Terminal Customization Guide
Prerequisites Installing Essential Developer Tools must be completed.
What is Oh My Zsh?
Oh My Zsh is a tool that makes your terminal prettier and more convenient. It provides auto-completion when typing commands, displays with color coding, and lets you see Git information at a glance.
Features provided by Oh My Zsh
- Themes: Changes the appearance and colors of the terminal
- Plugins: Adds convenience features like auto-completion and syntax highlighting
- Aliases: Shortens long commands for easier use
- Git Info: Shows current branch and status in the prompt
Installing Oh My Zsh
Open Terminal and copy-paste the following command:
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
For questions during installation, enter Y:
- "Do you want to change your default shell to zsh?" → Enter Y
What happens automatically after installation
- Existing
.zshrc
file is backed up to.zshrc.pre-oh-my-zsh
- A new
.zshrc
file is created to activate Oh My Zsh - The default theme is applied, changing the terminal appearance
Installing Themes and Plugins
Now that Oh My Zsh is installed, let's install more attractive themes and useful plugins.
Components to Install
- Powerlevel10k: Most popular terminal theme (fast and pretty)
- zsh-autosuggestions: Shows previously typed commands in gray as suggestions
- zsh-syntax-highlighting: Shows correct commands in green, incorrect commands in red
Install Powerlevel10k Theme
Open Terminal and copy-paste the following command:
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k
Install zsh-autosuggestions Plugin
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
Install zsh-syntax-highlighting Plugin
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting
Update Configuration File
Update settings to activate the installed theme and plugins:
# Change theme
sed -i '' 's/ZSH_THEME=".*"/ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k\/powerlevel10k"/' ~/.zshrc
# Activate plugins
sed -i '' 's/plugins=(.*)/plugins=(git docker docker-compose zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting)/' ~/.zshrc
# Apply settings
source ~/.zshrc
[!INFO] Activated plugins
- git: Git-related aliases and information display
- docker: Docker command auto-completion
- docker-compose: Docker Compose auto-completion
- zsh-autosuggestions: Command suggestion feature
- zsh-syntax-highlighting: Command syntax highlighting
Changing iTerm2 Color Theme
Want to make your terminal even prettier? Try changing the color theme.
What is a color theme?
A combination of colors that changes the overall background, text, and highlight colors of the terminal. iTerm2 has built-in themes, and you can download additional ones.
Change to Built-in Themes
First, check the themes built into iTerm2:
- iTerm2 → Settings → Profiles → Colors
- Click "Color Presets..." dropdown in bottom right
- Available default themes include:
- Dark Background (default dark theme)
- Light Background (light theme)
- Pastel (Dark Background) (pastel colors)
- Solarized Dark (popular dark theme)
- Solarized Light (popular light theme)
- Tango Dark / Tango Light
- Click desired theme to apply immediately
Install More Themes
If you don't like the default themes, you can download hundreds of additional themes.
Popular Theme Recommendations
- Dracula: Popular dark purple theme
- Tokyo Night: Modern dark theme
- Gruvbox Dark: Retro theme with warm colors
- Catppuccin: Soft pastel tone theme
- Nord: Minimal theme with cool blue tones
Download and Install Additional Themes
- Visit iTerm2 Color Schemes website
- Check theme previews
- Right-click theme name link → Select "Save Link As..." to download
.itermcolors
file - Return to iTerm2:
- Settings → Profiles → Colors
- Click "Color Presets..." → "Import..."
- Select downloaded
.itermcolors
file - Select imported theme from "Color Presets..." to apply
Downloaded theme files can be deleted
Once you import a theme into iTerm2, the settings are copied and saved,
so you can delete the .itermcolors
files in your Downloads folder.
Theme Selection Tips
- Dark themes are easier on the eyes for long coding sessions
Powerlevel10k Configuration Wizard
When you restart the terminal, the Powerlevel10k configuration wizard starts automatically.
MesloLGS NF Font Installation Notice
Before the configuration wizard starts, a screen appears recommending MesloLGS NF font installation:
Powerlevel10k Font Installation Process
- When "Install Meslo Nerd Font?" question appears → Enter y
- Powerlevel10k automatically downloads and installs MesloLGS NF font
- iTerm2 settings are also automatically changed (font changes to MesloLGS NF)
This font is optimized for Powerlevel10k, but Korean characters might not display well.
Configuration Wizard Progress
What is the configuration wizard?
Powerlevel10k creates a prompt style tailored to your preferences through various questions. You can choose icon support, color style, information display method, etc.
Recommended Settings (For Beginners)
It's recommended to select the following for each question:
- Diamond → y (y if you see diamond icon)
- Lock → y (y if you see lock icon)
- Debian → y (y if you see Debian logo)
- Style → 3 (Rainbow) (most popular colorful style)
- Character Set → 1 (Unicode) (use Unicode characters)
- Prompt Style → 3 (Pure) (clean 2-line style)
- Transient Prompt → n (keep default)
- Instant Prompt → 1 (Verbose) (fast start)
Change Back to Korean Font
After Powerlevel10k configuration, iTerm2 font will be changed to MesloLGS NF. To properly display Korean, you need to change back to D2Coding Nerd Font:
- iTerm2 → Settings (or
Cmd + ,
) - Select Profiles → Text tab
- Confirm current font is "MesloLGS NF" in Font section
- Click Change Font
- Select "D2CodingLigature Nerd Font"
- Size 14pt recommended
Why set font twice?
- MesloLGS NF: Font recommended by Powerlevel10k, displays all icons perfectly but not optimized for Korean
- D2Coding Nerd Font: Font for Korean developers that displays Korean, English, and icons well
It's best to use MesloLGS NF during Powerlevel10k setup and switch to D2Coding afterwards.
If you made a mistake or want to change later, you can always reconfigure:
p10k configure
Verify Installation
Let's check if everything is installed correctly.
Open Terminal and copy-paste the following command:
echo $ZSH_THEME # Should output powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k
echo $SHELL # Should output /bin/zsh
Verification Points for Successful Installation
- Terminal Prompt: Shows Git branch name, folder icons, etc.
- Auto-completion: Gray text suggestions appear when typing commands
- Syntax Highlighting: Correct commands in green, incorrect commands in red
- Icons: Nerd Font icons display properly without breaking
Additional Tips
Useful Oh My Zsh Aliases
Convenient shortcut commands provided by Oh My Zsh:
ll
-ls -l
(detailed file list)la
-ls -la
(list including hidden files)..
-cd ..
(go to parent folder)...
-cd ../..
(go up two levels)gst
-git status
(check Git status)gaa
-git add --all
(add all changes)gcmsg
-git commit -m
(commit with message)
Powerlevel10k Advanced Settings
If you want more settings, you can edit the ~/.p10k.zsh
file:
# Edit configuration file
code ~/.p10k.zsh # Open with VS Code
It's recommended to just use default settings at first. Try customizing after becoming familiar with the terminal!