Ask HN: How do you repeatedly setup new dev laptops?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26545558

by tibbon • 5 years ago

6 3 5 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

MacOS, Linux and Windows solutions all welcome. I really dislike the process of setting up a new laptop, and remembering all the software I typically install. Not everything has a Homebrew package, although that handles many things.

Especially across multiple operating systems, how do you make this a quick and reliable process without resorting to pre-built images that get out of date quickly? I've used JAMF some professionally for this, but its MacOS only and I'd prefer FOSS when possible.

asguy• 5 years ago

I just use Debian’s installer, and I preseed it with all of my OS preferences (e.g. installed package list, apt config to turn off recommends and suggests, sysctl settings, adding unstable to apt).

Then I log in, add my auth essentials, git clone my home directory, and grab whatever else I need to get work done.

It takes about 30 minutes with most hardware, and a good network connection.

gostsamo• 5 years ago

Microsoft also offer an mdm solution like jamf. I'm not sure if there something like that for Linux. If you are keeping to a single os though, you can make yourself a list or find a bundle that contains most of what you need. Highly depends on the use case.

jamesponddotco• 5 years ago

I wrote a bash script that handles everything for me, from setting up the base operating system, from installing packages, to configuring them. The script can configure my laptop, my wife's laptop, my media centre, and our Android phones, although on the phone's case, you cannot do nearly enough with adb.

Once it is done, it saves the generated credentials to my 1Password account, restarts my computer, update firmware if needed, and we are ready to go. People love to crap on bash, but meh, it never let me down.

Ask HN: How do you repeatedly setup new dev laptops?

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