~/blog/mac-setup

Mac Setup

•5 min read

Introduction

Spent £3,000 on this setup. Runs Chrome like a dream... until I open a second tab 😂. Jokes aside, this is a guide to setting up your and high-likely my Mac for development, including tools, configurations, and best practices. As favorite tools and practices change, this guide will be updated. Welcome to "It's not much, but it's mine" - Every $5000 Setup.

And do not skip the Awesome Mac repo.

System Preferences

Trackpad

  • Tap to click (Enable)

Finder

Open Finder and go to Settings > Preferences > Advanced:

  • Show all filename extensions (Enable)
  • Remove items from the Trash after 30 days (Enable) *optional.

Show the path bar in Finder:

Open Finder and go to View > Show Path Bar:

Input Sources

Go to Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources:

If not US bought Mac and you are using a US keyboard layout, you can add the U.S and U.S - PC input sources.

  • Add U.S and U.S - PC input sources.

Xcode Command Line Tools

XCode is a suite of development tools produced by Apple.

To install the Xcode Command Line Tools, open a terminal and run the following command:

xcode-select --install
xcode-select --install

Homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager for macOS. It allows you to install software packages from the command line.

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Or install .pkg from github releases here 4.4.20

Verify the installation

brew doctor
brew doctor

To install a package using Homebrew, use the brew install command followed by the package name. For example, to install Git, run:

brew install git
brew install git

Homebrew Cask

Homebrew Cask brings its elegance, simplicity, and speed to the installation and management of GUI macOS applications such as Visual Studio Code and Google Chrome.

No more dragging and dropping applications into your Applications folder. Homebrew Cask will automatically download and install the application for you.

To install Homebrew Cask, run the following command:

brew tap homebrew/cask
brew tap homebrew/cask

To install an application using Homebrew Cask, use the brew install --cask command followed by the application name. For example, to install Visual Studio Code, run:

brew install --cask visual-studio-code
brew install --cask visual-studio-code

Some useful applications to install using Homebrew, search packages here:

e.g. alfred https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/alfred#default

To install multiple applications at once, separate the application names with spaces:

brew install --cask \
    qlcolorcode \
    qlstephen \
    qlmarkdown \
    quicklook-json \
    qlprettypatch \
    quicklook-csv \
    betterzip \
    webpquicklook \
    suspicious-package
brew install --cask \
    qlcolorcode \
    qlstephen \
    qlmarkdown \
    quicklook-json \
    qlprettypatch \
    quicklook-csv \
    betterzip \
    webpquicklook \
    suspicious-package
brew install --cask \
    alfred \
    android-file-transfer \
    appcleaner \
    caffeine \
    cheatsheet \
    colloquy \
    docker \
    doubletwist \
    dropbox \
    google-chrome \
    google-hangouts \
    flux \
    1password \
    rectangle \
    sublime-text \
    superduper \
    transmission \
    valentina-studio \
    vlc
brew install --cask \
    alfred \
    android-file-transfer \
    appcleaner \
    caffeine \
    cheatsheet \
    colloquy \
    docker \
    doubletwist \
    dropbox \
    google-chrome \
    google-hangouts \
    flux \
    1password \
    rectangle \
    sublime-text \
    superduper \
    transmission \
    valentina-studio \
    vlc

Terminal

install iTerm2 if you are fan of their terminal but I'm quite happy with the default terminal.

brew install --cask iterm2
brew install --cask iterm2

ZSH

The Z shell (Zsh) is a Unix shell that can be used as an interactive login shell and as a command interpreter for shell scripting. It is now by default on macOS.

Install Zsh using Homebrew:

brew install zsh
brew install zsh

The configuration file for zsh is called .zshrc and lives in your home folder (~/.zshrc).

Oh My Zsh + Powerlevel10k

Oh My Zsh is an open-source, community-driven framework for managing your Zsh configuration. It comes bundled with a ton of helpful functions, helpers, plugins, and themes.

Install Oh My Zsh using

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

The installation script will prompt you to set Zsh as your default shell. Type y to confirm. if you want to change it later, you can run chsh -s /bin/zsh.

Configuration

The Official Wiki is a great place to start. You can find a list of plugins and themes there.

Plugins I use:

plugins=(
  git
  kubectl
  zsh-autosuggestions
  zsh-syntax-highlighting
)
plugins=(
  git
  kubectl
  zsh-autosuggestions
  zsh-syntax-highlighting
)

kubectl - kubectl is a command-line tool for Kubernetes. This plugin provides autocompletion for kubectl commands and aliases.

Themes I use is Powerlevel10k. To set the theme, open your ~/.zshrc file and set the ZSH_THEME variable to powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k:

ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"
ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"

tree

brew install tree
brew install tree

ack

ack is a tool like grep, optimized for programmers.

brew install ack
brew install ack

Usage of ack

ack [OPTION]... PATTERN [FILES OR DIRECTORIES]
ack [OPTION]... PATTERN [FILES OR DIRECTORIES]

Git

brew install git
brew install git

Set up your Git username and email:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "

SSH config for GitHub

From original GitHub Docs

generate a new SSH key:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

Add your SSH key to the ssh-agent:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

Modify your ~/.ssh/config file to automatically load keys into the ssh-agent and store passphrases in your keychain:

Host *
  AddKeysToAgent yes
  UseKeychain yes
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
Host *
  AddKeysToAgent yes
  UseKeychain yes
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

To add your SSH private key to the ssh-agent and store your passphrase in the keychain:

ssh-add -K ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
ssh-add -K ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Add your SSH key to your account:

Copy by using pbcopy and paste it to your GitHub account settings.

pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Git signed commits WIP

git config --global user.signingkey YOUR_GPG_KEY
git config --global commit.gpgsign true
git config --global user.signingkey YOUR_GPG_KEY
git config --global commit.gpgsign true

Git Ignore (Global)

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/master/Global/macOS.gitignore -o ~/.gitignore
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/gitignore/master/Global/macOS.gitignore -o ~/.gitignore

Then set the global gitignore file:

git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore
git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore

Generate gitignore

Visit gitignore.io and fill it with your needs.

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a source-code editor developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Editor support for many languages trough extensions.

brew install --cask visual-studio-code
brew install --cask visual-studio-code

Useful Extensions

JavaScript

Markdown

Themes

Git

Docker

Kubernetes

PlantUML

EditorConfig

Python