MacOS Setting up a Mac for Development

12.02.2021 — Macos, Development Environment — 1 min read

Getting Started

The setup assistant will launch once you turn the computer on. Enter your preferred language, time zone, Apple ID, and so on. The first thing you should do is update macOS to get the latest security updates and patches.

Install HomeBrew

Install the Homebrew package manager. This will allow you to install almost any app from the command line.

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

Make sure everything is up to date.

1brew upgrade

Install Apps

Shell Programs	Purpose
git	Version control
bat	cat alternative
fzf	search
exa	ls alternative
tldr	man alternative

Here are some the applications I always install (cask flag in Homebrew):

NOTE: Do not install Node.js through Homebrew. Use nvm (below).

Application	Purpose
Visual Studio Code	text editor
Google Chrome	web browser
Firefox	web browser
Rectangle	window resizing
iTerm2	terminal
Docker	development
Slack	communication
Discord	communication
Spotify	music
Postgres	database
Postico	database UI
Postman	API Tool
Notion	Notes
Todoist	Todos

1## Shell Programs
2brew install \
3  git \
4  bat \
5  exa \
6  tldr \
7  fzf &&
8
9# GUI programs
10brew install --cask \
11  visual-studio-code \
12  google-chrome \
13  firefox \
14  rectangle \
15  iterm2 \
16  docker \
17  discord \
18  slack \
19  spotify \
20  postgres \
21  postico \
22  bear \
23  todoist \

Shell

Catalina comes with zsh as the default shell. Install Oh My Zsh for sensible defaults.Catalina comes with zsh as the default shell. Install Oh My Zsh for sensible defaults.

1sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Node.js

Use Node Version Manager (nvm) to install Node.js. This allows you to easily switch between Node versions, which is essential.

1curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.1/install.sh | bash

Install

I recommand using LTS

1nvm install --lts

Restart terminal and run the final command.

1nvm use node

Confirm that you are using the latest version of Node and npm.

1node -v && npm -v

update

For later, here's how to update nvm.

1nvm install node --reinstall-packages-from=node

Git

The first thing you should do with Git is set your global configuration.

1touch ~/.gitconfig

Input your config and create some aliases.

1[user]
2  name   = Firstname Lastname
3  email  = you@example.com
4[github]
5  user   = username
6[alias]
7  a      = add
8  ca     = commit -a
9  cam    = commit -am
10  cm     = commit -m
11  s      = status
12  p      = push
13  pom    = push origin master
14  puom   = pull origin master
15  cob    = checkout -b
16  co     = checkout
17  fp     = fetch --prune --all
18  l      = log --oneline --decorate --graph
19  lall   = log --oneline --decorate --graph --all
20  ls     = log --oneline --decorate --graph --stat
21  lt     = log --graph --decorate --pretty=format:'%C(yellow)%h%Creset%C(auto)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)%an%Creset'

With the above aliases, I can run git s instead of git status, for example. The less I have to type, the happier I am.

SSH

You can generate an SSH key to distribute.

1ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

Start ssh-agent.

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)" Add key.

1ssh-add -K ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Config

Simplify the process of SSHing into other boxes with your SSH config file. Create ~/.ssh/config if it does not already exist.

Add the following contents, changing the variables for any hosts that you connect to. Using the below will be the same as running ssh -i ~/.ssh/key.pem user@example.com.

~/.ssh/config

1Host *
2  AddKeysToAgent yes
3  UseKeychain yes
4  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
5
6Host myssh
7  HostName example.com
8  User user
9  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/key.pem

Now just run the alias to connect.

1ssh myssh

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