diff --git a/docs/setting_up_VM_with_app.md b/docs/setting_up_VM_with_app.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 254bf0f..0000000
--- a/docs/setting_up_VM_with_app.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-## Steps to follow to get a VM with monitoring app running on Apache
-
-To get a 'prototype' of the monitoring app running with Apache, follow these steps:
-- create a cloud VM of the type: scientific-linux-7-aq
-- continue by selecting sandbox 'testing_personality_2', archetype 'ral-tier1', personality 'apel-data-validation-test'
-
-Allow 15 minutes after the machine is created, then remember to edit security groups from OpenStack to allow Apache to work.
-Then follow these steps from within the machine:
-- quattor-fetch && quattor-configure --all
-- cd /usr/share/DJANGO_MONITORING_APP/monitoring
-- modify the file settings.py, specifically the dict called DATABASES, to include the right credentials and database names
-- cd ..
-- source venv/bin/activate
-- systemctl restart httpd
-- sudo chown apache .
-
-At this point the app should be working, so just get the ip address by writing "hostname -I" within the machine and the app should be already running at that address.
-
-
-## What to do if the app seems to stop working after closing the VM
-If the VM is shut down, next time we try to open the app, Apache might give the error message "Unable to open the database file".
-If this happens, just follow these steps on the machine:
-1. cd /usr/share/DJANGO_MONITORING_APP
-2. source venv/bin/activate
-3. sudo chown apache .
-
-Note that step 2 is necessary for step 3 to work and the error message to disappear.
diff --git a/docs/what_gets_installed.md b/docs/what_gets_installed.md
index 56045b1..5f0066f 100644
--- a/docs/what_gets_installed.md
+++ b/docs/what_gets_installed.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Following the config file that Aquilon uses, the following are the packages inst
 - `gcc` (needed for dependencies)
 - `mariadb`
 - `tar`
+- `virtualenv` (for Python, installed using `pip` via the bootstrap script)
 
 ## Packages installed within the venv
 Within the venv, the following packages, and their dependencies, are installed through pip:
diff --git a/monitoring/settings.ini b/monitoring/settings.ini
index d605826..47fa311 100644
--- a/monitoring/settings.ini
+++ b/monitoring/settings.ini
@@ -57,3 +57,14 @@ port = 3306
 name =
 username = root
 password =
+
+# Coordinates for the blackhole database used to validate records
+[db_validator]
+# The database backend field here is an APEL-style backend, not Django
+backend=mysql
+
+hostname=localhost
+port=3306
+name=
+username=
+password=