Macbook Pro dotfiles and setup at GitLab

This repository contains everything to bootstrap my Macbook Pro.

Current: Macbook Pro 14 inch, M1 Max, 32 GB RAM, 2021 M1 Silicon architecture.
The previous setup for the 16 inch, 2019 model can be found at this commit. The setup is explained in-depth in dotfiles - Document and automate your Macbook setup.

The current ZSH theme is Powerlevel10k, detailed in this blog post.

In addition to the files stored in this repository, the following instructions are needed to fully setup a Macbook Pro.

Preparations

iterm2

Install iterm2 manually from the website, drag it into the Applications folder, start it and add it to the deck.

Download the Dark and White profiles from this repository
Navigate into Settings > Profile.
At the bottom, click on Other Actions and select Import JSON profiles. Import the downloaded Dark.json file.
Mark dark profile and select Other Actions > Set as default.

Powerlevel10k fonts for Oh-My-ZSH terminal:

Download the font files from https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k#manual-font-installation (backup in fonts/).
Double-click to open them all to follow "Install Font".

Security app permissions for iTerm2

Navigate into Settings > Security and Privacy > App Management and allow iTerm2 to modify apps. Otherwise you will see this warning on macOS Ventura 13.4.1.

Warning: Your terminal does not have App Management permissions, so Homebrew will delete and reinstall the app.
This may result in some configurations (like notification settings or location in the Dock/Launchpad) being lost.
To fix this, go to Settings > Security and Privacy > App Management and turn on the switch for your terminal.

Git (XCode)

Install it on the command line first, it will ask for permission.

xcode-select --install

Sudo

sudo vim /private/etc/sudoers.d/mfriedrich

mfriedrich  ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

Backup

Use Google drive and Chrome profile sync to migrate backup data.

Copy the following private secret files in your home directory:

SSH and GPG Keys in .ssh/ and .gnupg/
Settings in .env, .zshrc/, .oh-my-zsh/

cd backup/
cp -r .ssh .gnupg .env .zshrc .oh-my-zsh $HOME/

Note:

The dotenv plugin is enabled in OhMyZSH which automatically reads the .env settings from the user's home directory.

Dot files

These steps contain all the remaining setup steps: Homebrew, macOS system settings, applications.

git clone https://gitlab.com/dnsmichi/dotfiles.git
cd dotfiles

Sync the files into the home directory.

./bootstrap.sh

Apply macOS settings. Review the .macos file before applying.

./.macos

Install Homebrew and OhMyZSH.

./brew_once.sh

Install tools and apps

Install tools and applications with Homebrew bundle.

brew bundle

This makes use of the Brewfile definitions.

Essentials

These tools are managed outside of Homebrew, and require additional work and documentation.

Google Chrome - tips handbook
1Password 8
Zoom (note the special download location for Apple M1 Silicon)
Raycast has automated updates enabled.
VS Code has automated updates enabled (extensions require newer versions).
Rectangle Pro for window management
Java 18+ Open Source
Grammarly Desktop (approved license)
Adobe Creative Cloud (team license)

Google Chrome
Spotify (account required)

IDEs

JetBrains IDE Toolbox (license required for IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, GoLand, RubyMine, CLion, RustRover, Rider, DataGrip, etc.).
Arduino IDE: IDE for developing and provisioning Arduino hardware. The CLI is installed via Breewfile.
Tonny: IDE for the Tufty 2040 badge and other microcontroller projects.

VS Code

Download and install VS Code manually, due to fast upgrade cycles in the application and extension marketplace.

Configuration: vscode/settings.json (cmd shift p, search for settings json).

Initial setup:

cp vscode/settings.json ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/

Notable changes from the default configuration:

Auto-save enabled: "files.autoSave": "afterDelay",
Word-wrap enabled: "editor.wordWrap": "on",
Change font family to meslolgs nf to print ZSH icons in the VS Code terminal: "terminal.integrated.fontFamily": "meslolgs nf",
GitLab Duo Code Suggestions enabled: "gitlab.aiAssistedCodeSuggestions.enabled": true,
GitLab Workflow extension debug enabled: "gitlab.debug": true,

Sync:

cp ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/settings.json vscode/

VS Code Extensions

Run the following script to install VS Code extensions:

./vscode-extensions-install.sh

You can regenerate the list of extensions using the following command:

code --list-extensions | xargs -L 1 echo code --install-extension > vscode-extensions-install.sh

Tools

Managed as casks in Brewfile.

Firefox (in order to reproduce UX bugs)
VLC
Wir 8000 eshark
etc.

asdf

asdf is installed with Homebrew and helps manage different programming languages and environments.

