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Full Mac Setup Process (for Jeff Geerling)

There are some things in life that just can't be automated... or aren't 100% worth the time :(

This document covers that, at least in terms of setting up a brand new Mac out of the box.

Initial configuration of a brand new Mac

Before starting, I completed Apple's mandatory macOS setup wizard (creating a local user account, and optionally signing into my iCloud account). Once on the macOS desktop, I do the following (in order):

  • Install Ansible (following the guide in README.md)
  • Sign in in App Store (since mas can't sign in automatically)
  • Clone mac-dev-playbook to the Mac: git clone git@github.com:geerlingguy/mac-dev-playbook.git
  • Drop config.yml from ~/Dropbox/Apps/Config to the playbook (copy over the network or using a USB flash drive).
  • Run the playbook with --skip-tags post.
    • If there are errors, you may need to finish up other tasks like installing 'old-fashioned' apps first (since I try to place Photoshop in the Dock and it can't be installed automatically). Then, run the playbook again ;)
  • Start Synchronization tasks:
    • Open Photos and make sure iCloud sync options are correct
    • Open Music, make sure computer is authorized, and set Library sync options
    • Open Dropbox, sign in, and set up sync
  • Install old-fashioned apps:
  • Configure FastMail account:
    • Log into Fastmail
    • Go to settings, go to the setup page for macOS Mail
    • Download the profile and double click to install
    • Head to the 'Profiles' System Preference pane and click install
  • Open Calendar and enable personal Google CalDAV account (you have to manually sign in).
  • Manually copy ~/Development folder from another Mac (to save time).
  • Manual settings to automate someday:
    • System Preferences:
      • Accessibility > Display > Reduce transparency
      • Keyboard > Modifier Keys... > Caps Lock to Esc
    • Safari:
      • View > Show Status Bar
      • Preferences > Advanced > "Show full website address"
      • Preferences > Advanced > "Show Develop menu in menu bar"
    • Dock:
      • Add jgeerling, Downloads, Applications, and Video Projects folders
    • Terminal:
      • Preferences > Profiles > Set JJG-Term as the default theme
  • After Dropbox Sync completes: Run the playbook with --tags post to complete setup.
  • Symlink the synchronized config.yml into the playbook dir: ln -s /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Config/mac-dev-playbook/config.yml /Users/jgeerling/Development/mac-dev-playbook/config.yml
  • These things might be automatable, but I do them manually right now:
    • Configure Time Machine backup drive and Time Machine Editor (if needed)
    • Install Wireguard from App Store and add configuration (if needed)

To Wrap in Post-provision automation

The following tasks have to wait for the initial Dropbox sync to complete before they'll succeed. So ideally I'll stick this all in a post-provision script but somehow flag it not to run on first provision.

# ZSH Aliases.
ln -s /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Config/.aliases /Users/jgeerling/.aliases

# Electrum BTC Wallet.
ln -s /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Electrum/default_wallet /Users/jgeerling/.electrum/wallets/default_wallet

# SSH setup.
ssh-keygen  # and create a default key to set up .ssh folder
sudo ln -s /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Config/ssh/config ~/.ssh/config
# TODO - Manually copy any shared SSH keys that are needed.

# Ansible setup.
sudo mkdir -p /etc/ansible
sudo ln -s /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Config/ansible/ansible.cfg /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg
sudo ln -s /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Config/ansible/hosts /etc/ansible/hosts
sudo ln -s /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/VMs/roles /etc/ansible/roles
mkdir -p /Users/jgeerling/.ansible
ln -s /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Config/ansible/galaxy_token /Users/jgeerling/.ansible/galaxy_token
ln -s /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Config/ansible/mm-vault-password.txt /Users/jgeerling/.ansible/mm-vault-password.txt
ln -s /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/VMs/ /Users/jgeerling/.ansible/collections

# Final Cut Pro setup. (Open Motion first)
cp -r /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Config/Motion/Motion\ Templates.localized/ /Users/jgeerling/Movies/Motion\ Templates.localized/
cp -r /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Config/Motion/Text\ Styles/ /Users/jgeerling/Library/Application\ Support/Motion/Library/Text\ Styles.localized/

# Sequel Ace favorites. (Open Sequel Ace first)
cp /Users/jgeerling/Dropbox/Apps/Config/Sequel\ Ace/Favorites.plist /Users/jgeerling/Library/Containers/com.sequel-ace.sequel-ace/Data/Library/Application\ Support/Sequel\ Ace/Data/Favorites.plist

# Font setup.
cp ~/Dropbox/Apps/Config/Fonts/* ~/Library/Fonts/

# Vim setup.
mkdir -p ~/.vim/autoload
mkdir -p ~/.vim/bundle
cd ~/.vim/autoload
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tpope/vim-pathogen/master/autoload/pathogen.vim > pathogen.vim
cd ~/.vim/bundle
git clone git://github.com/scrooloose/nerdtree.git

When formatting old Mac

  • Sign out of Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Sign out of Panic Sync in Transmit
  • Deauthorize Apple Music in iTunes/Music App
  • Make sure anything new merged into ~/Dropbox/Apps/Config:
    • Fonts from ~/Library/Fonts
    • Motion Plugins from ~/Movies/Motion
    • Final Cut Pro Text Styles in ~/Library/Application Support/Motion/Library/Text Styles
    • Sequel Ace shortcuts from ~/Library/Containers/com.sequel-ace.sequel-ace/Data/Library/Application\ Support/Sequel\ Ace/Data/Favorites.plist
  • Follow Apple's guide here