diff --git a/src/server_env.cpp b/src/server_env.cpp
index dc06c3f..1e4c730 100644
--- a/src/server_env.cpp
+++ b/src/server_env.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "utils/utils.hpp"
 #include "services.hpp"
 #include "contrib/base64.hpp"
+#include "templates.hpp"
 
 #include <iostream>
 #include <memory>
@@ -76,10 +77,7 @@ std::string server_env::construct_standard_command_run_cmd(const std::string &se
     std::string script_path = remote_service_template_path + "/" + command + ".sh";
 
     std::map<std::string, std::string> env_vars;
-    envmanager env_manager(get_local_service_env_path(mServer_name,service_name));
-    env_manager.load();
-    env_manager.get_all_variables(env_vars);
-    env_vars["CONFIG_PATH"] = remote_service_config_path;
+    get_all_service_env_vars(service_name, env_vars);
 
     std::string argstr = quote(remote_service_config_path);
     for (const auto& arg : args) {
@@ -91,6 +89,40 @@ std::string server_env::construct_standard_command_run_cmd(const std::string &se
     return run_cmd;
 }
 
+void server_env::get_all_service_env_vars(const std::string &service_name, std::map<std::string, std::string> & all_env_vars) const
+{
+    all_env_vars.clear();
+
+    // add in some handy variables.
+    all_env_vars["CONFIG_PATH"] = get_remote_service_config_path(mServer_name,service_name);
+    all_env_vars["SERVER"] = mServer_name;
+    all_env_vars["SERVICE"] = service_name;
+
+
+    { // load service.env from the service on this machine.
+    std::map<std::string, std::string> env_vars;
+    envmanager env_manager(get_local_service_env_path(mServer_name,service_name));
+    env_manager.load();
+    env_manager.get_all_variables(env_vars);
+    all_env_vars.merge(env_vars);
+    }
+
+    { // load _default.env from the template on this machine.
+    std::map<std::string, std::string> env_vars;
+    ServiceInfo service_info = get_service_info(mServer_name, service_name);
+    std::string defaultenvpath = service_info.local_template_default_env_path;
+    if (std::filesystem::exists(defaultenvpath)) {
+        envmanager env_manager(defaultenvpath);
+        env_manager.load();
+        env_manager.get_all_variables(env_vars);
+        all_env_vars.merge(env_vars);
+        }
+    else 
+        std::cerr << "Warning: _default.env not found in template: " << defaultenvpath << std::endl;
+    }
+}
+
+
 bool server_env::check_remote_dir_exists(const std::string &dir_path) const
 {
     sCommand scommand("test -d " + quote(dir_path));
@@ -125,9 +157,6 @@ bool server_env::check_remote_items_exist(const std::vector<std::string> &file_p
 bool server_env::execute_ssh_command(const sCommand& command) const {
     std::string full_cmd = construct_ssh_cmd() + " " + quote(command.construct_safecmd());
     bool okay = execute_local_command(full_cmd);
-    if (!okay) {
-        std::cerr << "Error: Failed to execute command on remote server: " << full_cmd << std::endl;
-    }
     return okay;
 }
 
@@ -135,9 +164,6 @@ bool server_env::execute_ssh_command_and_capture_output(const sCommand& command,
 {
     std::string full_cmd = construct_ssh_cmd() + " " + quote(command.construct_safecmd());
     bool okay = execute_local_command_and_capture_output(full_cmd, output);
-    if (!okay) {
-        std::cerr << "Error: Failed to execute command on remote server: " << full_cmd << std::endl;
-    }
     return okay;
 }
 
