diff --git a/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties b/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
index e91e8370d..f683d33ae 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/backend/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.format_sql=false
 
 spring.jpa.hibernate.use-new-id-generator-mappings=true
 
+# Set the following property to periodically write out the generated metadata files
 # shibui.metadata-dir=/opt/shibboleth-idp/metadata/generated
 shibui.logout-url=/dashboard
 
@@ -56,5 +57,6 @@ shibui.logout-url=/dashboard
 ###
 # metadata-providers.xml write configuration
 
+# Set the following property to periodically write out metadata providers configuration
 # shibui.metadataProviders.target=file:/opt/shibboleth-idp/conf/shibui-metadata-providers.xml
 # shibui.metadataProviders.taskRunRate=30000
diff --git a/docs/DEFAULTPROPERTIES.md b/docs/DEFAULTPROPERTIES.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ebbf693d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/DEFAULTPROPERTIES.md
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# Default properties
+
+This is a reflection of the default `application.properties` file included in the distribution. Note that lines
+beginning with `#` are commented out.
+
+Please refer to the Spring Boot documentation [https://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/reference/html/boot-features-external-config.html]
+for more information.
+
+```properties
+# Server Configuration
+#server.port=8080
+
+# Logging Configuration
+#logging.config=classpath:log4j2.xml
+
+logging.level.org.springframework=INFO
+logging.level.edu.internet2.tier.shibboleth.admin.ui=INFO
+
+# Database Credentials
+spring.datasource.username=shibui
+spring.datasource.password=shibui
+
+# Database Configuration H2
+spring.datasource.url=jdbc:h2:mem:shibui;DB_CLOSE_DELAY=-1;DB_CLOSE_ON_EXIT=FALSE
+spring.datasource.platform=h2
+spring.datasource.driverClassName=org.h2.Driver
+spring.jpa.database-platform=org.hibernate.dialect.H2Dialect
+spring.h2.console.enabled=true
+
+
+# Database Configuration PostgreSQL
+#spring.datasource.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/shibui
+#spring.datasource.driverClassName=org.postgresql.Driver
+#spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect
+
+#Maria/MySQL DB
+#spring.datasource.url=jdbc:mariadb://localhost:3306/shibui
+#spring.datasource.driverClassName=org.mariadb.jdbc.Driver
+#spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.MariaDBDialect
+
+# Liquibase properties
+spring.liquibase.enabled=false
+#spring.liquibase.change-log=classpath:edu/internet2/tier/shibboleth/admin/ui/database/masterchangelog.xml
+
+# Hibernate properties
+# for production never ever use create, create-drop. It's BEST to use validate
+spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update
+spring.jpa.hibernate.naming.implicit-strategy=org.hibernate.boot.model.naming.ImplicitNamingStrategyJpaCompliantImpl
+spring.jpa.show-sql=false
+spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.format_sql=false
+
+spring.jpa.hibernate.use-new-id-generator-mappings=true
+
+# Set the following property to periodically write out the generated metadata files
+# shibui.metadata-dir=/opt/shibboleth-idp/metadata/generated
+shibui.logout-url=/dashboard
+
+# spring.profiles.active=default
+
+#shibui.default-password=
+
+#Actuator endpoints (info)
+# Un-comment to get full git details exposed like author, abbreviated SHA-1, commit message
+#management.info.git.mode=full
+
+###
+# metadata-providers.xml write configuration
+
+# Set the following property to periodically write out metadata providers configuration
+# shibui.metadataProviders.target=file:/opt/shibboleth-idp/conf/shibui-metadata-providers.xml
+# shibui.metadataProviders.taskRunRate=30000
+```
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