diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6aae24b..578576f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -93,11 +93,8 @@ Shynet is pretty simple, but there are a few key terms you need to know in order
 
 ## Installation
 
-If you use docker-compose, you can use the docker-compose.yml file to set up shynet and launch it by doing docker-compose up.
-Note that the application will generate a password for you on initial run, which will be output to standard docker logs.
-Also note that this compose file assumes you use a reverse-proxy in front of it, whether Traefik v2, Nginx-Proxy, or a solution on your host.
-
-You can find further installation instructions in the [Getting Started Guide](GUIDE.md#installation).
+You can find installation instructions in the [Getting Started Guide](GUIDE.md#installation). Out of the box, we support deploying via a simple
+Docker container, docker-compose, or Kubernetes (see [kubernetes](/kubernetes)).
 
 ## FAQ
 
diff --git a/TEMPLATE.env b/TEMPLATE.env
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5dcaa1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/TEMPLATE.env
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# This file shows all of the environment variables you can
+# set to configure Shynet, as well as information about their
+# effects. Make a copy of this file to configure your deployment.
+
+
+# Whether to perform checks and setup at startup. For most setups,
+# the recommended value is True.
+PERFORM_CHECKS_AND_SETUP=True
+
+
+# Database settings (PostgreSQL)
+DB_NAME=shynet_db
+DB_USER=shynet_db_user
+DB_PASSWORD=shynet_db_user_password
+DB_HOST=db
+DB_PORT=5432
+
+# Email settings (optional)
+EMAIL_HOST_USER=example
+EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=example_password
+EMAIL_HOST=smtp.example.com
+SERVER_EMAIL=<Shynet> noreply@shynet.example.com
+
+# General Django settings
+DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=random_string
+
+# For better security, set this to your deployment's domain. Comma separated.
+ALLOWED_HOSTS=*
+
+# Set to True (capitalized) if you want people to be able to sign up for your Shynet instance (not recommended)
+SIGNUPS_ENABLED=False
+
+# The timezone of the admin panel. Affects how dates are displayed.
+TIME_ZONE=America/New_York
+
+# Set to "False" if you will not be serving content over HTTPS
+SCRIPT_USE_HTTPS=True
+
+# How frequently should the monitoring script "phone home" (in ms)?
+SCRIPT_HEARTBEAT_FREQUENCY=5000
+
+# Should only superusers (admins) be able to create services? This is helpful
+# when you'd like to invite others to your Shynet instance but don't want
+# them to be able to create services of their own.
+ONLY_SUPERUSERS_CREATE=True
+
+# If PERFORM_CHECKS_AND_SETUP is True, the following values will be set on
+# first run. After they are set once, they won't have any effect.
+# (Changing these values WILL NOT affect your Shynet instance.)
+# 
+# Your admin user's email. A temporary password will be printed
+# to the console on first run.
+SHYNET_ADMIN_EMAIL=you@example.com
+
+# The domain on which you'll be hosting Shynet. 
+SHYNET_HOST=shynet.example.com
+
+# What you'd like to call your Shynet instance.
+SHYNET_WHITELABEL=My Shynet Instance
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 7d81743..80fd9a6 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -5,44 +5,12 @@ services:
     restart: unless-stopped
     expose:
       - 8080
+    env_file:
+      # Create a file called '.env' if it doesn't already exist.
+      # You can use `TEMPLATE.env` as a guide.
+      - .env
     environment:
-      # Database Settings
-      - DB_NAME=shynet_DBname
-      - DB_USER=shynet_User
-      - DB_PASSWORD=shynet_RandomPassword
-      # Database connection, relies on DB service
       - DB_HOST=db
-      - DB_PORT=5432
-      # General Django settings
-      - DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=shynet_OtherRandomPassword
-      # Don't leak error details to visitors, very important
-      - DEBUG=False
-      # Unless you are using an external Celery task queue, make sure this
-      # is set to True.
-      - CELERY_TASK_ALWAYS_EAGER=True 
-      # For better security, set this to your deployment's domain. Comma separated.
-      - ALLOWED_HOSTS=*
-      # Set to True (capitalized) if you want people to be able to sign up for your Shynet instance (not recommended)
-      - SIGNUPS_ENABLED=False
-      # Change as required
-      - TIME_ZONE=America/New_York
-      # Set to "False" if you will not be serving content over HTTPS
-      - SCRIPT_USE_HTTPS=True
-      # Email settings
-      - EMAIL_HOST_USER=youruser@yourhost.example.com
-      - EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=youruser_password
-      - EMAIL_HOST=host.email.provider
-      - SERVER_EMAIL=noreply.analytics@shynet.example.com
-      # Redis and queue settings; not necessary for single-instance deployments
-      #- REDIS_CACHE_LOCATION=redis://redis.default.svc.cluster.local/0 
-      # If set, make sure CELERY_TASK_ALWAYS_EAGER is False
-      #- CELERY_BROKER_URL=redis://redis.default.svc.cluster.local/1
-      # How frequently should the monitoring script "phone home" (in ms)?
-      - SCRIPT_HEARTBEAT_FREQUENCY=5000
-      # Should only superusers (admins) be able to create services? This is helpful
-      # when you'd like to invite others to your Shynet instance but don't want
-      # them to be able to create services of their own.
-      - ONLY_SUPERUSERS_CREATE=True
     networks:
       - internal
     depends_on:
@@ -51,9 +19,9 @@ services:
     image: postgres
     restart: always
     environment:
-      - POSTGRES_USER=shynet_User
-      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=shynet_RandomPassword
-      - POSTGRES_DB=shynet_DBname
+      - "POSTGRES_USER=${DB_USER}"
+      - "POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}"
+      - "POSTGRES_DB=${DB_NAME}"
     volumes:
       - shynet_db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
     networks:
diff --git a/shynet/core/management/commands/sanity_checks.py b/shynet/core/management/commands/startup_checks.py
similarity index 96%
rename from shynet/core/management/commands/sanity_checks.py
rename to shynet/core/management/commands/startup_checks.py
index c959297..15da2d3 100644
--- a/shynet/core/management/commands/sanity_checks.py
+++ b/shynet/core/management/commands/startup_checks.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ from core.models import User
 
