diff --git a/cmd/proxy/actions/app_proxy.go b/cmd/proxy/actions/app_proxy.go
index 0b9cd00db..777ad4ca6 100644
--- a/cmd/proxy/actions/app_proxy.go
+++ b/cmd/proxy/actions/app_proxy.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func addProxyRoutes(
 	l *log.Logger,
 	c *config.Config,
 ) error {
-	r.HandleFunc("/", proxyHomeHandler)
+	r.HandleFunc("/", proxyHomeHandler(c))
 	r.HandleFunc("/healthz", healthHandler)
 	r.HandleFunc("/readyz", getReadinessHandler(s))
 	r.HandleFunc("/version", versionHandler)
diff --git a/cmd/proxy/actions/app_proxy_test.go b/cmd/proxy/actions/app_proxy_test.go
index 7b2b37415..735aea4dd 100644
--- a/cmd/proxy/actions/app_proxy_test.go
+++ b/cmd/proxy/actions/app_proxy_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"text/template"
 
 	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/build"
 	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/config"
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ type routeTest struct {
 	method string
 	path   string
 	body   string
-	test   func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response)
+	test   func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, resp *http.Response)
 }
 
 func TestProxyRoutes(t *testing.T) {
@@ -40,22 +41,43 @@ func TestProxyRoutes(t *testing.T) {
 	baseURL := "https://athens.azurefd.net" + c.PathPrefix
 
 	testCases := []routeTest{
-		{"GET", "/", "", func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
+		{"GET", "/", "", func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, resp *http.Response) {
 			assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.StatusCode)
 			body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
-			assert.Equal(t, `"Welcome to The Athens Proxy"`, string(body))
+			tmp, err := template.New("home").Parse(homepage)
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+			var templateData = make(map[string]string)
+
+			templateData["Host"] = req.Host
+
+			if !strings.HasPrefix(templateData["Host"], "http://") && !strings.HasPrefix(templateData["Host"], "https://") {
+				if req.TLS != nil {
+					templateData["Host"] = "https://" + templateData["Host"]
+				} else {
+					templateData["Host"] = "http://" + templateData["Host"]
+				}
+			}
+
+			templateData["NoSumPatterns"] = strings.Join(c.NoSumPatterns, ",")
+
+			var expected strings.Builder
+			err = tmp.ExecuteTemplate(&expected, "home", templateData)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			assert.Equal(t, expected.String(), string(body))
 		}},
-		{"GET", "/badz", "", func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
+		{"GET", "/badz", "", func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, resp *http.Response) {
 			assert.Equal(t, http.StatusNotFound, resp.StatusCode)
 		}},
-		{"GET", "/healthz", "", func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
+		{"GET", "/healthz", "", func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, resp *http.Response) {
 			assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.StatusCode)
 		}},
-		{"GET", "/readyz", "", func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
+		{"GET", "/readyz", "", func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, resp *http.Response) {
 			assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.StatusCode)
 		}},
-		{"GET", "/version", "", func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
+		{"GET", "/version", "", func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, resp *http.Response) {
 			assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.StatusCode)
 			details := build.Details{}
 			err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&details)
@@ -64,13 +86,13 @@ func TestProxyRoutes(t *testing.T) {
 		}},
 
 		// Default sumdb is sum.golang.org
-		{"GET", "/sumdb/sum.golang.org/supported", "", func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
+		{"GET", "/sumdb/sum.golang.org/supported", "", func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, resp *http.Response) {
 			assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, resp.StatusCode)
 		}},
-		{"GET", "/sumdb/sum.rust-lang.org/supported", "", func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
+		{"GET", "/sumdb/sum.rust-lang.org/supported", "", func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, resp *http.Response) {
 			assert.Equal(t, http.StatusNotFound, resp.StatusCode)
 		}},
-		{"GET", "/sumdb/sum.golang.org/lookup/github.com/gomods/athens", "", func(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response) {
+		{"GET", "/sumdb/sum.golang.org/lookup/github.com/gomods/athens", "", func(t *testing.T, req *http.Request, resp *http.Response) {
 			assert.Equal(t, http.StatusForbidden, resp.StatusCode)
 		}},
 	}
@@ -84,7 +106,7 @@ func TestProxyRoutes(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run(req.RequestURI, func(t *testing.T) {
 			w := httptest.NewRecorder()
 			r.ServeHTTP(w, req)
-			tc.test(t, w.Result())
+			tc.test(t, req, w.Result())
 		})
 	}
 
diff --git a/cmd/proxy/actions/home.go b/cmd/proxy/actions/home.go
index 94fb545f2..8f41b979e 100644
--- a/cmd/proxy/actions/home.go
+++ b/cmd/proxy/actions/home.go
@@ -1,9 +1,137 @@
 package actions
 
 import (
+	"errors"
+	"html/template"
 	"net/http"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/config"
+	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/log"
 )
 
