diff --git a/prepare-vms/Dockerfile b/prepare-vms/Dockerfile
index 949cc0e5..21c0475f 100644
--- a/prepare-vms/Dockerfile
+++ b/prepare-vms/Dockerfile
@@ -26,7 +26,5 @@ RUN pip install \
 
 WORKDIR $HOME
 RUN echo "alias ll='ls -lahF'" >> /root/.bashrc
-RUN echo "export PATH=$PATH:/root/bin" >> /root/.bashrc
-RUN mkdir -p /root/bin
-RUN ln -s /root/prepare-vms/scripts/trainer-cli /root/bin/trainer-cli
+ENTRYPOINT ["/root/prepare-vms/scripts/trainer-cli"]
 
diff --git a/prepare-vms/README.md b/prepare-vms/README.md
index 1b1bc2e8..c0bb41c9 100644
--- a/prepare-vms/README.md
+++ b/prepare-vms/README.md
@@ -24,10 +24,9 @@ Required environment variables:
 
 If you have more than one workshop:
 
-    $ cp settings/settings.yaml settings/YOUR_WORKSHOP_NAME-settings.yaml
-    $ ln -s settings/YOUR_WORKSHOP_NAME-settings.yaml settings.yaml
+    $ cp settings/default.yaml settings/YOUR_WORKSHOP_NAME-settings.yaml
 
-Update the symlinked `settings.yaml` as needed. This is the file that will be used to generate cards.
+Then pass `settings/YOUR_WORKSHOP_NAME-settings.yaml` as an argument to `deploy`, `cards`, etc.
 
 ## Usage
 
@@ -41,10 +40,10 @@ Summary of steps to launch a batch of instances for a workshop:
 * `./trainer start N` (where `N` is the number of AWS instances to create)
 * `./trainer list` to view the list of tags
 * `./trainer list TAG` to view the instances with a given `TAG`
-* `./trainer deploy TAG` to run `scripts/postprep.rc` via parallel-ssh
+* `./trainer deploy TAG settings/somefile.yaml` to run `scripts/postprep.rc` via parallel-ssh
 * `./trainer pull-images TAG` to pre-pull a bunch of Docker images to the instances
 * `./trainer test TAG`
-* `./trainer cards TAG` to generate a PDF and an HTML file you can print and cut to hand out cards with connection information to attendees
+* `./trainer cards TAG settings/somefile.yaml` to generate a PDF and an HTML file you can print and cut to hand out cards with connection information to attendees
 
 `./trainer` will run locally if all its dependencies are fulfilled; otherwise it will run in a Docker container.
 
@@ -92,7 +91,7 @@ If you create new VMs, the symlinked file will be overwritten.
 
 Instances can be deployed manually using the `deploy` command:
 
-    $ ./trainer deploy TAG
+    $ ./trainer deploy TAG settings/somefile.yaml
 
 The `postprep.rc` file will be copied via parallel-ssh to all of the VMs and executed.
 
@@ -102,7 +101,7 @@ The `postprep.rc` file will be copied via parallel-ssh to all of the VMs and exe
 
 ### Generate cards
 
-    $ ./trainer cards TAG
+    $ ./trainer cards TAG settings/somefile.yaml
 
 ### List tags
 
diff --git a/prepare-vms/scripts/trainer-cli b/prepare-vms/scripts/trainer-cli
index f9c953e3..1583f49f 100755
--- a/prepare-vms/scripts/trainer-cli
+++ b/prepare-vms/scripts/trainer-cli
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ deploy_tag(){
     echo "Finished deploying $TAG."
     echo "You may want to run one of the following commands:"
     echo "./trainer pull-images $TAG"
-    echo "./trainer cards $TAG settings.yaml"
+    echo "./trainer cards $TAG <settings/somefile.yaml>"
 }
 
 link_tag() {
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ pull_tag(){
     echo "Finished pulling images for $TAG"
 
     echo "You may now want to run:"
-    echo "./trainer cards $TAG settings.yaml"
+    echo "./trainer cards $TAG <settings/somefile.yaml>"
 }
 
 wait_until_tag_is_running() {
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ test_tag(){
     ip=$(shuf -n 1 $ips_file)
     test_vm $ip
     echo "Tests complete. You may want to run one of the following commands:"
-    echo "./trainer cards $TAG settings.yaml"
+    echo "./trainer cards $TAG <settings/somefile.yaml>"
 }
 
 test_vm() {
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ run_cli() {
         tag_is_reachable $TAG
         echo "You may be interested in running one of the following commands:"
         echo "./trainer ips $TAG"
-        echo "./trainer deploy $TAG settings.yaml"
+        echo "./trainer deploy $TAG <settings/somefile.yaml>"
         ;;
     opensg)
         aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress \
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ run_cli() {
         echo "$IPS" > tags/$TAG/ips.txt
         link_tag $TAG
         echo "To deploy or kill these instances, run one of the following:"
-        echo "./trainer deploy $TAG settings.yaml"
+        echo "./trainer deploy $TAG <settings/somefile.yaml>"
         echo "./trainer list $TAG"
         ;;
     status)
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ run_cli() {
         ;;
     *)
         echo "
-./trainer COMMAND [n-instances|tag|settings_file]
+./trainer <command> [n-instances|tag] [settings/file.yaml]
 
 Core commands:
   start        n              Start n instances