diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index af1c9c4..d2bd107 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -129,5 +129,4 @@ dmypy.json
 .pyre/
 
 # nodes
-config.py
 data
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6eb4e77..1a296a2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,17 +1,20 @@
 setup:
 	python3 -m venv .venv
 	.venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
-	mkdir data
-	wget https://github.com/P3TERX/GeoLite.mmdb/raw/download/GeoLite2-City.mmdb -P data
+	mkdir -p data
+	wget https://github.com/P3TERX/GeoLite.mmdb/raw/download/GeoLite2-City.mmdb -P data --no-clobber
 
 up:
 	docker-compose up -d
 
 dev:
-	./bin/dev
+	./manage.sh run
 
 prod:
-	./bin/prod
+	./manage.sh prod
 
 logs:
 	docker-compose logs -f
+
+kill:
+	pkill -ef xmrnodes
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e253c0b..0b44c16 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@ The map portion of the service requires the GeoLite2 db...the `make setup` comma
 # install python virtual environment and install application dependencies
 make setup
 
-# setup config
-cp xmrnodes/config.example.py xmrnodes/config.py
-vim xmrnodes/config.py
+# default configs work out of the box, modify .env if needed
+# setup .env
+cp env-example .env
+vim .env
 
 # run services (tor, i2p, etc)
 make up
@@ -32,3 +33,15 @@ make dev
 
 # access at http://127.0.0.1:5000
 ```
+
+### Production
+
+For production, update `SERVER_NAME` in `.env` to your production URL/domain. Use `manage.sh` (or provided `Makefile`) to serve the Flask process using Gunicorn. 
+
+```
+./manage.sh prod
+```
+
+Runs the Gunicorn process on port 4000. Setup a web server to proxy requests to that port.
+
+Kill production Gunicorn with `make kill`.
diff --git a/bin/cmd b/bin/cmd
deleted file mode 100755
index 2d248f4..0000000
--- a/bin/cmd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-source .venv/bin/activate
-export FLASK_APP=xmrnodes/app.py
-export FLASK_SECRETS=config.py
-export FLASK_DEBUG=1
-flask $1
diff --git a/bin/dev b/bin/dev
deleted file mode 100755
index 2389ad5..0000000
--- a/bin/dev
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-source .venv/bin/activate
-export FLASK_APP=xmrnodes/app.py
-export FLASK_SECRETS=config.py
-export FLASK_DEBUG=1
-flask run
diff --git a/bin/prod b/bin/prod
deleted file mode 100755
index 3319b65..0000000
--- a/bin/prod
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-BASE=data/gunicorn
-
-source .venv/bin/activate
-export FLASK_APP=xmrnodes/app.py
-export FLASK_SECRETS=config.py
-export FLASK_DEBUG=0
-export FLASK_ENV=production
-
-mkdir -p $BASE
-
-gunicorn \
-  --bind 127.0.0.1:4000 "xmrnodes.app:app" \
-  --daemon \
-  --log-file $BASE/gunicorn.log \
-  --pid $BASE/gunicorn.pid \
-  --access-logfile $BASE/access.log \
-  --reload
-
-echo "Starting gunicorn with pid $(cat $BASE/gunicorn.pid)"
diff --git a/env-example b/env-example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43de794
--- /dev/null
+++ b/env-example
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+SECRET_KEY=randomstringyoumakeup
+SERVER_NAME=127.0.0.1:5000
+DATA_DIR=./data
+TOR_HOST=127.0.0.1
+TOR_PORT=9050
+NODE_HOST=singapore.node.xmr.pm
+NODE_PORT=18080
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/manage.sh b/manage.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..6ff3f24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manage.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+source .venv/bin/activate
+export FLASK_APP=xmrnodes/app.py
+export FLASK_SECRETS=config.py
+export FLASK_DEBUG=1
+export FLASK_ENV=development
+
+# override
+source .env
+
+if [[ ${1} == "prod" ]];
+then
+  export FLASK_DEBUG=0
+  export FLASK_ENV=production
+  export BASE=./data/gunicorn
+  mkdir -p $BASE
+  pgrep -F $BASE/gunicorn.pid
+  if [[ $? != 0 ]]; then
+    gunicorn \
+      --bind 127.0.0.1:4000 "xmrnodes.app:app" \
+      --daemon \
+      --log-file $BASE/gunicorn.log \
+      --pid $BASE/gunicorn.pid \
+      --reload
+    sleep 2
+    echo "Started gunicorn on 127.0.0.1:4000 with pid $(cat $BASE/gunicorn.pid)"
+  fi
+else
+  flask $@
+fi
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 3798115..f755c4c 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ flask_wtf
 pysocks
 git+https://github.com/cdiv1e12/py-levin
 geoip2
+python-dotenv
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/xmrnodes/app.py b/xmrnodes/app.py
index 9e72c3d..2bcb27b 100644
--- a/xmrnodes/app.py
+++ b/xmrnodes/app.py
@@ -164,9 +164,14 @@ def wow_nodes_json():
 
 @app.route("/map")
 def map():
+    try:
+        peers = rw_cache('map_peers')
+    except:
+        flash('Couldn\'t load the map. Try again later.')
+        return redirect('/')
     return render_template(
         "map.html",
-        peers=rw_cache('map_peers'),
+        peers=peers,
         source_node=config.NODE_HOST
     )
 
diff --git a/xmrnodes/config.py b/xmrnodes/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef42adc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xmrnodes/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import os
+from secrets import token_urlsafe
+
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+load_dotenv()
+
+SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY', token_urlsafe(14))
+SERVER_NAME = os.environ.get('SERVER_NAME', '127.0.0.1:5000')
+DATA_DIR = os.environ.get('DATA_DIR', './data')
+TOR_HOST = os.environ.get('TOR_HOST', '127.0.0.1')
+TOR_PORT = os.environ.get('TOR_PORT', 9050)
+NODE_HOST = os.environ.get('NODE_HOST', 'singapore.node.xmr.pm')
+NODE_PORT = os.environ.get('NODE_PORT', 18080)
\ No newline at end of file