# Rank noob: Questions about mac IPFSd, IPFSdesktop

**URL:** <https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/rank-noob-questions-about-mac-ipfsd-ipfsdesktop/7433>\
**Category:** Help\
**Tags:** go-ipfs\
**Created:** [March 7, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/rank-noob-questions-about-mac-ipfsd-ipfsdesktop/7433 "2020-03-07T03:03:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Geordon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.ipfs.tech/geordon/32/3792_2.png) [@Geordon](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/u/Geordon)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/rank-noob-questions-about-mac-ipfsd-ipfsdesktop/7433/1 "2020-03-07T03:03:59Z")

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New to IPFS but not new to \*NIX.

I’m running on a Mac, with IPFS Desktop, but I’m also playing around with [IPFessay](https://gitlab.com/stavros/IPFessay/-/tree/master) and part of the instructions include running the daemon ain writable mode. Since I’m comfortable with the command line, I can do that. But I have some questions.

1. Is there some way that I can start the IPFS daemon with Desktop as writable

2. Does anyone have some suggestions on where I can look to get some help with mounting /ipfs on Mac? I know that osxFUSE is goofy, and that there are challenges with it, but I’d like to play with it. One problem is that on the current version of macOS, the root directory is read only, but the instructions for working with the mount point say to put it in the root.

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**Author:** ![ntninja](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.ipfs.tech/ntninja/32/3492_2.png) [@ntninja](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/u/ntninja)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2020, 4:30am UTC](https://discuss.ipfs.tech/t/rank-noob-questions-about-mac-ipfsd-ipfsdesktop/7433/2 "2020-03-07T04:30:51Z")

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I have never used IPFS Desktop ('cause CEF), but I may be able to give some hints for that: Enabling “writable gateway” is done by setting the boolean config value [`Gateway.Writable`](https://github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/blob/master/docs/config.md#gatewaywritable) to true in the IPFS config. The desktop application probably has something like “Show/Edit Config” somewhere that lets edit the JSON configuration file. Otherwise there should be some way to open the “IPFS directory” which will contain a JSON text file named `config` that you can edit directly (restart the daemon to apply changes). This will either be in `~/.ipfs` or in some application-specific directory.

Regarding FUSE/mount: You can change the location of the created mount points in the config file’s [`Mounts`](https://github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/blob/master/docs/config.md#mounts) section. Good luck!