[Blog] Setting up a new computer/laptop (macOS) #79
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Setup steps - MacBook Pro 16" (2023) M2 Max (April 2023)macOS Ventura 13.2.1 Pre-BootstrapmacOS InstallerGo through the macOS installer, configure any settings as desired:
Install System / OS UpdatesOnce you've booted into macOS for the first time, it probably makes sense to check for any system updates (particularly major OS updates) and install those before continuing.
(Optional) Save snapshot of macOS default configAt this stage, it may also be useful to get a snapshot of the default configurations on a freshly installed version of macOS. This can be useful for updating the scripts that configure macOS Open Terminal and run the following: mkdir ~/Desktop/macOS-defaults/
mkdir ~/Desktop/macOS-defaults/domains
defaults read > ~/Desktop/macOS-defaults/defaults-read.txt
defaults domains > ~/Desktop/macOS-defaults/defaults-domains.txt
defaults export -globalDomain - > ~/Desktop/macOS-defaults/defaults-export-globalDomain.xmlThen to export each individual domain's settings as #!/bin/bash
# ChatGPT Ref: https://chat.openai.com/chat/c03c1acf-5ba2-46a1-878e-020bb4715df6
# Define the output directory
output_dir="$HOME/Desktop/macOS-defaults/domains"
# Get a list of all domains
domains=$(defaults domains)
echo "Exporting domains..."
# Loop through each domain
IFS=", "
for domain in $domains; do
# Export the domain to an XML file
echo " $domain"
defaults export "$domain" - > "${output_dir}/${domain}.xml"
doneBootstrap(Optional) Install command line development tools.This will generally be performed as part of the Homebrew install script (see below), but if you want to do it manually, you can do this now (it's required for the default system installations of tools such as
If you try to run a command line tool such as
Install HomebrewHomebrew is a package manager that makes it easy to install all of the other applications we want on our machine. It can be easily installed by opening Terminal and running the following command: /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"We used to have to manually set up the (Optional) Universal ControlIf you're setting up your new system while you still have your old one running, you can make use of macOS' Universal Control feature to share the same mouse/keyboard between both devices:
You can enable this by:
To make things easier, you probably also want to arrange your devices similar to how they are actually positioned in real life:
Once this is configured (potentially on both devices), you should be able to 'push' your pointer 'through' the edge of the screen from one device to the other. Dotfiles, defaults, and core applicationsClone
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It would be cool to write about how I set up a new laptop, encoding some of my currently more manual processes, and the order that makes most sense in doing so.
Setting up a new laptop
Pre-Bootstrap
Go through the macOS installer, configure any settings as desired.
Once you've booted into macOS for the first time, it probably makes sense to check for any system updates (particularly major OS updates) and install those before continuing.
(Optional) At this stage, it may also be useful to get a snapshot of the default configurations on a freshly installed version of macOS. This can be useful for updating the scripts that configure macOS
defaults(see 'dotfiles' section below)defaults read > ~/Desktop/macOS-defaults.txtBootstrap
(Optional) Install command line development tools.
This will generally be performed as part of the Homebrew install script (see below), but if you want to do it manually, you can do this now (it's required for the default system installations of tools such as
git, etc)xcode-select --installIf you try to run a command line tool such as
gitbefore installing this, you will see a message similar to the following:Install Homebrew
Homebrew is a package manager that makes it easy to install all of the other applications we want on our machine.
It can be easily installed by opening Terminal and running the following command:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"Once this is done, you probably also want enable the homebrew 'cask' 'tap', to be able to instal non CLI applications as well:
Dotfiles, defaults and core applications
Once I have my basic bootstrap tools installed, I can clone my dotfiles repo, and run some more automated setup scripts to get my environment exactly how I like it.
Open Terminal and clone my dotfiles repo. Note that we use
https(rather thanssh) to clone for now, as we don't have ssh keys setup on our new machine yet:git clone https://github.com/0xdevalias/dotfiles.git ~/.dotfilesMake any customisations you may need before running. At a minimum, I would suggest checking that the latest versions are setup in:
Note: I hit a number of issues when running this that we should figure how to fix:
After running the bootstrap, and restarting my terminal, it also seems as though it won't run all of the 'init scripts' correctly, due to missing programs, etc; which eventually cause the shell to exit with an error. These should either be included as part of a 'core required tools' step, or be smart enough to exit cleanly without running if those tools aren't already present:
If you see this, you can say
nfor the time being, then once your shell starts, run the following command to ensure the directories aren't world writeable:compaudit | xargs chmod g-wOnce everything is updated as desired, run
script/bootstrapto install things:At time of writing, this will:
.gitconfig*.symlinkfiles from the dotfiles repo into$HOMEbin/dotwhalebrewand similar package management type things here too?antigenis installedzshis installedNote that the automatic running of installs scripts is a little manual/haphazard at the moment, mostly because I don't necessarily want to automatically install everything on a new machine. I would suggest checking the code to see what will be run, and sanity checking that each is going to do what you want it to. A lot of these scripts end up being run once per new machine, so they can drift/become outdated from my 'ideal setup' over time.
