diff --git a/ansible/roles/get_control/tasks/main.yml b/ansible/roles/get_control/tasks/main.yml
index 898d1662c0b2f2d94f9f263f746269fbca0af508..aeda760aa770c84da2d998d82f3714faf81a5144 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/get_control/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/get_control/tasks/main.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@
     state: directory
   become: true
 
+- name: Create README in configuration directory
+  template:
+    src: configuration_README.md
+    dest: "{{ configuration_directory }}/README.md"
+  become: true
+
 - name: Generate SSH keys for rke
   shell: ssh-keygen -f {{ data_directory }}/ssh/ssh_key -C "oas-control@${hostname}" -q -N ""
   args:
diff --git a/ansible/roles/get_control/templates/configuration_README.md b/ansible/roles/get_control/templates/configuration_README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..452c13040f54bad685ab481a50d7a9b081466f97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ansible/roles/get_control/templates/configuration_README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+This directory contains configuration for the OpenAppStack instance running on
+this machine. For general information, see [https://openappstack.net].
+
+## Helm values
+
+We use [Helm](https://helm.sh) charts to install applications to the Kubernetes
+cluster running on this machine. On top of that, we use
+[helmfile](https://github.com/roboll/helmfile/) to record which Helm charts
+should be installed on the system, and with which settings (called "values").
+
+After changing any of these values, you will need to re-run Helmfile, which
+will make all applications aware of these changes and restart them if necessary.
+To do so, run
+```
+helmfile -e oas -f /var/lib/OpenAppStack/helmfiles/helmfile.d apply
+```
+
+### Cluster values
+
+In `local.yaml`, there are some settings that were generated during the
+OpenAppStack installation process, including essential ones such as this
+machine's external ip address, and the domain name where the applications are
+served.
+
+### Application values
+
+Inside the `apps` directory, you can provide values to configure the Helm charts
+that make up this OpenAppStack instance. These values will override both the
+defaults provided by the chart authors, and the settings the OpenAppStack
+maintainers put in place.
+
+A separate values file has been pre-created per application. Please note that
+these files are referenced specifically by the corresponding OpenAppStack
+helmfile configuration, so renaming them will break the system, and creating new
+ones will not have any effect by itself.
+
+To see what values can be specified for an application, please check the
+documentation of the corresponding Helm chart.