diff --git a/docs/modules/xosconfig.md b/docs/modules/xosconfig.md
index 094d93f..5cf2d9d 100644
--- a/docs/modules/xosconfig.md
+++ b/docs/modules/xosconfig.md
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 Config.init("/path/to/my/config.yaml")
 ```
 
+### Configuration defaults
+Note that defaults are defined for some of the configuration items. Defaults are defined in `lib/xos-config/xosconfig/default.py`.
+
 ### Reading data from the configuration file
 
 To access static information defined in the `config.yaml` file you can use this api:
diff --git a/lib/xos-config/.gitignore b/lib/xos-config/.gitignore
index 161b154..1a050a8 100644
--- a/lib/xos-config/.gitignore
+++ b/lib/xos-config/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 .noseids
-build
\ No newline at end of file
+build
+XosConfig.egg-info
+dist
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/xos-config/xosconfig/config-schema.yaml b/lib/xos-config/xosconfig/config-schema.yaml
index 5d30b86..b79905e 100644
--- a/lib/xos-config/xosconfig/config-schema.yaml
+++ b/lib/xos-config/xosconfig/config-schema.yaml
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
   logging:
     type: map
     map:
+      logstash_hostport:
+        type: str
       level:
         type: str
       channels:
diff --git a/lib/xos-config/xosconfig/default.py b/lib/xos-config/xosconfig/default.py
index eaea40a..02abaa6 100644
--- a/lib/xos-config/xosconfig/default.py
+++ b/lib/xos-config/xosconfig/default.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 DEFAULT_VALUES = {
     'xos_dir': '/opt/xos',
     'logging': {
+        'file': '/var/log/xos.log',
         'level': 'info',
-        'channels': ['file', 'console']
+        'channels': ['file', 'console'],
+        'logstash_hostport': 'cordloghost:5617'
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/xos/xos/logger.py b/xos/xos/logger.py
index 1f57a4a..f891d52 100644
--- a/xos/xos/logger.py
+++ b/xos/xos/logger.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 import logging
 import logging.handlers
 import logstash
-from xos.config import Config
+from xosconfig import Config
 
 CRITICAL = logging.CRITICAL
 ERROR = logging.ERROR
@@ -45,32 +45,23 @@
 
     def __init__(self, logfile=None, loggername=None, level=logging.INFO):
 
-        # Logstash config - try as specified explicitly in config
+        # Logstash config
         try:
-            logstash_host, logstash_port = Config().observer_logstash_hostport.split(':')
+            logstash_host, logstash_port = Config.get("logging.logstash_hostport").split(':')
             logstash_handler = logstash.LogstashHandler(
                 logstash_host, int(logstash_port), version=1)
             # always log at DEBUG level to logstash
             logstash_handler.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
         except:
+            # if connection fails (eg: logstash is not there) just move on
             logstash_handler = None
 
-        # try using the default cordloghost:5617
-        if not logstash_handler:
-            try:
-                logstash_handler = logstash.LogstashHandler(
-                    "cordloghost", 5617, version=1)
-                # always log at DEBUG level to logstash
-                logstash_handler.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
-            except:
-                logstash_handler = None
-
         # default is to locate loggername from the logfile if avail.
         if not logfile:
-            logfile = getattr(Config(), "log_file", "/var/log/xos.log")
+            logfile = Config.get("logging.file")
 
         # allow config-file override of console/logfile level
-        level_str = getattr(Config(), "log_level", None)
+        level_str = Config.get("logging.level")
         if level_str:
             level_str = level_str.lower()
 
@@ -158,7 +149,7 @@
 
     def extract_context(self, cur):
         try:
-            observer_name = Config().observer_name
+            observer_name = Config.get("name")
             cur['synchronizer_name'] = observer_name
         except:
             pass