-func proxyHomeHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`"Welcome to The Athens Proxy"`))
+const homepage = `<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<head>
+	<title>Athens</title>
+	<style>
+		body {
+			font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
+			margin: 20px;
+		}
+
+		pre {
+				background-color: #f4f4f4;
+				padding: 5px;
+				border-radius: 5px;
+				width: fit-content;
+  				padding: 10px;
+		}
+
+
+		code {
+			background-color: #f4f4f4;
+			padding: 5px;
+			border-radius: 5px;
+		}
+
+	</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+	
+	<h1>Welcome to Athens</h1>
+
+	<h2>Configuring your client</h2>
+	<pre>GOPROXY={{ .Host }},direct</pre>
+	{{ if .NoSumPatterns }}
+	<h3>Excluding checksum database</h3>
+	<p>Use the following GONOSUM environment variable to exclude checksum database:</p>
+	<pre>GONOSUM={{ .NoSumPatterns }}</pre>
+	{{ end }}
+
+	<h2>How to use the Athens API</h2>
+	<p>Use the <a href="/catalog">catalog</a> endpoint to get a list of all modules in the proxy</p>
+
+	<h3>List of versions</h3>
+	<p>This endpoint returns a list of versions that Athens knows about for <code>acidburn/htp</code>:</p>
+	<pre>GET {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp/@v/list</pre>
+
+	<h3>Version info</h3>
+	<p>This endpoint returns information about a specific version of a module:</p>
+	<pre>GET {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp/@v/v1.0.0.info</pre>
+	<p>This returns JSON with information about v1.0.0. It looks like this:
+	<pre>{
+	"Name": "v1.0.0",
+	"Short": "v1.0.0",
+	"Version": "v1.0.0",
+	"Time": "1972-07-18T12:34:56Z"
+}</pre>
+
+	<h3>go.mod file</h3>
+	<p>This endpoint returns the go.mod file for a specific version of a module:</p>
+	<pre>GET {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp/@v/v1.0.0.mod</pre>
+	<p>This returns the go.mod file for version v1.0.0. If {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp version v1.0.0 has no dependencies, the response body would look like this:</p>
+	<pre>module github.com/acidburn/htp</pre>
+
+	<h3>Module sources</h3>
+	<pre>GET {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp/@v/v1.0.0.zip</pre>
+	<p>This is what it sounds like — it sends back a zip file with the source code for the module in version v1.0.0.</p>
+
+	<h3>Latest</h3>
+	<pre>GET {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp/@latest</pre>
+	<p>This endpoint returns the latest version of the module. If the version does not exist it should retrieve the hash of latest commit.</p>
+
+</body>
+</html>
+`
+
+func proxyHomeHandler(c *config.Config) http.HandlerFunc {
+	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		lggr := log.EntryFromContext(r.Context())
+
+		templateData := make(map[string]string)
+
+		templateContents := homepage
+
+		// load the template from the file system if it exists, otherwise revert to default
+		rawTemplateFileContents, err := os.ReadFile(c.HomeTemplatePath)
+		if err != nil {
+			if !errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+				// this is some other error, log it and revert to default
+				lggr.SystemErr(err)
+			}
+		} else {
+			templateContents = string(rawTemplateFileContents)
+		}
+
+		// This should be correct in most cases. If it is not, users can supply their own template
+		templateData["Host"] = r.Host
+
+		// if the host does not have a scheme, add one based on the request
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(templateData["Host"], "http://") && !strings.HasPrefix(templateData["Host"], "https://") {
+			if r.TLS != nil {
+				templateData["Host"] = "https://" + templateData["Host"]
+			} else {
+				templateData["Host"] = "http://" + templateData["Host"]
+			}
+		}
+
+		templateData["NoSumPatterns"] = strings.Join(c.NoSumPatterns, ",")
+
+		tmp, err := template.New("home").Parse(templateContents)
+		if err != nil {
+			lggr.SystemErr(err)
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		}
+
+		w.Header().Add("Content-Type", "text/html")
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+
+		err = tmp.ExecuteTemplate(w, "home", templateData)
+		if err != nil {
+			lggr.SystemErr(err)
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		}
+	}
 }
diff --git a/config.dev.toml b/config.dev.toml
index 16f11779c..d04df2fea 100755
--- a/config.dev.toml
+++ b/config.dev.toml
@@ -169,6 +169,10 @@ BasicAuthUser = ""
 # Env override: BASIC_AUTH_PASS
 BasicAuthPass = ""
 
