Calling brew cask install is disabled! Use brew install [--cask] instead.

[dsnyder0pc]

SUMMARY

I have a simple playbook that ensures a set of brew casks are installed. It stopped working this morning (actually, probably three days ago with this merge) because, apparently, the Homebrew folks disabled brew cask install. I'm submitting this as a bug report because I imagine it affects everyone using the homebrew_cask module. Cask installation is no longer possible with homebrew_cask until this issue is resolved.

ISSUE TYPE

• Bug Report

COMPONENT NAME

homebrew_cask

ANSIBLE VERSION

ansible 2.10.3
  config file = None
  configured module search path = ['/Users/dsnyder/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']
  ansible python module location = /Users/dsnyder/.pyenv/versions/3.9.1/lib/python3.9/site-packages/ansible
  executable location = /Users/dsnyder/.pyenv/versions/3.9.1/bin/ansible
  python version = 3.9.1 (default, Dec 14 2020, 14:55:40) [Clang 11.0.3 (clang-1103.0.32.62)]

CONFIGURATION

// No Changes //

OS / ENVIRONMENT

• macOS Catalina v10.15.7
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• Processor. 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
• Memory. 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

Create a simple inventory playbook to ensure that the "docker" cask is installed locally.

$ head -n 500 inventory docker.yml
==> inventory <==
localhost ansible_connection=local ansible_python_interpreter=/Users/dsnyder/.pyenv/shims/python3

==> docker.yml <==
---
- name: Homebrew Cask Demo
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: Try to install the docker cask
      community.general.homebrew_cask:
        name: docker
        install_options: 'debug,appdir=/Applications'
        accept_external_apps: true
        state: present

$ ansible-playbook -i inventory docker.yml

EXPECTED RESULTS

Since I already have this cask installed, I expect Ansible to report that no change was required.

ACTUAL RESULTS

The play fails with this stack trace:

Updating Homebrew...
Error: Calling brew cask install is disabled! Use brew install [--cask] instead.
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:177:in `run'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:117:in `run'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cmd/cask.rb:15:in `cask'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:124:in `<main>'
Error: Kernel.exit
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:188:in `exit'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:188:in `rescue in run'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:165:in `run'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:117:in `run'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cmd/cask.rb:15:in `cask'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:124:in `<main>'

$ ansible-playbook -i inventory docker.yml

PLAY [Homebrew Cask Demo] ******************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *********************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [Try to install the docker cask] ******************************************
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "msg": "Updating Homebrew...\nError: Calling brew cask install is disabled! Use brew install [--cask] instead.\n/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:177:in `run'\n/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:117:in `run'\n/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cmd/cask.rb:15:in `cask'\n/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:124:in `<main>'\nError: Kernel.exit\n/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:188:in `exit'\n/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:188:in `rescue in run'\n/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:165:in `run'\n/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:117:in `run'\n/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cmd/cask.rb:15:in `cask'\n/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:124:in `<main>'"}

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=1    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

I can easily reproduce this error by running the following command:

$ brew cask --debug --appdir=/Applications install docker
Error: Calling brew cask install is disabled! Use brew install [--cask] instead.
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:177:in `run'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:117:in `run'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cmd/cask.rb:15:in `cask'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:124:in `<main>'
Error: Kernel.exit
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:188:in `exit'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:188:in `rescue in run'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:165:in `run'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cask/cmd.rb:117:in `run'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cmd/cask.rb:15:in `cask'
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:124:in `<main>'

The solution seems to be to use a command-line like this instead:

$ brew install --cask --appdir=/Applications docker
Warning: Cask 'docker' is already installed.

To re-install docker, run:
  brew reinstall docker

$ echo $?
0

TRYING community.general.homebrew

I tried to do the same thing with the homebrew module, but the idempotency check fails because the --cask option is required for both list and install for casks:

$ cat docker2.yml
---
- name: Homebrew Cask Demo
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: Try to install the docker cask
      community.general.homebrew:
        name: docker
        install_options: 'cask,appdir=/Applications'
        state: present

$ ansible-playbook -i inventory docker2.yml

PLAY [Homebrew Cask Demo] ******************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *********************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [Try to install the docker cask] ******************************************************
fatal: [localhost]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "msg": "Warning: Cask 'docker' is already installed.\n\nTo re-install docker, run:\n  brew reinstall docker"}

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=1    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

I've not studied the code in the homebrew module, but I imagine it checks for installation by doing something like this:

$ brew list docker
Error: No such keg: /usr/local/Cellar/docker

For casks, it needs to do this:

$ brew list --cask docker
==> App
/Applications/Docker.app (15,133 files, 1.3GB)

I can work around this idempotency issue by adding another task to check if docker is installed first, but that's messy. This check should really be handled by the module.