Eventually I would like to clean this up and standardise it a bit more, to be a 'bare minimal' set (eg. core development environments for node, python, ruby, etc. Though I think when that happens, it may make sense to do so as part of adopting a dotfiles management tool (see 0xdevalias/dotfiles#8)
For now, refer to the below sections for a more 'manual' list of core installs/setup tasks for a new dev machine. I've roughly attempted to document them in the order I would follow, but this isn't necessarily a hard requirement.
Computer Name
sudo scutil --set ComputerName "newname"(required)sudo scutil --set LocalHostName "newname"(required)sudo scutil --set HostName "newname"(probably not needed)dscacheutil -flushcache(required?)scutil --get ComputerName(was updated when I change computer name in system preferences)scutil --get LocalHostName(was updated when I change computer name in system preferences)scutil --get HostName("HostName: not set", even after configuring computer name in system preferences (but haven't restarted yet))Basic text/code editor
~/.dotfiles/sublimetext/install.shGenerate SSH key for GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, etc
script/bootstrapssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]" -f ~/.ssh/github_YOURUSERNAME_ed25519cat ~/.ssh/github_devalias_ed25519.pub | pbcopy(this will copy it to the clipboard)[email protected]~/.dotfiles/ssh/keys.initso thatssh-keyinitworks correctlyssh-addgithub_USERNAME_ed25519 bitbucket_USERNAME_rsa gitlab_USERNAME_rsassh-keyinitonce after restarting our machine, and it will load the specified keys for uscd ~/.dotfilesgit remote set-url origin [email protected]:0xdevalias/dotfiles.gitTerminal/Shell (iTerm2)
~/.dotfiles/iterm2/install.shGPG (git commit signing, etc)
gpg,pinentry-mac):~/.dotfiles/gpg/install.shKeybase
brew cask install keybasekeybase pgp listkeybase pgp pull-private THEGPGKEYID(repeat for other keys as required)signingkeyin~/.dotfiles/git/gitconfig.local.symlinkgpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format LONGgit config --file ~/.gitconfig.local --set user.signingkey THE16CHARKEYIDscript/bootstrapor similarDevelopment Tools (Java, Node, Python, Ruby, Golang, Swift, Xcode, etc)
jenv, etc):~/.dotfiles/java/install.shnodenv, etc):~/.dotfiles/node/install.shpyenv):~/.dotfiles/python/install.shrbenv):~/.dotfiles/ruby/install.shgoenv)?swiftenv)?brew cask install jetbrains-toolbox~/.dotfiles/xcode/install.sh(TODO: update this?)brew cask install sourcetree(similar togitkrakenbut free)/usr/local/bin/gpgcalledgpg2ln -s /usr/local/bin/gpg /usr/local/bin/gpg2Preferences -> Advanced -> GPG Program/usr/local/bin(it looks for a binary calledgpg2in this folder)Repository -> Repository Settings -> Securitygpg2binary as described abovebrew cask install gitkraken(similar to SourceTree)brew cask install aws-vaultbrew cask install dockerbrew cask install postmanbrew cask install insomnia(optional, similar to postman)Web Browser
brew cask install google-chromebrew cask install chrome-remote-desktop-hostAlfred
brew cask install alfredSettings -> Advanced -> Syncing -> Set preferences folderdefaults read com.runningwithcrayons.Alfreddefaults read com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred-preferencesSettings -> General -> Alfred HotkeySettings -> Features -> Web BookmarksSettings -> Features -> Clipboard HistoryBetterTouchTool
brew cask install bettertouchtoolDropbox -> Backup -> BetterTouchTool)Default (THISCOMPUTER))Settings -> Standard Settings -> Basic -> Launch BetterTouchTool on StartupSettings -> Advanced Settings -> General -> Enable automatic update checkingSettings -> Advanced Settings -> General -> Install Process Priority Helper ToolSettings -> Advanced Settings -> Scripting BTT -> Allow External BetterTouchTool ScriptingSettings -> Advanced Settings -> SyncBartender
brew cask install bartenderHyperdock
brew cask install hyperdockUnsorted
The following don't have any complex setup scripts/environment required, so we can just manually install them with HomeBrew if desired:
brew cask install XXXdisk-inventory-xfluxgemini(duplicate file finder)viscositylastpassdropboxresilio-syncfantasticalPreferences -> AccountsPreferences -> Accounts -> Open maps in -> Google Mapstoggldiscordsignalskypetelegramzoomuslastfm(optional)plexampspotifyvlcblackholenative-accesssoundflowersidequestsony-ps4-remote-playsteambrew install XXX(a small selection, seebrew.*.listfiles for more)aria2awsclicoreutilsdiveexiftoolffmpeggitgnupggogobustergoreleaserhubjqpcreqemuunrarwatchmanUnsorted
script/bootstrapApp Store
We also want to open the App Store, and install any past purchases we want on this machine:
Launchpad
Next we want to organise applications in Launchpad into appropriate folders. While this is controlled by a sqlite database, I'm not currently aware of any tools that allow us to do this automatically, so we'll do it manually for now:
Cleaning up an old laptop before selling/disposing
Unsorted
~/.netrc~/.localrcgpg --gen-revoke KEYIDgpg --import my_revocation.txtgpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --send-keys KEYIDkeybase pgp drop KEYBASEKEYIDLegacy
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