Mac OS X setup

This is a list of reproducible steps to get a clean Mac (with Apple Silicon) up and running with nice dotfiles for Fish, plus a whole bunch of apps and development tools.

Step 1: ssh keys

Restore your saved ssh keys or create a new pair.

Make sure they have the right permissions:

$ chmod 600 ~/.ssh/* && chmod 700 ~/.ssh && chmod 644 ~/.ssh/*.pub

Step 2: install Homebrew and git

$ /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
$ (echo; echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"') >> /Users/kevin/.zprofile
$ eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
$ brew analytics off

Step 3: dotfiles

Clone this repository

$ git clone [email protected]:kevinrenskers/dotfiles.git

And run the bootstrap.sh script. Alternatively, only run the setup.sh scripts in specific subfolders if you don't need everything.

Restart your shell after it's done.

You can now run fish_config to change the terminal colors, abbreviations, etc.

Don't forget to set your git credentials, or you'll be using my details which are in the dotfiles:

$ git config --global user.name "Kevin Renskers"
$ git config --global user.email "[email protected]"

Step 4: anything else you need

Python

I'm using uv as the Python and package manager for Python projects. I do not use Homebrew to install Python, nor do I use the system version of Python.

While uv can install any Python version, these installs are not available globally (i.e. via the python command). You need to use uv run for one-off scripts or to start a shell (i.e. uv run python), or create virtual environments using uv init. See https://docs.astral.sh/uv/guides/scripts/#using-different-python-versions for more information.

git up

I love git up, which updates all local branches with remote changes, by rebasing rather than merging. You just run git up in your project and everything is up to date.

After installing uv, you can simply install git up with one command:

$ uv tool install git-up

Ruby

I'm using rbenv instead of the system Ruby, to prevent annoying permission problems. You should never have to use sudo to install gems!

brew install rbenv
rbenv init

Follow the printed instructions to set up rbenv shell integration. Close your terminal and open a new one so the changes take effect. Then verify that everything is okay:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/rbenv/rbenv-installer/raw/master/bin/rbenv-doctor | bash

Now you can install (and then use) a Ruby version, for example:

rbenv install 2.6.4
rbenv global 2.6.4

PostgreSQL

Simply download Postgres.app from http://postgresapp.com. I love Postico 2 as my database client.

After installing Postgres.app, run the following command to get access to the command line tools:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/paths.d && echo /Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/Versions/latest/bin | sudo tee /etc/paths.d/postgresapp

Node.js and NPM (Node Package Manager)

I'm using pnpm as my Node package manager, and to install specific Node versions.

$ curl -fsSL https://get.pnpm.io/install.sh | sh -
$ pnpm env use --global lts

Restart your shell and check if everything works: node --version.

To update pnpm itself:

$ pnpm add -g pnpm

Nginx

$ brew install nginx
$ sudo ln -sfv /usr/local/opt/nginx/*.plist /Library/LaunchAgents
$ sudo mkdir /var/log/nginx/

Edit /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf, change port to 80 and error_log to /var/log/nginx/error.log. Then start the server:

$ sudo nginx

Config file:

/usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Other commands:

$ sudo nginx -s stop
$ sudo nginx -s reload

Thanks to...

• Mathias Bynens for sharing his dotfiles, bootstrap script and installation instructions.
• Michael Moyle for his Nginx/PHP-FPM installation instructions.
• Rosco Kalis for sharing hit dotfiles