@@ -145,17 +171,11 @@ bool server_env::run_remote_template_command(const std::string &service_name, co
 {
     std::string full_cmd = construct_standard_command_run_cmd(service_name, command, args, silent);
     bool okay = execute_ssh_command(full_cmd);
-    if (!okay) {
-        std::cerr << "Error: Failed to execute command on remote server: " << full_cmd << std::endl;
-    }
     return okay;
 }
 
 bool server_env::execute_local_command(const sCommand& command) {
     bool okay = (system(command.construct_safecmd().c_str()) == 0);
-    if (!okay) {
-        std::cerr << "Error: Failed to execute command on local machine: " << command.construct_safecmd() << std::endl;
-    }
     return okay;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/server_env.hpp b/src/server_env.hpp
index 8a86455..5dd2bd4 100644
--- a/src/server_env.hpp
+++ b/src/server_env.hpp
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ class server_env {
         std::string construct_ssh_cmd() const;
         std::string construct_standard_command_run_cmd(const std::string& service_name, const std::string& command, std::vector<std::string> args, bool silent) const;
 
+    private:
+        void get_all_service_env_vars(const std::string& service_name, std::map<std::string, std::string> & all_env_vars) const;
+
     private:
         std::string mServer_name;
         std::map<std::string, std::string> variables;
diff --git a/src/services.cpp b/src/services.cpp
index 2785b8c..8a52583 100644
--- a/src/services.cpp
+++ b/src/services.cpp
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ ServiceInfo get_service_info(const std::string &server_name, const std::string &
 
     // find the template path   
     service.local_template_path = tinfo.local_template_path;
+    service.local_template_default_env_path = tinfo.local_template_default_env_path;
 
     return service;
 }
diff --git a/src/services.hpp b/src/services.hpp
index 66f4235..a29d259 100644
--- a/src/services.hpp
+++ b/src/services.hpp
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ namespace dropshell {
         std::string template_name;
         std::string local_service_path;
         std::string local_template_path;
+        std::string local_template_default_env_path;
     };
     
     std::vector<ServiceInfo> get_server_services_info(const std::string& server_name);
diff --git a/src/templates.cpp b/src/templates.cpp
index b2fc501..09a853d 100644
--- a/src/templates.cpp
+++ b/src/templates.cpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ bool get_templates(std::vector<template_info>& templates) {
                 template_info info;
                 info.template_name = entry.path().filename().string();
                 info.local_template_path = entry.path().string();
+                info.local_template_default_env_path = entry.path() / "_default.env";
                 
                 // Check if template with same name already exists
                 bool duplicate = false;
diff --git a/src/templates.hpp b/src/templates.hpp
index 6544b36..6babee8 100644
--- a/src/templates.hpp
+++ b/src/templates.hpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ class template_info {
     public:
         std::string template_name;
         std::string local_template_path;
+        std::string local_template_default_env_path;
 };
 
 // templates are stored in two locations:
diff --git a/templates/example/_common.sh b/templates/example/_common.sh
index e4e99d5..ec4aca2 100755
--- a/templates/example/_common.sh
+++ b/templates/example/_common.sh
@@ -14,41 +14,6 @@ die() {
     exit 1
 }
 
-# Load environment variables from .env file
-# Usage: load_env [path_to_env_file]
-# If no path is provided, looks for .env in the same directory as the script
-load_env() {
-    local script_dir="$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"
-    local env_file
-
-    # first load basic.env for the template defaults
-    if [ -f "$script_dir/_basic.env" ]; then
-        set -a
-        source "$script_dir/_basic.env"
-        set +a
-    else
-        echo "Warning: _basic.env file not found at $script_dir/_basic.env. Broken template?"
-        return 1
-    fi
-
-    # now load the server specific env file
-    if [ -z "$1" ]; then
-        echo "Usage: $0 [path_to_env_file]"
-        return 1
-    fi
-
-    env_file="$1/service.env"    
-
-    if [ ! -f "$env_file" ]; then
-        echo "Warning: service.env file not found at $1/service.env"
-        return 1
-    fi
-
-    set -a
-    source "$env_file"
-    set +a
-}
-
 grey_start() {
     echo -e -n "\033[90m"
 }
diff --git a/templates/example/_basic.env b/templates/example/_default.env
similarity index 64%
rename from templates/example/_basic.env
rename to templates/example/_default.env
index fc207fa..adf19cd 100644
--- a/templates/example/_basic.env
+++ b/templates/example/_default.env
@@ -4,5 +4,5 @@
 CONTAINER_PORT=8181
 
