Index: http-transport.scm
==================================================================
--- http-transport.scm
+++ http-transport.scm
@@ -60,33 +60,19 @@
 	  (u8vector->list
 	   (if res res (hostname->ip hostname)))) ".")))
 
 (define (http-transport:run hostn run-id server-id)
   (debug:print 2 "Attempting to start the server ...")
-  (if (not *toppath*)
-      (if (not (setup-for-run))
-	  (begin
-	    (debug:print 0 "ERROR: cannot find megatest.config, cannot start server, exiting")
-	    (exit))))
-  (let* (;; (iface           (if (string=? "-" hostn)
-	 ;;        	      #f ;; (get-host-name) 
-	 ;;        	      hostn))
-	 (db              #f) ;;        (open-db)) ;; we don't want the server to be opening and closing the db unnecesarily
+  (let* ((db              #f) ;;        (open-db)) ;; we don't want the server to be opening and closing the db unnecesarily
 	 (hostname        (get-host-name))
 	 (ipaddrstr       (let ((ipstr (if (string=? "-" hostn)
 					   ;; (string-intersperse (map number->string (u8vector->list (hostname->ip hostname))) ".")
 					   (server:get-best-guess-address hostname)
 					   #f)))
 			    (if ipstr ipstr hostn))) ;; hostname))) 
-	 (start-port    (if (and (args:get-arg "-port")
-				 (string->number (args:get-arg "-port")))
-			    (string->number (args:get-arg "-port"))
-			    (if (and (config-lookup  *configdat* "server" "port")
-				     (string->number (config-lookup  *configdat* "server" "port")))
-				(string->number (config-lookup  *configdat* "server" "port"))
-				(+ 5000 (random 1001)))))
-	 (link-tree-path (config-lookup *configdat* "setup" "linktree")))
+	 (start-port      (open-run-close tasks:server-get-next-port tasks:open-db))
+	 (link-tree-path  (config-lookup *configdat* "setup" "linktree")))
     (set! db *inmemdb*)
     (root-path     (if link-tree-path 
 		       link-tree-path
 		       (current-directory))) ;; WARNING: SECURITY HOLE. FIX ASAP!
     (handle-directory spiffy-directory-listing)

Index: tasks.scm
==================================================================
--- tasks.scm
+++ tasks.scm
@@ -134,10 +134,33 @@
   (sqlite3:execute mdb "DELETE FROM servers WHERE hostname=? AND pid=?;" (get-host-name) (current-process-id)))
 
 (define (tasks:server-set-interface-port mdb server-id interface port)
   (sqlite3:execute mdb "UPDATE servers SET interface=?,port=? WHERE id=?;" interface port server-id))
 
+(define (tasks:server-get-next-port mdb)
+  (let ((res         #f)
+	(port-param  (if (and (args:get-arg "-port")
+			      (string->number (args:get-arg "-port")))
+			 (string->number (args:get-arg "-port"))
+			 #f))
+	(config-port (if (and (config-lookup  *configdat* "server" "port")
+			      (string->number (config-lookup  *configdat* "server" "port")))
+			 (string->number (config-lookup  *configdat* "server" "port"))
+			 #f)))
+    (sqlite3:for-each-row
+     (lambda (port)
+       (set! res (+ port 1))) ;; set to next
+     mdb
+     "SELECT max(port) FROM servers;")
+    (cond
+     ((and port-param res)   (if (> res port-param) res port-param))
+     (port-param             port-param)
+     ((and config-port res)  (if (> res config-port) res config-port))
+     (config-port            config-port)
+     ((and res (> res 8080)) res)
+     (else                   (+ 5000 (random 1001))))))
+
 (define (tasks:server-am-i-the-server? mdb run-id)
   (let* ((all    (tasks:server-get-servers-vying-for-run-id mdb run-id))
 	 (first  (if (null? all)
 		     (begin (debug:print 0 "ERROR: no servers listed, should be at least one by now.") 
 			    (sqlite3:finalize! mdb)