Jun 04, 2019  Apple is moving away from the bash shell on macOS. The new macOS Catalina update will include zsh as the default shell, and older macOS versions can also move to the new shell too. Beginner's Setup Guide for Git & Github on Mac OS X. There is an updated version of this post for OS X 10.9. While the steps below should still work, I recommend checking out the new guide if you are running 10.9! There are already plenty of guides that explain the particular steps of getting Git and Github going on your mac in detail.

Contents

• Get the Flutter SDK
• iOS setup
• Android setup

System requirements

To install and run Flutter,your development environment must meet these minimum requirements:

• Operating Systems: macOS (64-bit)
• Disk Space: 2.8 GB (does not include disk space for IDE/tools).
• Tools: Flutter depends on these command-line tools being availablein your environment.
  • bash
  • curl
  • git 2.x
  • mkdir
  • rm
  • unzip
  • which
  • zip

Get the Flutter SDK

1. Download the following installation bundle to get the latest stable release of theFlutter SDK:

   For other release channels, and older builds,see the SDK archive page.

2. Extract the file in the desired location, for example:

   If you don’t want to install a fixed version of the installation bundle, you can skip steps 1 and 2. Instead, get the source code from the Flutter repo on GitHub with the following command:

   You can also change branches or tags as needed. For example, to get just the stable version:

3. Add the flutter tool to your path:

   This command sets your PATH variable for the current terminal window only.To permanently add Flutter to your path, seeUpdate your path.

4. Optionally, pre-download development binaries:

   The flutter tool downloads platform-specific development binaries asneeded. For scenarios where pre-downloading these artifacts is preferable(for example, in hermetic build environments,or with intermittent network availability), iOSand Android binaries can be downloaded ahead of time by running:

   For additional download options, see flutter help precache.

You are now ready to run Flutter commands!

Note: To update an existing version of Flutter, see Upgrading Flutter.

Run flutter doctor

Run the following command to see if there are any dependencies you need toinstall to complete the setup (for verbose output, add the -v flag):

This command checks your environment and displays a report to the terminalwindow. The Dart SDK is bundled with Flutter; it is not necessary to installDart separately. Check the output carefully for other software you mightneed to install or further tasks to perform (shown in bold text).

For example:

The following sections describe how to perform these tasks and finish the setupprocess.

Once you have installed any missing dependencies, run the flutter doctorcommand again to verify that you’ve set everything up correctly.

Warning: The flutter tool uses Google Analytics to anonymously report feature usage statistics and basic crash reports. This data is used to help improve Flutter tools over time.

Flutter tool analytics are not sent on the very first run. To disable reporting, type flutter config --no-analytics. To display the current setting, type flutter config. If you opt out of analytics, an opt-out event is sent, and then no further information is sent by the Flutter tool.

By downloading the Flutter SDK, you agree to the Google Terms of Service. Note: The Google Privacy Policy describes how data is handled in this service.

Moreover, Flutter includes the Dart SDK, which may send usage metrics and crash reports to Google.

Update your path

You can update your PATH variable for the current session atthe command line, as shown in Get the Flutter SDK.You’ll probably want to update this variable permanently,so you can run flutter commands in any terminal session.

The steps for modifying this variable permanently forall terminal sessions are machine-specific.Typically you add a line to a file that is executedwhenever you open a new window. For example:

1. Determine the directory where you placed the Flutter SDK.You need this in Step 3.
2. Open (or create) the rc file for your shell.Typing echo $SHELL in your Terminal tells youwhich shell you’re using.If you’re using Bash,edit $HOME/.bash_profile or $HOME/.bashrc.If you’re using Z shell, edit $HOME/.zshrc.If you’re using a different shell, the file pathand filename will be different on your machine.

3. Add the following line and change[PATH_TO_FLUTTER_GIT_DIRECTORY] to bethe path where you cloned Flutter’s git repo:

4. Run source $HOME/.<rc file>to refresh the current window,or open a new terminal window toautomatically source the file.

5. Verify that the flutter/bin directoryis now in your PATH by running:

   Verify that the flutter command is available by running:

Note: As of Flutter’s 1.19.0 dev release, the Flutter SDK contains the dart command alongside the flutter command so that you can more easily run Dart command-line programs. Downloading the Flutter SDK also downloads the compatible version of Dart, but if you’ve downloaded the Dart SDK separately, make sure that the Flutter version of dart is first in your path, as the two versions might not be compatible. The following command (on macOS, linux, and chrome OS), tells you whether the flutter and dart commands originate from the same bin directory and are therefore compatible. (Some versions of Windows support a similar where command.)

