KeepNote is my favorite tool for note keeping during penetration tests, it’s advertised as cross platform and works great on Linux and Windows. But getting it to work on OSX takes a bit of work, if you are prepared to jump through some hoops I’ve documented the installation process below.

##Install Homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager for OSX, it allows you to install applications in a similar way to BSD ports.

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/go/install)"

After running the Brew command the following Apple Developer Tools box will appears, click install (you no longer have to install Xcode).

Install Apple Developer Tools OSX Mavericks

Output:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/go/install)"
==> This script will install:
/usr/local/bin/brew
/usr/local/Library/...
/usr/local/share/man/man1/brew.1

Press RETURN to continue or any other key to abort
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/mkdir /usr/local

WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss
or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your
typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information.

To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort.

Password:
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod g+rwx /usr/local
==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/chgrp admin /usr/local
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/mkdir /Library/Caches/Homebrew
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod g+rwx /Library/Caches/Homebrew
==> Installing the Command Line Tools (expect a GUI popup):
==> /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/xcode-select --install
xcode-select: note: install requested for command line developer tools
Press any key when the installation has completed.
==> Downloading and installing Homebrew...
remote: Counting objects: 191438, done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (52107/52107), done.
remote: Total 191438 (delta 138158), reused 191438 (delta 138158)
Receiving objects: 100% (191438/191438), 38.69 MiB | 4.99 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (138158/138158), done.
From https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew
 * [new branch]      master     -> origin/master
HEAD is now at cc18ca2 rabbitmq-c: general cleanup.
==> Installation successful!
==> Next steps
Run `brew doctor` before you install anything
Run `brew help` to get started

Run brew doctor to confirm the Brew install is working.

brew doctor
Your system is ready to brew.

Settle the dependencies for KeepNote using Homebrew:

brew install python aspell sqlite3

Use Brew to create Python links:

brew linkapps

Download:

PyGTK

Xquartz

Install pyGTK & Xquartz

Install pyGTK, double click the download run through the options, you’ll be prompted for your password.

PyGTK GTK+ Python OSX Install

Then do the same for Xquartz and reboot.

Quartz Install

XQuartz Mac

Download and extract the latest KeepNote somewhere sensible, like /usr/local/share/ and cd into the bin dir and execute ./keepnote - KeepNote will then open, my install complained about some missing fonts in the terminal when launching.

KeepNote Mac OSX Install

I’ve chosen not to worry about the missing fonts.