It will create a working directory ${HOME}/.SETISupport If you don't like this working directory, please set environment variable "SETISUPPORT_WRKDIR" to the directory you like. For Example, if you want working directory to be /var/db/setiathome , # setenv SETISUPPORT_WRKDIR /var/db/setiathome for csh or tcsh $ export SETISUPPORT_WRKDIR=/var/db/setiathome for sh or bash Maybe you want set this to the working directory setiathome, but don't forget that you need write permission for working directory. If you installed setiathome from ports or package, setiathome's working directory is owned by nobody. First time you run SETISupport, it askes you the place of state.sah. This file is generated by setiathome in the directory from which it's run. If you installed setiathome from ports or package, it's /var/db/setiathome