As shown above, the two commands don’t come from the same bin directory. Update your path to use commands from <path-to-flutter-sdk>/bin before commands from /usr/local/bin (in this case). After updating your shell for the change to take effect, running the which or where command again should show that the flutter and dart commands now come from the same directory.

To learn more about the dart command, run dart -h from the command line, or see the dart tool page on dart.dev.

Platform setup

macOS supports developing Flutter apps in iOS, Android,and the web (technical preview release).Complete at least one of the platform setup steps now,to be able to build and run your first Flutter app.

iOS setup

Install Xcode

To develop Flutter apps for iOS, you need a Mac with Xcode installed.

1. Install the latest stable version of Xcode(using web download or the Mac App Store).

2. Configure the Xcode command-line tools to use thenewly-installed version of Xcode byrunning the following from the command line:

   This is the correct path for most cases,when you want to use the latest version of Xcode.If you need to use a different version,specify that path instead.

3. Make sure the Xcode license agreement is signed byeither opening Xcode once and confirming or runningsudo xcodebuild -license from the command line.

Versions older than the latest stable version may still work,but are not recommended for Flutter development.Using old versions of Xcode to target bitcode is notsupported, and is likely not to work.

With Xcode, you’ll be able to run Flutter apps onan iOS device or on the simulator.

Set up the iOS simulator

To prepare to run and test your Flutter app on the iOS simulator,follow these steps:

1. On your Mac, find the Simulator via Spotlight orby using the following command:

2. Make sure your simulator is using a 64-bit device(iPhone 5s or later) by checking the settings inthe simulator’s Hardware > Device menu.
3. Depending on your development machine’s screen size,simulated high-screen-density iOS devicesmight overflow your screen. Set the device scale under theWindow > Scale menu in the simulator.

Create and run a simple Flutter app

To create your first Flutter app and test your setup,follow these steps:

1. Create a new Flutter app by running the following from thecommand line:

2. A my_app directory is created, containing Flutter’s starter app.Enter this directory:

3. To launch the app in the Simulator,ensure that the Simulator is running and enter:

Deploy to iOS devices

To deploy your Flutter app to a physical iOS deviceyou need the third-party CocoaPods dependency managerand an Apple Developer account. You’ll also needto set up physical device deployment in Xcode.

1. Install and set up CocoaPods by running the following commands:

2. Follow the Xcode signing flow to provision your project:

   1. Open the default Xcode workspace in your project byrunning open ios/Runner.xcworkspace in a terminalwindow from your Flutter project directory.
   2. Select the device you intend to deploy to in the devicedrop-down menu next to the run button.
   3. Select the Runner project in the left navigation panel.
   4. In the Runner target settings page,make sure your Development Team is selected.The UI varies depending on your version of Xcode.
      • For Xcode 10, look under General > Signing > Team.
      • For Xcode 11 and newer, look underSigning & Capabilities > Team.

      When you select a team,Xcode creates and downloads a Development Certificate,registers your device with your account,and creates and downloads a provisioning profile (if needed).

      • To start your first iOS development project,you might need to sign intoXcode with your Apple ID. Development and testing is supported for any Apple ID.Enrolling in the Apple Developer Program is required todistribute your app to the App Store.For details about membership types,see Choosing a Membership.

      • The first time you use an attached physical device for iOSdevelopment, you need to trust both your Mac and theDevelopment Certificate on that device.Select Trust in the dialog prompt whenfirst connecting the iOS device to your Mac.

        Then, go to the Settings app on the iOS device,select General > Device Managementand trust your Certificate.

      • If automatic signing fails in Xcode, verify that the project’sGeneral > Identity > Bundle Identifier value is unique.

3. Start your app by running flutter run.

Android setup

Note: Flutter relies on a full installation of Android Studio to supply its Android platform dependencies. However, you can write your Flutter apps in a number of editors; a later step discusses that.

Install Android Studio

1. Download and install Android Studio.
2. Start Android Studio, and go through the ‘Android Studio Setup Wizard’.This installs the latest Android SDK, Android SDK Command-line Tools,and Android SDK Build-Tools, which are required by Flutterwhen developing for Android.

