diff --git a/lam/lib/checkEnvironment.inc b/lam/lib/checkEnvironment.inc
index e6b3fb80..35b1bba7 100644
--- a/lam/lib/checkEnvironment.inc
+++ b/lam/lib/checkEnvironment.inc
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ $memLimit = ini_get('memory_limit');
 if (isset($memLimit) && ($memLimit != '') && (substr(strtoupper($memLimit), strlen($memLimit) - 1) == 'M')) {
 	if (intval(substr($memLimit, 0, strlen($memLimit) - 1)) < 128) {
 		$criticalErrors[] = array("ERROR", "Please increase the \"memory_limit\" parameter in your php.ini to at least \"128M\".",
-			"Your current memory limit is $memLimit.");	
+			"Your current memory limit is $memLimit.");
 	}
 }
 // check PCRE regex system
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ if (!extension_loaded('zip')) {
 }
 // check for main config
 $mainConfig = new LAMCfgMain();
-if (!$mainConfig->isConfigFileExisting()) {
+if (!$mainConfig->isConfigFileExisting() && !$mainConfig->installSampleConfig()) {
 	$criticalErrors[] = array("ERROR", "The main config file (config.cfg) does not exist.", "Please see the manual for installation instructions.");
 }
 // stop login if critical errors occured
diff --git a/lam/lib/config.inc b/lam/lib/config.inc
index 43e73b60..88fc2fee 100644
--- a/lam/lib/config.inc
+++ b/lam/lib/config.inc
@@ -2312,6 +2312,16 @@ class LAMCfgMain {
 		return file_exists($this->conffile);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Tries to copy the config file from sample config.
+	 *
+	 * @return boolean copied
+	 */
+	public function installSampleConfig() {
+		$samplePath = dirname(dirname(__FILE__)) . '/config/config.cfg.sample';
+		return file_exists($samplePath) && copy($samplePath, $this->conffile);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Returns the path to the SSL CA certificate file that overrides the system certificates.
 	 *