Octave for macOS

On macOS systems GNU Octave can be installed by:

1. macOS App Bundles "Octave.app" (a single dmg-file)
2. macOS package managers.

GNU Octave 9.2.0 is the current stable release.

macOS App Bundles

The Octave.app project provides an unofficial ready-to-use, drag-and-drop macOS App installer based on Homebrew (see below).

• Download installer from GitHub

A very old installer is hosted on SourceForge.

• macOS App Bundle of Octave 4.0.3 (with GUI) (OS X 10.9+)

Package Managers

All package managers below are given in alphabetical order. The Octave developers do not recommend a certain package manager.

Anaconda

→ Link to Octave package there.

Follow the Anaconda installation instructions.

 conda create --name octave
 conda activate octave
 conda install -c conda-forge octave

Homebrew

→ Link to Octave package there.

Install GNU Octave using Homebrew:

Follow the Homebrew installation instructions.

In the Terminal App type:

  brew update
  brew upgrade
  brew install octave
  
  octave --gui

In case of trouble try brew doctor, see the Homebrew Troubleshooting Guide.

MacPorts

→ Link to Octave package there.

MacPorts, formerly called DarwinPorts, was started in 2002 as part of the OpenDarwin project, with the involvement of a number of Apple Inc. employees including Landon Fuller, Kevin Van Vechten, and Jordan Hubbard.

Install GNU Octave using MacPorts:

1. Install Xcode via the Mac App Store.
   • Install the Command Line Tools by opening a terminal and type

     sudo xcode-select --install

2. Follow MacPorts' installation instructions.
3. Update your installation

   sudo port selfupdate
   sudo port upgrade outdated

4. Install Octave

   sudo port install octave

Spack

→ Link to Octave package there.

Spack is a package management tool that supports the installation of multiple versions of software on macOS and other operating systems. It was created 2013 by Todd Gamblin and is currently being updated and developed by a large list of contributors (mainly via GitHub).

Install GNU Octave using Spack:

1. Install Xcode via the Mac App Store.
   • Install the Command Line Tools by opening a terminal and type

     sudo xcode-select --install

2. Follow Spack tutorial.
3. Update Spack by going to the local Spack repository (develop branch) folder and run

   git pull

4. Install Octave

   spack install octave

5. To use Octave we need to first load the package

   spack load octave

The entire installation process can take up to a few hours. Octave has many dependencies which will be downloaded and installed prior to Octave.

In case of trouble, please visit the Spack repo issues list, and browse through Octave related issues by writing is:issue octave in the filters box.

Create a launcher app with the Script Editor

For example Homebrew installs Octave to /usr/local/bin/octave by default. From the Terminal application you can enter the command which octave to find out the exact location.

If you know the installation location, open the Script Editor application and write the following text in the editor window:

do shell script "/usr/local/bin/octave --gui"

if you wish to start the Octave GUI by default. If you want to start the Octave command-line interface (CLI), enter instead:

tell application "Terminal"
 do script "/usr/local/bin/octave; exit"
end tell

or if Octave is in your default path:

tell application "Terminal"
 do script "`which octave`; exit"
end tell

Finally:

• With a script open in the Script Editor app on your Mac, choose "File > Export".
• In the menu that appears, select "Application" from the "File format" menu, then navigate to the "Applications" folder and save your script there as "Octave.app"

To change the application icon:

• Open this link in a web browser, right-click and select "copy image".
• Select "Octave.app" in the Finder, then press command-i to bring up the file info dialog.
• In the file info dialog, select the icon (in the top left) and press command-v to paste the Octave icon over it.

See also

• Octave for macOS (outdated) contains old installation instructions.