diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
deleted file mode 100755
index 2c90616..0000000
--- a/.env.example
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
-# AtomCMS — Environment Configuration
-# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
-# Choose your platform and copy the right file:
-#
-#   Linux:   cp .env.example.linux   .env
-#   Windows: cp .env.example.windows .env
-#
-# Then run: php artisan key:generate
-# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/.env.install b/.env.install
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e73c21e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.install
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
+║           AtomCMS — Environment Installation Guide          ║
+╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
+
+Follow these steps to configure your environment:
+
+Step 1 ─ Choose your platform
+─────────────────────────────
+  Linux:   cp .env.example.linux .env
+  Windows: cp .env.example.windows .env
+
+Step 2 ─ Generate app key
+─────────────────────────
+  php artisan key:generate
+
+Step 3 ─ Edit database settings in .env
+───────────────────────────────────────
+  DB_DATABASE=habbo
+  DB_USERNAME=cms          # Linux: create a dedicated DB user
+  DB_USERNAME=root         # Windows: default MySQL user
+  DB_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
+
+Step 4 ─ Set your domain
+─────────────────────────
+  APP_URL=https://yourhotel.nl
+  SESSION_DOMAIN=.yourhotel.nl
+  SANCTUM_STATEFUL_DOMAINS=yourhotel.nl,www.yourhotel.nl
+  CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://yourhotel.nl,https://www.yourhotel.nl
+
+Step 5 ─ Set to production
+───────────────────────────
+  APP_ENV=production
+  APP_DEBUG=false
+
+Step 6 ─ (Linux only) Configure Redis
+─────────────────────────────────────
+  sudo apt install redis-server
+  sudo systemctl enable --now redis-server
+
+Step 7 ─ Run migrations
+────────────────────────
+  php artisan migrate --seed
+
+Step 8 ─ Build frontend
+───────────────────────
+  yarn install && yarn build:all
+
+Step 9 ─ Set permissions (Linux)
+────────────────────────────────
+  sudo chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache public/build
+  sudo chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache
+
+Step 10 ─ Restart PHP-FPM (Linux)
+─────────────────────────────────
+  sudo systemctl restart php8.5-fpm
+
+────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+  Your hotel is now ready at: https://yourhotel.nl
+────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 405bf96..b5890f9 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -149,10 +149,14 @@ Two ready-to-use environment configurations are included:
 
 | File | Platform | Cache | Database |
 | ---- | -------- | ----- | -------- |
+| `.env.install` | — | — | Step-by-step setup guide |
 | `.env.example.linux` | Linux (production) | Redis | MariaDB |
 | `.env.example.windows` | Windows (development) | File-based | MySQL |
 
 ```bash
+# Read the installation guide first
+less .env.install
+
 # Linux
 cp .env.example.linux .env