+# A path on disk to a Go HTML template to be used on the homepage
+# Env override: ATHENS_HOME_TEMPLATE_PATH
+HomeTemplatePath = "/var/lib/athens/home.html"
+
 # Set to true to force an SSL redirect
 # Env override: PROXY_FORCE_SSL
 ForceSSL = false
diff --git a/docs/content/configuration/home-template.md b/docs/content/configuration/home-template.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cbb55a2a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/content/configuration/home-template.md
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+---
+title: Home template configuration
+description: How to customize the home template
+weight: 8
+---
+
+As of v0.14.0 Athens ships with a default, minimal HTML home page that advises users on how to connect to the proxy. It factors in whether `GoNoSumPatterns` is configured, and attempts
+to build configuration for `GO_PROXY`. It relies on the users request Host header (on HTTP 1.1) or the Authority header (on HTTP 2) as well as whether the request was over TLS to advise 
+on configuring `GO_PROXY`. Lastly, the homepage provides a quick guide on how users can leverage the Athens API.
+
+Of course, not all instructions will be this simple. Some installations may be reachable at different addresses in CI than for desktop users. In this case, and others where the default
+home page does not make sense it is possible to override the template.
+
+Do so by configuring `HomeTemplatePath` via the config or `ATHENS_HOME_TEMPLATE_PATH` to a location on disk with a Go HTML template or placing a template file at `/var/lib/athens/home.html`.
+
+Athens automatically injects the following variables in templates:
+
+| Setting         | Source |
+| :------         | :----- |
+| `Host`          | Built from the request Host (HTTP1) or Authority (HTTP2) header and presence of TLS. Includes ports. |
+| `NoSumPatterns` | Comes directly from the configuration. |
+
+Using these values is done by wrapping them in bracers with a dot prepended. Example: `{{ .Host }}`
+
+For more advanced formatting read more about [Go HTML templates](https://pkg.go.dev/html/template).
+
+```html
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<head>
+	<title>Athens</title>
+	<style>
+		body {
+			font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
+			margin: 20px;
+		}
+
+		pre {
+				background-color: #f4f4f4;
+				padding: 5px;
+				border-radius: 5px;
+				width: fit-content;
+  				padding: 10px;
+		}
+
+
+		code {
+			background-color: #f4f4f4;
+			padding: 5px;
+			border-radius: 5px;
+		}
+
+	</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+	
+	<h1>Welcome to Athens</h1>
+
+	<h2>Configuring your client</h2>
+	<pre>GOPROXY={{ .Host }},direct</pre>
+	{{ if .NoSumPatterns }}
+	<h3>Excluding checksum database</h3>
+	<p>Use the following GONOSUM environment variable to exclude checksum database:</p>
+	<pre>GONOSUM={{ .NoSumPatterns }}</pre>
+	{{ end }}
+
+	<h2>How to use the Athens API</h2>
+	<p>Use the <a href="/catalog">catalog</a> endpoint to get a list of all modules in the proxy</p>
+
+	<h3>List of versions</h3>
+	<p>This endpoint returns a list of versions that Athens knows about for <code>acidburn/htp</code>:</p>
+	<pre>GET {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp/@v/list</pre>
+
+	<h3>Version info</h3>
+	<p>This endpoint returns information about a specific version of a module:</p>
+	<pre>GET {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp/@v/v1.0.0.info</pre>
+	<p>This returns JSON with information about v1.0.0. It looks like this:
+	<pre>{
+	"Name": "v1.0.0",
+	"Short": "v1.0.0",
+	"Version": "v1.0.0",
+	"Time": "1972-07-18T12:34:56Z"
+}</pre>
+
+	<h3>go.mod file</h3>
+	<p>This endpoint returns the go.mod file for a specific version of a module:</p>
+	<pre>GET {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp/@v/v1.0.0.mod</pre>
+	<p>This returns the go.mod file for version v1.0.0. If {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp version v1.0.0 has no dependencies, the response body would look like this:</p>
+	<pre>module github.com/acidburn/htp</pre>
+
+	<h3>Module sources</h3>
+	<pre>GET {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp/@v/v1.0.0.zip</pre>
+	<p>This is what it sounds like — it sends back a zip file with the source code for the module in version v1.0.0.</p>
+
+	<h3>Latest</h3>
+	<pre>GET {{ .Host }}/github.com/acidburn/htp/@latest</pre>
+	<p>This endpoint returns the latest version of the module. If the version does not exist it should retrieve the hash of latest commit.</p>
+
+</body>
+</html>
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 843969e0a..4ce6080d5 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -687,7 +687,6 @@ golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20210405180319-a5a99cb37ef4/go.mod h1:p54w0d4576C0XHj96b
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20210428140749-89ef3d95e781/go.mod h1:OJAsFXCWl8Ukc7SiCT/9KSuxbyM7479/AVlXFRxuMCk=
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20211112202133-69e39bad7dc2/go.mod h1:9nx3DQGgdP8bBQD5qxJ1jj9UTztislL4KSBs9R2vV5Y=
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20220722155237-a158d28d115b/go.mod h1:XRhObCWvk6IyKnWLug+ECip1KBveYUHfp+8e9klMJ9c=
-golang.org/x/net v0.1.0/go.mod h1:Cx3nUiGt4eDBEyega/BKRp+/AlGL8hYe7U9odMt2Cco=
 golang.org/x/net v0.22.0 h1:9sGLhx7iRIHEiX0oAJ3MRZMUCElJgy7Br1nO+AMN3Tc=
 golang.org/x/net v0.22.0/go.mod h1:JKghWKKOSdJwpW2GEx0Ja7fmaKnMsbu+MWVZTokSYmg=
 golang.org/x/oauth2 v0.0.0-20180821212333-d2e6202438be/go.mod h1:N/0e6XlmueqKjAGxoOufVs8QHGRruUQn6yWY3a++T0U=
@@ -771,12 +770,10 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210630005230-0f9fa26af87c/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBc
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220520151302-bc2c85ada10a/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220715151400-c0bba94af5f8/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220722155257-8c9f86f7a55f/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.1.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.18.0 h1:DBdB3niSjOA/O0blCZBqDefyWNYveAYMNF1Wum0DYQ4=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.18.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
 golang.org/x/term v0.0.0-20201126162022-7de9c90e9dd1/go.mod h1:bj7SfCRtBDWHUb9snDiAeCFNEtKQo2Wmx5Cou7ajbmo=
 golang.org/x/term v0.0.0-20210927222741-03fcf44c2211/go.mod h1:jbD1KX2456YbFQfuXm/mYQcufACuNUgVhRMnK/tPxf8=
-golang.org/x/term v0.1.0/go.mod h1:jbD1KX2456YbFQfuXm/mYQcufACuNUgVhRMnK/tPxf8=
 golang.org/x/text v0.0.0-20170915032832-14c0d48ead0c/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.1-0.20180807135948-17ff2d5776d2/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
@@ -786,7 +783,6 @@ golang.org/x/text v0.3.4/go.mod h1:5Zoc/QRtKVWzQhOtBMvqHzDpF6irO9z98xDceosuGiQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.6/go.mod h1:5Zoc/QRtKVWzQhOtBMvqHzDpF6irO9z98xDceosuGiQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.7/go.mod h1:u+2+/6zg+i71rQMx5EYifcz6MCKuco9NR6JIITiCfzQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.3.8/go.mod h1:E6s5w1FMmriuDzIBO73fBruAKo1PCIq6d2Q6DHfQ8WQ=
-golang.org/x/text v0.4.0/go.mod h1:mrYo+phRRbMaCq/xk9113O4dZlRixOauAjOtrjsXDZ8=
 golang.org/x/text v0.14.0 h1:ScX5w1eTa3QqT8oi6+ziP7dTV1S2+ALU0bI+0zXKWiQ=
 golang.org/x/text v0.14.0/go.mod h1:18ZOQIKpY8NJVqYksKHtTdi31H5itFRjB5/qKTNYzSU=
 golang.org/x/time v0.0.0-20181108054448-85acf8d2951c/go.mod h1:tRJNPiyCQ0inRvYxbN9jk5I+vvW/OXSQhTDSoE431IQ=
diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index 35aaccc1d..9f070e5b1 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	UnixSocket       string    `envconfig:"ATHENS_UNIX_SOCKET"`
 	BasicAuthUser    string    `envconfig:"BASIC_AUTH_USER"`
 	BasicAuthPass    string    `envconfig:"BASIC_AUTH_PASS"`
+	HomeTemplatePath string    `envconfig:"ATHENS_HOME_TEMPLATE_PATH"`
 	ForceSSL         bool      `envconfig:"PROXY_FORCE_SSL"`
 	ValidatorHook    string    `envconfig:"ATHENS_PROXY_VALIDATOR"`
 	PathPrefix       string    `envconfig:"ATHENS_PATH_PREFIX"`
@@ -157,6 +158,7 @@ func defaultConfig() *Config {
 		PprofPort:        ":3001",
 		StatsExporter:    "prometheus",
 		TimeoutConf:      TimeoutConf{Timeout: 300},
+		HomeTemplatePath: "/var/lib/athens/home.html",
 		StorageType:      "memory",
 		Port:             ":3000",
 		SingleFlightType: "memory",
diff --git a/pkg/config/config_test.go b/pkg/config/config_test.go
index e10a2afbe..c2897b568 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config_test.go
@@ -79,23 +79,24 @@ func TestEnvOverrides(t *testing.T) {
 		TimeoutConf: TimeoutConf{
 			Timeout: 30,
 		},
-		StorageType:     "minio",
-		GlobalEndpoint:  "mytikas.gomods.io",
-		Port:            ":7000",
-		EnablePprof:     false,
-		PprofPort:       ":3001",
-		BasicAuthUser:   "testuser",
-		BasicAuthPass:   "testpass",
-		ForceSSL:        true,
-		ValidatorHook:   "testhook.io",
-		PathPrefix:      "prefix",
-		NETRCPath:       "/test/path/.netrc",
-		HGRCPath:        "/test/path/.hgrc",
-		Storage:         &Storage{},
-		GoBinaryEnvVars: []string{"GOPROXY=direct"},
-		SingleFlight:    &SingleFlight{},
-		RobotsFile:      "robots.txt",
-		Index:           &Index{},
+		StorageType:      "minio",
+		GlobalEndpoint:   "mytikas.gomods.io",
+		HomeTemplatePath: "/tmp/athens/home.html",
+		Port:             ":7000",
+		EnablePprof:      false,
+		PprofPort:        ":3001",
+		BasicAuthUser:    "testuser",
+		BasicAuthPass:    "testpass",
+		ForceSSL:         true,
+		ValidatorHook:    "testhook.io",
+		PathPrefix:       "prefix",
+		NETRCPath:        "/test/path/.netrc",
+		HGRCPath:         "/test/path/.hgrc",
+		Storage:          &Storage{},
+		GoBinaryEnvVars:  []string{"GOPROXY=direct"},
+		SingleFlight:     &SingleFlight{},
+		RobotsFile:       "robots.txt",
+		Index:            &Index{},
 	}
 
