diff --git a/config/config.php b/config/config.php
index e1d1d50d..2950632d 100755
--- a/config/config.php
+++ b/config/config.php
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ define('RASPI_BRAND_TEXT', 'RaspAP');
 define('RASPI_CONFIG', '/etc/raspap');
 define('RASPI_CONFIG_NETWORK', RASPI_CONFIG.'/networking/defaults.json');
 define('RASPI_CONFIG_PROVIDERS', 'config/vpn-providers.json');
+define('RASPI_CONFIG_API', RASPI_CONFIG.'/api');
 define('RASPI_ADMIN_DETAILS', RASPI_CONFIG.'/raspap.auth');
 define('RASPI_WIFI_AP_INTERFACE', 'wlan0');
 define('RASPI_CACHE_PATH', sys_get_temp_dir() . '/raspap');
diff --git a/includes/defaults.php b/includes/defaults.php
index 7227a955..bc442e7d 100755
--- a/includes/defaults.php
+++ b/includes/defaults.php
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ $defaults = [
   'RASPI_VERSION' => '3.0.8',
   'RASPI_CONFIG_NETWORK' => RASPI_CONFIG.'/networking/defaults.json',
   'RASPI_CONFIG_PROVIDERS' => 'config/vpn-providers.json',
+  'RASPI_CONFIG_API' => RASPI_CONFIG.'/api',
   'RASPI_ADMIN_DETAILS' => RASPI_CONFIG.'/raspap.auth',
   'RASPI_WIFI_AP_INTERFACE' => 'wlan0',
   'RASPI_CACHE_PATH' => sys_get_temp_dir() . '/raspap',
diff --git a/src/RaspAP/DotEnv/DotEnv.php b/src/RaspAP/DotEnv/DotEnv.php
index a29a4e99..1e8397a1 100644
--- a/src/RaspAP/DotEnv/DotEnv.php
+++ b/src/RaspAP/DotEnv/DotEnv.php
@@ -17,13 +17,17 @@ class DotEnv
     protected $envFile;
     protected $data = [];
 
-    public function __construct($envFile = '.env')
+    public function __construct($envFile = RASPI_CONFIG_API. '/.env')
     {
         $this->envFile = $envFile;
     }
 
     public function load()
     {
+        if (!file_exists($this->envFile)) {
+            $this->createEnv();
+        }
+
         if (file_exists($this->envFile)) {
             $this->data = parse_ini_file($this->envFile);
             foreach ($this->data as $key => $value) {
@@ -68,7 +72,19 @@ class DotEnv
             // if key doesn't exist, append it
             $content .= "$key=$value\n";
         }
-        file_put_contents($this->envFile, $content);
+        file_put_contents("/tmp/.env", $content);
+        system('sudo mv /tmp/.env '.$this->envFile, $result);
+        if ($result !== 0) {
+            throw new Exception("Unable to move .env file: ". $this->envFile);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected function createEnv()
+    {
+        exec('sudo touch '. escapeshellarg($this->envFile), $output, $result);
+        if ($result !== 0) {
+            throw new Exception("Unable to create .env file: ". $this->envFile);
+        }
     }
 }