diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5bea1ec5364f80c8c7719d9413773858b0602f9e..0f3a2518b45854b5a6fc592543f089c65be055a0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -27,9 +27,10 @@ To make sure variables and the build+deploy job are not dependent, add the follo
       1. Where the static files are stored like the docker-compose.yaml.
    3. DEPLOY_USER: The user that has read, write, and execute permissions for your `SERVICE_DIR`
       1. The private key `SSH_PRIVATE_KEY` for an ssh connection to your `DEPLOY_HOST`. 
+      2. The known hosts file `KNOWN_HOSTS` which ensures it deploys to the correct machines.
         
-       _Note: it's best to inherit the private key from the group settings or change this setup with [deploy tokens](https://git.astron.nl/help/user/project/deploy_tokens/index.md)_
+       _Note: it's best to inherit the private key and known hosts file from the group settings or change this setup with [deploy tokens](https://git.astron.nl/help/user/project/deploy_tokens/index.md)_
 4. Add the environment variables that are used by your docker service **as a file** called `DOT_ENV` and don't forget to set your environment!:
 
-![](gitlab.vars.png)
+![](gitlab-vars.png)
 
diff --git a/gitlab-vars.png b/gitlab-vars.png
new file mode 100644
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Binary files /dev/null and b/gitlab-vars.png differ
diff --git a/gitlab.vars.png b/gitlab.vars.png
deleted file mode 100644
index 06baf911f1ac6716723816f16e147aee6d64daf6..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Binary files a/gitlab.vars.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/template.gitlab-ci.yml b/template.gitlab-ci.yml
index dd045ab091679b3bc929844ffb39933a49c94877..a9b09268ff7993326bec5920b74700f978ad11b7 100644
--- a/template.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/template.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ docker-build:
          User $DEPLOY_USER
          StrictHostKeyChecking no
       EOF
+    - cp $KNOWN_HOSTS ~/.ssh/known_hosts
   script:
     - rsync -avz docker-compose.yml $DEPLOY_HOST:$SERVICE_DIR
     - rsync -avz $DOT_ENV $DEPLOY_HOST:$SERVICE_DIR/.env