diff --git a/csaxs_bec/bec_ipython_client/startup/pre_startup.py b/csaxs_bec/bec_ipython_client/startup/pre_startup.py
index 4ba6343..2e69c41 100644
--- a/csaxs_bec/bec_ipython_client/startup/pre_startup.py
+++ b/csaxs_bec/bec_ipython_client/startup/pre_startup.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ is started. It can be used to add additional command line arguments.
 import os
 
 from bec_lib.service_config import ServiceConfig
-
+import yaml
 import csaxs_bec
 
 
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@ def get_config() -> ServiceConfig:
     deployment_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(csaxs_bec.__file__)))
     files = os.listdir(deployment_path)
     if "bec_config.yaml" in files:
-        return ServiceConfig(config_path=os.path.join(deployment_path, "bec_config.yaml"))
+        config_path = os.path.join(deployment_path, "bec_config.yaml")
+        with open(config_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            config = yaml.safe_load(f)
+        config["service_config"]["log_writer"]["base_path"] = os.path.expanduser("~/.bec")
+        return ServiceConfig(config=config)
+        
     else:
         return ServiceConfig(redis={"host": "localhost", "port": 6379})