diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 50be2e08..de6ad5d8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,21 +2,22 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
 project(HPCore)
 
 # Check for gold linker for faster linking time.
-execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} -fuse-ld=gold -Wl,--version OUTPUT_VARIABLE stdout ERROR_QUIET)
+execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} -fuse-ld=gold -Wl -ldl,--version OUTPUT_VARIABLE stdout ERROR_QUIET)
 if("${stdout}" MATCHES "GNU gold")
     set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -fuse-ld=gold")
 else()
     message(WARNING "GNU gold linker isn't available, using the default system linker.")
 endif()
 
-add_definitions("-std=c++17")
-
+add_definitions("-std=c++17 -ldl")  #-ldl to support printing stack trace at runtime
+set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG  "-g")    # ensure debug symbols are added
+set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Debug)
 set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY build)
 set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY build)
 set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY build)
 
 # Using buildtype MinSizeRel for smaller build outputs.
-set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "MinSizeRel" FORCE)
+#set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "MinSizeRel" FORCE)
 
 link_directories(/usr/local/lib)
 
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ target_link_libraries(hpsupport
     pthread
     crypto
     ssl
+    ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS}
 )
 
 add_library(hpproc
@@ -114,4 +116,4 @@ add_custom_target(docker
   COMMAND docker build -t hpcore:latest .
 )
 set_target_properties(docker PROPERTIES EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL TRUE)
-add_dependencies(docker hpcore)
\ No newline at end of file
+add_dependencies(docker hpcore)
diff --git a/src/conf.cpp b/src/conf.cpp
index 94bf8465..2ac1df0a 100644
--- a/src/conf.cpp
+++ b/src/conf.cpp
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 #include "conf.hpp"
 #include "crypto.hpp"
 #include "util.hpp"
+#include <limits.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
 
 namespace conf
 {
@@ -12,6 +14,15 @@ contract_ctx ctx;
 // Global configuration struct exposed to the application.
 contract_config cfg;
 
+// provide a safe std::string overload for realpath
+std::string realpath(std::string path) {
+    std::array<char, PATH_MAX> buffer;
+    ::realpath(path.c_str(), buffer.data());
+    buffer[PATH_MAX] = '\0';
+    return buffer.data();
+}
+
+
 /**
  * Loads and initializes the contract config for execution. Must be called once during application startup.
  * @return 0 for success. -1 for failure.
@@ -96,6 +107,8 @@ int create_contract()
     cfg.loglevel = "warn";
 #endif
     cfg.loggers.emplace("console");
+    
+    cfg.binary = "<your contract binary here>";
 
     //Save the default settings into the config file.
     if (save_config() != 0)
@@ -112,8 +125,14 @@ int create_contract()
  */
 void set_contract_dir_paths(std::string basedir)
 {
-    if (basedir[basedir.size() - 1] == '/')
-        basedir = basedir.substr(0, basedir.size() - 1);
+    if (basedir == "") {
+        // this code branch will never execute the way main is currently coded, but it might change in future
+        std::cerr << "a contract directory must be specified\n";
+        exit(1);
+    }
+    
+    // resolving the path through realpath will remove any trailing slash if present
+    basedir = realpath(basedir);
 
     ctx.contractDir = basedir;
     ctx.configDir = basedir + "/cfg";
@@ -178,9 +197,11 @@ int load_config()
 
     cfg.pubkeyhex = d["pubkeyhex"].GetString();
     cfg.seckeyhex = d["seckeyhex"].GetString();
-    cfg.binary = d["binary"].GetString();
-    cfg.binargs = d["binargs"].GetString();
     cfg.listenip = d["listenip"].GetString();
+    
+    cfg.binary = realpath(d["binary"].GetString());
+    cfg.binargs = d["binargs"].GetString();
+
 
     // Storing peers in unordered map keyed by the concatenated address:port and also saving address and port
     // seperately to retrieve easily when handling peer connections.
@@ -401,8 +422,18 @@ int validate_config()
     }
 
     // Other required fields.
-    if (cfg.binary.empty() || cfg.listenip.empty() ||
-        cfg.peerport == 0 || cfg.roundtime == 0 || cfg.pubport == 0 || cfg.loglevel.empty() || cfg.loggers.empty())
+    
+    bool fields_missing = false;
+
+    fields_missing |= cfg.binary.empty()    && std::cout << "Missing cfg field: binary\n";
+    fields_missing |= cfg.listenip.empty()  && std::cout << "Missing cfg field: listenip\n";
+    fields_missing |= cfg.peerport ==0      && std::cout << "Missing cfg field: peerport\n";
+    fields_missing |= cfg.roundtime == 0    && std::cout << "Missing cfg field: roundtime\n";
+    fields_missing |= cfg.pubport == 0      && std::cout << "Missing cfg field: pubport\n";
+    fields_missing |= cfg.loglevel.empty()  && std::cout << "Missing cfg field: loglevel\n";
+    fields_missing |= cfg.loggers.empty()   && std::cout << "Missing cfg field: loggers\n";
+    
+    if (fields_missing)
     {
         std::cout << "Required configuration fields missing at " << ctx.configFile << std::endl;
         return -1;
@@ -545,4 +576,4 @@ int is_schema_valid(const rapidjson::Document &d)
     return 0;
 }
 
-} // namespace conf
\ No newline at end of file
+} // namespace conf