dotfiles

My personal dotfiles and macOS setup scripts.

Usage

Setting up a new Mac

This script's main purpose is to quickly and automatically configure a brand-new Mac.

While it performs basic checks (e.g., whether something is already installed), it's intended for use on a clean system. It assumes the user:

• Has sudo access
• Is not behind a proxy
• Is not restricted by MDM or corporate policies

⚠️ It likely won’t work on corporate-managed machines.

Once you’re past the initial macOS setup screens:

1. Open Safari and go to github.com/LuisGL100/dotfiles

2. Open Terminal and run one of the following commands:

   Option A: Run script immediately

   curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LuisGL100/dotfiles/refs/heads/main/install.sh" | source /dev/stdin 0

   Option B: Download script first

   curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LuisGL100/dotfiles/refs/heads/main/install.sh" -o mac_setup.sh

   Then, when ready:

   caffeinate zsh mac_setup.sh

3. Enter your password when prompted (for sudo). This is required only once, to install Homebrew.

4. When the script completes, it will automatically quit the Terminal.

5. Re-launch the Terminal, and follow the prompts to finish setting up Powerlevel10k (P10k) (this is now automated 🎉).

6. Done 🎉

---

Development & Testing

Since this script is designed for new machines, testing changes can be tricky. Thankfully, the Virtualization Framework (Apple Silicon only) makes it possible to run macOS in a virtual machine (1).

Apple provides a fully working sample project for this. You don’t need to modify the code, but understanding the process and the generated artifacts is important (2).

For a deeper explanation, watch this WWDC video.

Steps

1. Clone and open the sample app. Run any of the InstallationTool-X schemes and wait patiently—it can take a while.

   This will:

   • Download the macOS restore image (*.ipsw, ~20GB)
   • Install that image into a new VM, producing a VM.bundle

2. Once installation is complete, run any of the macOSVirtualMachineSampleApp-X schemes. This boots the VM and shows macOS setup screens.

3. Complete the setup process in the VM. Then from the app’s menu bar, select: macOSVirtualMachineSampleApp → Save and quit macOSVirtualMachineSampleApp

4. Create a backup of this "pristine" state so you can quickly and easily reset the VM later:

   cp -r ~/VM.bundle ~/VMPristine.bundle

   • VM.bundle: your working VM
   • VMPristine.bundle: your clean snapshot

5. Now you can modify and run your setup script inside the VM.

6. To reset the VM back to the "pristine" state:

   rm -Rf ~/VM.bundle
   cp -r ~/VMPristine.bundle ~/VM.bundle

7. If anything happens to the "pristine" copy, you can always create another one by re-running any of the InstallationTool-X schemes. If you still happen to have the *.ipsw downloaded in Step 1, add its path to the Scheme's "Arguments passed on launch" in the "Run" step, to avoid downloading it again. The default path should be $(HOME)/RestoreImage.ipsw, unless you changed it.

---

Notes

1. There are also other testing options available.
2. Requires an Apple Developer account.