diff --git a/etc/set-permissions.sh b/etc/set-permissions.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d5e794
--- /dev/null
+++ b/etc/set-permissions.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Set ownership and permissions for Meshing Around application
+
+# Check if run as root
+if [ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]; then
+  echo "Please run as root"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Use first argument as user, or default to meshbot
+TARGET_USER="${1:-meshbot}"
+
+# Check if user exists
+if ! id "$TARGET_USER" &>/dev/null; then
+  echo "User '$TARGET_USER' does not exist."
+  read -p "Would you like to use the current user ($(logname)) instead? [y/N]: " yn
+  if [[ "$yn" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
+    TARGET_USER="$(logname)"
+    echo "Using current user: $TARGET_USER"
+    if ! id "$TARGET_USER" &>/dev/null; then
+      echo "Current user '$TARGET_USER' does not exist or cannot be determined."
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  else
+    echo "Exiting."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
+echo "Setting ownership to $TARGET_USER:$TARGET_USER"
+
+chown -R "$TARGET_USER:$TARGET_USER" "/opt/meshing-around/-around"
+chown -R "$TARGET_USER:$TARGET_USER" "/opt/meshing-around/-around/logs"
+chown -R "$TARGET_USER:$TARGET_USER" "/opt/meshing-around/-around/data"
+chown "$TARGET_USER:$TARGET_USER" "/opt/meshing-around/-around/config.ini"
+chmod 640 "/opt/meshing-around/-around/config.ini"
+chmod 750 "/opt/meshing-around/-around/logs"
+chmod 750 "/opt/meshing-around/-around/data"
+
+echo "Permissions and ownership have been set."
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index b91ba5b..c26feb0 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -287,6 +287,11 @@ echo "Added user $whoami to dialout, tty, and bluetooth groups"
 
 sudo chown -R "$whoami:$whoami" "$program_path/logs"
 sudo chown -R "$whoami:$whoami" "$program_path/data"
+sudo chown "$whoami:$whoami" "$program_path/config.ini"
+sudo chmod 640 "$program_path/config.ini"
+echo "Permissions set for meshbot on config.ini"
+sudo chmod 750 "$program_path/logs"
+sudo chmod 750 "$program_path/data"
 echo "Permissions set for meshbot on logs and data directories"
 
 # check and see if some sort of NTP is running
diff --git a/update.sh b/update.sh
index 7689e46..3cb78ff 100644
--- a/update.sh
+++ b/update.sh
@@ -70,10 +70,10 @@ if [[ -f "config.ini" ]]; then
     echo "config.ini is owned by: $owner"
     echo "config.ini permissions: $perms"
     if [[ "$owner" == "root" ]]; then
-        echo "Warning: config.ini is owned by root (possibly edited with sudo)."
+        echo "Warning: config.ini is owned by root check out the etc/set-permissions.sh script"
     fi
     if [[ $(stat -f "%Lp" config.ini) =~ .*[7,6,2]$ ]]; then
-        echo "Warning: config.ini is world-writable or world-readable!"
+        echo "Warning: config.ini is world-writable or world-readable! check out the etc/set-permissions.sh script"
     fi
 
     echo "Including config.ini in backup..."