Optional: Reinstall macOS
Reinstall macOS using this guide: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchlp1599/mac
This includes a lot of free apps I use on my Mac. I have a comprehensive list of these in Github and Google Sheets.
Homebrew has a built in bundle
feature which allows you to automate the installation of multiple packages, both from brew
, and also from the Mac App Store using mas
. I used to separate these out, but this is a much simpler process.
This uses a Brewfile
which is a text file which lists all the packages which you want to install. A Brewfile
can have the following types of line:
tap
- A Homebrew tap to add
brew
- A Homebrew formula to install
cask
- A Homebrew cask to install
mas
- A Mac App Store ID to install
vscode
- A Visual Studio Code extension to install
whalebrew
- Docker images ditributed using the whalebrew
package manager
I currently do not use whalebrew
. I also like to manually install my vscode
extensions, so I do not include these in my Brewfile
.
It is important to note that to use the mas
command, you need to have installed the mas
package, so you need to include this in your Brewfile
above any mas
lines.
A very basic Brewfile
might look like this:
tap 'homebrew/cask'
brew 'mas'
mas "Xcode", id: 497799835
In this example, the homebrew/cask
tap is added, the mas
package is installed, and the Xcode
app is installed from the Mac App Store.
If you have a current installation of Homebrew on an existing Mac that you want to replicate on another Mac, you can create a Brewfile
by running the following command:
brew bundle dump
You can edit this Brewfile
using TextEdit.