diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..84c048a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/build/
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index c04d8807..086897bb 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -5,20 +5,15 @@ ENV CGO_ENABLED 0
 COPY . /src/icinga-notifications
 WORKDIR /src/icinga-notifications
 
-RUN mkdir bin
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
     --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
-    go build -o bin/ ./cmd/icinga-notifications
+    make all
 
-RUN mkdir bin/channel
-RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
-    --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
-    go build -o bin/channel/ ./cmd/channel/...
+RUN make DESTDIR=/target install
 
 FROM docker.io/library/alpine
 
-COPY --from=build /src/icinga-notifications/bin/icinga-notifications /usr/bin/icinga-notifications
-COPY --from=build /src/icinga-notifications/bin/channel /usr/libexec/icinga-notifications/channel
+COPY --from=build /target /
 
 RUN apk add tzdata
 
@@ -28,4 +23,4 @@ RUN adduser -u 1000 -H -D -G $username $username
 USER $username
 
 EXPOSE 5680
-CMD ["/usr/bin/icinga-notifications", "--config", "/etc/icinga-notifications/config.yml"]
+CMD ["/usr/sbin/icinga-notifications"]
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e41bbe51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# These variables follow the naming convention from the GNU Make documentation
+# but their defaults correspond to the rest of the code (note that changing
+# libexecdir here wouldn't affect the default path for the channel plugin
+# directory used by the dameon for example).
+#
+# https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Directory-Variables.html
+prefix     ?= /usr
+sbindir    ?= $(prefix)/sbin
+libexecdir ?= $(prefix)/libexec
+datadir    ?= $(prefix)/share
+sysconfdir ?= /etc
+
+all: pkg = github.com/icinga/icinga-notifications/internal
+all:
+	mkdir -p build
+	go build \
+		-o build/ \
+		-ldflags "-X '$(pkg).LibExecDir=$(libexecdir)' -X '$(pkg).SysConfDir=$(sysconfdir)'" \
+		./cmd/icinga-notifications
+	go build -o build/channel/ ./cmd/channel/...
+
+test:
+	go test ./...
+
+install:
+	@# config
+	install -d $(DESTDIR)$(sysconfdir)/icinga-notifications
+	install -m644 config.example.yml $(DESTDIR)$(sysconfdir)/icinga-notifications/config.yml
+	@# dameon
+	install -D build/icinga-notifications $(DESTDIR)$(sbindir)/icinga-notifications
+	@# channel plugins
+	install -d $(DESTDIR)$(libexecdir)/icinga-notifications/channel
+	install build/channel/* $(DESTDIR)$(libexecdir)/icinga-notifications/channel/
+	@# database schema
+	install -d $(DESTDIR)$(datadir)/icinga-notifications
+	cp -rv --no-dereference schema $(DESTDIR)$(datadir)/icinga-notifications
+	@# chmod ensures consistent permissions when cp is called with umask != 022
+	chmod -R u=rwX,go=rX $(DESTDIR)$(datadir)/icinga-notifications/schema
+
+clean:
+	rm -rf build
+
+.PHONY: all test install clean
diff --git a/cmd/icinga-notifications/main.go b/cmd/icinga-notifications/main.go
index 23d0bfa7..3dea365f 100644
--- a/cmd/icinga-notifications/main.go
+++ b/cmd/icinga-notifications/main.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func main() {
 	var configPath string
 	var showVersion bool
 
-	flag.StringVar(&configPath, "config", "", "path to config file")
+	flag.StringVar(&configPath, "config", internal.SysConfDir+"/icinga-notifications/config.yml", "path to config file")
 	flag.BoolVar(&showVersion, "version", false, "print version")
 	flag.Parse()
 
@@ -43,11 +43,6 @@ func main() {
 		return
 	}
 
-	if configPath == "" {
-		_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "missing -config flag")
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
-
 	err := daemon.LoadConfig(configPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "cannot load config:", err)
diff --git a/config.example.yml b/config.example.yml
index 8b800d05..3d126a63 100644
--- a/config.example.yml
+++ b/config.example.yml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 #debug-password: "put-something-secret-here"
 
 icingaweb2-url: http://localhost/icingaweb2/
-channel-plugin-dir: /usr/libexec/icinga-notifications/channel
+#channel-plugin-dir: /usr/libexec/icinga-notifications/channel
 api-timeout: 1m
 
 database:
diff --git a/internal/daemon/config.go b/internal/daemon/config.go
index 309f53b5..e612cc6a 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/config.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/config.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/goccy/go-yaml"
 	"github.com/icinga/icinga-go-library/database"
 	"github.com/icinga/icinga-go-library/logging"
+	"github.com/icinga/icinga-notifications/internal"
 	"os"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -13,13 +14,23 @@ import (
 type ConfigFile struct {
 	Listen           string          `yaml:"listen" default:"localhost:5680"`
 	DebugPassword    string          `yaml:"debug-password"`
-	ChannelPluginDir string          `yaml:"channel-plugin-dir" default:"/usr/libexec/icinga-notifications/channel"`
+	ChannelPluginDir string          `yaml:"channel-plugin-dir"`
 	ApiTimeout       time.Duration   `yaml:"api-timeout" default:"1m"`
 	Icingaweb2URL    string          `yaml:"icingaweb2-url"`
 	Database         database.Config `yaml:"database"`
 	Logging          logging.Config  `yaml:"logging"`
 }
 
+// SetDefaults implements the defaults.Setter interface.
+func (c *ConfigFile) SetDefaults() {
+	if defaults.CanUpdate(c.ChannelPluginDir) {
+		c.ChannelPluginDir = internal.LibExecDir + "/icinga-notifications/channel"
+	}
+}
+
+// Assert interface compliance.
+var _ defaults.Setter = (*ConfigFile)(nil)
+
 // config holds the configuration state as a singleton. It is used from LoadConfig and Config
 var config *ConfigFile
 
diff --git a/internal/paths.go b/internal/paths.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..01f2681c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/paths.go
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package internal
+
+// These variables exist to allow overwriting the paths using `go build -ldflags "-X ...", see Makefile.
+var (
+	LibExecDir = "/usr/libexec"
+	SysConfDir = "/etc"
+)