Properly set the computer name

The following is how to properly set the computer name for a MacOS machine in all the right places. These are often the first set of commands that I run when setting up a new machine.

sudo scutil --set ComputerName "insert-name-here"
sudo scutil --set HostName "insert-name-here"
sudo scutil --set LocalHostName "insert-name-here"
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.smb.server NetBIOSName “insert-name-here”
dscacheutil -flushcache

Once finished, you can restart the system to fully clear the DNS cache.

Permanently remove the "Guest" user

On some installations of MacOS, a "Guest" user gets created alongside your own created user. To permanently remove this user, run the following command:

sudo fdesetup remove -user Guest

Set default permissions for /usr/local/

To reset /usr/local/ permissions, run the following command:

sudo chown root:wheel /usr/local

Common diskutil commands

diskutil is a useful tool found in MacOS that can be used to manipulate disks, like external storage or other drives.

To list all attached disks, run:

diskutil list

The output will show a list of disks. From there, you can manipulate these disks individually. For example, here is how to partition a USB stick as a FAT32 formatted drive:

diskutil partitionDisk disk3 MBR "MS-DOS FAT32" "DRIVE-NAME" 100%

In the above example, our USB stick is disk3. Consult the output of diskutil list for the correct disk name if you attempt this on your own machine.

Convert a Linux ISO to a usb-writable format

In order to write a linux .iso image to a removable drive it must first be converted to a proper macos friendly image using the hdiutil command:

hdiutil convert /path/to/ubuntu.iso -format UDRW -o /path/to/target.img

After conversion, target.img will be ready to write to a storage medium using a utility like dd.

Set MacVim as the default editor for all files

defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices/com.apple.launchservices.secure LSHandlers -array-add '{LSHandlerContentType=public.plain-text;LSHandlerRoleAll=org.vim.MacVim;}'

Then restart your machine.

Fully remove Python.pkg

To fully remove an installed python.pkg version (from the python website), run:

sudo rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework
cd /usr/local/bin
ls -l . | grep '../Library/Frameworks/Python.framework' | awk '{print $9}' | xargs sudo rm

# Then finally:
sudo rm -rf "/Applications/Python x.y"

Fully remove macports

Sometimes it is necessary to completely remove an installation of macports. Use the following command to remove macports and its artifacts, run:

sudo port -fp uninstall installed
sudo port -fp uninstall --follow-dependents installed

# Then run:
sudo rm -rf \
    /opt/local \
    /Applications/DarwinPorts \
    /Applications/MacPorts \
    /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.macports.* \
    /Library/Receipts/DarwinPorts*.pkg \
    /Library/Receipts/MacPorts*.pkg \
    /Library/StartupItems/DarwinPortsStartup \
    /Library/Tcl/darwinports1.0 \
    /Library/Tcl/macports1.0 \
    ~/.macports

Note: You may need to adjust some of the above paths if you installed macports into a custom prefix.

Fully remove pkgin

Sometimes it is necessary to completely remove an installation of pkgin/pkgsrc. Use the following command to remove pkgin and its artifacts, run:

sudo rm -r /opt/pkg /var/db/pkgin /etc/{man,}paths.d/pkgsrc