diff --git a/app/unisys/client-network.js b/app/unisys/client-network.js
index 318820d98..79965bd75 100644
--- a/app/unisys/client-network.js
+++ b/app/unisys/client-network.js
@@ -85,7 +85,12 @@ NETWORK.Connect = function (datalink, opt) {
 
   // create websocket
   // uses values that were embedded in index.ejs on load
-  let wsURI = `ws://${NETSOCK.uaddr}:${NETSOCK.uport}`;
+  let wsURI;
+  if (window.location.protocol === 'https:') {
+    // use secure websocket if running on https, redirects port to /ws-port/
+    // used with `netcreate-deploy-do` repo `nginx-ssl.conf.j2` on DigitalOcean droplets with SSL
+    wsURI = `wss://${window.location.host}/ws-port/${NETSOCK.uport}/`;
+  } else wsURI = `ws://${NETSOCK.uaddr}:${NETSOCK.uport}`;
   NETSOCK.ws = new WebSocket(wsURI);
 
   // create listeners
diff --git a/brunch-config.js b/brunch-config.js
index a41e7084e..d1cf1314a 100644
--- a/brunch-config.js
+++ b/brunch-config.js
@@ -188,10 +188,16 @@ module.exports = {
       },
       hooks: {
         preCompile() {
-          // These files will eventually be copied over to public by brunch
-          // save json of database to public/data
-          UDB.WriteDbJSON(`${__dirname}/app-data/${NC_CONFIG.dataset}-db.json`);
-          UDB.WriteDbJSON(`${__dirname}/app-data/standalone-db.json`);
+          // As of 6/14/2025 the `WriteDbJSON` calls are commented out because
+          // 1. I don't believe we do anything with db json files anymore
+          // 2. If a loki file hasn't already been created, the WriteDbJSON call
+          //    will fail silently and the rest of the compile process is skipped
+          //    which means the `npm run package` will not work.
+          //
+          // // These files will eventually be copied over to public by brunch
+          // // save json of database to public/data
+          // UDB.WriteDbJSON(`${__dirname}/app-data/${NC_CONFIG.dataset}-db.json`);
+          // UDB.WriteDbJSON(`${__dirname}/app-data/standalone-db.json`);
 
           // // save json of template to public/data
           // UDB.WriteTemplateJSON(`${__dirname}/app-data/${NC_CONFIG.dataset}-template.json`);
diff --git a/init-netcreate-config.js b/init-netcreate-config.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..37a3f3474
--- /dev/null
+++ b/init-netcreate-config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+// Create a dummy netcreate-config.js file
+// for first time setup.  It needs to do two things:
+// 1. Create app-config/netcreate-config.js file
+// 2. Copy the _default.template.toml file to runtime directory
+
+const shell = require('shelljs');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const dataset = 'dummy';
+const port = '3000';
+
+let script = `
+// this file generated by "init-netcreate-config.js"
+const NC_CONFIG = {
+  dataset: "${dataset}",
+  port: "${port}"
+};
+if (typeof process === "object") module.exports = NC_CONFIG;
+if (typeof window === "object") window.NC_CONFIG = NC_CONFIG;
+`;
+
+const nccPath = 'app-config';
+if (!fs.existsSync(nccPath)) fs.mkdirSync(nccPath, { recursive: true });
+shell.ShellString(script).to(`${nccPath}/netcreate-config.js`);
+
+// Copy template TOML file
+const templateSrc = 'app-templates/_default.template.toml';
+const destDir = path.join('runtime');
+const destFile = path.join(destDir, `${dataset}.template.toml`);
+if (!fs.existsSync(destDir)) shell.mkdir('-p', destDir);
+shell.cp(templateSrc, destFile);
+
+console.log('init-netcreate-config.js');
+console.log('1. Created app-config/netcreate-config.js file');
+console.log(`   with ${dataset} and ${port}`);
+console.log(`2. Created a ${dataset}.template.toml file`);
+console.log('   based on _default.template.toml');
+console.log('You can now run the server with "./nc.js" or nc-multiplex.');