 	envVars := getEnvMap(expConf)
@@ -269,6 +270,7 @@ func TestParseExampleConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		StorageType:      "memory",
 		NetworkMode:      "strict",
 		GlobalEndpoint:   "http://localhost:3001",
+		HomeTemplatePath: "/var/lib/athens/home.html",
 		Port:             ":3000",
 		EnablePprof:      false,
 		PprofPort:        ":3001",
@@ -322,6 +324,7 @@ func getEnvMap(config *Config) map[string]string {
 	envVars["BASIC_AUTH_USER"] = config.BasicAuthUser
 	envVars["BASIC_AUTH_PASS"] = config.BasicAuthPass
 	envVars["PROXY_FORCE_SSL"] = strconv.FormatBool(config.ForceSSL)
+	envVars["ATHENS_HOME_TEMPLATE_PATH"] = config.HomeTemplatePath
 	envVars["ATHENS_PROXY_VALIDATOR"] = config.ValidatorHook
 	envVars["ATHENS_PATH_PREFIX"] = config.PathPrefix
 	envVars["ATHENS_NETRC_PATH"] = config.NETRCPath
diff --git a/pkg/download/protocol.go b/pkg/download/protocol.go
index b9d5945ee..a6942a9c7 100644
--- a/pkg/download/protocol.go
+++ b/pkg/download/protocol.go
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ func union(list1, list2 []string) []string {
 
