diff --git a/wizard-server/src/main/java/org/cobbzilla/wizard/server/config/PgRestServerConfiguration.java b/wizard-server/src/main/java/org/cobbzilla/wizard/server/config/PgRestServerConfiguration.java
index b775bb7..2cab94e 100644
--- a/wizard-server/src/main/java/org/cobbzilla/wizard/server/config/PgRestServerConfiguration.java
+++ b/wizard-server/src/main/java/org/cobbzilla/wizard/server/config/PgRestServerConfiguration.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import static org.cobbzilla.util.http.URIUtil.getPort;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.io.FileUtil.*;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.security.ShaUtil.sha256_hex;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.string.StringUtil.camelCaseToSnakeCase;
+import static org.cobbzilla.util.string.StringUtil.checkSafeShellArg;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.system.CommandShell.exec;
 import static org.cobbzilla.util.system.CommandShell.execScript;
 
@@ -53,6 +54,16 @@ public class PgRestServerConfiguration extends RestServerConfiguration implement
         return s.length() <= MAX_ID_LENGTH ? s : s.substring(0, MAX_ID_LENGTH-HASH_LENGTH-1) + "_" + hexToBase36(sha256_hex(s)).substring(0, HASH_LENGTH).toLowerCase();
     }
 
+    public static boolean dbExists(String db) {
+        if (!checkSafeShellArg(db)) return die("dbExists: invalid db name: "+db);
+        return execScript("echo \"select datname from pg_database where datname='" + db + "'\" | psql -qt").trim().equals(db);
+    }
+
+    public static boolean dbUserExists(String user) {
+        if (!checkSafeShellArg(user)) return die("dbUserExists: invalid db user name: "+user);
+        return execScript("echo \"select usename from pg_user where usename='" + user + "'\" | psql -qt").trim().equals(user);
+    }
+
     @Override @Bean public DatabaseConfiguration getDatabase() { return database; }
     @Override public void setDatabase(DatabaseConfiguration config) { this.database = config; }
 
diff --git a/wizard-server/src/main/java/org/cobbzilla/wizard/server/listener/SystemInitializerListener.java b/wizard-server/src/main/java/org/cobbzilla/wizard/server/listener/SystemInitializerListener.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..054a455
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wizard-server/src/main/java/org/cobbzilla/wizard/server/listener/SystemInitializerListener.java
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+package org.cobbzilla.wizard.server.listener;
+
+import lombok.Getter;
+import lombok.Setter;
+import lombok.experimental.Accessors;
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+import org.cobbzilla.wizard.cache.redis.RedisService;
+import org.cobbzilla.wizard.server.RestServer;
+import org.cobbzilla.wizard.server.RestServerLifecycleListenerBase;
+import org.cobbzilla.wizard.server.config.PgRestServerConfiguration;
+
+import static org.cobbzilla.util.daemon.ZillaRuntime.*;
+import static org.cobbzilla.util.string.StringUtil.checkSafeShellArg;
+import static org.cobbzilla.util.system.CommandShell.execScript;
+import static org.cobbzilla.wizard.server.config.PgRestServerConfiguration.dbExists;
+import static org.cobbzilla.wizard.server.config.PgRestServerConfiguration.dbUserExists;
+
+@Slf4j @Accessors(chain=true)
+public class SystemInitializerListener extends RestServerLifecycleListenerBase {
+
+    public static final String PREFIX = SystemInitializerListener.class.getSimpleName() + ": ";
+    public static final String SAFE_CHARS_MESSAGE = " -- this can only contain letters, numbers, spaces, tabs, and these special characters: -._/=";
+
+    @Getter @Setter private boolean checkRedis = true;
+
+    @Override public void beforeStart(RestServer server) {
+
+        final PgRestServerConfiguration config = (PgRestServerConfiguration) server.getConfiguration();
+        final String db = config.getDatabase().getDatabaseName();
+        final String user = config.getDatabase().getUser();
+        final String password = config.getDatabase().getPassword();
+
+        // we're going to use these in shell scripts, so ensure they are safe
+        if (!checkSafeShellArg(db)) die(PREFIX+"invalid db name: "+db+SAFE_CHARS_MESSAGE);
+        if (!checkSafeShellArg(user)) die(PREFIX+"invalid db user name: "+user+SAFE_CHARS_MESSAGE);
+        if (!checkSafeShellArg(password)) die(PREFIX+": invalid password for user '"+user+"': "+password+SAFE_CHARS_MESSAGE);
+
+        try {
+            config.execSql("select 1");
+            log.info("database configured OK, skipping initialization");
+            return;
+
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            log.warn(PREFIX+"database not configured, attempting to initialize...");
+        }
+
+        // does a database exist?
+        try {
+            if (!dbExists(db)) {
+                execScript("createdb --encoding=UTF-8 "+db);
+                if (!dbExists(db)) die(PREFIX+"error creating "+db+" database");
+
+            } else {
+                log.info(db+" DB exists, not creating");
+            }
+
+            if (!dbUserExists(user)) {
+                execScript("createuser --createdb --no-createrole --no-superuser --no-replication "+user);
+                if (!dbUserExists(user)) die(PREFIX+"error creating '"+user+"' database user");
+
+                execScript("echo \"ALTER USER bubble WITH PASSWORD '"+ password +"'\" | psql");
+            } else {
+                log.info("DB user '"+user+"' exists, not creating");
+            }
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            die(PREFIX+"Error initializing database: "+shortError(e));
+        }
+
+        // ensure connection works
+        try {
+            config.execSql("select 1");
+            log.info("database configured OK");
+            return;
+
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            die(PREFIX+"database configuration failed, cannot run test query: "+shortError(e));
+        }
+
+        super.beforeStart(server);
+    }
+
+    @Override public void onStart(RestServer server) {
+        if (isCheckRedis()) {
+            try {
+                final RedisService redis = server.getConfiguration().getBean(RedisService.class);
+                redis.keys("_");
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                die(PREFIX + "error connecting to redis: " + shortError(e));
+            }
+        }
+        super.onStart(server);
+    }
+}