diff --git a/src/utils.rs b/src/utils.rs
index 601c042..b4ccc7f 100644
--- a/src/utils.rs
+++ b/src/utils.rs
@@ -1,15 +1,26 @@
 use std::fs;
+use std::fs::File;
+use std::io::ErrorKind;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use serde::de::DeserializeOwned;
+use tap::Pipe;
 
 pub mod logs;
 pub mod booking;
 pub mod index;
 
 pub fn parse_toml_file<T: DeserializeOwned>(path: &str) -> T {
-    let file_content = fs::read_to_string(path).expect("failed to read .toml file");
-    toml::from_str(&file_content).expect("failed to parse toml")
+    match fs::read_to_string(path) {
+        Ok(s) => s,
+        Err(e) if e.kind() == ErrorKind::NotFound => {
+            File::create(path).expect("failed to create file");
+            String::new()
+        },
+        _ => panic!("error reading {path}")
+    }
+        .pipe_as_ref(toml::from_str)
+        .expect("failed to parse toml")
 }
 
 pub fn get_power_state(payload: &str) -> Result<String, &'static str> {
diff --git a/src/utils/logs.rs b/src/utils/logs.rs
index de1b7c4..202719e 100644
--- a/src/utils/logs.rs
+++ b/src/utils/logs.rs
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ pub fn machinelog(machine: &str, booking: &Booking) -> io::Result<()> {
     };
 
     let file_writer = File::options()
+        .create(true)
         .append(true)
         .open("/root/machinelog.csv")?;
 
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ pub fn machinelog(machine: &str, booking: &Booking) -> io::Result<()> {
 
 pub fn log_start() -> io::Result<()> {
     File::options()
+        .create(true)
         .append(true)
         .open("/root/machinelog_debug.csv")?
         .write_all(format!("\n\n===== startup {} =====\n\n", Local::now()).as_bytes())