diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 6ef454f..1a3afd6 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ ADMIN_TOKEN=
 STRIPE_TOKEN=
 FORGEJO_URL=http://localhost:3000
 DATABASE_URL=sqlite://queenie.db
+DATABASE_FILE=file://queenie.db
 MONTHLY_LINK=
 ANNUAL_LINK=
 LISTENING_ADDR=127.0.0.1
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1b3cb3c..0230799 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 /target
-.env
+*.env
 *.db
 *.db-*
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e854a69..92a99ee 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,9 +19,12 @@ sqlx db create ; sqlx migrate run
 Run the server for development:
 
 ```
-cargo run
+cargo run -- -e .env
 ```
 
+The `-e` (or `--env`) option tells Queenie where to find its environment configuration file; the
+default is `/etc/forgejo/queenie.env`.
+
 The assets used in Queen come from forgejo, 
 so you can use a local Caddyfile to serve both forgejo and `queen`
 (assuming that forgejo is running on localhost:3000):
@@ -43,3 +46,7 @@ Run caddy with:
 ```
 caddy run --config Caddyfile
 ```
+
+## Use in production
+
+There's a sample systemd unit file, `queenie.service`.
diff --git a/queenie.service b/queenie.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08da185
--- /dev/null
+++ b/queenie.service
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Queenie guards the kitten den.
+After=syslog.target
+After=network.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=simple
+User=git
+Group=git
+WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/forgejo/
+ExecStart=/var/lib/forgejo/bin/queenie --env /etc/forgejo/queenie.env
+Restart=always
+Environment=USER=git HOME=/home/git
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 1619bb4..7a49923 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -30,8 +30,6 @@ async fn main() {
 
     let pool = db().await;
 
-    sqlx::migrate!().run(&pool).await.unwrap();
-
     // the core application, defining the routes and handlers
     let app = Router::new()
         .stripped_clone("/signup/", get(get_signup).post(post_signup))
@@ -52,8 +50,14 @@ async fn main() {
 // li'l helpers
 //-************************************************************************
 #[derive(Debug, Parser)]
+#[clap(version, about)]
 struct Cli {
-    #[clap(long, short)]
+    #[clap(
+        long,
+        short,
+        help = "Path to Queenie's environment config file",
+        default_value = "/etc/forgejo/queenie.env"
+    )]
     pub env: OsString,
 }
 
@@ -69,13 +73,27 @@ fn init() {
 }
 
 async fn db() -> SqlitePool {
-    //let dbfile = std::env::var("DATABASE_URL").unwrap();
+    let dbfile = std::env::var("DATABASE_FILE").unwrap();
     let opts = SqliteConnectOptions::new()
         .foreign_keys(true)
         .create_if_missing(true)
         .journal_mode(sqlx::sqlite::SqliteJournalMode::Wal)
+        .filename(&dbfile)
         .optimize_on_close(true, None);
-    SqlitePoolOptions::new().connect_with(opts).await.unwrap()
+    let pool = SqlitePoolOptions::new()
+        .connect_with(opts.clone())
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+    sqlx::migrate!().run(&pool).await.unwrap();
+
+    let count = sqlx::query_scalar!("select count(*) from customers")
+        .fetch_one(&pool)
+        .await
+        .expect("could not get customer count from DB");
+    log::info!("Connected to DB, found {count} customers.");
+
+    pool
 }
 
 async fn mklistener() -> TcpListener {