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🚀 DevOps Engineer Mac Setup Documentation

This document captures the full setup we’ve done so far on your macOS system.

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1. 🔧 Core Tools Installed with Homebrew

We used Homebrew to install base utilities: 
brew install git wget curl jq yq tree htop watch gnu-sed gawk coreutils findutils

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Purpose:

  • git → version control
  • jq / yq → JSON/YAML parsing
  • htop, watch → system/process monitoring
  • GNU tools (sed, awk, etc.) → more powerful versions than macOS defaults

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2. 🐳 Docker Setup

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Problem:

Running docker ps gave: 
Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///var/run/docker.sock.

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Solution:

  • Installed Docker Desktop (daemon + GUI) via Homebrew: 
    brew install --cask docker
  • Alternative: Colima for a lightweight Docker runtime: 
    brew install colima
colima start

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3. 🌐 Browsers & Terminals

Installed additional tools: 
brew install --cask arc terminus warp
  • Arc Browser → modern web browser
  • Terminus → customizable terminal
  • Warp → AI-powered modern terminal (popular in DevOps)

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4. 🛠 Oh My Zsh & Zsh Customization

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Install Oh My Zsh

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
This sets Zsh as the default shell and installs config in ~/.oh-my-zsh.

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5. 🎨 Powerlevel10k Theme Setup

The default robbyrussell or agnoster themes looked boring. We installed Powerlevel10k, which is the modern DevOps choice.

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Install Powerlevel10k into Oh My Zsh

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git \
  ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k

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Update ~/.zshrc

ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"

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Reload Zsh

exec zsh
This triggered the Powerlevel10k configuration wizard, which saved settings into: 
~/.p10k.zsh

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6. 🖌 Fonts for Icons/Glyphs

Installed Nerd Fonts for proper icons: 
brew install --cask font-meslo-lg-nerd-font
This ensures Powerlevel10k glyphs (e.g., git icons, arrows, kube symbols) render correctly.

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7. 📦 Languages & Runtimes

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Node.js (20, 22, 24 via NVM)

brew install nvm
mkdir ~/.nvm
Add to ~/.zshrc: 
export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$(brew --prefix nvm)/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$(brew --prefix nvm)/nvm.sh"
Then install versions: 
nvm install 20
nvm install 22
nvm install 24
nvm alias default 22

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Go

brew install go

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Python 3.10 (via pyenv)

brew install pyenv
pyenv install 3.10.14
pyenv global 3.10.14

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8. 🗄 Database Tools

Installed GUIs: 
brew install --cask mysqlworkbench pgadmin4
  • MySQL Workbench → MySQL management
  • pgAdmin4 → PostgreSQL management

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9. ⚡ Verification

  • Docker works after running Docker Desktop (or Colima).
  • exec zsh loads Powerlevel10k prompt.
  • Fonts/icons render correctly with Nerd Font.
  • Node, Go, Python versions installed and switchable.
  • Database GUIs installed.

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🔮 Next Steps

  • Add zsh plugins for better productivity: 
    # In ~/.zshrc
plugins=(
  git
  zsh-autosuggestions
  zsh-syntax-highlighting
)
  • Install them via: 
    brew install zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting
  • To re-run Powerlevel10k wizard: 
    p10k configure
👉 Do you want me to extend this doc into a step-by-step script (so you can set up a new Mac in one go), or keep it as reference notes? Got it ✅ — I went through our full conversation from top to bottom and extracted every tool, language, runtime, and app we installed (or planned to install). Here’s the consolidated list:

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📦 Installed Tools & Applications (from our setup)

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🔧 Core Utilities

  • git
  • wget
  • curl
  • jq (JSON parser)
  • yq (YAML parser)
  • tree
  • htop
  • watch
  • gnu-sed
  • gawk
  • coreutils
  • findutils

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🐳 Containers & Orchestration

  • docker (CLI)
  • Docker Desktop (daemon + GUI)
  • colima (lightweight Docker alternative – optional)
  • docker-compose
  • kubectl
  • kubectx / kubens
  • stern
  • helm
  • kind
  • k9s
  • minikube

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☁️ Cloud & IaC

  • awscli
  • azure-cli
  • google-cloud-sdk
  • terraform
  • opentofu

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🔐 Security & Networking

  • nmap
  • httpie
  • curlie
  • mitmproxy
  • wireguard-tools

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🛠 Monitoring & Observability

  • promtool (Prometheus tool)
  • grafana-loki

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📦 Package & Language Managers

  • pyenv (Python versions)
  • pipx
  • nvm (Node version manager)
  • nodenv (alternative Node version manager)
  • goenv (Go version manager)

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🖥️ Terminals & Shell

  • iterm2
  • warp
  • terminus
  • oh-my-zsh (framework)
  • powerlevel10k (theme)
  • MesloLGS Nerd Font (for icons/glyphs)

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⚡ Zsh Plugins

  • zsh-autosuggestions
  • zsh-syntax-highlighting
  • zsh-completions

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🎨 IDEs & Editors

  • visual-studio-code
  • cursor (AI-powered IDE fork of VS Code)

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🌐 Browsers

  • arc
  • google-chrome

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📬 Communication

  • slack
  • microsoft-outlook
  • thunderbird

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🎵 Media & Productivity

  • spotify
  • vlc
  • google-drive
  • dropbox
  • rectangle (window manager)
  • alfred (productivity launcher)
  • itsycal (calendar)
  • notion
  • zoom

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🗄️ Database Tools

  • mysqlworkbench
  • pgadmin4

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🛠 Languages & Runtimes

  • Node.js (20, 22, 24 via nvm)
  • Go
  • Python 3.10 (via pyenv)
👉 This is the complete list of everything we’ve installed or configured in this chat. Do you want me to turn this into a categorized “Mac DevOps Bootstrap Script” (one shell script that installs everything in one go)?