My post-install process for MacOS

1. Onboarding and OS Update

1. Onboarding choices:
   • Keyboards: British and Russian – PC.
2. Install latest version of OS.

2. Update Settings

1. Enable natural trackpad scrolling: System Settings -> Trackpad -> Scroll & Zoom: Natural scrolling – ON(for NTFS drive read/write support).
2. Add user directory to the Finder: Finder -> Go -> Go to finder -> type / -> find user directory and drag it to the Favorites.
3. Always show hidden files:

   defaults write http://com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles true

4. Speed up keyboard: System Settings -> Keyboard -> Key repeat rate – Fast, Delay until repeat – Short.
5. Wallpaper: Set some nice nature landscape as a wallpaper.
6. Appearance:
   • Liquid Glass – Tinted.
   • Show scroll bars – Always.
7. Desktop & Dock:
   • Automatically hide and show the Dock – ON.
   • Show suggested and recent apps in Dock – ON.
   • Default web browser – Google Chrome.
8. Notifications:
   • when screen is locked – OFF.
9. Sound:
   • Play sound on startup – OFF.
   • Play user interface sound effects – OFF.
10. Privacy and Security:
    1. FileVault – ON.
11. Network:
    • Firewall – ON.

3. Install Software

1. Password Manager Bitwarden.
2. Browsers: Chrome, Firefox.
3. Code editors: VS Code, Cursor.
4. Media: VLC Player.
5. Communication: Zoom, Slack, Telegram.
6. Graphics: ImageOptim.
7. Storage: Tuxera, Google Drive for NTFS drive read/write support.
8. Helpful utilities:
   • Command X – cut and paste files in Finder.
   • Scroll-Reverser – reverses the direction of scrolling on macOS.
   • The Unarchiver.
   • Homebrew for packages management.
   • Transmission bittorrent client.
9. Development stuff:
   • nvm.
   • Docker.
   • Postman.
10. Some stuff using brew: brew install cmake p7zip pnpm git git-lfs.
11. Some more stuff using pnpm: pnpm i -g kill-port.

4. Install Fonts

Download and install using Font Book.

• Fira Code.
• Martian Mono.

5. Setup Configs

SSH keys

1. Place keys to User/.ssh directory.
2. Add keys to authentication agent ssh-add ~/.ssh/{private_key}.
3. Set directory rights chmod 700 ~/.ssh/*.
4. Create ssh config .ssh/config.

Host {host1}
    HostName {hostname1}
    User {username1}
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/{filename1}

Host {host2}
    HostName {hostname2}
    User {username2}
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/{filename2}

Read more about ssh configuration

Enable commits signing (SSH)

1. Generate SSH key locally.
2. Add SSH key to GitHub: Settings -> SSH and GPG keys -> New SSH key – Signing.
3. Update local git settings.

git config --global gpg.format ssh
git config --global user.signingkey ~/PATH/TO/.SSH/KEY.PUB
git config --global commit.gpgsign true

Read more about commits signing

Git configs: work/personal

1. Create a root .gitconfig file: touch ~/.gitconfig.

[includeIf "gitdir:~/work/"]
    path = .gitconfig-work
[includeIf "gitdir:~/personal/"]
    path = .gitconfig-personal

2. Create work and personal files: touch ~/.gitconfig-personal, touch ~/.gitconfig-work.

[user]
    email = work/personal@email.com
    name = John Doe

Read more about conditional git configs

6. The Last Mile

1. Arrange dock icons. From left to right:
   • AI Apps (ChatGPT, Gemini, …).
   • Code editors and IDEs (Cursor, WebStorm, …).
   • Browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, …).
   • Personal stuff (Password manager, notes).
   • System things (Terminal, System monitoring, Clock, Calculator, …).
   • Communication (Telegram, Slack, …).
2. Adjust notifications.
3. Setup widgets in notification center:
   • Weather (med).
   • Calendar (large).
   • Calendar (small).
   • Batteries (small).