diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index bed8b130..d635833d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ files: all
 #	cp -r tftpboot/* /var/lib/tftpboot/warewulf/ipxe/
 #	restorecon -r /var/lib/tftpboot/warewulf
 	cp -r overlays /var/warewulf/
-	chmod +x /var/warewulf/overlays/system/default/init.ww
+	chmod +x /var/warewulf/overlays/system/default/init
 	chmod 600 /var/warewulf/overlays/system/default/etc/ssh/ssh*
 	chmod 644 /var/warewulf/overlays/system/default/etc/ssh/ssh*.pub.ww
 	mkdir -p /var/warewulf/overlays/system/default/warewulf/bin/
diff --git a/overlays/system/default/init.ww b/overlays/system/default/init
similarity index 77%
rename from overlays/system/default/init.ww
rename to overlays/system/default/init
index 05f90175..58c60bfb 100755
--- a/overlays/system/default/init.ww
+++ b/overlays/system/default/init
@@ -5,24 +5,14 @@
 #
 # Edit at your own risk! DANGER DANGER.
 
-WWCONTAINER={{$.Container}}
-export WWCONTAINER
-WWHOSTNAME={{$.Id}}
-export WWHOSTNAME
-WWROOT={{$.Root}}
-export WWROOT
-WWINIT={{$.Init}}
-export WWINIT
-WWIPMI_IPADDR="{{$.IpmiIpaddr}}"
-export WWIPMI_IPADDR
-WWIPMI_NETMASK="{{$.IpmiNetmask}}"
-export WWIPMI_NETMASK
-WWIPMI_GATEWAY="{{$.IpmiGateway}}"
-export WWIPMI_GATEWAY
-WWIPMI_USER="{{$.IpmiUserName}}"
-export WWIPMI_USER
-WWIPMI_PASSWORD="{{$.IpmiPassword}}"
-export WWIPMI_PASSWORD
+
+if test -f "/warewulf/config"; then
+    . /warewulf/config
+else
+    echo "ERROR: Warewulf configuration file not found... rebooting in 1 minute"
+    sleep 60
+    /sbin/reboot
+fi
 
 echo "Warewulf v4 is now booting: $WWHOSTNAME"
 echo
diff --git a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/config.ww b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/config.ww
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5a33472a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/config.ww
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+WWCONTAINER={{$.Container}}
+WWHOSTNAME={{$.Id}}
+WWROOT={{$.Root}}
+WWINIT={{$.Init}}
+WWIPMI_IPADDR="{{$.IpmiIpaddr}}"
+WWIPMI_NETMASK="{{$.IpmiNetmask}}"
+WWIPMI_GATEWAY="{{$.IpmiGateway}}"
+WWIPMI_USER="{{$.IpmiUserName}}"
+WWIPMI_PASSWORD="{{$.IpmiPassword}}"
diff --git a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/20-loopback b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/20-loopback
index 5c000de3..01791174 100644
--- a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/20-loopback
+++ b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/20-loopback
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
+. /warewulf/config
+
 echo "Bringing up lo:127.0.0.1"
 /sbin/ip link set dev lo up
diff --git a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/50-ipmi b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/50-ipmi
index d6e7682e..0a2b3c88 100755
--- a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/50-ipmi
+++ b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/50-ipmi
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+. /warewulf/config
+
 export PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
 
 if [ -z "$WWIPMI_IPADDR" ]; then
diff --git a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/75-vnfs_fixes b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/75-vnfs_fixes
index 1674d8d8..5ce5b735 100644
--- a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/75-vnfs_fixes
+++ b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/75-vnfs_fixes
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-
+. /warewulf/config
 
 # This will eventually be optional
 if true; then
diff --git a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/80-wwclient b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/80-wwclient
index 0563a5b9..184dac4e 100644
--- a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/80-wwclient
+++ b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/80-wwclient
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
+. /warewulf/config
+
 echo "Starting wwclient"
 nohup /warewulf/bin/wwclient >/var/log/wwclient.log 2>&1 </dev/null &
diff --git a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/90-selinux b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/90-selinux
index 5d9280aa..da237d53 100644
--- a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/90-selinux
+++ b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/init.d/90-selinux
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+. /warewulf/config
 
 if test -z "$WWROOT"; then
     echo "Skipping SELinux configuration: Warewulf Root device not set"
diff --git a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/wwinit b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/wwinit
index 72e49bf4..1a1d809b 100644
--- a/overlays/system/default/warewulf/wwinit
+++ b/overlays/system/default/warewulf/wwinit
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 echo "Hello from WWINIT"
 
+. /warewulf/config
+
 for i in /warewulf/init.d/*; do
     NAME=`basename $i`
     echo "Launching: $NAME"
@@ -10,20 +12,9 @@ done
 
 /bin/bash
 
-INIT=$WWINIT
-echo "Cleaning up"
-unset WWCONTAINER
-unset WWHOSTNAME
-unset WWROOT
-unset WWINIT
-unset WWIPMI_IPADDR
-unset WWIPMI_NETMASK
-unset WWIPMI_GATEWAY
-unset WWIPMI_USER
-unset WWIPMI_PASSWORD
 
-echo "Calling $INIT..."
+echo "Calling $WWINIT..."
 echo
 
 sleep 2
-exec $INIT
+exec $WWINIT