The following instructions are for macOS Catalina through BigSur. If you are not on Catalina or a later operating system like BigSur but have the option to update, we recommend doing so before following the instructions below.

When working on software, it is important that your computer and the software you’re using are compatible. In this step, we’ll ensure that you can install all the tools you will need to complete the program.

1. Click on the Apple () menu in the top left of the window
2. Choose "About This Mac" from the menu
3. Look for the version name (for example, "macOS Catalina")
4. Look for the version number (for example, "Version 10.15.6")

If your version name is macOS Catalina and your version number is greater than "Version 10.15.0", your computer meets our requirements for the course and you can continue below.

If your computer does not meet the requirements listed above, but you can upgrade, we recommend that you upgrade after completing the environment setup.

If your computer does not meet the requirements and you can't upgrade, some programs may not work for you. Please reach out to an instructor for more information.

The programs that we’ll be installing during environment setup and all of the work you’ll do with Academy Xi will need at least 4 GB of free disk space. Follow the steps below to ensure that you have enough disk space to install all the programs needed during environment setup.

1. Click on the Apple () menu in the top left of the window
2. Choose "About This Mac" from the menu
3. Click the "Storage" tab header
4. Look for your macOS partition (for example, "Macintosh HD")
5. Look for the storage (for example, "119.59 GB available of 186 GB")

If your free space for your macOS partition is greater than 4 GB, continue below. Otherwise, click "Manage..." to open the System Information window and free up some storage space.

If you are using a Mac laptop with the new M1 chip (released in late 2020), there are some additional steps required at this stage to ensure all necessary tools install correctly. Follow the steps below instead of the normal instructions provided for installing Xcode, Homebrew and Ruby.

1. Instead of installing Xcode via the directions in the next section, open your terminal and run the following to install Xcode:

   xcode-select --install

2. Create a duplicate copy of the terminal app that can run x86 programs with Rosetta. Follow the steps detailed in this article (https://www.notion.so/Run-x86-Apps-including-homebrew-in-the-Terminal-on-Apple-Silicon-8350b43d97de4ce690f283277e958602) to do this.

Note: Every installation step should now be done in the terminal window that has Rosetta enabled

3. Install Homebrew with the following command:

   arch -x86_64 /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"

4. Run the following three commands one after the other to install RVM and Ruby:

   \curl -sSL https://get.rvm.io | bash -s stable

   source $HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm

   rvm install 2.7.2

In addition, if you are using an M1 laptop, you will already have Zsh installed and in use, so you can move on to installing Chrome and VS Code below.

Command Line Tools for Xcode is a suite of development tools from Apple, including tools for building Mac and iPhone applications. It will help you to quickly set up your environment by downloading and installing essential tools for other programs we'll be installing.

1. Open the Apple Developer Download webpage (https://developer.apple.com/download/more/?=command%20line%20tools%20for%20xcode%2012)
2. Look for a description of "Command Line Tools for XCode 12"
3. Look for a release date of September 17, 2020
4. Click the "+" symbol to see more information about the download
5. Click "Command Line Tools for XCode 12.dmg" to download
6. When the download is finished, click on the file to install

Open the "Terminal" application using "Spotlight Search", at the terminal prompt type xcode-select --install and press <Enter>. If your terminal says "xcode-select: error: command line tools are already installed...", continue below.

Homebrew is a package manager for macOS. It allows us to quickly install a number of programs we will need.

1. Open the "Terminal" application using "Spotlight Search"
2. Type /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)" and press <Enter>
3. Follow the prompts on the screen during the installation (Note: this could take a while.)
4. Close the "Terminal" application
5. Reopen the "Terminal" application using "Spotlight Search"

You can verify that Homebrew is successfully installed by running brew help. If your terminal outputs a list of brew commands, you're all set.

Zsh is the new standard shell for the macOS and comes pre-installed with the latest version of macOS, but it may need to be installed on older Macs.

1. Open the "Terminal" application using "Spotlight Search"
2. Type echo $SHELL and press <Enter>
3. If you see /bin/zsh or /usr/local/bin/zsh DO NOT continue with the next steps. Move on to "Check Your Work".

Otherwise, to install Zsh:

1. Type brew install zsh and press <Enter>
2. Type echo /usr/local/bin/zsh | sudo tee -a /etc/shells and press <Enter> (Note: you will need to enter your password.)
3. Type chsh -s /usr/local/bin/zsh and press <Enter>
4. Close the "Terminal" application
5. Reopen the "Terminal" application using "Spotlight Search"
6. If you receive a message starting with "This is the Z Shell configuration function for new users, zsh-newuser-install", press 0.

If you run echo $SHELL, the terminal should output /bin/zsh or /usr/local/bin/zsh. This indicates that Zsh is in use and you are set to continue below.

If you see the following message when opening your terminal:

zsh compinit: insecure directories, run compaudit for list.
Ignore insecure directories and continue [y] or abort compinit [n]? 

Type y and press enter, then run the following command:

compaudit | xargs chmod g-w

Close and reopen your terminal to clear the error.

Google Chrome is the browser that we will use for your Academy Xi Student Portal account and also for front-end web development. You are not required to use Google Chrome for personal work, but we highly encourage you to download it for access to your account and for development in the browser.

1. Open the Google Chrome download webpage (https://www.google.com/chrome)
2. Click "Download Chrome" and "Accept and Install"
3. Wait for the "googlechrome.dmg" file to download and find it in the "Finder" application
4. Open the "googlechrome.dmg" file and install Google Chrome
5. Drag the "Google Chrome" application to your "Applications" folder

If you can open the "Google Chrome" application using "Spotlight Search", continue below.

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is the tool that you’ll use to edit your Ruby and JavaScript files. It is a text editor that provides some beneficial extensions for developers. One such tool is an integrated terminal! This means that you can edit your code and use your terminal in the same window. Follow the steps below to get both set up.

1. Open the Visual Studio Code download webpage (https://code.visualstudio.com/Download)
2. Click on the Mac download option and start the download
3. Wait for the ".zip" file to download and find it in the "Finder" application
4. Open the ".zip" file and install Visual Studio Code
5. Drag the "Visual Studio Code" application to your "Applications" folder
6. Open the "Visual Studio Code" application using "Spotlight Search"
7. Click "View" in the toolbar, then click "Command Palette" in the dropdown menu, or use the shortcut <Command ⌘> + + P
8. Type "shell command" in the box and click on "Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH"
9. Close the "Visual Studio Code" application
10. Open the "Terminal" application using "Spotlight Search"
11. Type code and press <Enter>

If Visual Studio Code (VS Code) opened after typing code in your "Terminal" application, continue to the next lesson, Installing Node on macOS.