diff --git a/deploy/README.md b/deploy/README.md
index 7fe27f1..6926e27 100644
--- a/deploy/README.md
+++ b/deploy/README.md
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ This creates:
 - `/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/.venv`
 - `/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/config.toml` (if missing)
 - `/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/.env` with `CHGRID_AUTH_SECRET` (if missing)
-- `/etc/sysconfig/chat-grid` with `CHGRID_AUTH_SECRET` for systemd (created/updated automatically)
+- `/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/run_server.sh` (loads `.env` then starts server)
 - On first run only, if no admin exists, it prompts to create one immediately.
 
 Edit `/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/config.toml`:
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ cd /home/bestmidi/chgrid
 ```
 
 Notes:
-- `install_service.sh` creates a systemd drop-in at `/etc/systemd/system/chat-grid.service.d/env.conf`
-  pointing `EnvironmentFile` to `/etc/sysconfig/chat-grid`.
+- Service startup uses `/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/run_server.sh`, which sources local
+  `/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/.env` before launching Python.
 
 Logs:
 
diff --git a/deploy/scripts/install_server.sh b/deploy/scripts/install_server.sh
index 5c8ca14..f52e80c 100755
--- a/deploy/scripts/install_server.sh
+++ b/deploy/scripts/install_server.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ set -euo pipefail
 REPO_ROOT="${1:-/home/bestmidi/chgrid}"
 SERVER_DIR="$REPO_ROOT/server"
 PYTHON_SPEC="${PYTHON_SPEC:-3.13}"
-SYS_ENV_FILE="${CHGRID_SYSTEM_ENV_FILE:-/etc/sysconfig/chat-grid}"
 
 if ! command -v uv >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   echo "error: uv is required but not found in PATH" >&2
@@ -62,21 +61,6 @@ PY
   echo "created $SERVER_DIR/.env with CHGRID_AUTH_SECRET"
 fi
 
-# Ensure a systemd-friendly env file exists for service startup.
-if [[ -z "${CHGRID_AUTH_SECRET:-}" && -f .env ]]; then
-  set -a
-  # shellcheck disable=SC1091
-  source .env
-  set +a
-fi
-if [[ -n "${CHGRID_AUTH_SECRET:-}" ]]; then
-  sudo install -d -m 755 /etc/sysconfig
-  sudo sh -c "printf 'CHGRID_AUTH_SECRET=%s\n' \"\$1\" > \"\$2\"" _ "$CHGRID_AUTH_SECRET" "$SYS_ENV_FILE"
-  sudo chmod 600 "$SYS_ENV_FILE"
-  sudo chown root:root "$SYS_ENV_FILE"
-  echo "ensured system env file for service: $SYS_ENV_FILE"
-fi
-
 # Load generated/shared auth secret for bootstrap checks.
 if [[ -f .env ]]; then
   set -a
@@ -135,5 +119,7 @@ PY
   fi
 fi
 
+chmod +x "$SERVER_DIR/run_server.sh"
+
 echo "server install complete"
 echo "next: edit $SERVER_DIR/config.toml (TLS, bind_ip, port)"
diff --git a/deploy/scripts/install_service.sh b/deploy/scripts/install_service.sh
index 40d2f35..3b46d53 100755
--- a/deploy/scripts/install_service.sh
+++ b/deploy/scripts/install_service.sh
@@ -5,10 +5,7 @@ REPO_ROOT="${1:-/home/bestmidi/chgrid}"
 UNIT_NAME="${2:-chat-grid.service}"
 SRC_UNIT="$REPO_ROOT/deploy/systemd/$UNIT_NAME"
 DST_UNIT="/etc/systemd/system/$UNIT_NAME"
-SERVER_ENV_FILE="$REPO_ROOT/server/.env"
-SYS_ENV_FILE="${CHGRID_SYSTEM_ENV_FILE:-/etc/sysconfig/chat-grid}"
-DROPIN_DIR="/etc/systemd/system/$UNIT_NAME.d"
-DROPIN_FILE="$DROPIN_DIR/env.conf"
+DROPIN_FILE="/etc/systemd/system/$UNIT_NAME.d/env.conf"
 
 if [[ ! -f "$SRC_UNIT" ]]; then
   echo "error: unit file not found: $SRC_UNIT" >&2
@@ -16,21 +13,9 @@ if [[ ! -f "$SRC_UNIT" ]]; then
 fi
 
 sudo cp "$SRC_UNIT" "$DST_UNIT"
-if [[ -f "$SERVER_ENV_FILE" ]]; then
-  SECRET_LINE="$(grep -m1 '^CHGRID_AUTH_SECRET=' "$SERVER_ENV_FILE" || true)"
-  if [[ -n "$SECRET_LINE" ]]; then
-    sudo install -d -m 755 /etc/sysconfig
-    sudo sh -c "printf '%s\n' \"\$1\" > \"\$2\"" _ "$SECRET_LINE" "$SYS_ENV_FILE"
-    sudo chmod 600 "$SYS_ENV_FILE"
-    sudo chown root:root "$SYS_ENV_FILE"
-  fi
+if [[ -f "$DROPIN_FILE" ]]; then
+  sudo rm -f "$DROPIN_FILE"
 fi
-sudo install -d -m 755 "$DROPIN_DIR"
-sudo tee "$DROPIN_FILE" >/dev/null <<EOF
-[Service]
-EnvironmentFile=
-EnvironmentFile=-$SYS_ENV_FILE
-EOF
 sudo install -d -m 0755 -o bestmidi -g bestmidi "$REPO_ROOT/server/runtime"
 sudo touch "$REPO_ROOT/server/runtime/server.log"
 sudo chown bestmidi:bestmidi "$REPO_ROOT/server/runtime/server.log"
diff --git a/deploy/systemd/chat-grid.service b/deploy/systemd/chat-grid.service
index 71f32a4..27b8f29 100644
--- a/deploy/systemd/chat-grid.service
+++ b/deploy/systemd/chat-grid.service
@@ -8,10 +8,8 @@ User=bestmidi
 Group=bestmidi
 WorkingDirectory=/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server
 Environment=PATH=/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/.venv/bin:/usr/bin:/bin
-EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/chat-grid
-EnvironmentFile=-/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/.env
 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/mkdir -p /home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/runtime
-ExecStart=/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/.venv/bin/python main.py --config /home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/config.toml
+ExecStart=/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/run_server.sh
 StandardOutput=append:/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/runtime/server.log
 StandardError=append:/home/bestmidi/chgrid/server/runtime/server.log
 Restart=always
diff --git a/server/run_server.sh b/server/run_server.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..60c57e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/run_server.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+cd "$SCRIPT_DIR"
+
+if [[ -f .env ]]; then
+  set -a
+  # shellcheck disable=SC1091
+  source .env
+  set +a
+fi
+
+exec .venv/bin/python main.py --config config.toml