MacOS Installation

PPC Macs

Using Fink

Fink is a package-management tool making it easier to install all your favorite *nix tools and libraries under OS X. It's also the quickest and easiest way to get at least some version of GnuCash running on a PowerPC Mac (Intel Mac users see below.)

Installing Fink

If you are using OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or earlier, you can install fink from a binary installer application see fink binary installer page for complete instructions. At the bottom of that page, there is information about getting the newest Xcode Tools from Apple. A version of Xcode tools came with your computer's system install DVD (or CD set), but you may want to get a newer version unless your system is relatively recent. You will need some version of Xcode Tools to install GnuCash 2.2.x from fink (see below).

If you are using OS X 10.5 (Leopard), then you will need to install fink from source. You will need to install Apple's Xcode Tools before you can install anything from source (aka: compiling). Be sure you have already installed Apple's Xcode Tools (it is on your Leopard DVD) before trying to install fink from source.

Note : as of november 2008, you can also use Fink binary installer package which is available on this page with OS 10.5 (Leopard). The Fink setup disk image contains another useful tool which is called FinkCommander. FinkCommander is a graphical user interface for the fink command line version. Simply drag the FinkCommander folder from the fink setup disk image to your Application folder.

gnucash-1.8

Under Mac OS X 10.4 on a PowerPC Mac, gnucash-1.8 installation is as simple as:

1. download and install fink
2. run 'sudo apt-get install gnucash'
3. start up X11 and run 'gnucash &' from an xterm

gnucash-2.2.x

Installing GnuCash-2.2 is slightly more complicated, since the Fink package for this is still located in their 'unstable' tree. So in addition to the basic install of Fink you must enable the unstable tree. Note that the Fink package name for GnuCash-2.0.x is "gnucash2", and that this package is in the "crypto" category in Fink, rather than the "gnome" category as "gnucash" is. But all you have to do is type 'fink install gnucash2' in a terminal window, and fink will attempt to do all the right things (as long as you have successfully enabled the unstable tree). Note also that fink packages in 'unstable' need to be compiled from source, compared to most of the ones considered stable (ie gnucash 1.8). It will take some time to download all the files needed and then compile them. The first install will probably take several hours. Version upgrades after that should take less than 30 minutes.

Don't let the term "unstable" scare you away. No program can move to "stable" unless all of the programs it depends on are also in "stable". GnuCash has more than 150 dependencies, and a few of them haven't been moved to the stable tree. GnuCash 2.2.4 works, but it is still classified as unstable.

Once fink finishes installing GnuCash, launch the program by typing 'gnucash' (not gnucash2) in an xterm window (all versions of Mac OS X) or in a normal terminal window (OS X 10.5.x).

The help files (fink package gnucash2-docs) do not work at the moment (March 24, 2008) because of a problem with the fink version of yelp (gnome help system).

Other sections on this page describe ways of obtaining GnuCash versions 2.0 and higher, but note that they all involve, directly or indirectly, downloading and compiling source code.

Other Fink options

Further discussion of semi-manual ways to compile GnuCash using Fink tools can be found here. Most of that information is generally outdated since the availability of the gnucash2 package. However, it may still be useful in some cases, for example if you would like to use Fink in conjunction with compiling a version of GnuCash newer than any available in a Fink package.

Using MacPorts

MacPorts (formerly known as DarwinPorts) is another, parallel package manager for Mac OS X. All of the options discussed below are covered in more detail in MacOSX/MacPortsDetail.

gnucash-2.2.x

The standard gnucash port in MacPorts was up-to-date with GnuCash-2.2.5 as of 2 Aug 2008. Therefore, installing the latest stable version of GnuCash consists simply of:

1. Download and install MacPorts.
2. sudo port selfupdate
3. sudo port install gnucash # Note this takes quite a while
4. Run gnucash from an XTerm.

Development version

To install a recent development version of GnuCash (2.1.5 as of July 2007), replace "gnucash" in the third step above with "gnucash-devel". This will download, compile, and install all of the dependencies for GnuCash. MacPorts, however, will download guile 1.8.1, which is presently incompatible with gnucash.

