Frequently asked questions about Natilius.

General

What is Natilius?

Natilius is an automated Mac developer environment setup tool. It installs and configures 100+ development tools, applications, and system settings with a single command.

Is it safe to run?

Yes. Natilius is:

• Open source — All code is visible on GitHub
• Idempotent — Safe to run multiple times
• Non-destructive — Won't overwrite existing configurations without asking
• Dry-run capable — Preview changes with --check before applying

Does it work on Apple Silicon?

Yes. Natilius fully supports both Intel and Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Macs.

What macOS versions are supported?

macOS 13 (Ventura) and later. Some features may work on older versions but aren't officially supported.

Installation

How do I install Natilius?

# One-liner
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vincentkoc/natilius/main/install.sh | bash

# Or via Homebrew
brew install vincentkoc/tap/natilius

How do I uninstall?

# If installed via installer
~/.natilius/uninstall.sh

# If installed via Homebrew
brew uninstall natilius

Can I install without sudo?

Yes. Set SKIP_SUDO=true:

SKIP_SUDO=true natilius setup

Note: Some features (like system preferences) require sudo.

Configuration

Where is the config file?

~/.natiliusrc — Copy from .natiliusrc.example and customize.

How do I enable/disable modules?

Edit the ENABLED_MODULES array in ~/.natiliusrc:

ENABLED_MODULES=(
    "system/updates"
    "applications/homebrew"
    # "dev_environments/python"  # Commented = disabled
)

How do I use profiles?

# Use a built-in profile
natilius --profile devops

# Or create your own
cp ~/.natiliusrc ~/.natiliusrc.myprofile
natilius --profile myprofile

Can I customize tool versions?

Yes. Set version variables in .natiliusrc:

PYTHONVER="3.12"
NODEVER="20"
RUBYVER="3.3"

Troubleshooting

Homebrew installation fails

1. Check your internet connection
2. Run xcode-select --install first
3. Try: HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1 natilius setup

Permission denied errors

1. Ensure you have admin rights
2. Check if SKIP_SUDO=true is set unintentionally
3. Run: sudo chown -R $(whoami) ~/.natilius

A module keeps failing

1. Run with verbose mode: natilius --verbose
2. Check logs: ls -la ~/.natilius/logs/
3. Run just that module in isolation: natilius setup --module <module/path>
4. Open an issue

How do I reset everything?

# Remove Natilius
~/.natilius/uninstall.sh

# Optionally remove installed tools
# (Be careful - this removes Homebrew and everything installed through it)
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/uninstall.sh)"

Automation

Can I use this in CI/CD?

Yes. Use non-interactive mode:

SKIP_SUDO=true NONINTERACTIVE=true natilius setup

Does it work with Terraform?

Yes. See Terraform Guide for examples.

Can I provision multiple Macs?

Yes. Combine with:

• Terraform — For cloud/remote Macs
• Ansible — For fleet management
• MDM — Works alongside Jamf, Kandji, etc.

Contributing

How do I add a new module?

See Creating Modules.

How do I report a bug?

Open a GitHub issue with:

1. macOS version
2. Natilius version (natilius --version)
3. Steps to reproduce
4. Error logs

How do I request a feature?

Start a GitHub Discussion.