Direct download any Xcode

#mac #macos #xcode #ios

Downloading Xcode from the App Store, or even the .xip file while using a browser, regardless of which one it is, can be a pain when your connection is not as stable and fast as others' and when the download can be interrupted at any time and you're most likely going to have to restart the whole download.

This just happened to me and I'm writing this as a note-to-self but also to share this with others who might be facing a similar situation.

Here's what I did to download it…

1. Install Xcode Command Line Tools

It is a small package of ~183Mb which I think it's enough to be downloaded via your browser.

Go to Developer Downloads site
Sign in with your Apple ID if you need to
Search for the command line package you want to download (I'm going to use the latest stable Command Line tools for Xcode 10 and macOS Mojave).
Press the link on the right side and wait for download to complete
Once downloaded, install it as any other .dmg package.

2. Install Homebrew and wget

I used Homebrew to install wget. There might be another way, but this is how I did it. 😅

Open Terminal
Run

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Follow the prompted steps
Once done, run

brew install wget

3. Install and get cookies.txt from your browser

Download for Google Chrome (Don't have a link for other browsers, sorry)
Visit the Developer Downloads site again.
Click the cookies.txt icon
In the top part you will see a link that says 'click here'. Click it to download the cookies.txt file
Save it wherever you want

4. Get Xcode direct download link

Visit the Developer Downloads site once more.
Select the Xcode version you want to download (I'm going to download Xcode 10).
Right-click the link on the right side an select "Copy link address"
Alternatively, visit this StackOverflow answer for links to all Xcode versions.

5. Start download

Open Terminal and go to the location of your cookies.txt file.
Now run

wget --load-cookies=cookies.txt -c https://download.developer.apple.com/Developer_Tools/Xcode_10/Xcode_10.xip

Replace the link at the end with the one you want for the file you want to download which you got in last step.
Wait for the download to finish.

Notes:

Add -b to the download command to run it in the background, although it is easier to check progress and state without it.
The -c option in the command allows you to continue with the download even if you close your terminal, or cancel the process, or restart your laptop, etc.

6. Install Xcode

Open the downloaded file so it starts uncompressing.
Move the uncompressed file to the Applications folder and you're done!

Hope you find this useful and please don't forget to share it with others!
Get to know more about me @ jahir.xyz
Image credits: unsplash.com
Originally published on medium.com

Top comments (14)

David Condrey • Jan 26 '21

Install Xcode from command line

# Install Command-line tools as dependency for Homebrew
xcode-select --install # Sets the development directory path to /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

# Install Homebrew
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
# Install Mas (command-line interface for Mac App Store)
brew install mas

# Search for Xcode showing only the first 5 results
mas search xcode | head -5
# Install Xcode using App ID
mas install 497799835 # The appid for Xcode shown when doing search

sudo xcode-select -r  # Reset the development directory path to put to Xcode /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

#sudo xcodebuild -license

# Updaate all Apple software and auto agree to any licenses and restart if necessary
sudo softwareupdate --install --agree-to-license -aR

wookiee666 • Feb 12 '21

I had to un-comment #sudo xcodebuild -license to get it to work.

Akinyemi Mosolasi • May 9 '20

Amazing! thanks for sharing @Jahir

Burak Uslu • Apr 12 '20

My Mac somehow decided to upgrade my Xcode to 11 while I am running OSX 10.14.1. I needed to download Xcode 10, except the developer.apple.com/Developer_Tools is keep dying on me. How does it upgrade from 10 to 11 but I can't download 10 back is beyond me.

Thank you with your suggestion. I am trying. It already failed half way once.