NodeJS:

asdf plugin add nodejs https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf-nodejs.git
asdf list all nodejs
asdf install nodejs 20.3.0
asdf local nodejs 20.3.0

Note:

The GitLab Development Kit uses mise since 2025-04. Aiming to migrate all my projects in the future.

Chrome

For Macbook refreshments, enable the Profile sync functionality and mirror bookmarks, history, auto-completion, etc. This is essential for efficiency.

Extensions:

Raycast Extensions

Open the extensions and record keyboard shortcut commands. I use the emoji search very extensively, and have recorded cmd + 2 as shortcut for faster access.

Virtualization and Containers

CLI Tools

Rancher Desktop (provides local Kubernetes, and docker compatible CLI) - manual download
docker-compose, colima, lima, podman via Brewfile

Cloud

CLI tools managed with Homebrew in Brewfile: Google Cloud, AWS, Hetzner Cloud, Civo Cloud, Azure.

Kubernetes clusters in the cloud can be managed using the GitLab Developer Relations Cloud Resources handbook.

Local VMs and containers

For local container runtimes, I'm using Rancher Desktop, after evaluating other tools in 2022. More tips can be found in the GitLab handbook.

Lima and Colima are installed for local Linux VM demos and workshops, via Brewfile.

Note

There's also VirtualBox for virtualization, but it lacked Apple Silicon M1 (ARM) support for many years, recently added in 7.1. I never bothered using it together with Vagrant, mostly due to the success of containers together with Colima, cloud providers and IaC provisioners (Ansible, OpenTofu).

Settings

These are manual settings as they require user awareness.

FileVault

Enable Encryption (required for GitLab team members). See here for detailed instructions.

1Password

1Password8 overrides the screenshot shortcut cmd+shift+4+space by default. Replace it with something else, or clear it in Settings > General > Keyboard Shortcuts.

AWS CLI auth with 1Password CLI and Touch ID

Follow https://developer.1password.com/docs/cli/shell-plugins/aws/ to

Install the 1Password CLI
Connect 1Password CLI with the 1Password app
Run op signin and op plugin init aws

The required ZSH environment is sourced via .oh-my-zsh/custom/1password.zsh.

Keyboard

Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts:

Disable all Spotlight options in preparation for enabling Raycast as default shortcut using cmd + space.

Raycast

Start Raycast from the Applications folder in Finder, and change the hotkey to Cmd+Space. Ensure that Spotlight is disabled in the system preferences.

Finder

Open Finder and navigate into Settings > Sidebar to add

User home (user name)
System root (Macbook name)

Zoom

https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/tools-and-tips/zoom/

Settings > General: Untick Ask me to confirm when I leave a meeting. Settings > Audio: Tick Mute my mic when joining. Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts: Mute/Unmute my audio: cmd 1.

Additional Hints

iterm2

Documentation for initial settings:

Create a new profile in Settings > Profile named Dark
- Colors > Color presets > Dark background
- Session > Status bar enabled and Configure Status Bar. Add git state, CPU utilization, Memory utilization. Click Auto-Rainbow.
Mark dark profile and select Other Actions > Set as default.
Export the Dark profile as JSON and upload into the iterm2 directory.

Font config for ZSH Powerline10k

Note: This is persisted in the iterm2 profile already.

Navigate to iterm2 Settings > Profiles > Text > Font and search for Meslo to select the font. Save and restart iTerm2.

Other projects

More insights can be found in these lists, thanks to them for their inspiration :)

Development

GitLab Development Kit (GDK)

Follow the one-line installation and use mise (requirement since 2025-04).

Alternatively, use GDK-in-a-box with a UTM provided local VM.

GitLab Docs

The CI/CD pipelines for GitLab docs use linting which can be installed locally to test problems faster.

yarn global add markdownlint-cli2
yarn global add markdownlint-cli

asdf plugin add vale && asdf install vale

The VS Code editor integration is managed through vscode-extensions-install.sh.

cd ~/dev/work/gitlab-org/gitlab

yarn install

./scripts/lint-doc.sh

GitLab CLI

Install Golang to setup the development environment. Export the variables GITLAB_TOKEN and GITLAB_TEST_HOST to run all integration tests.

export GITLAB_TOKEN=xxx
# GitLab CLI dev tests
# https://gitlab.com/dnsmichi/test
export GITLAB_TEST_HOST=https://gitlab.com

make
make test

DevSecOps

Anything that runs in the infrastructure and needs to be automated.

Linux VM Upgrades via Ansible

See ansible/ for 94E2 details.

