diff --git a/examples/shrpx.cc b/examples/shrpx.cc
index e1088c56..9da9b972 100644
--- a/examples/shrpx.cc
+++ b/examples/shrpx.cc
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <netdb.h>
 #include <signal.h>
@@ -33,12 +34,12 @@
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <getopt.h>
-#include <pwd.h>
 
 #include <limits>
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <fstream>
+#include <vector>
 
 #include <openssl/ssl.h>
 #include <openssl/err.h>
@@ -248,13 +249,23 @@ void save_pid()
 }
 } // namespace
 
+namespace {
+// Returns true if regular file or symbolic link |path| exists.
+bool conf_exists(const char *path)
+{
+  struct stat buf;
+  int rv = stat(path, &buf);
+  return rv == 0 && (buf.st_mode & (S_IFREG | S_IFLNK));
+}
+} // namespace
+
 namespace {
 void fill_default_config()
 {
   mod_config()->daemon = false;
 
   mod_config()->server_name = "shrpx spdylay/"SPDYLAY_VERSION;
-  mod_config()->host = "localhost";
+  set_config_str(&mod_config()->host, "localhost");
   mod_config()->port = 3000;
   mod_config()->private_key_file = 0;
   mod_config()->cert_file = 0;
@@ -284,43 +295,15 @@ void fill_default_config()
   // 2**16 = 64KiB, which is SPDY/3 default.
   mod_config()->spdy_upstream_window_bits = 16;
 
-  mod_config()->downstream_host = "localhost";
+  set_config_str(&mod_config()->downstream_host, "localhost");
   mod_config()->downstream_port = 80;
 
   mod_config()->num_worker = 1;
 
   mod_config()->spdy_max_concurrent_streams =
     SPDYLAY_INITIAL_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS;
-}
-} // namespace
 
-namespace {
-int split_host_port(char *host, size_t hostlen, uint16_t *port_ptr,
-                    const char *hostport)
-{
-  // host and port in |hostport| is separated by single ','.
-  const char *p = strchr(hostport, ',');
-  if(!p) {
-    std::cerr << "Invalid host, port: " << hostport << std::endl;
-    return -1;
-  }
-  size_t len = p-hostport;
-  if(hostlen < len+1) {
-    std::cerr << "Hostname too long: " << hostport << std::endl;
-    return -1;
-  }
-  memcpy(host, hostport, len);
-  host[len] = '\0';
-
-  errno = 0;
-  unsigned long d = strtoul(p+1, 0, 10);
-  if(errno == 0 && 1 <= d && d <= std::numeric_limits<uint16_t>::max()) {
-    *port_ptr = d;
-    return 0;
-  } else {
-    std::cerr << "Port is invalid: " << p+1 << std::endl;
-    return -1;
-  }
+  set_config_str(&mod_config()->conf_path, "/etc/shrpx/shrpx.conf");
 }
 } // namespace
 
@@ -339,7 +322,6 @@ void print_usage(std::ostream& out)
 namespace {
 void print_help(std::ostream& out)
 {
-  fill_default_config();
   print_usage(out);
   out << "\n"
       << "OPTIONS:\n"
@@ -405,6 +387,9 @@ void print_help(std::ostream& out)
       << "    --pid-file=<PATH>  Set path to save PID of this program.\n"
       << "    --user=<USER>      Run this program as USER. This option is\n"
       << "                       intended to be used to drop root privileges.\n"
+      << "    --conf=<PATH>      Load configuration from PATH.\n"
+      << "                       Default: "
+      << get_config()->conf_path << "\n"
       << "    -h, --help         Print this help.\n"
       << std::endl;
 }
@@ -416,11 +401,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
   create_config();
   fill_default_config();
 
