks! Super interested in how this project highlights the differences/similarities between the two platforms.

[al-the-x]

Ran into this myself because of an automatic upgrade of brew when I updated formulae. Thereafter brew commands would not work, including brew upgrade. I had to cd into /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/ and use git reset --hard manually to get back to a commit that worked. I additionally went through the trouble of uninstalling and reinstalling with the installer flag above... and then reinstalling all my formulae. Much hilarity ensued. Fortunately I record my installed formulae in a brew bundle but still... Several have failed at this point. I'll keep ya posted.

[al-the-x]

After using brew bundle install --global --force repeatedly and removing some formulae that failed to install from my ~/.Brewfile, I was able to get brew back to functional with the command above. I tagged the line from the upstream merge that probably caused the error.

[sjackman]

This issue is resolved by PR https://github.com/Linuxbrew/brew/pull/850, which will be included in the release of Linuxbrew/brew 1.7.6. In the mean time, to fix an existing installation of Linuxbrew, run…

brew vendor-install ruby

or to install Linuxbrew from scratch, run…

HOMEBREW_FORCE_VENDOR_RUBY=1 sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Linuxbrew/install/master/install.sh)"

[jeromecovington]

Thanks @sjackman glad this will be fixed in the release. In the meantime the install with the HOMEBREW_FORCE_VENDOR_RUBY var worked great.

[al-the-x]

I'm not sure if your proposed workaround for a messed up installation will work, @sjackman, as none of the brew commands will work with that upstream patch applied. Looking forward to the next release.

[sjackman]

brew vendor-install ruby may work, because it's a shell script rather than a Ruby script. Give it a shot.