Installation

How to install ipsw locally, and start a parsing IPSWs in no time.

macOS

Via homebrew

brew install blacktop/tap/ipsw --with-git-delta

info

--with-git-delta is optional and will install git-delta for better looking diffs.

Install frida version

brew install blacktop/tap/ipsw-frida

Via MacPorts

sudo port install ipsw

Install development version

git clone https://github.com/blacktop/ports ~/.config/macports/blacktop

Add the following to the sources.conf file:

sudo echo "file://$HOME/.config/macports/blacktop [default]" >> /opt/local/etc/macports/sources.conf
sudo port selfupdate

Then install ipsw:

sudo port install ipsw

Via binary from the releases page

# Download latest release (replace VERSION with current version from releases page)
wget https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest/download/ipsw_$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest | grep -o '"tag_name": "[^"]*' | cut -d'"' -f4 | tr -d 'v')_macOS_universal.tar.gz
tar xzf ipsw_*.tar.gz

Quick Install

You can also visit the releases page to download the latest version directly.

Extras Version

Want to use the ipsw dyld emu (w/ unicorn emulator) or the ipsw idev cmds that require libusb ? (grab the extras version from the releases page)

# Download latest extras version
wget https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest/download/ipsw_$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest | grep -o '"tag_name": "[^"]*' | cut -d'"' -f4 | tr -d 'v')_macOS_arm64_extras.tar.gz
tar xzf ipsw_*_extras.tar.gz

info

The extras version is what is installed via homebrew by default.

Frida Version

Want to use the ipsw frida cmd to trace ObjC methods ? (grab the frida version from the releases page)

# Download latest frida version  
wget https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest/download/ipsw_$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest | grep -o '"tag_name": "[^"]*' | cut -d'"' -f4 | tr -d 'v')_macOS_arm64_frida.tar.gz
tar xzf ipsw_*_frida.tar.gz

caution

The extras and frida versions of ipsw only support macOS for now. (Please let the author know if you want them supported on your platform)

Linux

Via snapcraft

sudo snap install ipsw

Via deb/rpm/apk debian packages in the releases page

To install, after downloading the files, run:

dpkg -i ipsw*.deb
rpm -ivh ipsw*.rpm
apk add --allow-untrusted ipsw*.apk

Install archlinux package from AUR

pacman -U ipsw-bin

Install nix package from NUR

See github:blacktop/nur

Via binary from the releases page

# Download latest Linux release
wget https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest/download/ipsw_$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest | grep -o '"tag_name": "[^"]*' | cut -d'"' -f4 | tr -d 'v')_linux_x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzf ipsw_*.tar.gz

Required tools for mounting DMGs

To use the ipsw mount command on Linux, you'll need:

For APFS filesystems (iOS 10.3+ and modern iPadOS/macOS)

# Install apfs-fuse
git clone https://github.com/sgan81/apfs-fuse.git
cd apfs-fuse
make
sudo make install

For HFS+ filesystems (older iOS/iPadOS versions)

HFS+ support uses the native Linux kernel with userspace tools:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install hfsprogs

# RHEL/CentOS/Fedora
sudo yum install hfsplus-tools
# or
sudo dnf install hfsplus-tools

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S hfsprogs

info

IPSW automatically detects the filesystem type in DMG files and uses the appropriate mounting method. APFS is used in iOS 10.3+ and newer, while HFS+ is used in older firmware.

Docker

Download docker image

$ docker pull blacktop/ipsw

NOTE: the docker image also includes apfs-fuse which allows you to extract dyld_shared_caches from the APFS dmgs in the ipsw(s) pre iOS16.x

Create alias to use like a binary

$ alias ipsw='docker run -it --rm -v $(pwd):/data blacktop/ipsw'

Windows

Via scoop

scoop bucket add blacktop https://github.com/blacktop/scoop-bucket.git 
scoop install blacktop/ipsw

Via binary from the releases page

# Download latest Windows release
# You can also visit https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest to download manually
curl -L https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest/download/ipsw_$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/blacktop/ipsw/releases/latest | grep -o '"tag_name": "[^"]*' | cut -d'"' -f4 | tr -d 'v')_windows_x86_64.tar.gz -o ipsw_windows.tar.gz
tar xzf ipsw_windows.tar.gz