diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..232f303
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+.passwd.cfg
+preseed.cfg
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/preseed.cfg b/input.cfg
similarity index 97%
rename from preseed.cfg
rename to input.cfg
index 6e6fe62..d4ba088 100644
--- a/preseed.cfg
+++ b/input.cfg
@@ -40,13 +40,13 @@ d-i mirror/http/proxy string
 
 ### Account setup
 # Root password
-d-i passwd/root-password-crypted password $CRYPT3HASH
+d-i passwd/root-password-crypted password @ROOTHASH
 
 # To create a normal user account.
 d-i passwd/user-fullname string CLC User
 d-i passwd/username string clc
 # Normal user's password
-d-i passwd/user-password-crypted password $CRYPT3HASH
+d-i passwd/user-password-crypted password @USERHASH
 
 ### Clock and time zone setup
 # Controls whether or not the hardware clock is set to UTC.
diff --git a/passwd.cfg b/passwd.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..053a087
--- /dev/null
+++ b/passwd.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#EXAMPLE PASSWD config file
+rootpassword=notarealpassword
+userpasswort=12345
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/preseedserver.sh b/preseedserver.sh
index c0e646a..7c0ecb3 100755
--- a/preseedserver.sh
+++ b/preseedserver.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,13 @@ fi
 
 LOCALIP=$(hostname -I)
 
+. .passwd.cfg
+
+#copy the pre-preseed file and update the passwords from the .passwd.cfg file
+cp input.cfg preseed.cfg
+sed -i "s/@ROOTHASH/$roothash/g" preseed.cfg
+sed -i "s/@USERHASH/$userhash/g" preseed.cfg
+
 echo "Starting server. Press CTRL+C to stop."
 echo -e "Local IP address: \e[32m$LOCALIP\e[0m"