11. Install StudioFS on macOS¶
Work in progress
On a Mac, StudioFS starts in the terminal too. Once mounted, you will work with a folder in Finder, your editing application, or your compositor, but first you need to install two separate things: macFUSE, which helps macOS mount the filesystem, and StudioFS itself.
macFUSE first¶
The main StudioFS option on macOS at present is macFUSE. That is what we will use below.
Download the installer from the official macFUSE website and follow its steps. If you already use Homebrew, you can install the same component with:
brew install --cask macfuse
macOS permissions¶
Installing the package and allowing its system component to run are separate steps. macOS may ask you to approve loading the extension in System Settings → Privacy & Security, then restart your Mac. Names and locations vary between macOS versions; follow the installer messages and the macFUSE instructions.
Regular macFUSE 5.4 was tested on macOS 27 Golden Gate and macOS 26 Tahoe. On a Mac with Apple silicon, regular macFUSE may require permission for third-party kernel extensions through the recovery environment: Startup Security Utility → Reduced Security → Allow user management of kernel extensions from identified developers. This changes the computer's security policy. Follow the current macFUSE instructions for your particular system, and coordinate with your system administrator on a studio Mac. If company policy prohibits this step, do not try to bypass it with commands from a random forum.
Downloading StudioFS¶
Open the StudioFS releases page and download the build for your Mac—Apple silicon or Intel. Extract it if it is packaged in an archive. In the install command, replace /path/to/studiofs with the path to the downloaded executable:
mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin"
install -m 755 "/path/to/studiofs" "$HOME/.local/bin/studiofs"
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
studiofs --version
studiofs --help
export applies to the current terminal session. To make the setting permanent, add that line to ~/.zshrc if you use the default interactive zsh, then open a new terminal window. Check which copy of the program the system found:
command -v studiofs
studiofs --version
Preparing a place to mount¶
A mount point for macFUSE will be /Volumes/Studiofs/. Since this is a system directory, create the folder with administrator privileges and give ownership to your user:
sudo mkdir -p /Volumes/Studiofs
sudo chown "$(id -un):$(id -gn)" /Volumes/Studiofs
ls -A /Volumes/Studiofs
The ls command should show no files. If the folder already contains files, choose another mount point name. Do not mount a volume over a directory containing your current project's material: mounting will hide its ordinary contents until you unmount.
In this example, the volume is called myvolume. StudioFS appends that name to /Volumes/Studiofs/, so the actual path will be /Volumes/Studiofs/myvolume. Keep the cache separately on a local SSD, outside the mounted volume.
First run: what you can check now¶
If studiofs --help works, the executable starts. This is not yet a test of mounting or macFUSE permissions.
After creating a volume with init or connecting to an existing one with discover, the command will look like this:
studiofs mount myvolume /Volumes/Studiofs --foreground
This example assumes that the local client is already set up for the myvolume volume. If it is not, first follow Chapter 13 or Chapter 16 on connecting a second computer. Do not create a new volume in place of the one your team invited you to join.
Leave the terminal running the mount open. In another window, you can open the folder in Finder:
open /Volumes/Studiofs/myvolume
Use test material for your first read and write checks, following Chapters 14–15. Before unmounting, close files and applications using the volume, then run:
studiofs umount /Volumes/Studiofs/myvolume
If macFUSE refuses to mount, revisit system permissions and restarting. If StudioFS reports a missing volume or a problem accessing PostgreSQL or S3, check the relevant settings: reinstalling the driver will not fix the database password.
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