To remedy this situation, issue the following after completing the aforementioned steps:

sudo port uninstall gnucash-devel
sudo port -f uninstall slib-guile
sudo port -f uninstall guile
sudo port clean slib-guile guile    # for good measure
sudo port -f install guile16
sudo port -f install slib-guile16
sudo port -f install gnucash-devel

This will install the appropriate libraries (guile 1.6) that will work with GnuCash.

Even more bleeding edge

MacOSX/MacPortsDetail also includes instructions for compiling any GnuCash source distribution in the context of a MacPorts software installation.

Manual compilation (GnuCash 2.1.1 Quartz)

It is possible to get GnuCash running completely without X Windows, thanks to recent work at the Gtk+ on Mac OS X project. It's not for the faint of heart, though, as it currently requires this laborious manual process. Hopefully the process will be automated (probably in MacPorts), at which point this option can be subsumed into an earlier section. Although there are several caveats (detailed along with the procedure), overall the usability, appearance, and convenience of the Quartz version have been decent.

Intel Macs

gnucash-1.8

As of June, 2006, GnuCash-1.8 does not work on Intel-based Macs. Both 1.8.x and 1.9.x series installations have dependencies (such as libgnomecanvas Gnome Bug #339489) which are known not to function correctly in this environment. As the known issues reside in external libraries (i.e. not within the GnuCash source tree), we are hoping that they will be resolved by the maintainers of those libraries (or their fink ports). Please check the gnucash (-users and -devel) and fink-users mailing list archives for more history and updates.

gnucash-2.x

As of August 2006, GnuCash 2.x works fine on most Intel Macs. Installation of Gnucash 2.x on Intel Macs is easiest using the Fink method referenced above. There have been reports of limited success with the MacPorts method under OS 10.5.x. Once installed, GnuCash is run from a regular Terminal window in 10.5.x and from an xTerm window in all other OS 10.x.

Perform the following steps to install GnuCash 2.2.x on an Intel Mac running a clean installation of Mac OS X 10.5.x and a current version of Xcode (Xcode is absolutely necessary because GnuCash 2.x packages are only available as source code):

1. Download and decompress the latest version of the Fink source code.
2. Open Terminal and use "cd" to go to the directory that contains the uncompressed Fink source code you just downloaded.
3. Issue the following commands to install and update fink (rsync is preferred for selfupdate; the point release method will not work):

./bootstrap
. /sw/bin/init.sh
fink selfupdate; fink index; fink scanpackages

Note : as of november 2008, you can alternatively use Fink binary installer package which is available on this page. The Fink setup disk image contains another useful tool which is called FinkCommander. FinkCommander is a graphical user interface for the fink command line version. Simply drag the FinkCommander folder from the fink setup disk image to your Application folder.

To install GnuCash 2.2, compile from source using fink:

fink install gnucash2

Note : gnucash2 package may not be found by Fink. As a matter of fact, gnucash2 is part of the unstable packages tree. Fink has to be setup to use this tree. This can be achieved through the Fink tab in the FinkCommander preferences dialog. Perform then a cvs selfupdate using FinkCommander "Source/SelfUpdate CVS" command. The gnucash2 package will appear in the Fink packages list. Just select it and execute FinkCommander "Source/Install" command.

To run GnuCash from an xTerm in OS X 10.4, enter:

/sw/bin/gnucash

To run GnuCash from a Terminal in OS X 10.5, enter:

/sw/bin/gnucash

Final Words

Currently, none of the primary GnuCash development occurs under OS X; as such, clear and specific bug reports (particularly of new issues not already reported) may be helpful. If you encounter problems, please check the mailing list archives first and then, if your problem cannot be resolved based on the information found there, report it to the mailing list. Please do remember that GnuCash developers are volunteers and are not responsible for your computer; as such, your help (in the form of exhausting readily available resources before asking for help and in asking for help in a clear manner) is appreciated.