diff --git a/doc/rippled-example.cfg b/doc/rippled-example.cfg
index c3678a9fc..f315e1964 100644
--- a/doc/rippled-example.cfg
+++ b/doc/rippled-example.cfg
@@ -785,12 +785,12 @@ medium
 # Note that HyperLevelDB is unavailable on Windows platforms
 [node_db]
 type=HyperLevelDB
-path=db/hyperldb
+path=/etc/ripple/db/hyperldb
 
 # This needs to be an absolute directory reference, not a relative one.
 # Modify this value as required.
 [debug_logfile]
-log/debug.log
+/var/log/rippled/debug.log
 
 [sntp_servers]
 time.windows.com
diff --git a/doc/rippled.init b/doc/rippled.init
index 79604a3fc..7aba5d9f2 100644
--- a/doc/rippled.init
+++ b/doc/rippled.init
@@ -19,9 +19,22 @@ PIDFILE=/var/run/$NAME.pid
 DAEMON=/usr/local/sbin/rippled
 DAEMON_OPTS="--conf /etc/ripple/rippled.cfg"
 NET_OPTS="--net $DAEMON_OPTS"
+LOGDIR="/var/log/rippled"
+DBDIR="/var/db/rippled/db/hyperldb"
 
 export PATH="${PATH:+$PATH:}/usr/sbin:/sbin"
 
+# I wish it didn't come down to this, but this is the easiest way to ensure
+# sanity of an install.
+if [ ! -d $LOGDIR ]; then
+	mkdir -p $LOGDIR
+	chown $USER:$GROUP $LOGDIR
+fi
+if [ ! -d $DBDIR ]; then
+	mkdir -p $DBDIR
+	chown -R $USER:$GROUP $DBDIR
+fi
+
 case "$1" in
     start)
         echo -n "Starting daemon: "$NAME
@@ -50,11 +63,11 @@ case "$1" in
         echo "Status of $NAME:"
         echo -n "PID of $NAME: "
         if [ -f "$PIDFILE" ]; then
-		cat $PIDFILE
-        	$DAEMON $DAEMON_OPTS server_info
-	else
-		echo "$NAME not running."
-	fi
+                cat $PIDFILE
+                $DAEMON $DAEMON_OPTS server_info
+        else
+                echo "$NAME not running."
+        fi
         echo "."
         ;;
 
@@ -93,7 +106,7 @@ case "$1" in
 
     *)
         echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status|fetch|uptime|startconfig|"
-        echo "         command|test}"
+        echo "           command|test}"
         exit 1
 esac