diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 98fcaad..eece714 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,25 +4,30 @@ step-ca ready to go for your internal network.
 this project was setup for use with nginx-proxy in a local network environment to run several services with hopefully network-wide trusted certificates.
 
 # configuration
-there's not much to configure with step-ca. just copy the env.sample file to .env and configure the values the way you like. since port 443 is in use on a monolithic setup very likely, you may want to set a different port there.
+there's not much to configure with step-ca. to setup a new `.env` file you can either run the `setup.sh` script or just copy the `env.sample` file to `.env` and configure the values the way you like. if you do the configuration manually don't forget to create the data directory.
 
-all the rest is default step-ca configuration.
+the default port is 9000 and does not have to be changed except that port is already in use on your system.
+
+all the rest is default step-ca configuration (see the [docs](https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/)).
 
 # initialization
 after running the container you may want enable acme as this is not the case by default. just run the following command
 
-`docker compose exec step-ca step ca provisioner add acme --type ACME`
+    docker compose exec step-ca step ca provisioner add acme --type ACME
 
-or connect to a container shell and run the `step-ca` command there.
+or connect to a container shell and run the command there.
 
 after that you should be able to use your own ca with an acme client.
 
 details: https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/provisioners#acme
 
 # links
-* step-ca  https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/
-* docker tls ca  https://smallstep.com/docs/tutorials/docker-tls-certificate-authority
-* github  https://github.com/smallstep/certificates
+* step-ca docs  
+  https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/
+* docker tls ca  
+  https://smallstep.com/docs/tutorials/docker-tls-certificate-authority
+* github  
+  https://github.com/smallstep/certificates
 
 2022-11-04
 dede
diff --git a/env.sample b/env.sample
index d36bea3..af60086 100644
--- a/env.sample
+++ b/env.sample
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=step-ca
+
 APP_PORT=9000
 APP_DATADIR=./data
 
diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..380a631
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# env setup script for step-ca docker compose
+# 2023-01-06 by dede & dany
+
+echo "step-ca docker compose setup"
+echo "> env setup for step-ca with docker compose..."
+
+# check for existing .env file to not break an existing setup
+if [[ -f .env ]]; then
+  echo "> .env file already exists. setup will not run. either rename or delete it first."
+  exit 1
+elif [[ ! -f env.sample ]]; then
+  echo "> env.sample file is missing. cannot run."
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+# create .env file
+echo -e "# file generated by ${0##*/} on $(date +"%F %H:%M") by $USER\n" > .env
+
+# step through the list of lines and ask for each key to use default value or set value
+# for each line in configfile
+while read -r -u 3 line; do
+
+  # keep blank and comment lines
+  if [[ -z $line ]] || [[ $line == \#* ]]; then
+    echo "$line" >> .env
+
+  # handle variable lines
+  else
+    # split line by '=' into key and value
+    readarray -d "=" -t currvar<<< "$line"
+    echo -n "please enter value for ${currvar[0]} [${currvar[1]::-1}]: "
+    read -r userinput
+
+    # set userinput as new value
+    if [ -n "$userinput" ] ; then
+      echo "${currvar[0]}=$userinput" >> .env
+
+    # keep default value if empty userinput
+    else
+      echo "$line" >> .env
+    fi
+  fi
+done 3< env.sample