How can I install Apache Ant on Mac OS X?

Question

I tried to install Apache Ant on my Mac and I followed the next steps :

1. I downloaded apache-ant-1.8.1-bin.tar.gz into my Downloads folder.

Answer 1

For MacOS Maveriks (10.9 and perhaps later versions too), Apache Ant does not come bundled with the operating system and so must be installed manually. You can use brew to easily install ant. Simply execute the following command in a terminal window to install brew:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

It's a medium sized download which took me 10min to download and install. Just follow the process which involves installing various components. If you already have brew installed, make sure it's up to date by executing:

brew update

Once installed you can simply type:

brew install ant

Ant is now installed and available through the "ant" command in the terminal.

To test the installation, just type "ant -version" into a terminal window. You should get the following output:

Apache Ant(TM) version X.X.X compiled on MONTH DAY YEAR

Source: Error executing command 'ant' on Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks when building for Android with PhoneGap/Cordova

If you are getting errors installing Brew, try uninstalling first using the command:

rm -rf /usr/local/Cellar /usr/local/.git && brew cleanup

Thanks to OrangeDog and other users for providing additional information.

Answer 2

If you're a homebrew user instead of macports, homebrew has an ant recipe.

brew install ant