How to "Install Command Line Tools" on version 2.37.1

SilverWinter · 09-06-2015, 07:45 PM

Hello everyone,

I don't know whether this thread has already been made or not or if I'm offending any rules right now. I'm new to the whole Calibre experience and one of the things that I need is to run the command line tools.

I have read over the manual and all it said to do is to go to Preferences > Miscellaneous > Install Command Line tools

I have no idea if I've installed the program correctly or not but all I have in the miscellaneous section are 4 options:

1) Debug device detection
2) Get information to set up the user defined device
3) Create a calibre icon theme
4) Open calibre configuration directory

All the screen shots that I've seen replaces the option of "Create a calibre icon theme" with the "Install command line tools".

My device is a MacBook Pro 13" Retina display. Please help me. Thank you in advance.

jgaiser · 09-06-2015, 07:53 PM

Command Line Tools are installed when you do a general install. Type "ebook-viewer" and a blank viewer should come up.

SilverWinter · 09-06-2015, 08:05 PM

Thank you so much for the prompt reply. I expected as much but I was a bit sceptical. Thank you for clearing it up for me.

BetterRed · 09-06-2015, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverWinter

Hello everyone,

I don't know whether this thread has already been made or not or if I'm offending any rules right now. I'm new to the whole Calibre experience and one of the things that I need is to run the command line tools.

I have read over the manual and all it said to do is to go to Preferences > Miscellaneous > Install Command Line tools

I have no idea if I've installed the program correctly or not but all I have in the miscellaneous section are 4 options:

1) Debug device detection
2) Get information to set up the user defined device
3) Create a calibre icon theme
4) Open calibre configuration directory

All the screen shots that I've seen replaces the option of "Create a calibre icon theme" with the "Install command line tools".

My device is a MacBook Pro 13" Retina display. Please help me. Thank you in advance.

@SilverWinter - Welcome to Mobileread and to calibre, your post is fine. As a general rule we would prefer users start a new thread rather than jumping onto the back of an existing thread.

In your travels though the manual perhaps you did not notice this

Quote:

Note : On OS X, the command line tools are inside the calibre bundle, for example, if you installed calibre in /Applications the command line tools are in /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/console.app/Contents/MacOS/.

Its at the top of the Command Line Interface section

Hope that helps

BR

theducks · 09-06-2015, 08:16 PM

Command line tools are for when you use a Command prompt (windows folk sometimes call it a DOS box)

You do not access the CL tools from the Calibre GUI.

CLI is instead

to see if it is working:
At the command prompt: calibredb --help

You shold see a list if switches to use with that command

eschwartz · 09-06-2015, 08:27 PM

The command-line tools are installed to your system PATH on Windows and linux, but not on OSX -- because OSX uses Bundles, which have no way to trigger post-install commands I believe.

There used to be an option in Preferences to symlink the tools into /usr/bin on OSX (like the linux installer does) but apparently the method used to get root privileges was deprecated a while back.

The solution is to manually symlink them:

Code:

sudo ln -sf /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/console.app/Contents/MacOS/* /usr/local/bin/

Note: My auto-upgrade script does this automatically. See here: https://github.com/eli-schwartz/calibre-installer
Note2: I don't use OSX, I experimentally ported it from the linux script which I do use, but I have received confirmation that it works as expected on OSX.

EDIT: Changed to accommodate System Integrity Protection, introduced in El Capitan.

sbin · 11-17-2015, 11:55 AM

Sorry to re-open an old thread, but I wasn't able find a solution anywhere.

After formatting my Mac and installing OSX 10.11.1, my command line tools don't work anymore. Maybe I should re-install them, but how do I do it?

I'm in this same situation:

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverWinter

all I have in the miscellaneous section are 4 options:

1) Debug device detection
2) Get information to set up the user defined device
3) Create a calibre icon theme
4) Open calibre configuration directory

All the screen shots that I've seen replaces the option of "Create a calibre icon theme" with the "Install command line tools".

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

At the command prompt: calibredb --help

As expected, I get a "command not found" response

(Sorry if this is a rookie-question!)

BetterRed · 11-17-2015, 02:42 PM

@sbin - The solution is in posts 4 and 6 ? The command line programs are in the calibre OSX "Bundle" so you have to execute the commands from there. A symbolic link can be used to reduce the tedium of typing long paths in the commands.

BR

sbin · 11-18-2015, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

The command line programs are in the calibre OSX "Bundle" so you have to execute the commands from there.

It's just that knowing where they are doesn't help me about how to go about how to use them.

Before, I just used to type "ebook-edit" and then drag an epub file on the terminal window.
Now I get a "command not found" response.

I'm not much of a mac user, I guess my issue is more osx-related than strictly calibre-related.
But that for the tip about symbolic links, I'll look into it

eschwartz · 11-18-2015, 05:12 PM

I explicitly gave the necessary terminal command to perform the symlinking up above.

You can also use my auto-updater which integrates creation of the symlinks.

...

It is the very post above your first post.

sbin · 11-19-2015, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I explicitly gave the necessary terminal command to perform the symlinking up above.

Ops! Thanks, Christmastime at work must tire me more than I thought, because I've read this entire thread and totally missed it!

