I’d like to be able to decide where it saves its data.
2nd question, i’d like to be able to genereate the config file with most/all settings,
Which OS?
You can use the [zip file] (https://download.sonarr.tv/v2/master/latest/NzbDrone.master.zip) to choose where its “installed” to, but data is stored in ProgramData on Windows and the home directory on Linux/OS X, you can symlink it elsewhere if you want.
Not really a question and I’m not sure what you’re asking for. Only some settings are in the config file (ones that control the web server/need to be available before the application has started).