diff --git a/src/emulator/README.md b/src/emulator/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a349e86b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/emulator/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# Puter Emulator
+
+To run locally:
+1. Build the image in `image/`:
+    - `./build-epoxy.sh` or provide a musl+i686 epoxy in `assets/`
+    - `./build.sh`
+2. Build the v86 frontend: `npm run start-webpack`
+3. Build and run a local epoxy in `submodules/epoxy-tls/server/` or some other wisp server for the guest networking
+4. Run Puter and log in as admin, then open the `puter-linux` app via URL
+5. Optionally open the Terminal app if you want to test out the v86 integration
diff --git a/src/emulator/image/Dockerfile b/src/emulator/image/Dockerfile
index 1d79cc563..ae13d0cb0 100644
--- a/src/emulator/image/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/emulator/image/Dockerfile
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ RUN  apk add --update \
     passwd -d root && \
     chsh -s /bin/bash
 
-RUN apk add neofetch
 # programming language tools
 RUN apk add --no-cache \
     nodejs npm \
diff --git a/src/emulator/image/build-epoxy.sh b/src/emulator/image/build-epoxy.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..0addf9a9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/emulator/image/build-epoxy.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+if ! which cross >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	echo "install https://github.com/cross-rs/cross to build epoxy with the simple script"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+cd ../../../submodules/epoxy-tls/server/ || exit 1
+# -lgcc is needed for __ffsdi2
+RUSTFLAGS="-Clink-args=-lgcc" cross build --release --target i686-unknown-linux-musl --features twisp
+cp ../target/i686-unknown-linux-musl/release/epoxy-server ../../../src/emulator/image/assets/
diff --git a/src/emulator/src/main.js b/src/emulator/src/main.js
index 170ac2d8f..bb334caa4 100644
--- a/src/emulator/src/main.js
+++ b/src/emulator/src/main.js
@@ -202,6 +202,10 @@ const bench_20ms = async (ctx) => {
 
 window.onload = async function()
 {
+	try {
+	await puter.fs.mkdir(puter.appDataPath)
+	} catch {}
+
     const modules = {};
     modules.bench = (await WebAssembly.instantiateStreaming(
         fetch('./static/bench.wasm'))).instance.exports;
@@ -213,7 +217,9 @@ window.onload = async function()
     } catch (e) {}
 
     if ( ! emu_config ) {
+		console.log("writing emu config")
         await puter.fs.write('config.json', JSON.stringify({}));
+		console.log("writing emu config1")
         emu_config = {};
     }