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Mac-Setting: macOS Tahoe Setup & Configuration Guide

Complete automation toolkit for setting up a fresh macOS Tahoe installation on Apple Silicon Macs (M3 Max, M4 MacBook Air, etc.).

Quick Overview

This repository provides a 4-Phase automated setup process to transform a clean macOS Tahoe installation into a fully configured development environment:

  1. Phase 1: Bootstrap - Install essentials (Homebrew, 1Password, GitHub CLI, clone this repo)
  2. Phase 2: Basic Settings - System preferences, terminal, Finder, Dock, productivity apps
  3. Phase 3: Development - Python, Docker, Docker Compose, Ollama + Open WebUI, LLM tools
  4. Phase 4: Optional - Parallels Desktop & Windows gaming environment (coming soon)

🚀 Quick Start

Before You Begin

  • macOS Tahoe (version 26.x) installed and fully updated
  • Clean installation (or willing to back up existing configurations)
  • Administrator access
  • Stable internet connection
  • External drive for backups (recommended)

The Installation Flow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Clean macOS Tahoe Installation │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Phase 1: Bootstrap │
│ Run: phase-1-bootstrap.sh │
│ ↓ Installs Homebrew, 1Password, GitHub │
│ ↓ Clones this repo │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Phase 2: Basic Settings │
│ Run: phase-2-basic-settings.sh │
│ ↓ Terminal, Finder, Dock, Productivity │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Phase 3: Development Environment │
│ Run: phase-3-development.sh │
│ ↓ Python, Docker, LLM, AI Tools │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Mac Fully Configured! ✅ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

📋 Phase 1: Bootstrap Installation

Duration: ~10-15 minutes

What Gets Installed

  • Homebrew (macOS package manager)
  • 1Password (password manager)
  • 1Password CLI
  • Git & GitHub CLI
  • Mac-Setting repository (setup scripts & guides)

How to Run

Open Terminal and run:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sheepnir/Mac-Setting/main/Scripts/phase-1-bootstrap.sh)"

Or if you prefer to download and review first:

# Download the script
curl -o phase-1-bootstrap.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sheepnir/Mac-Setting/main/Scripts/phase-1-bootstrap.sh
# Make it executable
chmod +x phase-1-bootstrap.sh
# Review it
cat phase-1-bootstrap.sh
# Run it
./phase-1-bootstrap.sh

What Happens During Phase 1

  1. Homebrew - Checks for Homebrew, installs if missing
  2. 1Password - Installs 1Password app and CLI
    • You'll be prompted to open 1Password and sign in
    • Requires: Your 1Password account email & master password
  3. Git & GitHub CLI - Installs Git and GitHub CLI
    • Configures Git with your user information
  4. GitHub Authentication - Authenticates with GitHub
    • You'll be prompted to run gh auth login
    • Requires: Your GitHub login credentials
    • Browser-based authentication (can use 2FA)
  5. Clone Repository - Clones Mac-Setting to ~/Developer/Mac-Setting
  6. Next Steps - Displays instructions to continue

Requirements for Phase 1

Before running Phase 1, have these ready:

  • ✅ 1Password account email and master password
  • ✅ GitHub account username and password (or 2FA device)
  • ✅ Internet connection (stable download needed)
  • ✅ ~15 minutes of time

Next Step

Once Phase 1 completes successfully, you'll be prompted to:

# Run Phase 2~/Developer/Mac-Setting/Scripts/phase-2-basic-settings.sh

⚙️ Phase 2: Basic Settings & Essential Tools

Duration: ~20-30 minutes

What Gets Configured

System Settings:

  • Finder: List view, show hidden files, show extensions
  • Finder sidebar: Custom layout
  • Dock: Custom app arrangement with Applications and Downloads folders
  • Terminal: ZSH with Oh My Zsh framework
  • Menu bar and Control Center (Tahoe features)

Applications Installed:

