macOS Terminal and shell

(Updated for macOS Sequoia)

All of my other books so far, have this sentence:

“You should be comfortable with using Terminal on macOS.”

This is the book that helps you get comfortable with Terminal and shell on macOS.

The book covers the new default shell zsh, but also bash, on macOS versions up to and including macOS 11 Big Sur.

This book will teach you to use Terminal and the shell on macOS. It starts with an introduction to the command line, the terminology, its history and concepts. Then we examine macOS, its file systems, and shells (sh, bash and zsh) in detail. We learn how to configure the Terminal application and zsh to work more productively. This is a great entry book for technical minded users new to the command line, but also a great reference for experienced users.

While my experience as a Mac system administrator has certainly influenced the book, it is relevant for all users who need to or want to learn using Terminal and the shell, such as developers, scientists and “pro” users in general.

Table of contents:

Shell Primer

· Why use Terminal?

· First Steps in the Shell

· Navigating the File System

· Special Characters

· Commands

· Managing Files

Users and Groups

· Users

· Groups

· User Account Types

· The sudo Command

Processes and Pipes

· Processes

· Output Redirection

· Pipes

Files and File Systems

· Links

· File Permissions

· Special Attributes

· macOS File System Layout

· macOS File System Protections

Configuring the shell

· Configuration Files

· Shell History

· Auto-Completion

· Custom Prompt

· Installing and using Command Line Tools

macOS Terminal

· Editing the Current Command

· Terminal-Finder Interaction

· Terminal Profiles