diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index bb6877b..362a7b9 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@
     </properties>
 
     <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>commons-cli</groupId>
+            <artifactId>commons-cli</artifactId>
+            <version>1.3.1</version>
+        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.tomlj</groupId>
             <artifactId>tomlj</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/App.java b/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/App.java
index 2d2aa97..ecd1137 100644
--- a/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/App.java
+++ b/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/App.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package tech.bitgoblin;
 
+import org.apache.commons.cli.ParseException;
+import tech.bitgoblin.config.Cmd;
 import tech.bitgoblin.config.Config;
 import tech.bitgoblin.transcoder.RunTranscoderTask;
 import tech.bitgoblin.transcoder.Transcoder;
@@ -12,13 +14,15 @@ import java.util.Timer;
  */
 public class App {
 
-  private static final String configFile = "~/.config/dragoon.toml";
-
   private static final int msToMinutes = 60 * 1000;
 
-  public static void main(String[] args) {
+  public static void main(String[] args) throws ParseException {
+    // parse command-line options
+    Cmd cmd = new Cmd(args);
+
     // read our config file
-    Config c = new Config(configFile);
+    Config c = new Config(cmd.getConfigPath());
+
     // create new Transcoder object and start the service
     Transcoder t = new Transcoder(c);
     Timer timer = new Timer();
diff --git a/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/config/Cmd.java b/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/config/Cmd.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4431d49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/tech/bitgoblin/config/Cmd.java
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package tech.bitgoblin.config;
+
+import org.apache.commons.cli.*;
+
+public class Cmd {
+
+	private String configPath = "/etc/dragoon/config.toml";
+
+	public Cmd(String[] args) throws ParseException {
+		Options options = new Options();
+
+    Option configPath = new Option("c", "configPath", true, "configuration file path (defaults to /etc/dragoon/config.toml)");
+    configPath.setRequired(false);
+    options.addOption(configPath);
+
+    CommandLineParser parser = new DefaultParser();
+    HelpFormatter formatter = new HelpFormatter();
+    CommandLine cmd = parser.parse(options, args);
+
+    // set the configPath variable if the option was passed to the program
+    if (cmd.hasOption("configPath")) {
+    	this.configPath = cmd.getOptionValue("configPath");
+    }
+	}
+
+	public String getConfigPath() {
+		return this.configPath;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/tech/bitgoblin/config/CmdTest.java b/src/test/java/tech/bitgoblin/config/CmdTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fee6a6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/tech/bitgoblin/config/CmdTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package tech.bitgoblin.config;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import org.apache.commons.cli.ParseException;
+
+public class CmdTest {
+
+  @Test
+  public void shouldDefaultToEtc() throws ParseException {
+    Cmd cmd = new Cmd(new String[]{});
+    assertTrue(cmd.getConfigPath().equals("/etc/dragoon/config.toml"));
+  }
+
+}