-  char frontend_host[NI_MAXHOST];
-  uint16_t frontend_port;
-  char backend_host[NI_MAXHOST];
-  uint16_t backend_port;
-
+  std::vector<std::pair<const char*, const char*> > cmdcfgs;
   while(1) {
     int flag;
     static option long_options[] = {
@@ -442,6 +423,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
       {"frontend-spdy-window-bits", required_argument, &flag, 9 },
       {"pid-file", required_argument, &flag, 10 },
       {"user", required_argument, &flag, 11 },
+      {"conf", required_argument, &flag, 12 },
       {"help", no_argument, 0, 'h' },
       {0, 0, 0, 0 }
     };
@@ -453,43 +435,29 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
     switch(c) {
     case 'D':
-      mod_config()->daemon = true;
+      cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_DAEMON, "yes"));
       break;
     case 'h':
       print_help(std::cout);
       exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
     case 'L':
-      if(Log::set_severity_level_by_name(optarg) == -1) {
-        std::cerr << "Invalid severity level: " << optarg << std::endl;
-        exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
-      }
+      cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_LOG_LEVEL, optarg));
       break;
     case 'b':
-      if(split_host_port(backend_host, sizeof(backend_host),
-                         &backend_port, optarg) == -1) {
-        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-      } else {
-        mod_config()->downstream_host = backend_host;
-        mod_config()->downstream_port = backend_port;
-      }
+      cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND, optarg));
       break;
     case 'f':
-      if(split_host_port(frontend_host, sizeof(frontend_host),
-                         &frontend_port, optarg) == -1) {
-        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-      } else {
-        mod_config()->host = frontend_host;
-        mod_config()->port = frontend_port;
-      }
+      cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND, optarg));
       break;
     case 'n':
-      mod_config()->num_worker = strtol(optarg, 0, 10);
+      cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_WORKERS, optarg));
       break;
     case 'c':
-      mod_config()->spdy_max_concurrent_streams = strtol(optarg, 0, 10);
+      cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_SPDY_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS,
+                                       optarg));
       break;
     case 's':
-      mod_config()->spdy_proxy = true;
+      cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_SPDY_PROXY, "yes"));
       break;
     case '?':
       exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
@@ -497,74 +465,57 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
       switch(flag) {
       case 1:
         // --add-x-forwarded-for
-        mod_config()->add_x_forwarded_for = true;
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_ADD_X_FORWARDED_FOR,
+                                         "yes"));
         break;
-      case 2: {
+      case 2:
         // --frontend-spdy-read-timeout
-        timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
-        mod_config()->spdy_upstream_read_timeout = tv;
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_SPDY_READ_TIMEOUT,
+                                         optarg));
         break;
-      }
-      case 3: {
+      case 3:
         // --frontend-read-timeout
-        timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
-        mod_config()->upstream_read_timeout = tv;
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_READ_TIMEOUT,
+                                         optarg));
         break;
-      }
-      case 4: {
+      case 4:
         // --frontend-write-timeout
-        timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
-        mod_config()->upstream_write_timeout = tv;
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_WRITE_TIMEOUT,
+                                         optarg));
         break;
-      }
-      case 5: {
+      case 5:
         // --backend-read-timeout
-        timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
-        mod_config()->downstream_read_timeout = tv;
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_READ_TIMEOUT,
+                                         optarg));
         break;
-      }
-      case 6: {
+      case 6:
         // --backend-write-timeout
-        timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
-        mod_config()->downstream_write_timeout = tv;
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_WRITE_TIMEOUT,
+                                         optarg));
         break;
-      }
       case 7:
-        mod_config()->accesslog = true;
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_ACCESSLOG, "yes"));
         break;
-      case 8: {
+      case 8:
         // --backend-keep-alive-timeout
-        timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
-        mod_config()->downstream_idle_read_timeout = tv;
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT,
+                                         optarg));
         break;
-      }
-      case 9: {
+      case 9:
         // --frontend-spdy-window-bits
-        errno = 0;
-        unsigned long int n = strtoul(optarg, 0, 10);
-        if(errno == 0 && n < 31) {
-          mod_config()->spdy_upstream_window_bits = n;
-        } else {
-          std::cerr << "-w: specify the integer in the range [0, 30], inclusive"
-                    << std::endl;
-          exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-        }
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_SPDY_WINDOW_BITS,
+                                         optarg));
         break;
-      }
       case 10:
-        mod_config()->pid_file = optarg;
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_PID_FILE, optarg));
         break;
-      case 11: {
-        passwd *pwd = getpwnam(optarg);
-        if(pwd == 0) {
-          std::cerr << "--user: failed to get uid from " << optarg
-                    << ": " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
-          exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-        }
-        mod_config()->uid = pwd->pw_uid;
-        mod_config()->gid = pwd->pw_gid;
+      case 11:
+        cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_USER, optarg));
+        break;
+      case 12:
+        // --conf
+        set_config_str(&mod_config()->conf_path, optarg);
         break;
-      }
       default:
         break;
       }
@@ -574,14 +525,33 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
   }
 
