diff --git a/appengine/parse-server/README.md b/appengine/parse-server/README.md
index 607f918070..0821d4b208 100644
--- a/appengine/parse-server/README.md
+++ b/appengine/parse-server/README.md
@@ -11,19 +11,22 @@ app to [Google App Engine Managed VMs](https://cloud.google.com/appengine).
 1. Setup a MongoDB server. Here are two possible options:
   1. Create a Google Compute Engine virtual machine with [MongoDB pre-installed](https://cloud.google.com/launcher/?q=mongodb).
   1. Use [MongoLab](https://mongolab.com/google/) to create a free MongoDB deployment on Google Cloud Platform.
-
-## Running locally
+  
+## Downloading Files
 
 1. `git clone https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/nodejs-docs-samples.git`
 1. `cd appengine/parse-server`
+
+## Running locally
+
 1. `npm install`
-1. Set the necessary [environment variables](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/nodejs-docs-samples/blob/master/appengine/parse-server/server.js#L23).
+1. Set the necessary [environment variables](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/nodejs-docs-samples/blob/master/appengine/parse-server/config.json).
 1. `npm start`
 
 ## Deploy
 
-1. Modify `app.yaml` as needed.
-1. `gcloud preview app deploy`
+1. Set the necessary [environment variables](https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/nodejs-docs-samples/blob/master/appengine/parse-server/config.json).
+1. `npm run deploy`
 
 Refer to the [appengine/README.md](../README.md) file for more instructions on
 running and deploying.
diff --git a/appengine/parse-server/app.yaml b/appengine/parse-server/app.yaml
index c1c94c6ed4..4841ea3e69 100644
--- a/appengine/parse-server/app.yaml
+++ b/appengine/parse-server/app.yaml
@@ -15,22 +15,6 @@
 runtime: nodejs
 vm: true
 
-env_variables:
-  # Your MongoDB URI, e.g. mongodb://user:password@123.456.78.901:27017/db
-  DATABASE_URI: mongodb://localhost:27017/dev
-  # Absolute path to your cloud code main.js file
-  # CLOUD_PATH: <your-cloud-path>
-  # App id
-  # REQUIRED
-  APP_ID: <your-app-id>
-  # master key
-  # REQUIRED
-  MASTER_KEY: <your-master-key>
-  # file key
-  FILE_KEY: <your-file-key>
-  # Mount path for Parse API
-  PARSE_MOUNT_PATH: /parse
-
 skip_files:
   # Don't deploy node_modules folder
   - ^(.*/)?.*/node_modules/.*$
diff --git a/appengine/parse-server/config.json b/appengine/parse-server/config.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..501de725c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/appengine/parse-server/config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "DATABASE_URI": "mongodb://localhost:27017/dev",
+  "CLOUD_PATH": "./cloud/main.js",
+  "APP_ID": "<your-app-id>",
+  "MASTER_KEY": "<your-master-key>",
+  "FILE_KEY": "<your-file-key>",
+  "PARSE_MOUNT_PATH": "/parse",
+  "SERVER_URL": "<your-server-url>"
+}
diff --git a/appengine/parse-server/package.json b/appengine/parse-server/package.json
index 1f06c56e7f..eca6586fcc 100644
--- a/appengine/parse-server/package.json
+++ b/appengine/parse-server/package.json
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "express": "^4.13.4",
-    "parse-server": "^2.1.3"
+    "parse-server": "^2.1.3",
+    "nconf": "0.8.4"
   }
 }
diff --git a/appengine/parse-server/server.js b/appengine/parse-server/server.js
index ec3fa9366e..db872e560d 100644
--- a/appengine/parse-server/server.js
+++ b/appengine/parse-server/server.js
@@ -16,17 +16,20 @@
 
 // [START app]
 var express = require('express');
+var nconf = require('nconf');
 var ParseServer = require('parse-server').ParseServer;
 
+nconf.argv().env().file({ file: 'config.json' });
+
 var app = express();
 
 var parseServer = new ParseServer({
-  databaseURI: process.env.DATABASE_URI || 'mongodb://localhost:27017/dev',
-  cloud: process.env.CLOUD_PATH || __dirname + '/cloud/main.js',
-  appId: process.env.APP_ID,
-  masterKey: process.env.MASTER_KEY,
-  fileKey: process.env.FILE_KEY,
-  serverURL: process.env.SERVER_URL
+  databaseURI: nconf.get('DATABASE_URI') || 'mongodb://localhost:27017/dev',
+  cloud: nconf.get('CLOUD_PATH') || __dirname + '/cloud/main.js',
+  appId: nconf.get('APP_ID'),
+  masterKey: nconf.get('MASTER_KEY'),
+  fileKey: nconf.get('FILE_KEY'),
+  serverURL: nconf.get('SERVER_URL')
 });
 
 // Mount the Parse API server middleware to /parse