 func copyContextWithCustomTimeout(ctx context.Context, timeout time.Duration) (context.Context, context.CancelFunc) {
 	ctxCopy, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), timeout)
-	requestid.SetInContext(ctxCopy, requestid.FromContext(ctx))
-	log.SetEntryInContext(ctxCopy, log.EntryFromContext(ctx))
+	ctxCopy = requestid.SetInContext(ctxCopy, requestid.FromContext(ctx))
+	ctxCopy = log.SetEntryInContext(ctxCopy, log.EntryFromContext(ctx))
 	return ctxCopy, cancel
 }
diff --git a/pkg/download/protocol_test.go b/pkg/download/protocol_test.go
index 40134a497..d2f910684 100644
--- a/pkg/download/protocol_test.go
+++ b/pkg/download/protocol_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/download/mode"
 	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/index/nop"
+	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/log"
 	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/module"
 	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/stash"
 	"github.com/gomods/athens/pkg/storage"
@@ -495,3 +496,38 @@ func (ml *mockLister) List(ctx context.Context, mod string) (*storage.RevInfo, [
 	ml.called = true
 	return nil, ml.list, ml.err
 }
+
+type testEntry struct {
+	msg string
+}
+
+var _ log.Entry = &testEntry{}
+
+func (e *testEntry) Debugf(format string, args ...any) {
+	e.msg = format
+}
+func (*testEntry) Infof(format string, args ...any)           {}
+func (*testEntry) Warnf(format string, args ...any)           {}
+func (*testEntry) Errorf(format string, args ...any)          {}
+func (*testEntry) WithFields(fields map[string]any) log.Entry { return nil }
+func (*testEntry) SystemErr(err error)                        {}
+
+func Test_copyContextWithCustomTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+	testEntry := &testEntry{}
+
+	// create a context with a logger entry
+	logctx := log.SetEntryInContext(context.Background(), testEntry)
+
+	// check the log work as expected
+	log.EntryFromContext(logctx).Debugf("first test")
+	require.Equal(t, "first test", testEntry.msg)
+
+	// use copyContextWithCustomTimeout to create a new context with a custom timeout,
+	// and the returned context should have the same logger entry
+	newCtx, cancel := copyContextWithCustomTimeout(logctx, 10*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	// check the log work as expected
+	log.EntryFromContext(newCtx).Debugf("second test")
+	require.Equal(t, "second test", testEntry.msg)
+}
diff --git a/scripts/service/athens.service b/scripts/service/athens.service
index 06de46a39..7d39bb264 100644
--- a/scripts/service/athens.service
+++ b/scripts/service/athens.service
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@ Nice=5
 User=www-data
 Group=www-data
 