  • Browsers: Google Chrome, Brave
  • Editors: VS Code, Sublime Text, Cursor
  • Communication: Slack
  • AI Tools: ChatGPT, Claude
  • Utilities: Raycast, AppCleaner, HiddenBar, Grammarly

How to Run

~/Developer/Mac-Setting/Scripts/phase-2-basic-settings.sh

What This Script Does

Automatically runs these in order:

  1. Terminal & ZSH setup (restores backed-up configs)
  2. Finder preferences
  3. Dock customization
  4. Oh My Zsh framework installation
  5. Productivity tools installation

After Phase 2 Completes

Your Mac now has:

  • ✅ Customized terminal with ZSH and Oh My Zsh
  • ✅ Finder in list view with custom sidebar
  • ✅ Clean Dock with essential apps
  • ✅ All productivity tools installed and ready

Next step: Run Phase 3

~/Developer/Mac-Setting/Scripts/phase-3-development.sh

🛠️ Phase 3: Development Environment

Duration: ~30-45 minutes

What Gets Installed

Languages & Runtimes:

  • Python (via Homebrew)
  • Common Python packages for development
  • Node.js (optional)

Development Tools:

  • Docker Desktop for Mac
  • Docker Compose
  • Ollama (local LLM runtime)
  • Open WebUI (web interface for local LLMs)

AI & ML Packages:

  • numpy, pandas, matplotlib, seaborn
  • scikit-learn, jupyter
  • torch (PyTorch)
  • tensorflow
  • transformers, nltk, spacy, gensim
  • anthropic, openai (API clients)
  • python-dotenv

How to Run

~/Developer/Mac-Setting/Scripts/phase-3-development.sh

Available Commands After Installation

# Python
python3 --version
pip install package_name
# Create virtual environments
python3 -m venv myenv
source myenv/bin/activate
# Docker
docker --version
docker run hello-world
# Ollama (local LLMs)
ollama pull llama2
ollama run llama2
# Open WebUI (after Ollama)
docker run -d -p 3000:8080 ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:latest
# Then visit: http://localhost:3000

After Phase 3 Completes

Your Mac now has a complete development environment with:

  • ✅ Python with data science libraries
  • ✅ Docker for containerized applications
  • ✅ Local LLM capabilities (Ollama)
  • ✅ Web UI for interacting with local models
  • ✅ All tools for AI/ML development

📚 Additional Documentation

For More Details

Configuration Backup

All your backed-up configurations are stored in /Configs:

  • zsh/ - ZSH configuration files
  • terminal/ - Terminal and iTerm2 preferences
  • oh-my-zsh/ - Custom themes and plugins
  • backup-metadata.txt - Info about the backup source

Specialized Guides

🔧 Manual Customization (After Installation)

After running the automated scripts, you may want to customize:

Dock Customization

Edit Scripts/update_dock.sh to change which apps appear in your Dock.

Terminal Theme

Change ZSH theme in ~/.zshrc:

# Current theme: half-life
ZSH_THEME="half-life"# Change to another theme (e.g., "robbyrussell")
ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"source~/.zshrc

System Preferences (Tahoe Features)

  • Menu Bar: System Settings > Control Center - Customize what appears in menu bar
  • Dock: System Settings > Dock & Menu Bar
  • Finder: System Settings > Finder
  • App Icons: Right-click app > Options > Tint (Light/Dark/Clear)

Folder Colors & Emoji

Right-click any folder > Customize Tags to add colors and emoji to organize your files.

🆘 Troubleshooting

Phase 1 Issues

Problem: Homebrew installation fails

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

Problem: GitHub CLI authentication fails

# Manually authenticate
gh auth login

Phase 2 Issues

Problem: Terminal theme not applied

# Reload ZSHexec zsh
# Orsource~/.zshrc

Problem: Finder changes didn't apply

# Restart Finder
killall Finder

Phase 3 Issues

Problem: Docker won't start

  • Open Docker.app from Applications
  • Wait for it to fully initialize
  • Then try again

Problem: Ollama won't download models

  • Check internet connection
  • Ensure Docker is running
  • Try manual: ollama pull llama2

General Issues

Check the POST-INSTALL-STEPS.md for verification commands to test each phase.