Set up your Android device

Git Bash For Mac Catalina 2017

To prepare to run and test your Flutter app on an Android device,you need an Android device running Android 4.1 (API level 16) or higher.

1. Enable Developer options and USB debugging on your device.Detailed instructions are available in theAndroid documentation.
2. Windows-only: Install the Google USBDriver.
3. Using a USB cable, plug your phone into your computer. If prompted on yourdevice, authorize your computer to access your device.
4. In the terminal, run the flutter devices command to verify thatFlutter recognizes your connected Android device. By default,Flutter uses the version of the Android SDK where your adbtool is based. If you want Flutter to use a different installationof the Android SDK, you must set the ANDROID_SDK_ROOT environmentvariable to that installation directory.

Set up the Android emulator

To prepare to run and test your Flutter app on the Android emulator,follow these steps:

1. EnableVM accelerationon your machine.
2. Launch Android Studio > Tools > Android > AVD Manager and selectCreate Virtual Device. (The Android submenu is only presentwhen inside an Android project.)
3. Choose a device definition and select Next.
4. Select one or more system images for the Android versions you wantto emulate, and select Next.An x86 or x86_64 image is recommended.
5. Under Emulated Performance, select Hardware - GLES 2.0 to enablehardwareacceleration.

6. Verify the AVD configuration is correct, and select Finish.

   For details on the above steps, see ManagingAVDs.

7. In Android Virtual Device Manager, click Run in the toolbar.The emulator starts up and displays the default canvas for yourselected OS version and device.

Web setup

Flutter has early support for building web applications using thebeta channel of Flutter. To add support for web development, followthese instructions when you’ve completed the setup above.

Next step

Set up your preferred editor.

macOS Catalina has a number of new features and capabilities, but one change that’s often overlooked is the new shell used in Terminal to interact with the Mac via the command line.

The quick take away is Apple is moving from the Bash (Bourne Again Shell) to a newer Zsh. In this Rocket Yard guide, we’ll look at how this change to Terminal and the command line affects you.

What is a Shell?

At the simplest level, a shell is a program that allows you to control a computer, in this case, a Mac, using commands you enter with the keyboard. Shells are usually interactive text-based interfaces that accept commands and present the results. There are a number of different shells you can use, but if you’re wondering why anyone would want to use a shell and a command line to control a computer, you need to take a trip back in time to the dawn of the computer age.

In those early days, controlling a computer was a daunting task that could require you to manually load memory locations, one at a time, with the data that would eventually be run as a program. In some cases, this was done by setting a row of switches that represented a memory location address, and then loading data into the memory with another set of switches. This process was labor-intensive and prone to errors.

In many cases, the manually loaded program was for a boot loader that allowed the computer to accept input from a paper tape reader.

Once the paper tape reader was operational, you could load a shell program that allowed a Teletype to be used as a command line interface. Ah, those were the days.

Using a shell and a command line was a lot easier for working with a computer than rows and rows of toggle switches.

OK, so the shell was a big improvement back then, but why is it still used today with modern computers?

The Shell and the Mac

The Mac makes use of a UNIX-like operating system. And like most Unix or Linux based systems, the command line interface is one of the key methods for interacting with the operating system. The Mac (and many UNIX and Linux systems) also features a graphical user interface to make working with the computer even easier. But the command line still exists, and for working with core components of the operating system it can be very versatile, providing more capabilities than what is available in the GUI (Graphical User Interface).

The shell controls how the command line is presented to the user and what features the command line supports. Most shells offer the following to some degree or other:

• Shell Syntax: How the shell understands what you enter.
• Shell Commands: The actual commands the shell can execute.
• Shell Functions: The ability to group commands together.
• Shell Parameters: How and where the shell stores values.
• Shell Expansion: How parameters in a command are expanded
• Redirect: Controls the input and output of commands.
• Command Execution: What happens when commands are run.
• Shell Scripts: The ability to run a file containing multiple shell commands.

Why is Apple Changing the Shell?

Apple is changing from the Bash shell to the Zsh (Z Shell). They haven’t said specifically why the change is occurring, but we can make some educated guesses.