-  if(argc-optind < 2) {
+  if(conf_exists(get_config()->conf_path)) {
+    if(load_config(get_config()->conf_path) == -1) {
+      std::cerr << "Failed to load configuration from "
+                << get_config()->conf_path << std::endl;
+      exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
+  }
+
+  if((!get_config()->private_key_file || !get_config()->cert_file) &&
+     argc - optind < 2) {
     print_usage(std::cerr);
     std::cerr << "Too few arguments" << std::endl;
     exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
   }
+  if(argc - optind >= 2) {
+    cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE,
+                                     argv[optind++]));
+    cmdcfgs.push_back(std::make_pair(SHRPX_OPT_CERTIFICATE_FILE,
+                                     argv[optind++]));
+  }
 
-  mod_config()->private_key_file = argv[optind++];
-  mod_config()->cert_file = argv[optind++];
+  for(size_t i = 0, len = cmdcfgs.size(); i < len; ++i) {
+    if(parse_config(cmdcfgs[i].first, cmdcfgs[i].second) == -1) {
+      std::cerr << "Failed to parse command-line argument." << std::endl;
+      exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
+  }
 
   char hostport[NI_MAXHOST+16];
   bool downstream_ipv6_addr =
@@ -598,7 +568,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
              downstream_ipv6_addr ? "]" : "",
              get_config()->downstream_port);
   }
-  mod_config()->downstream_hostport = hostport;
+  set_config_str(&mod_config()->downstream_hostport, hostport);
 
   if(cache_downstream_host_address() == -1) {
     exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
diff --git a/examples/shrpx_config.cc b/examples/shrpx_config.cc
index a6ddafd9..eb6d5005 100644
--- a/examples/shrpx_config.cc
+++ b/examples/shrpx_config.cc
@@ -24,8 +24,46 @@
  */
 #include "shrpx_config.h"
 
+#include <pwd.h>
+#include <netdb.h>
+
+#include <cstring>
+#include <cerrno>
+#include <limits>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <iostream>
+
+#include "util.h"
+
+using namespace spdylay;
+
 namespace shrpx {
 
+const char SHRPX_OPT_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE[] = "private-key-file";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_CERTIFICATE_FILE[] = "certificate-file";
+
+const char SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND[] = "backend";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND[] = "frontend";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_WORKERS[] = "workers";
+const char
+SHRPX_OPT_SPDY_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS[] = "spdy-max-concurrent-streams";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_LOG_LEVEL[] = "log-level";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_DAEMON[] = "daemon";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_SPDY_PROXY[] = "spdy-proxy";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_ADD_X_FORWARDED_FOR[] = "add-x-forwarded-for";
+const char
+SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_SPDY_READ_TIMEOUT[] = "frontend-spdy-read-timeout";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_READ_TIMEOUT[] = "frontend-read-timeout";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_WRITE_TIMEOUT[] = "frontend-write-timeout";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_READ_TIMEOUT[] = "backend-read-timeout";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_WRITE_TIMEOUT[] = "backend-write-timeout";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_ACCESSLOG[] = "accesslog";
+const char
+SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT[] = "backend-keep-alive-timeout";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_SPDY_WINDOW_BITS[] = "frontend-spdy-window-bits";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_PID_FILE[] = "pid-file";
+const char SHRPX_OPT_USER[] = "user";
+
 Config::Config()
   : verbose(false),
     daemon(false),
@@ -47,7 +85,8 @@ Config::Config()
     spdy_upstream_window_bits(0),
     pid_file(0),
     uid(0),
-    gid(0)
+    gid(0),
+    conf_path(0)
 {}
 
 namespace {
@@ -69,4 +108,159 @@ void create_config()
   config = new Config();
 }
 