Now I'm all set, thanks.

For other users who may stumble upon this post and who are using OSX El Capitan:
even if you have full admin privileges on your mac, you'll need to disable System Integrity Protection first (take a look here).

eschwartz · 11-19-2015, 10:28 AM

You're welcome.

P.S. It looks like you can use /usr/local/bin/ instead of /usr/bin/ and it should work fine even with System Integrity Protection enabled.

But it sounds way, way, way too nanny-like to me.
(Can you tell I am a linux user?

)

esteefee · 12-08-2015, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

The command-line tools are installed to your system PATH on Windows and linux, but not on OSX -- because OSX uses Bundles, which have no way to trigger post-install commands I believe.

There used to be an option in Preferences to symlink the tools into /usr/bin on OSX (like the linux installer does) but apparently the method used to get root privileges was deprecated a while back.

The solution is to manually symlink them:

Code:

sudo ln -sf /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/console.app/Contents/MacOS/* /usr/bin/

Note: My auto-upgrade script does this automatically. See here: https://github.com/eli-schwartz/calibre-installer
Note2: I don't use OSX, I experimentally ported it from the linux script which I do use, but I have received confirmation that it works as expected on OSX.

symlinking worked for 3rd party app, thanks! latest install path is apparently /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/calibre-debug.app/Contents/MacOS/*.

eschwartz · 12-08-2015, 07:45 AM

Hmmm? Are you saying /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/console.app/Contents/MacOS/* didn't work, but /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/calibre-debug.app/Contents/MacOS/* did?

Because I am pretty sure Kovid didn't change the OSX packaging scripts. And he himself said console.app is the correct location.

09-06-2015, 07:45 PM	#1
SilverWinter Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2015 Device: Apple	How to "Install Command Line Tools" on version 2.37.1 Hello everyone, I don't know whether this thread has already been made or not or if I'm offending any rules right now. I'm new to the whole Calibre experience and one of the things that I need is to run the command line tools. I have read over the manual and all it said to do is to go to Preferences > Miscellaneous > Install Command Line tools I have no idea if I've installed the program correctly or not but all I have in the miscellaneous section are 4 options: 1) Debug device detection 2) Get information to set up the user defined device 3) Create a calibre icon theme 4) Open calibre configuration directory All the screen shots that I've seen replaces the option of "Create a calibre icon theme" with the "Install command line tools". My device is a MacBook Pro 13" Retina display. Please help me. Thank you in advance.

09-06-2015, 08:27 PM	#6
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	The command-line tools are installed to your system PATH on Windows and linux, but not on OSX -- because OSX uses Bundles, which have no way to trigger post-install commands I believe. There used to be an option in Preferences to symlink the tools into /usr/bin on OSX (like the linux installer does) but apparently the method used to get root privileges was deprecated a while back. The solution is to manually symlink them: Code: sudo ln -sf /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/console.app/Contents/MacOS/* /usr/local/bin/ Note: My auto-upgrade script does this automatically. See here: https://github.com/eli-schwartz/calibre-installer Note2: I don't use OSX, I experimentally ported it from the linux script which I do use, but I have received confirmation that it works as expected on OSX. EDIT: Changed to accommodate System Integrity Protection, introduced in El Capitan. Last edited by eschwartz; 12-11-2015 at 01:41 PM.

11-19-2015, 10:28 AM	#12
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	You're welcome. P.S. It looks like you can use /usr/local/bin/ instead of /usr/bin/ and it should work fine even with System Integrity Protection enabled. But it sounds way, way, way too nanny-like to me. (Can you tell I am a linux user? ) Last edited by eschwartz; 11-19-2015 at 10:35 AM.

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09-06-2015, 07:53 PM	#2
jgaiser Omnivorous Posts: 3,281 Karma: 27978909 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rural NW Oregon Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 3, KPW1	Command Line Tools are installed when you do a general install. Type "ebook-viewer" and a blank viewer should come up.

09-06-2015, 08:05 PM	#3
SilverWinter Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2015 Device: Apple	Thank you so much for the prompt reply. I expected as much but I was a bit sceptical. Thank you for clearing it up for me.

09-06-2015, 08:16 PM	#5
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 30,080 Karma: 57259778 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Command line tools are for when you use a Command prompt (windows folk sometimes call it a DOS box) You do not access the CL tools from the Calibre GUI. CLI is instead to see if it is working: At the command prompt: calibredb --help You shold see a list if switches to use with that command

11-17-2015, 02:42 PM	#8
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,762 Karma: 27405072 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@sbin - The solution is in posts 4 and 6 ? The command line programs are in the calibre OSX "Bundle" so you have to execute the commands from there. A symbolic link can be used to reduce the tedium of typing long paths in the commands. BR

11-18-2015, 05:12 PM	#10
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	I explicitly gave the necessary terminal command to perform the symlinking up above. You can also use my auto-updater which integrates creation of the symlinks. ... It is the very post above your first post.

12-08-2015, 07:45 AM	#14
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Hmmm? Are you saying /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/console.app/Contents/MacOS/* didn't work, but /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/calibre-debug.app/Contents/MacOS/* did? Because I am pretty sure Kovid didn't change the OSX packaging scripts. And he himself said console.app is the correct location.

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