Apple has been using the Bash shell since OS X Jaguar but hasn’t updated Bash since version 3.2 was released in 2007. To put that in perspective, the version of Bash used on your Mac was new when the first iPhone was introduced.

Apple is likely using the older version because the licensing for the Bash shell changed from GNU GPL 2 (General Public License) to GNU GPLv3, which includes restrictions that could cause problems for Apple.

Apple muddled along with the older version for quite a few years, but really, it’s time to move on to something more current.

Git Bash For Mac

The Zsh included with macOS Catalina is version 5.7.1 and is the most current version at the time of Catalina’s release. It is also uses a less restrictive MIT license that is more to Apple’s liking.

Note: Although Apple is changing to the Zsh in macOS Catalina, when running in Recovery Mode, the Bash shell is still used when you use the Terminal app.

Am I Forced to Change the Shell?

Yes, and no. Apple will set the Zsh as the default for any new user account that is created in macOS Catalina or later. If you upgraded your Mac from an earlier version of the macOS, then those existing user accounts are still using the Bash shell.

You are, however, free to upgrade all accounts to Zsh, or downgrade an account to Bash (or for that matter, to any shell you wish to use).

How Different is Zsh?

Not very; Bash and Zsh have a very high level of compatibility between them. Both are based on the older Bourne shell. It’s likely most Bash commands and scripts you may be using will run just fine under the Zsh.

The real advantage to the Zsh is the modern features it includes that make working with the shell very easy. This includes auto complete of command entries, and spell checking, a favorite of mine since I often make a typo in a command that Bash would just let go through and then chide me about there being no such command, while Zsh offers to make a correction to my command for me.

For the fumble-fingered like me, that’s reason enough to change to the Zsh.

What About All My Bash Scripts?

They should run fine; if you do come across a script with issues caused by the shell, you can either take the time to upgrade the script, or simply add a Shebang (#!) to force the script to use the Bash shell that is still included with the macOS:

Add the following at the beginning of your Bash scripts to ensure compatibility:

#!/bin/bash

How to Temporarily Change Shells

Zsh has been included with the macOS for quite a while; it just was never the default before. If you would like to temporarily try out the Zsh, do the following:

Launch Terminal, located at /Applications/Utilities.

At the Terminal command prompt, enter:

zsh

Hit enter or return.

Git Bash For Mac Catalina Beach

The shell being used in the current Terminal session will change to the Zsh and the command prompt will change to a percent sign (%).

You can return to the bash shell by either quitting Terminal, or at the prompt enter:

Git Bash For Mac Catalina 2016

bash

Hit enter or return.

You can discover more about the Terminal app in the Rocket Yard guide:

Tech 101: Introduction to the Mac’s Terminal App, Part One

Git Bash For Mac Catalina 2017

Change The Default Shell to Use

No matter which shell Apple sets for you as the default, you can change it with one of two methods:

From the Terminal command line, enter:

Windows Git Bash

chsh -s /bin/zsh

or

chsh -s /bin/bash

Depending on whether you wish to set Zsh or Bash as the default.

Hit enter or return.

You can also set the default shell using System Preferences:

• Launch System Preferences, and select the Users & Groups preference pane.
• Click on the Lock icon in the bottom left corner, then supply your administrator password when requested.
• Right-click on the user account in the sidebar whose default shell you wish to change. From the popup menu, select Advanced Options.
• Locate the item labeled Login shell.
• Use the dropdown menu to select one of the available shells.

Note: macOS Catalina does not include an entry in the dropdown menu for Bash. Instead, enter /bin/bash directly in the Login shell item.

Click the OK button when ready.

What About the Warning Message to Change to Zsh?

If you have Bash set as the default and you launch Terminal or open a new Terminal session, you will see the following message:

Git Bash For Mac Catalina Bay

The default interactive shell is now zsh. To update your account to zsh, please run chsh -s /bin/zsh.

If you intend to keep using Bash you can remove this message by entering the following at the command prompt:

export BASH_SILENCE_DEPRECATION_WARNING=1

Hit enter or return.

Shell Documentation

It’s beyond the scope of this single article to tell you about the various capabilities of each shell. To do so would really require a book, or two. If you would like to discover more about the Bash and Zsh, you can check out the online documentation about each.

• Z Shell information
• Bash information

Do you use the Terminal app often? And if so, what shell do you prefer to use? Let us know in the comments below.

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