Install grails 1.3.7 (or any other specific version) using Homebrew

Question

How do you install a specific version of a formulae, in Homebrew? - in my case; Grails 1.3.7

Answer 1

Update:

As pointed out by akst, homebrew has removed the versions command so this original method is no longer feasible.

If you really want to, you can still use brew log grails in place of brew versions grails to find the git SHA for an old version of Grails. The formula is now also in a deeper directory structure so I would recommend using find . -name grails.rb -execdir git checkout <YOUR SHA HERE> {} \;

However, I recommend using the fantastic SDKMAN! for managing versions of Grails (and other languages/frameworks!).

Old Answer:

Go to your brew base,

cd $(brew --prefix)

list the versions of grails,

brew versions grails

select the version you want (1.3.7)

git checkout 232acd0 $(brew --prefix)/Library/Formula/grails.rb

and now install like normal,

brew install grails

which will install version 1.3.7

Answer 2

Rob Brinkman offers a bit more detail on this approach: http://blog.jdriven.com/2012/09/quick-tip-installing-a-specific-grails-version-on-os-x-using-homebrew/

Paraphrasing here:

brew unlink grails
brew versions grails
cd `brew --prefix` 
git checkout <some hash> <path to formula, i.e. /usr/local/Library/Formula/grails.rb>
brew install grails # install grails
git checkout -- /usr/local/Library/Formula/grails.rb # reset formula