diff --git a/deployment/remote_env.sh b/deployment/remote_env.sh
index 294a630..540cacd 100755
--- a/deployment/remote_env.sh
+++ b/deployment/remote_env.sh
@@ -40,57 +40,60 @@ fi
 
 source "$REMOTE_DEFINITION"
 
-# ensure our projects are provisioned according to DEPLOYMENT_STRING
-for PROJECT_CHAIN in ${DEPLOYMENT_STRING//,/ }; do
-    NO_PARENS="${PROJECT_CHAIN:1:${#PROJECT_CHAIN}-2}"
-    PROJECT_PREFIX=$(echo "$NO_PARENS" | cut -d'|' -f1)
-    BITCOIN_CHAIN=$(echo "$NO_PARENS" | cut -d'|' -f2)
-    PROJECT_NAME="$PROJECT_PREFIX-$BITCOIN_CHAIN"
+# let's provision the projects if specified in the remote.conf file.
+# we assume projects are created EXTERNALLY to sovereign-stack when DEPLOYMENT_STRING is null.
+if [ -n "$DEPLOYMENT_STRING" ]; then
+    # ensure our projects are provisioned according to DEPLOYMENT_STRING
+    for PROJECT_CHAIN in ${DEPLOYMENT_STRING//,/ }; do
+        NO_PARENS="${PROJECT_CHAIN:1:${#PROJECT_CHAIN}-2}"
+        PROJECT_PREFIX=$(echo "$NO_PARENS" | cut -d'|' -f1)
+        BITCOIN_CHAIN=$(echo "$NO_PARENS" | cut -d'|' -f2)
+        PROJECT_NAME="$PROJECT_PREFIX-$BITCOIN_CHAIN"
 
-    # create the lxc project as specified by PROJECT_NAME
-    if ! lxc project list | grep -q "$PROJECT_NAME"; then
-        lxc project create "$PROJECT_NAME"
-        lxc project set "$PROJECT_NAME" features.networks=true features.images=false features.storage.volumes=true
-        lxc project switch "$PROJECT_NAME"
-    fi
+        # create the lxc project as specified by PROJECT_NAME
+        if ! lxc project list | grep -q "$PROJECT_NAME"; then
+            lxc project create "$PROJECT_NAME"
+            lxc project set "$PROJECT_NAME" features.networks=true features.images=false features.storage.volumes=true
+            lxc project switch "$PROJECT_NAME"
+        fi
+    done
+fi
 
-    # default values are already at regtest mode.
-    if [ "$BITCOIN_CHAIN" = testnet ]; then
+# default values are already at regtest mode.
+if [ "$BITCOIN_CHAIN" = testnet ]; then
 
-        WWW_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
-        WWW_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
-        WWW_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=50
+    WWW_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
+    WWW_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
+    WWW_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=50
 
-        BTCPAYSERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
-        BTCPAYSERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
-        BTCPAYSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=100
+    BTCPAYSERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
+    BTCPAYSERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
+    BTCPAYSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=100
 
-        LNPLAY_SERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=20
-        LNPLAY_SERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=20
-        LNPLAY_SSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=20
+    LNPLAY_SERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=20
+    LNPLAY_SERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=20
+    LNPLAY_SSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=20
 
-    elif [ "$BITCOIN_CHAIN" = mainnet ]; then
-        
-        WWW_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=40
-        WWW_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=40
-        WWW_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=1000
+elif [ "$BITCOIN_CHAIN" = mainnet ]; then
+    
+    WWW_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=40
+    WWW_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=40
+    WWW_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=1000
 
-        BTCPAYSERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
-        BTCPAYSERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
-        BTCPAYSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=500
+    BTCPAYSERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
+    BTCPAYSERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=30
+    BTCPAYSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=500
 
-        LNPLAY_SERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=20
-        LNPLAY_SERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=20
-        LNPLAY_SSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=400
+    LNPLAY_SERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB=20
+    LNPLAY_SERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB=20
+    LNPLAY_SSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB=400
 
-    fi
+fi
 
-    export WWW_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB="$WWW_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB"
-    export WWW_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB="$WWW_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB"
-    export WWW_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB="$WWW_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB"
+export WWW_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB="$WWW_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB"
+export WWW_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB="$WWW_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB"
+export WWW_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB="$WWW_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB"
 
-    export BTCPAYSERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB="$BTCPAYSERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB"
-    export BTCPAYSERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB="$BTCPAYSERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB"
-    export BTCPAYSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB="$BTCPAYSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB"
-
-done
\ No newline at end of file
+export BTCPAYSERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB="$BTCPAYSERVER_SSDATA_DISK_SIZE_GB"
+export BTCPAYSERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB="$BTCPAYSERVER_BACKUP_DISK_SIZE_GB"
+export BTCPAYSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB="$BTCPAYSERVER_DOCKER_DISK_SIZE_GB"
diff --git a/deployment/up.sh b/deployment/up.sh
index 180baaf..2911fd3 100755
--- a/deployment/up.sh
+++ b/deployment/up.sh
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ fi
 export REMOTE_DEFINITION="$REMOTE_DEFINITION"
 source "$REMOTE_DEFINITION"
 export LXD_REMOTE_PASSWORD="$LXD_REMOTE_PASSWORD"
-export DEPLOYMENT_STRING="$DEPLOYMENT_STRING"
+
 
 # this is our password generation mechanism. Relying on GPG for secure password generation
 function new_pass {