diff -r 05c2b62448b1 -r ef3c8a0e1fee src/server/daemon/configmanager.c
--- a/src/server/daemon/configmanager.c	Sun Nov 27 10:20:10 2022 +0100
+++ b/src/server/daemon/configmanager.c	Sun Nov 27 13:33:30 2022 +0100
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@
     ServerConfiguration *config = load_server_conf(mgr, "config/server.conf");
     
     if(!config) {
-        return -1;
+        log_ereport(LOG_FAILURE, "cfgmgr: cannot load server config file %s", "config/server.conf");
+        return 1;
     }
     
     mgr->cfg = config;
@@ -67,12 +68,14 @@
 int cfgmgr_apply_config(CfgManager *mgr) {
     // stage 2 config loading
     if(!apply_server_conf(mgr)) {
+        log_ereport(LOG_FAILURE, "cfgmgr: stage 2 config loading failed");
         return 1;
     }
     
     // some extra steps required if there is already a configuration loaded
     if(current_config) {
         if(migrate_server_conf(current_config, mgr->cfg)) {
+            log_ereport(LOG_FAILURE, "cfgmgr: config migration failed");
             return 1;
         }