DEV Community: Parsa Roshani

Setting Up iTerm2, Zsh, Oh My Zsh, Starship Theme, Fonts, and Plugins on macOS

Parsa Roshani — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 12:37:41 +0000

Having a powerful and aesthetically pleasing terminal environment can significantly improve your productivity as a developer. In this post, I will walk you through setting up iTerm2, Zsh, Oh My Zsh, Starship Theme, custom fonts, and essential plugins like autosuggestions, syntax highlighting, and git.

Step 1: Install iTerm2

iTerm2 is a feature-rich terminal emulator for macOS.

Download iTerm2 from iterm2.com.
Install it by dragging the app to your Applications folder.
Open iTerm2 and set it as your default terminal:
- Go to Preferences > Profiles > General.
- Set "Command" to /bin/zsh.

Step 2: Install Zsh

Zsh is a powerful shell with many features beyond Bash.

Open Terminal (or iTerm2).
Install Zsh using Homebrew:

   brew install zsh

Make Zsh your default shell:

   chsh -s $(which zsh)

Step 3: Install Oh My Zsh

Oh My Zsh is a framework for managing Zsh configuration.

Install Oh My Zsh with the following command:

   sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Step 4: Install Starship Theme

Starship is a cross-shell prompt written in Rust.

Install Starship:

   brew install starship

Edit your Zsh configuration file (~/.zshrc) to use Starship:

   echo 'eval "$(starship init zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc

Restart your terminal to see the changes.

Step 5: Install Fonts

For a better terminal experience, you need fonts that support powerline and icons.

Download fonts from Nerd Fonts.
Install a font like Fira Code Nerd Font:
- Double-click the downloaded .ttf file to install it.
Set the font in iTerm2:
- Go to Preferences > Profiles > Text.
- Select your installed Nerd Font.

Step 6: Install Essential Plugins

You can enhance your productivity with plugins like autosuggestions, syntax highlighting, and git.

Autosuggestions Plugin

Install the plugin:

   git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions

Enable the plugin in your ~/.zshrc file:

   plugins=(zsh-autosuggestions)

Syntax Highlighting Plugin

Install the plugin:

   git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting

Enable the plugin in your ~/.zshrc file:

   plugins=(zsh-syntax-highlighting)

Ensure this line comes last in your .zshrc file:

   source ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh

Git Plugin

Git is included with Oh My Zsh, but you need to enable it:

   plugins=(git)

Other Useful Plugins

zsh-completions: Additional completion definitions for Zsh.

   brew install zsh-completions

zsh-history-substring-search: Search your command history with substrings.

   git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-history-substring-search ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-history-substring-search

Step 7: Apply Changes

Restart your terminal or reload the Zsh configuration:

   source ~/.zshrc

Step 8: Customize Starship

You can customize your Starship prompt by creating a configuration file.

Create the file ~/.config/starship.toml:

   mkdir -p ~/.config && touch ~/.config/starship.toml

Add the following to ~/.config/starship.toml for a minimal look:

   [character]
   success_symbol = "[✔️](bold green)"
   error_symbol = "[✘](bold red)"

Conclusion

With iTerm2, Zsh, Oh My Zsh, Starship, and plugins installed, your terminal is now optimized for productivity and aesthetics. Feel free to explore additional plugins and themes to suit your workflow.

How to Install PHP, MariaDB, and phpMyAdmin on macOS

Parsa Roshani — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 12:21:27 +0000

Setting up a local development environment on macOS can be quite straightforward. In this tutorial, we’ll walk through the steps to install PHP, MariaDB, and phpMyAdmin.

Step 1: Install Homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager for macOS that simplifies the installation of software.

Open Terminal.
Run the following command to install Homebrew:

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

After installation, update Homebrew:

   brew update

Step 2: Install PHP

Once Homebrew is installed, you can easily install PHP.

Run the following command:

   brew install php

Verify the PHP installation:

   php -v

Step 3: Install MariaDB

MariaDB is a popular database server used as an alternative to MySQL.

Install MariaDB:

   brew install mariadb

Start the MariaDB service:

   brew services start mariadb

Secure your MariaDB installation:

   mysql_secure_installation

Step 4: Install phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin is a web interface for managing databases.

Install phpMyAdmin:

   brew install phpmyadmin

Configure Apache (or another web server) to serve phpMyAdmin:
- Locate the phpMyAdmin directory, typically /usr/local/share/phpmyadmin.
- Add a virtual host configuration in Apache to point to this directory.
Restart your web server:

   sudo apachectl restart

Step 5: Verify Setup

Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost/phpmyadmin.
Log in with your MariaDB credentials.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed PHP, MariaDB, and phpMyAdmin on your macOS system. You can now start developing PHP applications locally.

How to Generate an SSH Key on macOS for Accessing a VPS Ubuntu

Parsa Roshani — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 07:49:22 +0000

Step 1: Generate an SSH Key

Open the Terminal on your macOS.
Run the following command to generate a new SSH key:

   ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your_email@example.com"

-t rsa: Specifies the type of key (RSA).
-b 4096: Defines the key size (4096 bits).
-C "your_email@example.com": Adds a comment to the key (usually your email).
1. When prompted, specify the file name for the key. Press Enter to use the default path.
2. You can add a passphrase to the key for extra security or leave it blank by pressing Enter.

Step 2: View the Public Key

Your public SSH key is stored at:

~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

To view the public key, use:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Copy the public key.

Step 3: Add the Public Key to Your VPS

Connect to your VPS manually using a password:

   ssh username@server_ip

On the VPS, open or create the authorized_keys file:

   mkdir -p ~/.ssh
   nano ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Paste the public key you copied into the file.
Save and exit the editor.
Set the appropriate permissions for the file and directory:

   chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
   chmod 700 ~/.ssh

Step 4: Test Password-Free Access

On your macOS, test the SSH connection without a password:

ssh username@server_ip

Step 5: Optional Configuration

To simplify SSH access, you can configure the ~/.ssh/config file:

nano ~/.ssh/config

Add the following:

Host my-vps
    HostName server_ip
    User username
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Now you can connect using:

ssh my-vps

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can securely and conveniently access your VPS without needing to enter a password every time. This method enhances both security and efficiency in server management.