Things to do after fresh MacOS installation

After installing a fresh version of MacOS, you need to do a minimum installation of softwares for development or for different entertainment purpose. Here is a list for the same

• macOS version

  sw_vers
  

  system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType
  

  uname -a
  

• change Computer Name, System Hostname, Local Hostname

  # Computer Name (User-Friendly Name)
  sudo scutil --get ComputerName
  sudo scutil --set ComputerName "Your New Computer Name"
    
  # System Hostname (what the Terminal prompt often shows)
  sudo scutil --get HostName
  sudo scutil --set HostName "your-new-system-hostname"
    
  # Local Hostname (Bonjour Name)
  sudo scutil --get LocalHostName
  sudo scutil --set LocalHostName "your-new-local-hostname"
    
  # Flush DNS Cache (Optional but Recommended)-ensure network services recognize the change
  sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
  

• install Homebrew - a package manager for mac

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

• install MacPorts (optional, as alternative to Homebrew)

  sudo port selfupdate # to update port
  port installed # all installed ports
  port outdated # list of outdated ports
  port upgrade vim # upgrade installed port
  

• create .zshrc file in home directory

  nano ~/.zshrc
  

• colorize terminal output (folders & files with diff. colors) (optional)

  nano ~/.zshrc
  export CLICOLOR=1
  

• change shell from zshrc to bash (Only if you want to change shell, else leave it.)

  # list of included shells
  cat /etc/shells
  
  # change default shell to Bash
  chsh -s /bin/bash
  
  # change default shell back to Zsh
  chsh -s /bin/zsh
  

• install xcode command-line tools (it prompts to install)

  git --version
  

• install uv (python package manager) - to manage different python version

  curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
  source $HOME/.local/bin/env
  uv python install 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13
  

• download from sites

  • Google Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Visual studio code
    • After installation, add code command to PATH:
      1. Open VS Code
      2. Press Cmd+Shift+P to open Command Palette
      3. Type “Shell Command: Install ‘code’ command in PATH”
      4. Select and run the command
      5. Restart terminal and test with code --version
  • Cursor
  • Jetbrains Toolbox (PyCharm & IntelliJ)
  • Eclipse
  • Slack
  • Zoom client
  • Skype
  • Dropbox
  • RStudio
  • MySQL community
  • MySQL Workbench
  • DBeaver
  • MySQL JDBC connector
  • R
  • RStudio
  • Zettlr (Markdown editor)
  • cmake
  • AWS CLI
  • Notion Desktop
  • Lens for Mac - IDE for Kubernetes
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Node.js LTS

• install & configure (export path variables to .zshrc/.bashrc)

  • OpenJDK (LTS)
    • Eclipse Adoptium
    • Amazon Corretto
    • Azul-Java Zulu
    • Microsoft Build of OpenJDK
    • Red Hat build of OpenJDK

  • Oracle Java JDK (LTS)

    # JAVA_HOME
    export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)
    export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin
    
    # export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-11.0.14.jdk/Contents/Home
    

  • Python

    # Python - depending on your version & location
    export PATH=$PATH:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.11/bin
    # export PATH=$PATH:/$HOME/Library/Python/3.9/bin
    

  • Go

    # GOROOT & GOPATH
    export GOROOT=/usr/local/go
    export GOPATH=$HOME/go
    export PATH=$PATH:$GOROOT/bin:$GOPATH/bin
    

  • Maven

    # check JAVA_HOME
    tar xzvf apache-maven-3.8.5-bin.tar.gz
    sudo mv apache-maven-3.8.5 /opt/
    # path
    export MAVEN_HOME=/opt/apache-maven-3.8.5
    export PATH=$PATH:$MAVEN_HOME/bin
    

  • Protocol Buffers

    unzip protoc-3.20.0-osx-x86_64.zip
    sudo mv protoc-3.20.0-osx-x86_64 /opt/
    # path
    PROTOC_HOME=/opt/protoc-3.20.0-osx-x86_64
    export PATH=$PATH:$PROTOC_HOME
    # check
    protoc --version
    

• configure git

  • create a personal access token <- click here to create

    git config --global user.email <you@example.com>
    git config --global user.name <your user name>
    

  • configure git credential manager core for PAT (Personel Access Token)
  • generate PAT here

    # tell Git you want to store credentials in the osxkeychain
    git config --global credential.helper osxkeychain
    
    # add your access token to the osxkeychain- by using pull/push
    # when prompted for password, instead enter access token(it get cached in the osxkeychain automatically)
    git clone https://github.com/username/repo.git
    

• install & configure open-ssh

  sudo port install openssh
  sudo port load openssh
  

• install/uninstall with brew

  brew install wget
  brew install openjdk
  brew install openssh
  brew install db-browser-for-sqlite
  brew install --cask dbeaver-community
  brew install minikube hyperkit
  
  # lists apps installed by brew
  brew list
  
  # uninstall
  brew uninstall wget
  

• DevOps tools
  • containers & kubernetes
    • install Docker Desktop on Mac
    • install Rancher Desktop (docker without Docker Desktop)
    • install Minikube
      • container runtime of your choice (containerd or dockerd) - free
      • kubernetes, Traefik
      • docker(cli), docker-compose, docker-buildx
      • kubectl, helm, nerdctl, rdctl
  • Jenkins
  • Grafana
  • Prometheus
• AI
  • AWS MCP servers

    # Core MCP Server
    ~/.aws/amazonq/mcp.json
    # https://awslabs.github.io/mcp/servers/core-mcp-server/
    

• Jekyll
  • install ruby version manager

    brew install rbenv ruby-build
    rbenv init  # add it to .zprofile
    cat ~/.zprofile
    rbenv install 3.4.1
    rbenv global 3.4.1
    ruby -v
    

  • install jekyll

    gem install jekyll
    cd jekyll-theme-chirpy
    bundle install
    bundle exec jekyll serve