Terminal Setup

Steps for getting a customizable terminal config.

1. Install Homebrew package manager for MacOS.

2. Install iTerm2 terminal emulator.

3. Install Starship cross-shell prompt.

4. Install Oh My Zsh, a community-driven framework for managing your zsh configuration.

5. Install zsh-syntax-highlighting to enable syntax highlighting in the terminal.

6. Edit the .zshrc config file to enable the installed prompts and plugins.

   • Open the terminal.

   • Open the .zshrc config file in a text editor:

     • vim ~/.zshrc

   • Now find the line starting with ZSH_THEME= and comment the line out by adding a # at the start of the line.

     • # example config
       # ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"

   • Then enable the zsh-syntax-highlighting plugin. Find the plugin directive in the config file and add zsh-syntax-highlighting to the end of the list of plugins:

     • # Note, the 'zsh-syntax-highlight' plugin
       # "NEEDS" to go at the end of the the list 
       plugins=(git brew npm zsh-syntax-highlighting)

     • See this FAQ for why the zsh-syntax-highlight plugin needs to go last.

   • Finally enable the Starship prompt:

     • Scroll to the end of the config and paste the following:

     • eval "$(starship init zsh)"

     • Save config file.

7. Install Powerline symbols/fonts for the Starship prompt.

   • Download the PowerlineSymbols.otf font pack from Github: https://github.com/powerline/powerline/tree/develop/font

   • Double click / open the downloaded font pack. This will open a Font Book window.

     • Click on the Install font button to install the font onto your system.

   • Update the iTerm preferences to use the Powerline fonts.

     • Switch to an iTerm window and click on the iTerm2 menu item in the top left corner of the screen. Then select Preferences. Or use the shortcut keys command + ,

     • In the Preferences window, switch to the Profiles tab (in the top of the Preferences window).

     • Select a profile (if not using the Default profile).

     • Select the Text tab on the right section.

     • Find and check the option Use a different font form non-ASCII text. This should now display the Non-ASCII Font section under the checkbox.

     • In the Non-ASCII Font section, click the font selection box and select PowerlineSymbols.

8. Restart the terminal or import the new settings:

   • source ~/.zshrc

Now you should have a terminal that looks something like this:

Powerline install notes for Windows (WSL)

iTerm is not available for Windows, Hyper is a good alternative. You will need to search Google for setting up zsh and oh-my-zsh in WSL.

Then, you'll need to install the Powerline fonts manually.

1. Clone the repo from here: https://github.com/powerline/fonts.

2. cd into the repo root and install the fonts with Powershell:

   • .\install.ps1

3. Select a Powerline compatible font in your terminal emulator (Hyper, for example).