Embedded DevSecOps with Ansible

Note: The Embedded DevSecOps environment Ansible playbooks are located in https://gitlab.com/gitlab-da/use-cases/embedded/embedded-devsecops/environments/dnsmichi-embedded-devsecops-environment

Upgrades

Homebrew

brew upgrade

Oh-my-ZSH and Themes

cd ~/.oh-my-zsh
git pull

cd ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/themes/powerlevel10k
git pull

Troubleshooting

On major version upgrades, binaries might be incompatible or need a local rebuild. You can enforce a reinstall by running the two commands below, the second command only reinstalls all application casks.

brew reinstall $(brew list)

brew reinstall $(brew list --cask)

When Xcode and compilers break, re-install the command line tools.

sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
sudo xcode-select --install

Git xcrun errors on macOS Ventura upgrades

xcrun: error: invalid active developer path

You need to explicity agree to the terms of services for the developer tools.

xcode-select --install

Settings do not work after upgrades

The settings in .macos use macOS internal APIs on the command line. Sometimes the configuration settings change, for example with the Trackpad on macOs Ventura.

To debug and capture which settings are in effect, create a new Git repository somewhere, and persist the system settings output.

mkdir $HOME/dev/work/system-settings
cd $HOME/dev/work/system-settings
git init

defaults read > settings.txt

git add settings.txt
git commit -av -m "Initial settings"

Then navigate into the Systems settings GUI, change parameters, export the system settings into the same file, and analyze the Git diff to figure out the correct parameter names and values.

defaults read > settings.txt

git diff

Example with Trackpad and right-click:

     "com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad" =     {
         ActuateDetents = 1;
-        Clicking = 0;
+        Clicking = 1;
         DragLock = 0;
         Dragging = 0;
         FirstClickThreshold = 1;
         ForceSuppressed = 0;
         SecondClickThreshold = 1;
-        TrackpadCornerSecondaryClick = 0;
+        TrackpadCornerSecondaryClick = 2;
         TrackpadFiveFingerPinchGesture = 2;
         TrackpadFourFingerHorizSwipeGesture = 2;
         TrackpadFourFingerPinchGesture = 2;
@@ -463,7 +464,7 @@
         TrackpadHorizScroll = 1;
         TrackpadMomentumScroll = 1;
         TrackpadPinch = 1;
-        TrackpadRightClick = 1;
+        TrackpadRightClick = 0;
         TrackpadRotate = 1;
         TrackpadScroll = 1;
         TrackpadThreeFingerDrag = 0;

Requiring the current settings to be changed to https://gitlab.com/dnsmichi/dotfiles/-/commit/f16809989ba2d65fc73e1274356b6f2c6cfde1db in June 2023.

Touch ID does not work

The magic keyboard with Touch ID does not work after the Macbook went to sleep.

Contributing

The main repository is hosted on GitLab.com, mirrored to GitHub.com: https://gitlab.com/dnsmichi/dotfiles

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 132 Commits
.oh-my-zsh/custom		.oh-my-zsh/custom
.ssh		.ssh
.vim		.vim
ansible		ansible
fonts		fonts
iterm2		iterm2
vscode		vscode
.gemrc		.gemrc
.gitconfig		.gitconfig
.gitignore		.gitignore
.kubectl_aliases		.kubectl_aliases
.macos		.macos
.p10k.zsh		.p10k.zsh
.vimrc		.vimrc
.zshrc		.zshrc
Brewfile		Brewfile
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
bootstrap.sh		bootstrap.sh
brew_once.sh		brew_once.sh
vscode-extensions-install.sh		vscode-extensions-install.sh

License

dnsmichi/dotfiles

Folders and files

Latest commit

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Macbook Pro dotfiles and setup at GitLab

Preparations

iterm2

Security app permissions for iTerm2

Git (XCode)

Sudo

Backup

Dot files

Install tools and apps

Essentials

IDEs

VS Code

VS Code Extensions

Tools

asdf

Chrome

Raycast Extensions

Virtualization and Containers

CLI Tools

Cloud

Local VMs and containers

Settings

FileVault

1Password

AWS CLI auth with 1Password CLI and Touch ID

Keyboard

Raycast

Finder

Zoom

Additional Hints

iterm2

Font config for ZSH Powerline10k

Other projects

Development

GitLab Development Kit (GDK)

GitLab Docs

GitLab CLI

DevSecOps

Linux VM Upgrades via Ansible

Embedded DevSecOps with Ansible

Upgrades

Homebrew

Oh-my-ZSH and Themes

Troubleshooting

Git xcrun errors on macOS Ventura upgrades

Settings do not work after upgrades

Touch ID does not work

Contributing

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License

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