diff --git a/lib/query.py b/lib/query.py
index c00b253c1d03d4e2fdfbdff9081e419cc4ae3952..2c10f9b9f5402629bfeb0ac6553777af11e7b0ea 100644
--- a/lib/query.py
+++ b/lib/query.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 import urllib
 import requests
-from os.path import expanduser
+from os.path import expanduser, exists
 import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
 import xmlrpclib
 import uuid
@@ -15,6 +15,13 @@ passw = None
 #host = "lta-ingest-test.lofar.eu:19443"
 host = "lofar-ingest.target.rug.nl:9443"
 
+if not exists(path):
+    # write default file
+    with open(path, 'w') as file:
+        file.write("user=\n")
+        file.write("password=\n")
+        file.write("host=\n")
+
 with open(path,'r') as file:
         print "Parsing user credentials from",path
         for line in file:
diff --git a/lib/validator.py b/lib/validator.py
index 095063e8ddc6708284649739f8b3e63c3e2fed24..6a60919f6a942e1f82be370c0404b276adaac8d3 100644
--- a/lib/validator.py
+++ b/lib/validator.py
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ import ltasip
 d = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
 XSDPATH = d+"/LTA-SIP.xsd"
 
-def validate(xmlpath, xsdpath=XSDPATH):
+DEFAULT_SIP_XSD_PATH = os.path.join(os.environ.get('LOFARROOT', '/opt/lofar'), 'etc', 'lta', 'LTA-SIP.xsd')
+
+def validate(xmlpath, xsdpath=DEFAULT_SIP_XSD_PATH):
     '''validates given xml file against given xsd file'''
 
     print "validating", xmlpath, "against", xsdpath
@@ -103,7 +105,7 @@ def main(xml):
 
     try:
         xml = xml
-        xsd = XSDPATH
+        xsd = DEFAULT_SIP_XSD_PATH
         valid = validate(xml, xsd)
         consistent = check_consistency(xml)
         return valid and consistent