diff --git a/.github/workflows/nushell-bin.yml b/.github/workflows/nushell-bin.yml
index 7a1ab52..b4f5f58 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nushell-bin.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nushell-bin.yml
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         LOCATION="${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}@${{ secrets.SSH_IP }}"
         LOCAL_PORT=8080
-        REMOTE_PORT=8088
+        REMOTE_PORT=${{ secrets.APTLY_PORT }}
         REPO_URL="http://localhost:${LOCAL_PORT}/api/repos/ppr-${{ matrix.distro }}/packages"
         ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -fN -L ${LOCAL_PORT}:localhost:${REMOTE_PORT} "${LOCATION}"
         rm_str="$(./scripts/checker.sh overflow nushell-bin ${{ matrix.distro }} ${{ matrix.architecture }} 5 ${REPO_URL})"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pacstall.yml b/.github/workflows/pacstall.yml
index 5c468be..69b7fba 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pacstall.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pacstall.yml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         LOCATION="${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}@${{ secrets.SSH_IP }}"
         LOCAL_PORT=8080
-        REMOTE_PORT=8088
+        REMOTE_PORT=${{ secrets.APTLY_PORT }}
         REPO_URL="http://localhost:${LOCAL_PORT}/api/repos/ppr-${{ matrix.distro }}/packages"
         ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -fN -L ${LOCAL_PORT}:localhost:${REMOTE_PORT} "${LOCATION}"
         rm_str="$(./scripts/checker.sh overflow pacstall ${{ matrix.distro }} ${{ matrix.architecture }} 5 ${REPO_URL})"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ac72ab3..0345e10 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,9 +20,14 @@ chmod o+x ~/.aptly
 cp server/ppr-public-key.asc ~/.aptly/public
 
 # enable and start aptly api
+APTLY_PORT=1234 # can be anything besides 8080, that's for CI to use
+sed -i "s/\${APTLY_PORT}/${APTLY_PORT}/g" server/systemd/aptly-api.service
 sudo cp server/systemd/aptly-api.service /etc/systemd/system/
 sudo systemctl enable --now aptly-api
 
+# set up aptly repos
+./scripts/creator.sh "${APTLY_PORT}"
+
 # enable and start apache forwarding
 sudo cp server/apache2/aptly.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/aptly.conf
 sudo a2ensite aptly.conf
@@ -31,11 +36,9 @@ sudo systemctl enable apache2 --now
 sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
 sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
 sudo certbot --apache -d ppr.pacstall.dev
-
-# set up aptly repos
-./scripts/creator.sh
 ```
 Then, set the following repository secrets for GitHub Actions:
+- Set the chosen `APTLY_PORT` from above
 - Generate an ssh keygen pair and set `SSH_USER`, `SSH_IP`, and `SSH_KEY`:
   - `SSH_USER` - the host user
   - `SSH_IP` - the IP of the server
diff --git a/manager.py b/manager.py
index 12d09c5..6cb7e3e 100755
--- a/manager.py
+++ b/manager.py
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ class LiteralString(str): pass
                             "run": LiteralString(
                                 f"LOCATION=\"${{{{ secrets.SSH_USER }}}}@${{{{ secrets.SSH_IP }}}}\"\n"
                                 f"LOCAL_PORT=8080\n"
-                                f"REMOTE_PORT=8088\n"
+                                f"REMOTE_PORT=${{{{ secrets.APTLY_PORT }}}}\n"
                                 f"REPO_URL=\"http://localhost:${{LOCAL_PORT}}/api/repos/ppr-${{{{ matrix.distro }}}}/packages\"\n"
                                 f"ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -fN -L ${{LOCAL_PORT}}:localhost:${{REMOTE_PORT}} \"${{LOCATION}}\"\n"
                                 f"rm_str=\"$(./scripts/checker.sh overflow {package_name} ${{{{ matrix.distro }}}} ${{{{ matrix.architecture }}}} {overflow} ${{REPO_URL}})\"\n"
diff --git a/scripts/creator.sh b/scripts/creator.sh
index 10168a1..7e68556 100755
--- a/scripts/creator.sh
+++ b/scripts/creator.sh
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with Pacstall. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-LOCAL_PORT=8088
+APTLY_PORT="${1:?need PORT}"
 distrolist=("main" "ubuntu-latest" "ubuntu-develop" "ubuntu-rolling" "debian-stable" "debian-testing" "debian-unstable")
 archlist=("amd64" "arm64" "source")
 mapfile -t pprlist < <(for i in "${distrolist[@]}"; do echo "{\"Component\": \"${i}\", \"Name\": \"ppr-${i}\"},"; done)
@@ -32,10 +32,10 @@ archstring="$(printf '"%s", ' "${archlist[@]}")"
 for i in "${distrolist[@]}"; do
   curl -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     --data "{\"Name\": \"ppr-${i}\", \"DefaultDistribution\": \"pacstall\", \"DefaultComponent\": \"${i}\"}" \
-    http://localhost:"${LOCAL_PORT}"/api/repos
+    http://localhost:"${APTLY_PORT}"/api/repos
 done
 
 # publish
 curl -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
   --data "{\"SourceKind\": \"local\", \"Sources\": [${pprstring%,}], \"Architectures\": [${archstring%, }], \"Distribution\": \"pacstall\", \"Signing\": {\"Skip\": true}, \"MultiDist\": true}" \
-  http://localhost:"${LOCAL_PORT}"/api/publish/pacstall
+  http://localhost:"${APTLY_PORT}"/api/publish/pacstall
diff --git a/server/systemd/aptly-api.service b/server/systemd/aptly-api.service
index b19cd9c..83cd72f 100644
--- a/server/systemd/aptly-api.service
+++ b/server/systemd/aptly-api.service
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Description=Aptly API Service
 After=network.target
 
 [Service]
-ExecStart=/usr/bin/aptly api serve -listen=:8088
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/aptly api serve -listen=:${APTLY_PORT}
 WorkingDirectory=/home/${USER}/.aptly
 User=${USER}
 Restart=on-failure