diff --git a/update.sh b/update.sh
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index 0000000..64c5bab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/update.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+### update script for ab-nginx container and utility scripts
+# version 1.0.0
+# script by Asif Bacchus
+###
+
+### functions
+errMsg() {
+  printf "\n%s%s%s\n\n" "$err" "$1" "$norm"
+  exit 1
+}
+
+errNotify() {
+  printf "%s[ERROR]%s\n" "$err" "$norm"
+}
+
+okMsg() {
+  printf "%s%s%s\n\n" "$ok" "$1" "$norm"
+}
+
+okNotify() {
+  printf "%s[OK]%s\n" "$ok" "$norm"
+}
+
+### text formatting presets
+if command -v tput >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  err=$(tput bold)$(tput setaf 1)
+  info=$(tput bold)$(tput setaf 6)
+  norm=$(tput sgr0)
+  ok=$(tput sgr0)$(tput setaf 2)
+  warn=$(tput bold)$(tput setaf 3)
+else
+  err=''
+  info=''
+  norm=''
+  ok=''
+  warn=''
+fi
+
+### pre-requisites
+
+# check if wget is installed
+if ! command -v wget >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  errMsg "Sorry, this script requires that 'wget' is installed in order to download updates. Exiting."
+fi
+
+# check if docker is installed
+if ! command -v docker >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  errMsg "Sorry, it appears that docker is not installed on this machine! Exiting."
+fi
+
+# is user root or in the docker group?
+if [ ! "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ]; then
+  if ! id -Gn | grep docker >/dev/null; then
+    errMsg "You must either be root or in the 'docker' group to pull container updates."
+  fi
+fi
+
+# zero counters
+updatesAvailable=0
+downloadFailed=0
+downloadSuccess=0
+updateFailed=0
+updateSuccess=0
+
+# reference constants
+dockerNamespace='nginx'
+containerName='ab-nginx'
+containerUpdatePath="docker.asifbacchus.app/$dockerNamespace/$containerName:latest"
+server="https://updates.asifbacchus.app/docker/$dockerNamespace/$containerName/"
+checksumFilename='checksums.sha256'
+
+# files to update
+localScriptName="$(basename "$0")"
+repoScriptName='update.sh'
+updateFiles=""
+
+### update container
+printf "%s\n*** Updating %s container and service scripts ***\n\n%s" "$info" "$containerName" "$norm"
+
+printf "Updating container:\n"
+if ! docker pull "$containerUpdatePath"; then
+  errMsg "There was an error updating the container. Try again later."
+else
+  okMsg "Container updated!"
+fi
+
+### update scripts
+printf "%sUpdating %s service scripts%s\n" "$info" "$containerName" "$norm"
+
+## download latest checksums
+printf "Getting latest checksums... "
+if ! wget --quiet --tries=3 --timeout=10 -N "${server}${checksumFilename}"; then
+  errNotify
+  errMsg "Unable to download checksums. Try again later."
+else
+  okNotify
+fi
+
+## check for updates to this script
+printf "Checking for updates to this script... "
+repoScriptChecksum=$(grep "$repoScriptName" "$checksumFilename" | grep -o '^\S*')
+localScriptChecksum=$(sha256sum "$localScriptName" | grep -o '^\S*')
+if [ "$localScriptChecksum" = "$repoScriptChecksum" ]; then
+  printf "[NONE]\n"
+else
+  printf "[AVAILABLE]\n"
+  printf "Getting updated script... "
+  # download updated script
+  if ! wget --quiet --tries=3 --timeout=10 -O "update.sh.tmp" "${server}${repoScriptName}"; then
+    errNotify
+    # delete failed download as necessary
+    rm -f ./update.sh.tmp 2>/dev/null
+    errMsg "Unable to download script update. Try again later."
+  else
+    # verify download
+    dlScriptChecksum=$(sha256sum "update.sh.tmp" | grep -o '^\S*')
+    if ! [ "$dlScriptChecksum" = "$repoScriptChecksum" ]; then
+      printf "[ERROR]\n"
+      # delete corrupt download as necessary
+      rm -f ./update.sh.tmp 2>/dev/null
+      errMsg "Checksum mismatch! Try again later."
+    else
+      okNotify
+      printf "\n%s*** This script has been updated. Please re-run it to load the updated version of this file. ***%s\n\n" "$warn" "$norm"
+      # overwrite this script with updated script
+      mv -f ./update.sh.tmp "$localScriptName"
+      exit 0
+    fi
+  fi
+fi
+
+## update files
+set -- dummy $updateFiles
+shift
+for file; do
+  updateTarget="$file"
+  printf "\nChecking '%s' for updates... " "$updateTarget"
+  repoFile=$(grep "$updateTarget" "$checksumFilename" | grep -o '^\S*')
+  if [ -f "$file" ]; then
+    localFile=$(sha256sum "$updateTarget" | grep -o '^\S*')
+  else
+    localFile=0
+  fi
+
+  if ! [ "$localFile" = "$repoFile" ]; then
+    printf "[AVAILABLE]\n"
+    updatesAvailable=$((updatesAvailable + 1))
+    # download update
+    printf "Downloading updated '%s'... " "$updateTarget"
+    # specify a name here so that wget overwrites the file instead of just appending a number
+    if ! wget --quiet --tries=3 --timeout=10 -O "$updateTarget" "${server}${updateTarget}"; then
+      errNotify
+      downloadFailed=$((downloadFailed + 1))
+    else
+      okNotify
+      downloadSuccess=$((downloadSuccess + 1))
+      # verify download
+      printf "Verifying '%s'... " "$updateTarget"
+      localFile=$(sha256sum "$updateTarget" | grep -o '^\S*')
+      if ! [ "$localFile" = "$repoFile" ]; then
+        errNotify
+        updateFailed=$((updateFailed + 1))
+      else
+        okNotify
+        updateSuccess=$((updateSuccess + 1))
+      fi
+    fi
+  else
+    printf "[NONE]\n"
+  fi
+done
+
+### display results
+printf "\n%sResults:%s\n" "$info" "$norm"
+printf "\tUpdates: %s available\n" "$updatesAvailable"
+printf "\tDownloads: %s%s successful%s, %s%s failed%s\n" "$ok" "$downloadSuccess" "$norm" "$err" "$downloadFailed" "$norm"
+printf "\tUpdates: %s%s applied%s, %s%s failed%s\n" "$ok" "$updateSuccess" "$norm" "$err" "$updateFailed" "$norm"
+
+exit 0
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