Rosetta 2 not installed macOS Origin: Platform & cloud OSI layer 7 · Application Last updated 5 Nov 2026

macOS: Rosetta is not installed — softwareupdate --install-rosetta failed / Install Rosetta to open Intel apps

An Intel app (or Docker/Android emulator) needs Rosetta 2 but it's not installed on this Apple Silicon Mac.

Exact message you may see Rosetta is not installedsoftwareupdate --install-rosetta failedYou need to install Rosetta to open this appInstall Rosetta to open Intel-based appsCould not install Rosetta: softwareupdate error
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Seen on: macOS

Meaning

Install with softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license. If it fails, check network, free space, and that Software Update isn't blocked by MDM. Some apps prompt automatically on first launch; scripted installs need the command.

Common causes

  • Rosetta never installed
  • Install blocked by MDM/network
  • Software Update catalog unreachable
  • Not enough space
  • Corrupted installation after update

⚡ Quick fix

  1. softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license
  2. Check connectivity/proxy
  3. Reboot and retry; verify with arch -x86_64 /usr/bin/true

Detailed fix by platform

macOS

  1. /usr/bin/pgrep oahd returns a PID when Rosetta is running; arch -x86_64 uname -m prints x86_64

How to diagnose

  1. Mac — Apple Silicon?
  2. Rosetta — oahd running?
  3. Network — Update reachable?

🔧 Still not fixed?

Many errors look alike. If the steps above didn’t solve it, one of these is probably what you’re facing:

Where this error sits

Origin: Platform & cloud. Errors that are often confused with or caused by this one (click to open):

exec format error — exec /usr/local/bin/docker-entrypoint.sh: exec format error (Docker)exec format errorHomebrew Cask: It seems there is already an App at — Homebrew: Error: It seems there is already an App at '/Applications/Chrome.app' (macOS)Homebrew Cask: It see…Homebrew: No available formula with the name — Homebrew: Error: No available formula with the name "x". Did you mean ...? (macOS)Homebrew: No availabl…Homebrew: Permission denied @ dir_s_mkdir — Homebrew: Error: Permission denied @ dir_s_mkdir - /usr/local/Cellar / /opt/homebrew is not writable (macOS)Homebrew: Permission …mach-o file, but is an incompatible architecture — macOS: dlopen: mach-o file, but is an incompatible architecture (have 'x86_64', need 'arm64') (macOS)mach-o file, but is a…Your Command Line Tools are too outdated — Homebrew: Error: Your Command Line Tools (CLT) are too outdated. Update them from Software Update / Please update to the latest macOS (macOS)Your Command Line Too…zsh: bad CPU type in executable — macOS (Apple Silicon): zsh: bad CPU type in executable: ./tool (macOS)zsh: bad CPU type in …Rosetta 2…

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