diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..408bf2d37e89c7080205a2e585290f1865a529bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+myftpdumper.conf
diff --git a/myftpdumper.sample.conf b/myftpdumper.sample.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9a7b73c4e5ac8e3d64df196ff7b519e701ebf267
--- /dev/null
+++ b/myftpdumper.sample.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+### system settings
+# Absolute path to local backup directory
+declare -r BACKUP_PATH=""
+# Send mail to this address in case of any errors. No mail if empty.
+declare -r ADMINMAIL=""
+# Keep so many backups or all if 0
+declare -r NUMBACKUPS=30
+# Combine tables of a database in single file
+declare -r USE_TAR=1
+# Compression utility (like gzip, bzip2, xz, lzop), parameters allowed
+# Disable compression if empty
+declare -r COMPRESS="xz -T0"
+# The umask that is used for the backup. Leave empty to keep unchanged
+declare -r UMASK=0077
+
+### MySQL settings
+declare -r DB_HOST=""
+declare -r DB_USER=""
+declare -r DB_PASS=""
+declare -r DB_EXCLUDE='^(?!(mysql|phpmyadmin|information_schema|performance_schema))'
+
+### Remote server settings
+# Type of ftp connection: ftp, ftps, sftp
+# Leave empty to disable upload
+declare -r FTP_TYPE=""
+declare -r FTP_HOST=""
+declare -r FTP_USER=""
+declare -r FTP_PASS="" # if empty, ssh key with no password is required
+declare -r FTP_PORT="" # empty for default
+declare -r FTP_KEYFILE="" # ssh key for sftp, empty for default
+declare -r FTP_DIR=""
+declare -r FTP_NUMBACKUPS=90
+
+### GPG settings
+# GPG key ID used for encryption starting with "0x" (preferred)
+# or passphrase for symmetric encryption or empty (no encryption).
+declare -r GPG_KEYID=""
+declare -r GPG_PASS=""
diff --git a/myftpdumper.sh b/myftpdumper.sh
index a3d28b34371f6b9d030bc268544696d780014abe..be9b3cea3d88e3a7a7b9f32b2821c8310c026fc4 100755
--- a/myftpdumper.sh
+++ b/myftpdumper.sh
@@ -7,51 +7,6 @@
 # to an (s)ftp server. Backups can be compressed and encrypted.
 ################################################################################
 
-
-
-#### BEGIN CONFIGURATION #######################################################
-### system settings
-# Absolute path to local backup directory
-declare -r BACKUP_PATH=""
-# Send mail to this address in case of any errors. No mail if empty.
-declare -r ADMINMAIL=""
-# Keep so many backups or all if 0
-declare -r NUMBACKUPS=30
-# Combine tables of a database in single file
-declare -r USE_TAR=1
-# Compression utility (like gzip, bzip2, xz, lzop), parameters allowed
-# Disable compression if empty
-declare -r COMPRESS="xz -T0"
-# The umask that is used for the backup. Leave empty to keep unchanged
-declare -r UMASK=0077
-
-### MySQL settings
-declare -r DB_HOST=""
-declare -r DB_USER=""
-declare -r DB_PASS=""
-declare -r DB_EXCLUDE='^(?!(mysql|phpmyadmin|information_schema|performance_schema))'
-
-### Remote server settings
-# Type of ftp connection: ftp, ftps, sftp
-# Leave empty to disable upload
-declare -r FTP_TYPE=""
-declare -r FTP_HOST=""
-declare -r FTP_USER=""
-declare -r FTP_PASS="" # if empty, ssh key with no password is required
-declare -r FTP_PORT="" # empty for default
-declare -r FTP_KEYFILE="" # ssh key for sftp, empty for default
-declare -r FTP_DIR=""
-declare -r FTP_NUMBACKUPS=90
-
-### GPG settings
-# GPG key ID used for encryption starting with "0x" (preferred)
-# or passphrase for symmetric encryption or empty (no encryption).
-declare -r GPG_KEYID=""
-declare -r GPG_PASS=""
-################################################################################
-
-
-
 info() {
     echo "INFO:  $1"
 }
@@ -280,6 +235,16 @@ upload() {
     fi
 }
 
+# get config
+config_file=$(dirname $0)/"myftpdumper.conf"
+if [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; then
+    config_file=$1
+fi
+if [[ ! -f "$config_file" ]]; then
+    echo -e "USAGE: $0 path/to/config \nOr myftpdumper.conf file in same directory" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+source "$config_file"
 
 
 check_prerequisites