$ cat docker3.yml
---
- name: Homebrew Cask Demo
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: Check to see if docker is installed
      command: brew list --cask docker
      register: result
      ignore_errors: true
      changed_when: false

    - name: Try to install the docker cask
      community.general.homebrew:
        name: docker
        install_options: 'cask,appdir=/Applications'
        state: present
      when: result is failed

$ ansible-playbook -i inventory docker3.yml

PLAY [Homebrew Cask Demo] ******************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *********************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [Check to see if docker is installed] *************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [Try to install the docker cask] ******************************************************
skipping: [localhost]

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=2    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=1    rescued=0    ignored=0

[ansibullbot]

Files identified in the description:
None

If these files are inaccurate, please update the component name section of the description or use the !component bot command.

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[dsnyder0pc]

Note: I've commented here about this issue. It's not helpful that the Homebrew folks have decided against maintaining a stable command-line interface. It would be worth checking for other Homebrew subcommands that may be in deprecated state since those changes will create similar problems.

[dsnyder0pc]

There's probably more to do, but these quick local edits (patch file below) seem to have things working as expected for me.

--- homebrew_cask.py	2020-12-21 18:04:53.000000000 -0800
+++ homebrew_cask_edit.py	2020-12-21 18:05:07.000000000 -0800
@@ -437,8 +437,8 @@
         cask_is_outdated_command = (
             [
                 self.brew_path,
-                'cask',
                 'outdated',
+                '--cask',
             ]
             + (['--greedy'] if self.greedy else [])
             + [self.current_cask]
@@ -456,8 +456,8 @@
 
         cmd = [
             "{brew_path}".format(brew_path=self.brew_path),
-            "cask",
             "list",
+            "--cask",
             self.current_cask
         ]
         rc, out, err = self.module.run_command(cmd)
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@
             raise HomebrewCaskException(self.message)
 
         opts = (
-            [self.brew_path, 'cask', 'upgrade']
+            [self.brew_path, 'upgrade', '--cask']
         )
 
         cmd = [opt for opt in opts if opt]
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@
             raise HomebrewCaskException(self.message)
 
         opts = (
-            [self.brew_path, 'cask', 'install', self.current_cask]
+            [self.brew_path, 'install', '--cask', self.current_cask]
             + self.install_options
         )
 
@@ -651,7 +651,7 @@
             raise HomebrewCaskException(self.message)
 
         opts = (
-            [self.brew_path, 'cask', command]
+            [self.brew_path, 'command', '--cask']
             + self.install_options
             + [self.current_cask]
         )
@@ -704,7 +704,7 @@
             raise HomebrewCaskException(self.message)
 
         opts = (
-            [self.brew_path, 'cask', 'uninstall', self.current_cask]
+            [self.brew_path, 'uninstall', '--cask', self.current_cask]
             + self.install_options
         )

[ahawkins]

tl;dr: The recent homebrew 2.7 release broke the homebrew_cask module.

[raymondyou97]

Was able to get it working again by downgrading and locking Homebrew to 2.6.2

1. Downgrade to 2.6.2

cd /usr/local/Homebrew
git fetch --tags
git checkout 2.6.2

2. Prevent automatic brew upgrades whenever you install/upgrade something. In your .zshrc or .bashrc,

export HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1

[felixfontein]

There's already a PR for this: #1481

Since you are Homebrew users, would be great if you could test it!

[felixfontein]

(Also, I'm quite confused why everyone some people is are saying that brew cask is deprecated. It is apparently not deprecated (otherwise it would still work), but has been removed. Deprecation means there will be a warning that it will be removed in the future.)

[ansibullbot]

Files identified in the description:

• plugins/modules/packaging/os/homebrew_cask.py

If these files are inaccurate, please update the component name section of the description or use the !component bot command.

click here for bot help

[ansibullbot]

cc @Akasurde @danieljaouen @enriclluelles @indrajitr @kyleabenson @martinm82
click here for bot help