diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..12a5515
--- /dev/null
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# this script will
+# - disable root ssh
+# - disable password ssh
+# - create a new user with sudo
+# - give them ssh from root (OR override with creds in current dir)
+# - install:
+#       - go
+#       - zsh
+#       - ohmyzsh (+theme +config +plugins)
+#       - nvim (+nvchad +my nvchad config)
+
+read -p "Enter a username: " user
+read -p "Enter a password: " pw
+
+# disable root and password ssh
+echo "Configuring SSH..."
+sed -i "s/PermitRootLogin yes/PermitRootLogin no/" /etc/ssh/sshd_config
+sed -i "s/PasswordAuthentication yes/PasswordAuthentication no/" /etc/ssh/sshd_config
+systemctl restart ssh
+# remove root password
+echo "Removing root password..."
+passwd -dl root > /dev/null
+
+# if user doesn't exist, make them and make their .ssh folder
+id -u marcy > /dev/null
+if [ $? -eq 1 ]; then
+        echo "Adding user $user..."
+        useradd -s /bin/bash -d /home/$user/ -m -G sudo $user
+        echo $user:$pw | chpasswd
+        mkdir /home/$user/.ssh
+else
+        echo "User $user already exists! Continuing..."
+fi
+
+echo "Installing SSH keys..."
+# get authorized_keys from root OR prompt user to paste it in
+if [ -f /root/.ssh/authorized_keys  ]; then
+        # install root authorized keys
+        echo "Installing authorized_keys from root..."
+        cp /root/.ssh/authorized_keys /home/$user/.ssh/authorized_keys
+else
+        # install ssh creds from input
+        echo "No authorized_keys found in root. Enter your public key, followed by an exclamation point (!):"
+	read -d '!' authkeys
+	touch /home/$user/.ssh/authorized_keys
+	echo "$authkeys" > /home/$user/.ssh/authorized_keys
+fi
+
+# get id_rsa from root OR prompt user to paste private key in
+if [ -f /root/.ssh/id_rsa  ]; then
+        # install current dir ssh creds
+        echo "Installing id_rsa from root..."
+        cp /root/.ssh/id_rsa /home/$user/.ssh/id_rsa
+else
+        # install ssh creds from input
+        echo "No id_rsa found in root. Enter your id_rsa key, followed by an exclamation point (!):"
+	read -d '!' idrsa
+	touch /home/$user/.ssh/id_rsa
+	echo "$idrsa" > /home/$user/.ssh/id_rsa
+fi
+
+# give ssh creds correct perms + ownership
+chmod 0700 /home/$user/.ssh
+chmod 0600 /home/$user/.ssh/authorized_keys
+chmod 0600 /home/$user/.ssh/id_rsa
+chown $user /home/$user/.ssh
+chown $user /home/$user/.ssh/authorized_keys
+chown $user /home/$user/.ssh/id_rsa
+
+# install packages + update apt
+echo "Updating and installing packages..."
+# apt update -y && apt upgrade -y
+pacman -Syu
+pacman -S zsh gcc zip unzip ripgrep fd-find git -y
+
+# make zsh default shell
+chsh -s $(which zsh) $user
+
+### run all subsequent commands as $user
+# for some reason this specific command breaks if its in the block after 'su #user <<EOF'
+echo "Installing oh-my-zsh..."
+su $user -c 'sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)" "" --unattended'
+
+su $user <<EOF
+cd ~
+
+# configure git
+echo "Configuring Git..."
+git config --global user.name "Gabe Farrell"
+git config --global user.email "gabe@mnrva.dev"
+git config --global url.ssh://git@github.com/.insteadOf https://github.com/
+
+# configure zsh
+echo "Configuring ZSH..."
+mkdir ~/.zsh
+echo "Installing zsh theme..."
+curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/moarram/headline/main/headline.zsh-theme" >> ~/.zsh/headline.zsh-theme
+echo "Installing zsh config..."
+curl -fsSL "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/mnrva-dev/8c82409e041c59145d27d02939d50d19/raw/a01cfb09fe31a36b56ecbf1211862a29e1db276d/gistfile1.txt" >> ~/.zshrc
+echo "Installing zsh plugins..."
+git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions.git $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
+git clone https://github.com/zdharma-continuum/fast-syntax-highlighting.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/fast-syntax-highlighting
+git clone --depth 1 -- https://github.com/marlonrichert/zsh-autocomplete.git $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/zsh-autocomplete
+
+# install nvim + nvchad + configure nvchad
+echo "Installing nVim..."
+wget https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/download/stable/nvim-linux64.tar.gz
+tar xzvf nvim-linux64.tar.gz
+
+echo "Configuring NVChad..."
+git clone https://github.com/NvChad/starter ~/.config/nvim
+rm -rf ~/.config/nvim/.git
+rm -rf ~/.config/nvim/lua/custom
+git clone git@github.com:gabehf/nvchad-custom.git ~/.config/nvim/lua/custom
+EOF
+
+echo "Done!"
diff --git a/update-go.sh b/update-go.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..17d0c49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/update-go.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+if [ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]; then
+	echo "please run as root!"
+	exit 1
+fi
+if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+	echo "specify a go version to update to"
+	exit 1
+fi
+echo "Downloading new Go version..."
+wget -P /home/marcy/ "https://go.dev/dl/go$1.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
+echo "Removing current Go installation..."
+rm -rf /usr/local/go
+echo "Installing new Go version..."
+tar -C /usr/local -xzf "/home/marcy/go$1.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
+echo "Cleaning up..."
+rm "/home/marcy/go$1.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
+echo "Done!"