Local v9.2.7 Fails on Intel Mac — "Missing Mailpit" & Architecture Detection Error

Support
1

Hi LocalWP Support,

I’m experiencing persistent issues with Local v9.2.7+6877 on an Intel-based iMac:

Issues Encountered:

  • When starting sites, I receive:
    “Missing Mailpit v1.24” with the message “Don’t worry. We’ll reinstall it next time you start your site.”
    Despite this, Mailpit is never installed.

  • Inside the directory:

    ~/Library/Application Support/Local/lightning-services/

    only mysql, php, and nginx are present — no mailpit folder exists.

  • The local-lightning.log contains the following error:

    Unable to detect Apple Silicon hardware using sysctl:
Command failed: sysctl -n hw.optional.arm64
sysctl: unknown oid 'hw.optional.arm64'

    This indicates Local is attempting an Apple Silicon check on an Intel Mac, failing to install Mailpit, and preventing any site startup.

Workarounds Attempted:

  1. Manual addition of "MAILPIT": 10006 to ports in sites.json — but still fails without Mailpit present.

  2. Deleting and reinstalling lightning-services — Local still doesn’t download Mailpit on startup.

Preferred Solution:

I’d like to downgrade to a more stable version, known to work reliably on Intel architectures, to avoid these recurring issues.

Could you confirm if this bug is known in v9.2.7 on Intel?
Also, is there a recommended stable Intel-compatible version that avoids these Mailpit/architecture-detection issues?

Thank you,
Mikkel

What steps can be taken to replicate the issue? Feel free to include screenshots, videos, etc

System Details

  • Local Version:

  • Operating System (OS) and OS version:

Local Logs

Attach your Local Logs here (Help Doc - Retrieving Local’s Log)

Security Reminder
Local does a pretty good job of scrubbing private info from the logs and the errors it produces, however there’s always the possibility that something private can come through. Because these are public forums, always review the screenshots you are sharing to make sure there isn’t private info like passwords being displayed.

3

Thanks for your report, @MikkelFeilberg.

UPDATE: This can now be solved by updating to Local 9.2.8 or higher.

https://localwp.com/releases/

Old steps, no longer needed but retained for context

Please can you try running the following commands from your terminal to install mailpit? For others reading, these steps apply to Intel Macs on 9.2.7 only and only if you’re seeing the same issue.

First, make sure you’re running 9.2.7. Then quit Local. Open a Terminal and run these one at a time:

cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/Local/lightning-services

curl -O https://cdn.localwp.com/site-services-lightning/mailpit/support-fix/mailpit-1.24.1+0.zip

unzip mailpit-1.24.1+0.zip

rm mailpit-1.24.1+0.zip

Then start Local. Your “Missing Mailpit” error should be cleared.

2 Likes
Fix: Mailpit not starting in Local — seed with 9.2.5, then upgrade
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Error: When I will open WP Admin
5

Hi there,

I had exactly the same issue on an Intel-based MacBook Air. I was already very frustrated and had tried to install LocalWP and several sites more than 10 times. Your guidance also fixed the problem for me. Thank you so much for your great support and also thanks to MikkelFeilberg for raising the issue!

2 Likes
6

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7

The missing Mailpit from Local 9.2.7 for macOS Intel was re-bundled in Local 9.2.8, out now.

https://localwp.com/releases/9.2.8/