diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index df5bbf20333eaed372c97dbfa66342eb59e533b1..304e42a64be5c418ea98d2945c729c010dfa3f43 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,24 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
+# =========================================================
+# CONFIGURATION
+# =========================================================
+
+# configuration for remote deploy, requirements:
+# * curl
+# * a recent tomcat server is required (8+)
+# * a user that is allowed to deploy, with following roles: tomcat, manager-gui, manager-script, manager-jmx, manager-status
+# * installed and running tomcat manager application
+DEPLOY="true"
+TOMCAT_HOST="localhost"
+TOMCAT_PORT="8000"
+TOMCAT_USER="tomcat"
+TOMCAT_PW="tomcat"
+
+# =========================================================
+# DO NOT EDIT AFTER THIS POINT
+# =========================================================
+
 LOG="build.log"
 rm -f $LOG
 
@@ -56,11 +75,13 @@ if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
         exit 1
 fi
 
-echo "" >> $LOG
-echo "-------------------------------" >> $LOG
-echo "deploying vipra-rest" | tee -a $LOG
-echo "-------------------------------" >> $LOG
-curl 'http://tomcat:tomcat@localhost:8000/manager/text/deploy?path=/vipra-rest&update=true' --upload-file ./vipra-rest/target/vipra-rest.war >> $LOG 2>&1
+if [ $DEPLOY = "true" ]; then
+	echo "" >> $LOG
+	echo "-------------------------------" >> $LOG
+	echo "deploying vipra-rest" | tee -a $LOG
+	echo "-------------------------------" >> $LOG
+	curl "http://$TOMCAT_USER:TOMCAT_PW@$TOMCAT_HOST:$TOMCAT_PORT/manager/text/deploy?path=/vipra-rest&update=true" --upload-file ./vipra-rest/target/vipra-rest.war >> $LOG 2>&1
+fi
 
 echo "complete"
 exit $?