diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index 9737d1c..39febe3 100755
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ unset phpAddr
 unset phpPort
 unset phpSock
 unset dhsuccess
+unset copysuccess
 
 # set variables
 regexIP4="(([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.){3}([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])"
@@ -657,6 +658,14 @@ echo "copying files to dedicated directory for customization:"
 echo -e "${warn}${configPath}${norm}\n"
 rm -rf "${configPath}"
 cp -R ./etc "${configPath}"
+copysuccess=$?
+# check that copy was performed, else exit
+if [ "${copysuccess}" -ne 0 ] || [ ! -d "${configPath}" ]; then
+    echo -e "\n${err}There was a problem creating the configuration directory.${norm}"
+    echo "Is there a reason ROOT cannot write to this script's directory?"
+    echo -e "${err}No changes made. Exiting.${norm}"
+    exit 100
+fi
 
 # process server_names snippet
 echo -e "updating ${warn}${configPath}/${file_servernames}${norm}"