diff --git a/bin/cryptobox.conf b/bin/cryptobox.conf
index ea99730..0b10ac8 100644
--- a/bin/cryptobox.conf
+++ b/bin/cryptobox.conf
@@ -85,5 +85,14 @@ umount		= /bin/umount
 nice		= /usr/bin/nice
 super		= /usr/bin/super
 # this is the "program" name as defined in /etc/super.tab
-CryptoBoxRootActions = CryptoBoxRootActions
+CryptoBoxRootActions = CryptoBoxRootActionsLocal
+
+
+[PluginSettings]
+# plugin specific settings
+# the section names _must_ be the same as the names of the plugins
+
+## change the default network interface for the plugin "network"
+#[[network]]
+#interface = eth0
 
diff --git a/bin/run_webserver.sh b/bin/run_webserver.sh
index 587e069..d4ff73c 100755
--- a/bin/run_webserver.sh
+++ b/bin/run_webserver.sh
@@ -2,16 +2,28 @@
 #
 # example start script to run a local cryptobox webserver
 #
-# we set some parameters to make it possible to run it without an existing cryptobox installation
+# we set some parameters to make it possible to run it without an
+# existing cryptobox installation
+#
+# change your local settings in "cryptobox-local.conf" - if this file
+# does not exist, then "cryptobox.conf" is used
 #
 
-BIN_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname $0)"; pwd)
+BIN_DIR=$(dirname "$0")
+BIN_DIR=$(cd "$BIN_DIR"; pwd)
 
 ## add the local python directory to the search path
 export PYTHONPATH="$BIN_DIR/../src"
 ## disable ssl detection
 #export HTTPS=1
 
+PREFERRED_CONF_FILE=$BIN_DIR/cryptobox-local.conf
+FALLBACK_CONF_FILE=$BIN_DIR/cryptobox.conf
+
+## determine the configuration file
+CONFIG_FILE=$FALLBACK_CONF_FILE
+test -e "$PREFERRED_FILE" && CONFIG_FILE=$PREFERRED_CONF_FILE
+
 ## create necessary directories
 mkdir -p "$BIN_DIR/../ttt/mnt"
 mkdir -p "$BIN_DIR/../ttt/settings"
@@ -19,5 +31,5 @@ mkdir -p "$BIN_DIR/../ttt/settings"
 cd "$BIN_DIR"
 
 ## run the webserver
-"$BIN_DIR/CryptoBoxWebserver" --config="$BIN_DIR/cryptobox.conf" --pidfile=/tmp/cryptoboxwebserver.pid --logfile=/tmp/cryptoboxwebser.log --port=8080 --datadir="$BIN_DIR/../www-data" "$@"
+"$BIN_DIR/CryptoBoxWebserver" --config="$CONFIG_FILE" --pidfile=/tmp/cryptoboxwebserver.pid --logfile=/tmp/cryptoboxwebser.log --port=8080 --datadir="$BIN_DIR/../www-data" "$@"
 
diff --git a/conf-examples/cryptobox.conf b/conf-examples/cryptobox.conf
index 9024751..c72b5a5 100644
--- a/conf-examples/cryptobox.conf
+++ b/conf-examples/cryptobox.conf
@@ -85,3 +85,12 @@ super		= /usr/bin/super
 # this is the "program" name as defined in /etc/super.tab
 CryptoBoxRootActions = CryptoBoxRootActions
 
+
+[PluginSettings]
+# plugin specific settings
+# the section names _must_ be the same as the names of the plugins
+
+## change the default network interface for the plugin "network"
+#[[network]]
+#interface = eth0
+
diff --git a/plugins/plugin-interface.txt b/plugins/plugin-interface.txt
index eda7fc2..2bbabf9 100644
--- a/plugins/plugin-interface.txt
+++ b/plugins/plugin-interface.txt
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ Python code interface:
 			  or "volume_mount" (for volume plugins))
 	- access the plugin's state as self.prefs
 	- store user supplied values in the dictionary self.prefs with indices starting with "_" (e.g.: self.prefs["_automount_uuids"])
+	- system wide readonly plugin settings can be specified in the main cryptobox.conf -
+	  these settings are available as self.defaults[...]
 	- method "get_status":
 		- returns a string, that describes a state connected to this plugin (e.g. the current date and
 		  time (for the "date" plugin))
diff --git a/src/cryptobox/core/settings.py b/src/cryptobox/core/settings.py
index 335b8d5..b534605 100644
--- a/src/cryptobox/core/settings.py
+++ b/src/cryptobox/core/settings.py
@@ -271,6 +271,9 @@ class CryptoBoxSettings:
 					else:
 						self.log.warn("configuration setting should be a section "
 								+ "name instead of a value: %s" % element_path)
+			elif element_path.startswith("PluginSettings->"):
+				## ignore plugin settings
+				pass
 			else:
 				self.log.warn("unknown configuration setting: %s" % element_path)
 
@@ -491,6 +494,9 @@ umount = fileExecutable(default="/bin/umount")
 super = fileExecutable(default="/usr/bin/super")
 # this is the "program" name as defined in /etc/super.tab
 CryptoBoxRootActions = string(min=1)
+
+[PluginSettings]
+[[__many__]]
 		"""
 
 	pluginValidationSpec = """
diff --git a/src/cryptobox/plugins/base.py b/src/cryptobox/plugins/base.py
index a323114..ec68ccf 100644
--- a/src/cryptobox/plugins/base.py
+++ b/src/cryptobox/plugins/base.py
@@ -64,7 +64,14 @@ class CryptoBoxPlugin:
 			## initialize plugin configuration
 			self.cbox.prefs.plugin_conf[self.get_name()] = {}
 		self.prefs = self.cbox.prefs.plugin_conf[self.get_name()]
-
+		self.cbox.log.debug("Plugin '%s': settings " % self.get_name() + \
+				"loaded from plugin configuration file: %s" % str(self.prefs))
+		if self.get_name() in self.cbox.prefs["PluginSettings"]:
+			self.defaults = self.cbox.prefs["PluginSettings"] 
+		else:
+			self.defaults = {}
+		self.cbox.log.debug("Plugin '%s': configuration " % self.get_name() + \
+				"settings imported from global config file: %s" % str(self.defaults))
 
 
 	def do_action(self, **args):