diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ec4351534fdd33422f8d3f83fd5ede550742223c..eb465514edd12f1f2c3aebe661da10303ac28322 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,7 +20,14 @@ docker load -i *tarball*
 kubectl create ns active-mq
 ```
 
-2. Modify _jetty-realm.properties_ in the 'deployment' directory of this repo to use your own custom usernames and passwords.
+2. Modify _jetty-realm.properties_ in the 'deployment' directory of this repo to use your own custom usernames and passwords. **This file MUST be configured with proper values in order to deploy**:
+```
+# Example admin account:
+admin_username: <<<ADMIN PASSWORD GOES HERE>>>, admin
+#
+# Example guest user:
+guest_username: <<<GUEST PASSWORD GOES HERE>>>, guest
+```
 
 3. Create a secret using your _jetty-realm.properties_ file:
 ```
diff --git a/deployment/activemq-deployment.yaml b/deployment/activemq-deployment.yaml
index 21850fa88db7776932ac23e12c61a075fa32f8c3..004b75c1f425e9c3ddf2d1d7e1b917683a8eddc0 100644
--- a/deployment/activemq-deployment.yaml
+++ b/deployment/activemq-deployment.yaml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ spec:
               cpu: 400m
           volumeMounts:
           - name: active-creds
-            mountPath: /apache-activemq-5.15.13/conf/jetty-realm.properties
+            mountPath: /apache-activemq-5.15.13/conf/jetty-realm.properties # jetty-realm.properties MUST be configured with proper values first in order to deploy
             subPath: jetty-realm.properties
       volumes:
       - name: active-creds
diff --git a/deployment/jetty-realm.properties b/deployment/jetty-realm.properties
index 2b14d59247a008abf14ceded139f801fb4b2e6bc..31f84b92ee1897820fc6ccdd77f56b9a5ad7f412 100644
--- a/deployment/jetty-realm.properties
+++ b/deployment/jetty-realm.properties
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+# The following configuration file defines the appropriate users within ActiveMQ
 # username: password, role
-admin_username: admin_pass, admin
-guest_user: guest_pass, guest
\ No newline at end of file
+#
+# Example admin account:
+admin_username: <<<ADMIN PASSWORD GOES HERE>>>, admin
+#
+# Example guest user:
+guest_username: <<<GUEST PASSWORD GOES HERE>>>, guest
\ No newline at end of file