macOS Configurations

The goal of this project is to configure a fresh install of macOS as fast as possible. Scripts can be run individually or all together via run/run.sh. My dotfiles are pulled from a separate repository hosted here. These scripts were designed with idempotency in mind and can be re-run periodically.

One-line interactive install

This will first run the automated setup, then guide the user through manual steps.

mkdir ~/Desktop/macos-configs && cd ~/Desktop/macos-configs && curl -#L https://github.com/yuzhoumo/macos-configs/tarball/main --silent | tar -xzv --strip-components 1 --exclude={README.md,LICENSE} && ./run/run.sh

Documentation

Scripts

Run scripts in the following order:

• macos.sh: Set various system settings
• font.sh: Install fonts from assets directory
• dot.sh: Install dotfiles from Github
• brew.sh: Install packages using Homebrew
• icon.sh: Set custom icons for certain apps
• dock.sh: Set application shortcuts in the Dock
• post.sh: Set various tweaks after environment is set up

Manually configured settings

Could not find a way to automate these settings. Some existing methods were broken since the Big Sur update.

• System Preferences > Security & Privacy > FileVault: Turn on FileVault
• System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy: Configure as needed
• System Preferences > Extensions: Uncheck unecessary extensions
• System Preferences > General: Set "Recent Items" to "none"
• System Preferences > Spotlight > Search Results: Check "Applications", "Folders", "Fonts", "PDF Documents", "System Preferences"
• System Preferences > Accessibility > Display: Check "Reduce Transparency"
• Menu Bar > Finder > Preferences > Sidebar: Uncheck "iCloud Drive", "Cloud Storage", "Bonjour Computers"

Web browser configurations

Firefox

• Import user.js config from assets/files
• Sync with Firefox account
• Set default search engine, set device name, and configure toolbar

Chromium

• Add extension support:
  • https://github.com/NeverDecaf/chromium-web-store
  • Install: uBlock Origin, DuckDuckGo Essentials, Return YouTube Dislike
• Sync and Google services: Uncheck "Autocomplete searches and URLs"
• Autofill: Uncheck everything
• Security and Privacy:
  • Security: Check "Always use secure connections"
  • Cookies and other site data:
    • Check "Block third-party cookies"
    • Check "Clear cookies and site data when you close all windows"
• Appearance: Check "Show bookmarks bar"
• On startup: Check "Open the New Tab Page"

Safari

• General:
  • Set "Safari opens with" to "Private Window"
  • Set "Homepage" to "about`:blank"
  • Set "Remove history items" to "After one day"
  • Uncheck "Open safe files after downloading"
• AutoFill: Uncheck everything
• Search:
  • Set "Search engine" to "DuckDuckGo"
  • Uncheck everything
• Security: Uncheck "Warn when visiting fraudulent website"
• Privacy:
  • Uncheck "Hide IP address"
  • Uncheck "Allow privacy-preserving measurement of ad effectiveness"
• Website: Deny Location and Notifications
• Advanced:
  • Check Show full website address
  • Set "Default encoding" to "Unicode (UTF-8)"
  • Check "Show Develop menu in menu bar"