diff --git a/conf/example.gitolite.rc b/conf/example.gitolite.rc
index 72ad3dc..7a5068d 100644
--- a/conf/example.gitolite.rc
+++ b/conf/example.gitolite.rc
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ $GL_ADMINDIR=$ENV{HOME} . "/.gitolite";
 # the ones below can be left as they are, unless for some reason you want them
 # elsewhere
 
-$GL_CONF="$GL_ADMINDIR/gitolite.conf";
+$GL_CONF="$GL_ADMINDIR/conf/gitolite.conf";
 $GL_KEYDIR="$GL_ADMINDIR/keydir";
-$GL_CONF_COMPILED="$GL_ADMINDIR/gitolite.conf-compiled.pm";
+$GL_CONF_COMPILED="$GL_ADMINDIR/conf/gitolite.conf-compiled.pm";
 
 # --------------------------------------
 # this should be the last line in this file, per perl rules
diff --git a/src/gl-compile-conf b/src/gl-compile-conf
index 78cc671..3388979 100755
--- a/src/gl-compile-conf
+++ b/src/gl-compile-conf
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ unless (my $ret = do $glrc)
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 # command and options for authorized_keys
-my $AUTH_COMMAND="$GL_ADMINDIR/gl-auth-command";
+my $AUTH_COMMAND="$GL_ADMINDIR/src/gl-auth-command";
 my $AUTH_OPTIONS="no-port-forwarding,no-X11-forwarding,no-agent-forwarding,no-pty";
 my $USERNAME_PATT=qr(^\@?[0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z._-]*$);     # very simple pattern
 
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ for my $repo (keys %repos)
         mkdir("$repo.git") or die "mkdir $repo.git failed: $!";
         my_chdir("$repo.git");
         system("git init --bare");
-        system("cp $GL_ADMINDIR/update-hook.pl hooks/update");
+        system("cp $GL_ADMINDIR/src/update-hook.pl hooks/update");
         system("chmod 755 hooks/update");
         my_chdir("$ENV{HOME}/$REPO_BASE");
     }
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ system("rm  ~/.ssh/new_authkeys");
 my_chdir($GL_ADMINDIR);
 if (-d ".git")
 {
-    system("git add -A keydir");        # stage all changes in keydir
+    system("git add -A conf keydir");       # stage all operational data
     # and if there are any
     if (system("git diff --cached --quiet") )
     {
diff --git a/src/install.sh b/src/install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..c2156da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# install gitolite
+
+# quick safety check: do not run if ~/.gitolite.rc is present
+
+[[ -f ~/.gitolite.rc ]] && {
+    echo sorry\; \'~/.gitolite.rc\' already exists
+    exit 1
+}
+
+# this one is fixed to the location shown
+cp conf/example.gitolite.rc ~/.gitolite.rc
+
+# the destinations below are defaults; if you change the paths in the "rc"
+# file above, these destinations also must change accordingly
+
+# mkdir $REPO_BASE, $GL_ADMINDIR, it's subdirs, and $GL_KEYDIR
+mkdir                       ~/repositories
+mkdir                       ~/.gitolite
+mkdir                       ~/.gitolite/{src,conf,doc,keydir}
+
+# copy conf, src, doc
+cp -a src doc conf          ~/.gitolite
+cp conf/example.conf        ~/.gitolite/conf/gitolite.conf