diff --git a/config/default.go b/config/default.go
index b154760..45cfe8a 100644
--- a/config/default.go
+++ b/config/default.go
@@ -4,67 +4,53 @@ import (
     "fmt"
     "os"
     "time"
+    yaml "gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
 
-// SetDefaultConfig sets the default configuration by writing to environment variables
-// and create a default configuration file.
 func SetDefaultConfig() error {
-    // Define default values with explanations
-    defaults := map[string]string{
-        // Logging level: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR
-        "LOG_LEVEL":                      "INFO",
-
-        "MYSQL_USER":                     "mysql",
-		"MYSQL_PASSWORD":                 "pass",
-		"MYSQL_HOST":                     "mysql",
-		"MYSQL_PORT":                     "3306",
-		"MYSQL_DB_NAME":                  "backgo",
-
-        // API server configuration
-        "API_SERVER_BIND_ADDRESS":        "0.0.0.0", // IP address to bind the API server
-        "API_SERVER_PORT":                "6678",    // Port for the API server
-
-        // Transport server configuration for internal communication
-        "TRANSPORT_SERVER_BIND_ADDRESS":  "0.0.0.0", // IP address for the transport server
-        "TRANSPORT_SERVER_PORT":          "6679",    // Port for the transport server
-
-        // S3 storage configuration
-        "S3_ENABLED":                     "false",   // Enable S3 storage (true/false)
-        "S3_CONNECTION_ADDRESS":          "",        // S3 connection address in the format {IP}:{PORT}
-        "S3_AUTHORIZATION_INFO":          "",        // S3 authorization information (access key:secret key)
-        "S3_REGION":                      "us-east-1", // AWS region for S3
-        "S3_BUCKET_INFO":                 "",        // S3 bucket name
-
-        // SMB storage configuration
-        "SMB_ENABLED":                    "false",   // Enable SMB storage (true/false)
-        "SMB_CONNECTION_ADDRESS":         "",        // SMB connection address in the format {IP}:{PORT}
-        "SMB_AUTHORIZATION_INFO":         "",        // SMB authorization information (e.g., username and password)
-
-        // BackBlaze B2 storage configuration
-        "B2_ENABLED":           "false",   // Enable BackBlaze B2 storage (true/false)
-        "B2_CONNECTION_ADDRESS":"",        // BackBlaze B2 connection address in the format {IP}:{PORT}
-        "B2_AUTHORIZATION_INFO":"",        // BackBlaze B2 authorization information
-        "B2_BUCKET_INFO":       "",        // BackBlaze B2 bucket name
-
-        // Local storage configuration
-        "LOCAL_STORAGE_ENABLED":          "true",    // Enable local storage (true/false)
-        "LOCAL_STORAGE_DIRECTORY":        fmt.Sprintf("/etc/PixelRidge/BackGo/local-data-storage/%s-%d", os.Getenv("HOSTNAME"), time.Now().Unix()), // Path for local storage directory
-
-        // Nodes configuration for cluster setup
-        "NODES":                          "",        // Comma-separated list of node addresses in the cluster
+    cfg := Config{
+        LogLevel: LogLevelInfo,
+        MySQLUser: "mysql",
+        MySQLPassword: "pass",
+        MySQLHost: "localhost",
+        MySQLPort: "3306",
+        MySQLDBName: "backgo",
+        APIServerBindAddress: "0.0.0.0",
+        APIServerPort: "6678",
+        TransportServerBindAddress: "0.0.0.0",
+        TransportServerPort: "6679",
+        S3Enabled: false,
+        S3ConnectionAddress: "",
+        S3AuthorizationInfo: "",
+        S3Region: "us-east-1",
+        S3BucketInfo: "",
+        SMBEnabled: false,
+        SMBConnectionAddress: "",
+        SMBAuthorizationInfo: "",
+        B2Enabled: false,
+        B2ConnectionAddress: "",
+        B2AuthorizationInfo: "",
+        B2BucketInfo: "",
+        LocalStorageEnabled: true,
+        LocalStorageDirectory: fmt.Sprintf("/etc/PixelRidge/BackGo/local-data-storage/%s-%d", os.Getenv("HOSTNAME"), time.Now().Unix()),
+        Nodes: []string{},
     }
 
-    // Write defaults to environment variables
-    for key, value := range defaults {
-        if err := os.Setenv(key, value); err != nil {
-            return fmt.Errorf("failed to set default config for %s: %v", key, err)
-        }
-    }
+    return WriteConfigToFile(&cfg)
+}
 
-    // write these defaults to a file for persistence
-    // write to a JSON or YAML file
+func WriteConfigToFile(cfg *Config) error {
+    file, err := os.OpenFile(configFilePath, os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY|os.O_TRUNC, 0644)
+    if err != nil {
+        return fmt.Errorf("failed to open config file for writing: %v", err)
+    }
+    defer file.Close()
+
+    encoder := yaml.NewEncoder(file)
+    encoder.SetIndent(2)
+    if err := encoder.Encode(cfg); err != nil {
+        return fmt.Errorf("failed to write config to file: %v", err)
+    }
 
     return nil
 }
-
-// include a function here to write the configuration to a file
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 7157307..6af912d 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql v1.8.1
 	github.com/hirochachacha/go-smb2 v1.1.0
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.21.0
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 )
 
 require (
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index f62c42a..2c2a675 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190412213103-97732733099d/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7w
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.14.0 h1:ScX5w1eTa3QqT8oi6+ziP7dTV1S2+ALU0bI+0zXKWiQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.14.0/go.mod h1:18ZOQIKpY8NJVqYksKHtTdi31H5itFRjB5/qKTNYzSU=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.8 h1:obN1ZagJSUGI0Ek/LBmuj4SNLPfIny3KsKFopxRdj10=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.8/go.mod h1:hI93XBmqTisBFMUTm0b8Fm+jr3Dg1NNxqwp+5A1VGuI=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
+gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=