macOS setup¶

A setup guide for programmers, etc., on Windows.

Initial setup¶

The obvious: Upgrade macOS, enable FileVault, and remove unneeded Login Items.

Install Homebrew and update it: brew update && brew upgrade. Install a few extra Linux utils:

brew install ssh-copy-id coreutils git bash zsh

Install the text editor Sublime (brew install --cask sublime-text).

And a couple of small things:

Show hidden files: Run defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles true. Then run killall Finder.
Show filename extensions: Do this in Finder → Settings → Advanced.
In Finder, add your home folder to the SideBar. File → add to sidebar.
Finder → settings → Advanced → Show all filenames.

SSH, GPG, & GitHub CLI¶

Install a version of OpenSSL (actually LibreSSL that will receive updates: brew install libressl. The OpenSSL version in macOS by default was seriously out-of-date when Heartbleed was made public, and took a long time to get patched.

Also install GPG: brew install gnupg. And the GitHub CLI: brew install gh.

Update command¶

I like running this to add a brewing command:

echo 'alias brewing="brew update && brew upgrade && brew cleanup; brew doctor"'\
  >> ~/.commonrc

From that, you can run brewing to update Brew and its packages, and fix problems.

Note

Although Homebrew only recommends running brew doctor if there’s a problem, chances are you’ll eventually need to run it, so it’s not a bad idea to deal with those issues immediately rather than to accumulate a daunting stack of issues to fix simultaneously later.

Install Oh My Zsh ¶

You’ll thank me later. (You’ll need ZSH installed for this to work.)

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

You should be prompted to change your shell. If you are not, run

chsh -s $(which zsh)

Make sure it is set by running

sudo cat /etc/passwd | grep ${USER}

You may need to reboot for the change to your login shell to take effect. You should now have a colorful shell, complete with a plugin for Git.

`.commonrc` file¶

To keep the config for ZSH and Bash consistent, add a file called .commonrc in your home directory:

echo 'export PATH=/usr/local/sbin:$PATH\n' > ~/.commonrc
echo 'source ~/.commonrc\n' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'source ~/.commonrc\n' >> ~/.bashrc

From here on, only modify .commonrc so that both Bash and ZSH have the same environment.

Git, SSH, and GPG¶

See this guide.

Install Java and Rust¶

First, Install the Rust toolchain.

Then, download JDK 21 from Temurin. Do not use Java 8, java.com, or OpenJDK. Make sure it’s on your $PATH by running java --version in a new shell.

Generate a certificate¶

If you need a certificate, set a static IP address and generate a certificate with certbot. Choose “None of the above” for Software. Then follow the instructions exactly, including the “Automating renewal” section. This may not work through some company and university firewalls.

Sudoers¶

The easiest way is to run

su  #(1)!
usermod -aG sudo $USER

This will require you to enter the root password.

See this sudoers guide for more info.

Dotfiles¶

See awesome-dotfiles. Here are some I used:

# xdg-open occasionally assumed in scripts,
# so aliasing it to macOS's `open` is a good idea
# alias xdg-open=open

# These improve safety
# Accidentally running `chown -R xx . /` (on root) can brick your system
# The same goes for chmod and chgrp
alias chown='chown --preserve-root'
alias chmod='chmod --preserve-root'
alias chgrp='chgrp --preserve-root'

alias wgetc='wget -c'
alias grep='grep --color=auto'
alias egrep='egrep --color=auto'
alias fgrep='fgrep --color=auto'

# list open file handles for the current shell session (also see lsof)
alias handles='ls -la /proc/$$/fd'

# Check free memory
alias fre='free --human'

# Check CPU, memory, and swap usage
alias usg='vmstat --active'

# Check IO usage
alias iousg='sudo iotop --only --batch'

# List listening sockets
alias lssockets='sudo --listening --processes'
alias lstcp='sudo --listening --processes --tcp'
alias lsudp='sudo --listening --processes --udp'

# List threads
# -A == all processes
# -f == full listing (show args)
# -L == show threads
# -l == long format
# -y == Hide flags and show resident set size (RSS; memory used) instead of addr
# --headers == repeat header line once per page
# In the output:
# - NLWP is # of threads
# - LWP is "light-weight process"
alias threads='ps -A -f -L -l -y -S --headers'

# Normal grid exa (--created, --modified, and --git have no effect unless we pass --list)
alias e='exa --all --sort=name --group-directories-first --icons --created --modified --git'
# Detailed view with --list
alias el='exa --all --sort=name --group-directories-first --icons --created --modified --git --list'
# Detailed view in a grid (for wide monitors)
alias elg='exa --all --sort=name --group-directories-first --icons --created --modified --git --list --grid'

# These are nice as navigation shorthands
alias cd..='cd ..'
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../../../'
alias ....='cd ../../../../'
alias .....='cd ../../../../'

# make a dir and cd to it
function mkcd {
    mkdir "$1" && cd "$1"
}

# This one chowns recursively for you
function grab() {
    sudo chown -R ${USER}:${USER} ${1:-.}
}

# This one's modified from https://serverfault.com/questions/3743/what-useful-things-can-one-add-to-ones-bashrc
function extract () {
   if [[ ! -f "$1" ]] ; then
       >&2 echo "'$1' is not a file"
       exit 2
   fi
   case "$1" in
       *.tar.bz2)   tar xvjf "$1"    ;;
       *.tar.gz)    tar xvzf "$1"    ;;
       *.bz2)       bunzip2 "$1"     ;;
       *.rar)       unrar x "$1"     ;;
       *.gz)        gunzip "$1"      ;;
       *.tar)       tar xvf "$1"     ;;
       *.tbz2)      tar xvjf "$1"    ;;
       *.tgz)       tar xvzf "$1"    ;;
       *.zip)       unzip "$1"       ;;
       *.Z)         uncompress "$1"  ;;
       *.snappy)    snunzip "$1"     ;;
       *.sz)        snunzip "$1"     ;;
       *.br)        brotli -d "$1"   ;;
       *.xz)        unxz "$1"        ;;
       *.lz4)       unlz4 "$1"       ;;
       *.lzma)      unlzma  "$1"     ;;
       *.zst)       unzstd "$1"      ;;
       *.7z)        7z x "$1"        ;;
       *)           >&2 echo "I don't know how to extract '$1'"; exit 1 ;;
   esac
 }

Thanks

Thank you to Cole Helsell for drafting this guide with me.