 # Image settings
-IMAGE_REGISTRY="gitea.jde.nz"
-IMAGE_REPO="example/example"
+IMAGE_REGISTRY="docker.io"
+IMAGE_REPO="nginx"
diff --git a/templates/example/example/service.env b/templates/example/example/service.env
index 851c557..37f056c 100644
--- a/templates/example/example/service.env
+++ b/templates/example/example/service.env
@@ -2,8 +2,14 @@
 TEMPLATE=example
 
 # Service settings specific to this server 
-# (can also override anything in the _basic.env file in the template to make it specific to this server)
-HOST_PORT=80
+# (can also override anything in the _default.env file in the template to make it specific to this server)
+HOST_PORT=60123
 LOCAL_DATA_FOLDER="${HOME}/.example"
+CONTAINER_NAME=example-nginx
 IMAGE_TAG="latest"
 
+# Scripts will have these environment variables set, plus those in _default.env, plus:
+# SERVER, SERVICE, CONFIG_PATH
+# CONFIG_PATH points to this directory!
+
+
diff --git a/templates/example/install.sh b/templates/example/install.sh
index fcb998d..33b736b 100755
--- a/templates/example/install.sh
+++ b/templates/example/install.sh
@@ -6,18 +6,23 @@
 # It is called with the path to the server specific env file as an argument.
 
 source "$(dirname "$0")/_common.sh"
-load_env "$1" || die "Failed to load environment variables"
 
 # Required environment variables
 check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME" "IMAGE_REGISTRY" "IMAGE_REPO" "IMAGE_TAG" "LOCAL_DATA_FOLDER"
 
-
 # Create local data folder if it doesn't exist
 if [ -d "${LOCAL_DATA_FOLDER}" ]; then
     echo "Local data folder ${LOCAL_DATA_FOLDER} exists, using existing data."
 else
     echo "Local data folder ${LOCAL_DATA_FOLDER} does not exist, creating..."
     mkdir -p "${LOCAL_DATA_FOLDER}"
+    cat <<EOF > "${LOCAL_DATA_FOLDER}/index.html"
+<html>
+<body>
+<h1>Hello, World!</h1>
+</body>
+</html>
+EOF
 fi
 
 # Test Docker 
@@ -33,3 +38,4 @@ _remove_container $CONTAINER_NAME || die "Failed to remove container ${CONTAINER
 bash ./start.sh $1 || die "Failed to start container ${CONTAINER_NAME}"
 
 echo "Installation of ${CONTAINER_NAME} complete"
+echo "You can access the service at http://${SERVER}:{HOST_PORT}"
diff --git a/templates/example/logs.sh b/templates/example/logs.sh
index 691e17b..09bad2c 100644
--- a/templates/example/logs.sh
+++ b/templates/example/logs.sh
@@ -13,5 +13,5 @@ check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME"
 
 echo "Container ${CONTAINER_NAME} logs:"
 grey_start
-docker logs --tail 100 "${CONTAINER_NAME}"
+docker logs "${CONTAINER_NAME}"
 grey_end
diff --git a/templates/example/ports.sh b/templates/example/ports.sh
index 9779af4..6c840a2 100644
--- a/templates/example/ports.sh
+++ b/templates/example/ports.sh
@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ load_env "$1" || die "Failed to load environment variables"
 # Required environment variables
 # check_required_env_vars "HOST_PORT" 
 
