diff --git a/nightly_db_backup/db_backup.py b/nightly_db_backup/db_backup.py
index 3a5db03..5cc8538 100644
--- a/nightly_db_backup/db_backup.py
+++ b/nightly_db_backup/db_backup.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 :file:     db_backup.py
 :language: python3
 :author:   Peter Bailie (Systems Programmer, Dept. of Computer Science, RPI)
-:date:     May 22 2018
+:date:     August 22 2018
 
 This script will take backup dumps of each individual Submitty course
 database.  This should be set up by a sysadmin to be run on the Submitty
@@ -31,16 +31,17 @@
 
 import argparse
 import datetime
+import json
 import os
 import re
 import subprocess
 import sys
 
-# CONFIGURATION
-DB_HOST    = 'submitty.cs.myuniversity.edu'
-DB_USER    = 'hsdbu'
-DB_PASS    = 'DB.p4ssw0rd'  # CHANGE THIS!  DO NOT USE 'DB.p4ssw0rd'
-DUMP_PATH  = '/var/local/submitty-dumps'
+# DATABASE CONFIGURATION PATH
+DB_CONFIG_PATH = '/usr/local/submitty/config/database.json'
+
+# WHERE DUMP FILES ARE WRITTEN
+DUMP_PATH = '/var/local/submitty/submitty-dumps'
 
 def delete_obsolete_dumps(working_path, expiration_stamp):
 	"""
@@ -111,6 +112,14 @@ def main():
 	else:
 		semester = args.t
 
+	# GET DATABASE CONFIG FROM SUBMITTY
+	fh = open(DB_CONFIG_PATH, "r")
+	db_config = json.load(fh)
+	fh.close()
+	DB_HOST = db_config['database_host']
+	DB_USER = db_config['database_user']
+	DB_PASS = db_config['database_password']
+
 	# GET ACTIVE COURSES FROM 'MASTER' DB
 	try:
 		sql = "select course from courses where semester='{}'".format(semester)
diff --git a/pam_accounts/accounts.php b/pam_accounts/accounts.php
index 4000f7e..d7b5274 100644
--- a/pam_accounts/accounts.php
+++ b/pam_accounts/accounts.php
@@ -32,10 +32,8 @@
 error_reporting(null);
 ini_set('display_errors', '0');
 
-//Database access
-define('DB_LOGIN',  'submitty_dbuser');
-define('DB_PASSWD', 'submitty_dbuser_pa55W0rd');
-define('DB_HOST',   'localhost');
+//Database access configuration from Submitty
+define('DB_CONFIG_PATH', '/usr/local/submitty/config/database.json');
 
 //Location of accounts creation error log file
 define('ERROR_LOG_FILE', 'accounts_script_error.log');
@@ -88,6 +86,11 @@ public function __construct() {
 			exit("This script must be run as root." . PHP_EOL);
 		}
 
+		//This is run from the command line, not a webpage.
+		if (PHP_SAPI !== 'cli') {
+			exit("This script must be run from the command line." . PHP_EOL);
+		}
+
 		//Init class properties, quit on error.
 		if ($this->init() === false) {
 			exit(1);
@@ -211,10 +214,13 @@ private function process() {
 	 * @return boolean TRUE on success, FALSE when there is a problem.
 	 */
 	private function db_connect() {
-		$db_user = DB_LOGIN;
-		$db_pass = DB_PASSWD;
-		$db_host = DB_HOST;
-		self::$db_conn = pg_connect("host={$db_host} dbname=submitty user={$db_user} password={$db_pass} sslmode=prefer");
+		$json_str = file_get_contents(DB_CONFIG_PATH);
+		$db_config = json_decode($json_str, true);
+		$db_host = $db_config['database_host'];
+		$db_user = $db_config['database_user'];
+		$db_pass = $db_config['database_password'];
+
+		self::$db_conn = pg_connect("dbname=submitty host={$db_host} user={$db_user} password={$db_pass} sslmode=prefer");
 		if (pg_connection_status(self::$db_conn) !== PGSQL_CONNECTION_OK) {
 			$this->log_it(pg_last_error(self::$db_conn));
 			return false;
diff --git a/sample_bin/map_course.php b/sample_bin/map_course.php
index 3865748..f94285d 100755
--- a/sample_bin/map_course.php
+++ b/sample_bin/map_course.php
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 $db_config = json_decode($json_str, true);
 
 //Connect to master DB.
-$db_conn = pg_connect("dbname=submitty host={$db_config['database_host']} user={$db_config['database_user']} password={$db_config['database_password']}");
+$db_conn = pg_connect("dbname=submitty host={$db_config['database_host']} user={$db_config['database_user']} password={$db_config['database_password']} sslmode=prefer");
 if (pg_connection_status($db_conn) !== PGSQL_CONNECTION_OK) {
 	exit(sprintf("ERROR: Could not establish connection to Submitty Master DB%sCheck configuration at %s%s", PHP_EOL, DB_CONFIG_PATH, PHP_EOL));
 }