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
-    help = "Performs sanity checks on the Shynet setup"
+    help = "Internal command to perform startup sanity checks."
 
     def check_migrations(self):
         from django.db.migrations.executor import MigrationExecutor
diff --git a/shynet/entrypoint.sh b/shynet/entrypoint.sh
index 096437a..a97bb97 100755
--- a/shynet/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/shynet/entrypoint.sh
@@ -1,44 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-# Check if Setup is necessary, do setup as needed
-sanity_results=( $(python manage.py sanity_checks) )
-if [[ ${sanity_results[0]} == True ]]; then
-  echo "Running Migrations..."
-  {
-    python manage.py migrate && echo "Migrations Done"
-  } || {
-    echo "Failed Migrations, exiting" && exit 1
-  }
-  else
-  echo "Migrations Unecessary, skipping"
-fi
-if [[ ${sanity_results[1]} == True ]]; then
-  echo "Running CreateAdmin..."
-  {
-    temppwd=$( python manage.py registeradmin $SHYNET_EMAIL ) && echo "Admin Created, password $temppwd"
-  } || {
-    echo "Failed CreateAdmin, exiting" & exit 1
-  }
-  else
-  echo "CreateAdmin Unecessary, skipping"
-fi
-if [[ ${sanity_results[2]} == True ]]; then
-  echo "Setting Hostname..."
-  {
-    python manage.py hostname $SHYNET_HOST && echo "Host Set"
-  } || {
-    echo "Failed setting Hostname, exiting" & exit 1
-  }
-  else
-  echo "Hostname Unecessary, skipping"
-fi
-if [[ ${sanity_results[3]} == True ]]; then
-  echo "Setting Hostname..."
-  {
-    python manage.py whitelabel $SHYNET_NAME && echo "WhiteLabel Set"
-  } || {
-    echo "Failed Migrations, exiting" & exit 1
-  }
-  else
-  echo "WhiteLabel Unecessary, skipping"
+
+if [[ $PERFORM_CHECKS_AND_SETUP == True ]]; then
+  ./startup_checks.sh
 fi
+
 ./webserver.sh
diff --git a/shynet/shynet/settings.py b/shynet/shynet/settings.py
index 531a40c..c90d633 100644
--- a/shynet/shynet/settings.py
+++ b/shynet/shynet/settings.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
 SECRET_KEY = os.getenv("DJANGO_SECRET_KEY", "onlyusethisindev")
 
 # SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
-DEBUG = os.getenv("DEBUG", "True") == "True"
+DEBUG = os.getenv("DEBUG", "False") == "True"
 
 ALLOWED_HOSTS = os.getenv("ALLOWED_HOSTS", "*").split(",")
 
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ SITE_ID = 1
 
 # Celery
 
-CELERY_TASK_ALWAYS_EAGER = os.getenv("CELERY_TASK_ALWAYS_EAGER", "False") == "True"
+CELERY_TASK_ALWAYS_EAGER = os.getenv("CELERY_TASK_ALWAYS_EAGER", "True") == "True"
 
 CELERY_BROKER_URL = os.getenv("CELERY_BROKER_URL")
 CELERY_REDIS_SOCKET_TIMEOUT = 15
diff --git a/shynet/ssl.webserver.sh b/shynet/ssl.webserver.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/shynet/startup_checks.sh b/shynet/startup_checks.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..0363144
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shynet/startup_checks.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Check if setup is necessary, do setup as needed
+echo "Performing startup checks..."
+sanity_results=( $(./manage.py startup_checks) )
+if [[ ${sanity_results[0]} == True ]]; then
+  echo "Running migrations (setting up DB)..."
+  {
+    ./manage.py migrate && echo "Migrations complete!"
+  } || {
+    echo "Migrations failed, exiting" && exit 1
+  }
+  else
+  echo "Database is ready to go."
+fi
+if [[ -n $SHYNET_ADMIN_EMAIL && ${sanity_results[1]} == True ]]; then
+  echo "Creating an admin user..."
+  {
+    temppwd=$( ./manage.py registeradmin $SHYNET_ADMIN_EMAIL ) && echo "Admin user ($SHYNET_ADMIN_EMAIL) created! Password: $temppwd"
+  } || {
+    echo "Failed to create admin, exiting" & exit 1
+  }
+  else
+  echo "Making no changes to admin user."
+fi
+if [[ -n $SHYNET_HOST && ${sanity_results[2]} == True ]]; then
+  echo "Setting hostname..."
+  {
+    ./manage.py hostname $SHYNET_HOST && echo "Hostname set to $SHYNET_HOST!"
+  } || {
+    echo "Failed setting hostname, exiting" & exit 1
+  }
+  else
+  echo "Making no changes to hostname."
+fi
+if [[ -n $SHYNET_WHITELABEL && ${sanity_results[3]} == True ]]; then
+  echo "Setting whitelabel..."
+  {
+    ./manage.py whitelabel $SHYNET_WHITELABEL && echo "Whitelabel set! Whitelabel: $SHYNET_WHITELABEL"
+  } || {
+    echo "Failed to set whitelabel, exiting" & exit 1
+  }
+  else
+  echo "Making no changes to whitelabel."
+fi
+echo "Startup checks complete!"
\ No newline at end of file