diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00cab1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+SESSION_SECRET=somesecret
+MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=myrootpassword
+MYSQL_DATABASE=venel
+MYSQL_USER=root
+MYSQL_PASSWORD=myrootpassword
+MYSQL_HOST=localhost
+ALLOW_FREE_REGISTRATION=true
+UI_DEPLOYMENT_URL=http://localhost:3001
+WEBSOCKET_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:8912
+FILE_FOLDER=/files
+MAX_PAYLOAD_SIZE_MB=100
+FILE_PASSWORD=somefilepassword
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 19cebd2..466f8ee 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /node_modules
-*.env*
+*.env
+*.env.prod
 *.js
 *.js.map
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cdcd032..31e4459 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ This guide assumes you have Docker and Docker Compose installed and running on y
 
 ## Environment variables
 
-Create a `.env` file in the root of the project with the following content:
+Create a `.env` file in the root of the project with the following content (you can find a copy of this in `.env.example`):
 ```apacheconf
 MYSQL_HOST=mariadb
 MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=myrootpassword