+namespace {
+int split_host_port(char *host, size_t hostlen, uint16_t *port_ptr,
+                    const char *hostport)
+{
+  // host and port in |hostport| is separated by single ','.
+  const char *p = strchr(hostport, ',');
+  if(!p) {
+    std::cerr << "Invalid host, port: " << hostport << std::endl;
+    return -1;
+  }
+  size_t len = p-hostport;
+  if(hostlen < len+1) {
+    std::cerr << "Hostname too long: " << hostport << std::endl;
+    return -1;
+  }
+  memcpy(host, hostport, len);
+  host[len] = '\0';
+
+  errno = 0;
+  unsigned long d = strtoul(p+1, 0, 10);
+  if(errno == 0 && 1 <= d && d <= std::numeric_limits<uint16_t>::max()) {
+    *port_ptr = d;
+    return 0;
+  } else {
+    std::cerr << "Port is invalid: " << p+1 << std::endl;
+    return -1;
+  }
+}
+} // namespace
+
+void set_config_str(char **destp, const char *val)
+{
+  if(*destp) {
+    free(*destp);
+  }
+  *destp = strdup(val);
+}
+
+int parse_config(const char *opt, const char *optarg)
+{
+  char host[NI_MAXHOST];
+  uint16_t port;
+  if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND)) {
+    if(split_host_port(host, sizeof(host), &port, optarg) == -1) {
+      return -1;
+    } else {
+      set_config_str(&mod_config()->downstream_host, host);
+      mod_config()->downstream_port = port;
+    }
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND)) {
+    if(split_host_port(host, sizeof(host), &port, optarg) == -1) {
+      return -1;
+    } else {
+      set_config_str(&mod_config()->host, host);
+      mod_config()->port = port;
+    }
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_WORKERS)) {
+    mod_config()->num_worker = strtol(optarg, 0, 10);
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_SPDY_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS)) {
+    mod_config()->spdy_max_concurrent_streams = strtol(optarg, 0, 10);
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_LOG_LEVEL)) {
+    if(Log::set_severity_level_by_name(optarg) == -1) {
+      std::cerr << "Invalid severity level: " << optarg << std::endl;
+      return -1;
+    }
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_DAEMON)) {
+    mod_config()->daemon = util::strieq(optarg, "yes");
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_SPDY_PROXY)) {
+    mod_config()->spdy_proxy = util::strieq(optarg, "yes");
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_ADD_X_FORWARDED_FOR)) {
+    mod_config()->add_x_forwarded_for = util::strieq(optarg, "yes");
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_SPDY_READ_TIMEOUT)) {
+    timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
+    mod_config()->spdy_upstream_read_timeout = tv;
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_READ_TIMEOUT)) {
+    timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
+    mod_config()->upstream_read_timeout = tv;
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_WRITE_TIMEOUT)) {
+    timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
+    mod_config()->upstream_write_timeout = tv;
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_READ_TIMEOUT)) {
+    timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
+    mod_config()->downstream_read_timeout = tv;
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_WRITE_TIMEOUT)) {
+    timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
+    mod_config()->downstream_write_timeout = tv;
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_ACCESSLOG)) {
+    mod_config()->accesslog = util::strieq(optarg, "yes");
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT)) {
+    timeval tv = {strtol(optarg, 0, 10), 0};
+    mod_config()->downstream_idle_read_timeout = tv;
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_SPDY_WINDOW_BITS)) {
+    errno = 0;
+    unsigned long int n = strtoul(optarg, 0, 10);
+    if(errno == 0 && n < 31) {
+      mod_config()->spdy_upstream_window_bits = n;
+    } else {
+      std::cerr << "-w: specify the integer in the range [0, 30], inclusive"
+                << std::endl;
+      return -1;
+    }
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_PID_FILE)) {
+    set_config_str(&mod_config()->pid_file, optarg);
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_USER)) {
+    passwd *pwd = getpwnam(optarg);
+    if(pwd == 0) {
+      std::cerr << "--user: failed to get uid from " << optarg
+                << ": " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
+      return -1;
+    }
+    mod_config()->uid = pwd->pw_uid;
+    mod_config()->gid = pwd->pw_gid;
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE)) {
+    set_config_str(&mod_config()->private_key_file, optarg);
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, SHRPX_OPT_CERTIFICATE_FILE)) {
+    set_config_str(&mod_config()->cert_file, optarg);
+  } else if(util::strieq(opt, "conf")) {
+    std::cerr << "conf is ignored" << std::endl;
+  } else {
+    std::cerr << "Unknown option: " << opt << std::endl;
+    return -1;
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
+int load_config(const char *filename)
+{
+  std::ifstream in(filename, std::ios::binary);
+  if(!in) {
+    std::cerr << "Could not open config file " << filename << std::endl;
+    return -1;
+  }
+  std::string line;
+  int linenum = 0;
+  while(std::getline(in, line)) {
+    ++linenum;
+    if(line.empty() || line[0] == '#') {
+      continue;
+    }
+    size_t i;
+    size_t size = line.size();
+    for(i = 0; i < size && line[i] != '='; ++i);
+    if(i == size) {
+      std::cerr << "Bad configuration format at line " << linenum << std::endl;
+      return -1;
+    }
+    line[i] = '\0';
+    const char *s = line.c_str();
+    if(parse_config(s, s+i+1) == -1) {
+      return -1;
+    }
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
 } // namespace shrpx
diff --git a/examples/shrpx_config.h b/examples/shrpx_config.h
index 103590fe..650060e1 100644
--- a/examples/shrpx_config.h
+++ b/examples/shrpx_config.h
@@ -33,10 +33,30 @@
 #include <netinet/in.h>
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
 
