diff --git a/start_server.sh b/start_server.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c66fe73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/start_server.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+echo "$@"
+SCRIPTDIR=$(readlink -f "$(dirname "$0")")
+echo "Script directory: $SCRIPTDIR"
+pushd "${SCRIPTDIR}" || exit
+echo "now in scriptdir"
+if [ ! -e ".venv" ]
+then
+	python3 -m venv .venv
+fi
+
+source .venv/bin/activate
+pip3 install -r requirements.txt &> /dev/null
+python3 "$SCRIPTDIR"/server.py &
+# echo "Server PID: $!"
+echo $! > pid
+popd || exit 0
\ No newline at end of file