-# echo $HOST_PORT
+echo $HOST_PORT
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/_common.sh b/templates/watchtower/_common.sh
index ffc5c07..ec4aca2 100755
--- a/templates/watchtower/_common.sh
+++ b/templates/watchtower/_common.sh
@@ -14,41 +14,6 @@ die() {
     exit 1
 }
 
-# Load environment variables from .env file
-# Usage: load_env [path_to_env_file]
-# If no path is provided, looks for .env in the same directory as the script
-load_env() {
-    local script_dir="$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"
-    local env_file
-
-    # first load basic.env for the template defaults
-    if [ -f "$script_dir/_basic.env" ]; then
-        set -a
-        source "$script_dir/_basic.env"
-        set +a
-    else
-        echo "Warning: _basic.env file not found at $script_dir/_basic.env. Broken template?"
-        return 1
-    fi
-
-    # now load the server specific env file
-    if [ -z "$1" ]; then
-        echo "Usage: $0 [path_to_env_file]"
-        return 1
-    fi
-
-    env_file="$1/service.env"    
-
-    if [ ! -f "$env_file" ]; then
-        echo "Warning: service.env file not found at $1"
-        return 1
-    fi
-
-    set -a
-    source "$env_file"
-    set +a
-}
-
 grey_start() {
     echo -e -n "\033[90m"
 }
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/_basic.env b/templates/watchtower/_default.env
similarity index 100%
rename from templates/watchtower/_basic.env
rename to templates/watchtower/_default.env
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/install.sh b/templates/watchtower/install.sh
index 97fa6e3..f2171f0 100755
--- a/templates/watchtower/install.sh
+++ b/templates/watchtower/install.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 source "$(dirname "$0")/_common.sh"
-load_env "$1" || die "Failed to load environment variables"
 
 # Required environment variables
 check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME" "IMAGE_REGISTRY" "IMAGE_REPO" "IMAGE_TAG"
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/logs.sh b/templates/watchtower/logs.sh
index 915b61c..05e3930 100644
--- a/templates/watchtower/logs.sh
+++ b/templates/watchtower/logs.sh
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 source "$(dirname "$0")/_common.sh"
-load_env "$1" || die "Failed to load environment variables"
 
 # Required environment variables
 check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME"
 
 echo "Container ${CONTAINER_NAME} logs:"
 grey_start
-docker logs --tail 100 "${CONTAINER_NAME}"
+docker logs "${CONTAINER_NAME}"
 grey_end
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/start.sh b/templates/watchtower/start.sh
index ac7b67d..0eacaa4 100755
--- a/templates/watchtower/start.sh
+++ b/templates/watchtower/start.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 source "$(dirname "$0")/_common.sh"
 
 SERVICE_CONFIG_DIR="$1"
-load_env "$SERVICE_CONFIG_DIR" || die "Failed to load environment variables"
 
 # Required environment variables
 check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME" "INTERVAL"
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/status.sh b/templates/watchtower/status.sh
index e939eb6..93162b7 100644
--- a/templates/watchtower/status.sh
+++ b/templates/watchtower/status.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 source "$(dirname "$0")/_common.sh"
-load_env "$1" || die "Failed to load environment variables"
 
 # Required environment variables
 check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME"
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/stop.sh b/templates/watchtower/stop.sh
index 42ee835..b9dd8ff 100755
--- a/templates/watchtower/stop.sh
+++ b/templates/watchtower/stop.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 source "$(dirname "$0")/_common.sh"
-load_env "$1" || die "Failed to load environment variables"
 
 # Required environment variables
 check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME"
diff --git a/templates/watchtower/uninstall.sh b/templates/watchtower/uninstall.sh
index 8dab330..cdab565 100644
--- a/templates/watchtower/uninstall.sh
+++ b/templates/watchtower/uninstall.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 source "$(dirname "$0")/_common.sh"
-load_env "$1" || die "Failed to load environment variables"
 
 # Required environment variables
 check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME" "IMAGE_REGISTRY" "IMAGE_REPO" "IMAGE_TAG"