diff --git a/whm/gniza-whm/remotes.cgi b/whm/gniza-whm/remotes.cgi
index 6722ad6..c083a79 100644
--- a/whm/gniza-whm/remotes.cgi
+++ b/whm/gniza-whm/remotes.cgi
@@ -258,6 +258,9 @@ sub handle_add {
         }
 
         if (!@errors) {
+            # Ensure main config exists (gniza backup requires it)
+            _ensure_main_config();
+
             # Copy example template then write values
             my $dest = GnizaWHM::UI::remote_conf_path($name);
             my $example = GnizaWHM::UI::remote_example_path();
@@ -792,3 +795,36 @@ sub _uri_escape {
     $str =~ s/([^A-Za-z0-9._~-])/sprintf("%%%02X", ord($1))/ge;
     return $str;
 }
+
+sub _ensure_main_config {
+    my $config_file = '/etc/gniza/gniza.conf';
+    return if -f $config_file;
+
+    # Create dirs
+    for my $dir ('/etc/gniza', '/etc/gniza/remotes.d', '/etc/gniza/schedules.d', '/var/log/gniza') {
+        mkdir $dir unless -d $dir;
+    }
+
+    # Copy example or write defaults
+    my $example = '/usr/local/gniza/etc/gniza.conf.example';
+    if (-f $example) {
+        File::Copy::copy($example, $config_file);
+    } else {
+        if (open my $fh, '>', $config_file) {
+            print $fh qq{# gniza configuration — auto-created by WHM plugin\n};
+            print $fh qq{TEMP_DIR="/usr/local/gniza/workdir"\n};
+            print $fh qq{INCLUDE_ACCOUNTS=""\n};
+            print $fh qq{EXCLUDE_ACCOUNTS="nobody"\n};
+            print $fh qq{LOG_DIR="/var/log/gniza"\n};
+            print $fh qq{LOG_LEVEL="info"\n};
+            print $fh qq{LOG_RETAIN=90\n};
+            print $fh qq{NOTIFY_EMAIL=""\n};
+            print $fh qq{NOTIFY_ON="failure"\n};
+            print $fh qq{LOCK_FILE="/var/run/gniza.lock"\n};
+            print $fh qq{SSH_TIMEOUT=30\n};
+            print $fh qq{SSH_RETRIES=3\n};
+            print $fh qq{RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS=""\n};
+            close $fh;
+        }
+    }
+}