diff --git a/deploy/conf/.env.template b/deploy/conf/.env.template
index 3dc4f380a..b4859563a 100644
--- a/deploy/conf/.env.template
+++ b/deploy/conf/.env.template
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ DB_NAME=comsesnet
 DB_USER=comsesnet
 DB_HOST=db
 DB_PORT=5432
-DB_PASSWORD=
 CLEAN_DATABASE="false"  # allowed values: "true" or "false"
 
 # elastic search
@@ -16,7 +15,6 @@ ES_VERSION=7.17.18
 
 # captcha
 HCAPTCHA_SITEKEY=
-# HCAPTCHA_SECRET=
 
 # discourse
 DISCOURSE_BASE_URL=
@@ -24,23 +22,14 @@ DISCOURSE_API_USERNAME=
 
 # email
 EMAIL_SUBJECT_PREFIX=[CoMSES Net]
-# MAILGUN_API_KEY=
 MAILGUN_SENDER_DOMAIN=
 
 # logging
 LOG_DIRECTORY=/shared/logs
 SENTRY_DSN=
 
-# secrets
-# DISCOURSE_SSO_SECRET=
-# DISCOURSE_API_KEY=
-# django secret key
-# SECRET_KEY=
-
 GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=
-# GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=
 ORCID_CLIENT_ID=
-# ORCID_CLIENT_SECRET=
 
 # storage
 DATA_ROOT=/shared
diff --git a/django/core/settings/defaults.py b/django/core/settings/defaults.py
index 2948e6dcc..a8706dbba 100644
--- a/django/core/settings/defaults.py
+++ b/django/core/settings/defaults.py
@@ -286,9 +286,11 @@ def is_test(self):
 
 SHARE_DIR = "/shared"
 LOG_DIRECTORY = os.getenv("LOG_DIRECTORY", os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "logs"))
-LIBRARY_ROOT = os.getenv("LIBRARY_ROOT", os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "library"))
+LIBRARY_ROOT = os.getenv("LIBRARY_ROOT")
+if not LIBRARY_ROOT:
+    raise ValueError("LIBRARY_ROOT not configured")
 PREVIOUS_SHARE_ROOT = os.path.join(SHARE_DIR, ".latest")
-REPOSITORY_ROOT = os.getenv("REPOSITORY_ROOT", os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "repository"))
+REPOSITORY_ROOT = os.getenv("REPOSITORY_ROOT")
 BORG_ROOT = "/shared/backups/repo"
 BACKUP_ROOT = "/shared/backups"
 EXTRACT_ROOT = "/shared/extract"
diff --git a/django/deploy/cron.daily/backup b/django/deploy/cron.daily/backup
index da0444ff7..e7639fec9 100755
--- a/django/deploy/cron.daily/backup
+++ b/django/deploy/cron.daily/backup
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 export DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE="core.settings.production"
-/usr/local/bin/inv -r /code db.backup borg.backup > /var/log/comses-backup.log 2>&1
+/usr/local/bin/inv -r /code db.backup borg.backup >> /shared/logs/comses-backup.log 2>&1