Useful Mac OS X Commands

A list of useful terminal commands for Mac OS X. Add these aliases to your ~/.bash_profile to use them.

Display bluetooth information

alias blue="system_profiler SPBluetoothDataType"

Display the password for any Wifi network you've previously connected to

alias wifipass="security find-generic-password -g -D \"AirPort network password\" -a"

Usage: wifipass "some wifi network name"

Display the signal strength of all nearby Wifi networks

alias wifipow="/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -s"

Usage: wifipow

Note: Higher RSSI numbers are better. -60 is better than -80.

Disable/Enable spotlight indexing

alias mdsoff="sudo mdutil -a -i off"
alias mdson="sudo mdutil -a -i on"

Usage: mdsoff (or mdson)

Note: If Activity Monitor frequently shows "mds" with high CPU usage this may help speed up your computer.

Launch a python web server and serve the current directory

alias serve="python -m SimpleHTTPServer 1234"

Usage: serve .

Note: You can swap 1234 with the port of your choice.

Edit your .bash_profile

alias ebp="open ~/.bash_profile"

Usage: ebp

Note: You can set your default text editor by setting the EDITOR env variable.

Reload your .bash_profile

alias rbp='source ~/.bash_profile'

Usage: rbp

Note: Very convenient after editing your .bash_profile using the command above