-Environment=ATHENS_DISK_STORAGE_ROOT=/var/run/athens
-
 ; The full path and the arguments of the command to be executed to start the process.
 ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/athens -config_file=/etc/athens/config.toml
 
diff --git a/scripts/systemd.sh b/scripts/systemd.sh
index 7bb4c2dd4..a877825e5 100755
--- a/scripts/systemd.sh
+++ b/scripts/systemd.sh
@@ -41,12 +41,6 @@ function doInstallConfig
   fi
   sudo mkdir -p /etc/athens
   sudo install -v -o root -g root -m 644 config.toml /etc/athens
-
-  # if storage is on disk, this is where the database goes (see scripts/service/athens.service)
-  ATHENS_DISK_STORAGE_ROOT=/var/run/athens
-  sudo mkdir -p $ATHENS_DISK_STORAGE_ROOT
-  sudo chown www-data $ATHENS_DISK_STORAGE_ROOT
-  sudo chgrp www-data $ATHENS_DISK_STORAGE_ROOT
 }
 
 # doInstallBinary copies the Athens binary to /usr/local/bin with the necessary settings.
@@ -69,6 +63,9 @@ function doInstallBinary
 # doInstallSystemd sets up the SystemD service unit.
 function doInstallSystemd
 {
+  local rootPath=$(sed -nr 's/(RootPath) = (".*")/\2/p' /etc/athens/config.toml | xargs)
+  sed -i "/ReadWritePaths/ s|=.*|=$rootPath|" scripts/service/athens.service
+
   sudo install -v -o root -g root -m 644 scripts/service/athens.service /etc/systemd/system
   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl enable athens