📦 What's in This Repository

Mac-Setting/
├── README.md (this file)
├── PRE-INSTALLATION.md
├── POST-INSTALL-STEPS.md
├── DEVELOPMENT-SETUP.md
├── Scripts/
│ ├── phase-1-bootstrap.sh
│ ├── phase-2-basic-settings.sh
│ ├── phase-3-development.sh
│ ├── 1Password_GH_setup.sh
│ ├── terminal_settings.sh
│ ├── setup_finder.sh
│ ├── setup_ohmyzsh.sh
│ ├── update_dock.sh
│ └── prducttivity_tools_install.sh
├── Configs/
│ ├── zsh/ (backed-up configs)
│ ├── terminal/
│ ├── oh-my-zsh/
│ └── backup-metadata.txt
├── GenAI/
│ └── localLLM.md
├── Python_Setup/
│ └── setup.md
└── ARCHIVE/ (old documentation)

🔒 Security & Privacy

Sensitive Information

  • Do NOT commit.env files, API keys, or credentials
  • Use 1Password for storing sensitive data (configured during Phase 1)
  • Use 1Password CLI to securely access credentials from scripts

Git Configuration

After Phase 1, Git is configured with:

Update these if needed:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your@email.com"

🆙 Updating This Repository

To get the latest configurations and scripts:

cd~/Developer/Mac-Setting
git pull origin main

📝 System Requirements

  • macOS Version: Tahoe (26.0) or later
  • Architecture: Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4, etc.)
  • RAM: 8GB minimum (16GB+ recommended for development)
  • Disk Space: 50GB+ free space
  • Internet: Required for downloads (10+ GB total)

💡 Tips & Best Practices

Backup Before Making Changes

# Create a Time Machine backup before major changes# System Settings > General > Time Machine

Keep Your Config Repo Updated

After customizing your setup, commit changes:

cd~/Developer/Mac-Setting
git add .
git commit -m "Updated settings"
git push

Virtual Environments for Projects

Always use virtual environments for Python projects:

python3 -m venv myproject
source myproject/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Docker Image Management

Keep your Docker system clean:

# Remove unused images
docker image prune -a
# Remove unused volumes
docker volume prune

🤝 Contributing

Found an issue or want to improve something? Great!

  1. Create a new branch: git checkout -b feature/your-feature
  2. Make your changes
  3. Test thoroughly
  4. Commit with clear message: git commit -m "Add your feature"
  5. Push: git push origin feature/your-feature
  6. Open a pull request

📄 License

These scripts and configurations are provided as-is for personal Mac setup automation.

✅ Support & Issues

  • Check POST-INSTALL-STEPS.md for verification steps
  • Check DEVELOPMENT-SETUP.md for tool-specific help
  • Review archived documentation in ARCHIVE/ for additional context
  • Check individual script comments for detailed information

🎯 What's Next After Installation?

After running all 3 phases, your Mac is ready for:

  • ✅ Web development (Docker, containers, databases)
  • ✅ Python development (data science, ML, AI)
  • ✅ Local AI/LLM experimentation (Ollama)
  • ✅ General development work
  • ✅ Content creation (VS Code, etc.)

Future additions:

  • Phase 4: Parallels Desktop & Windows gaming setup
  • Additional language runtimes (Node.js, Rust, Go)
  • Database setup (PostgreSQL, MongoDB)
  • Container orchestration (Kubernetes basics)

Version: macOS Tahoe (26.x) Last Updated: November 2025 Target Systems: Apple Silicon Macs (M1+)

Happy coding! 🚀

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