-#include <string>
-
 namespace shrpx {
 
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_CERTIFICATE_FILE[];
+
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_WORKERS[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_SPDY_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_LOG_LEVEL[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_DAEMON[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_SPDY_PROXY[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_ADD_X_FORWARDED_FOR[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_SPDY_READ_TIMEOUT[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_READ_TIMEOUT[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_WRITE_TIMEOUT[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_READ_TIMEOUT[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_WRITE_TIMEOUT[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_ACCESSLOG[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_BACKEND_KEEP_ALIVE_TIMEOUT[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_FRONTEND_SPDY_WINDOW_BITS[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_PID_FILE[];
+extern const char SHRPX_OPT_USER[];
+
 union sockaddr_union {
   sockaddr sa;
   sockaddr_storage storage;
@@ -47,15 +67,15 @@ union sockaddr_union {
 struct Config {
   bool verbose;
   bool daemon;
-  const char *host;
+  char *host;
   uint16_t port;
-  const char *private_key_file;
-  const char *cert_file;
+  char *private_key_file;
+  char *cert_file;
   bool verify_client;
   const char *server_name;
-  const char *downstream_host;
+  char *downstream_host;
   uint16_t downstream_port;
-  const char *downstream_hostport;
+  char *downstream_hostport;
   sockaddr_union downstream_addr;
   size_t downstream_addrlen;
   timeval spdy_upstream_read_timeout;
@@ -70,9 +90,10 @@ struct Config {
   bool add_x_forwarded_for;
   bool accesslog;
   size_t spdy_upstream_window_bits;
-  const char* pid_file;
+  char *pid_file;
   uid_t uid;
   gid_t gid;
+  char *conf_path;
   Config();
 };
 
@@ -80,6 +101,20 @@ const Config* get_config();
 Config* mod_config();
 void create_config();
 
+// Parses option name |opt| and value |optarg|.  The results are
+// stored into statically allocated Config object. This function
+// returns 0 if it succeeds, or -1.
+int parse_config(const char *opt, const char *optarg);
+
+// Loads configurations from |filename| and stores them in statically
+// allocated Config object. This function returns 0 if it succeeds, or
+// -1.
+int load_config(const char *filename);
+
+// Copies NULL-terminated string |val| to |*destp|. If |*destp| is not
+// NULL, it is freed before copying.
+void set_config_str(char **destp, const char *val);
+
 } // namespace shrpx
 
 #endif // SHRPX_CONFIG_H
diff --git a/shrpx.conf.sample b/shrpx.conf.sample
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c53650d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shrpx.conf.sample
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#
+# Sample configuration file for Shrpx.
+#
+# * Line staring '#' is treated as comment.
+#
+# * The option name in the configuration file is the long command-line
+#   option name, stripped leading '--' (e.g., frontend). Put '='
+#   between option name and value. Don't put extra leading or trailing
+#   spaces.
+#
+# * The options which do not take argument in the command-line *take*
+#   argument in the configuration file. Specify 'yes' as argument
+#   (e.g., spdy-proxy=yes). If other string is given, it disables the
+#   option.
+#
+# * To specify private key and certificate file, use private-key-file
+#   and certificate-file. See the examples below.
+#
+# * conf option cannot be used in the configuration file. It will be
+#   ignored.
+#
+# Examples:
+#
+# frontend=localhost,3000
+# backend=localhost,80
+# private-key-file=/path/to/server.key
+# certificate-file=/path/to/server.crt
+# spdy-proxy=no
+# workers=1