diff --git a/contrib/fpm-createPackages.sh b/contrib/fpm-createPackages.sh
index 6c0e603..f4175b1 100755
--- a/contrib/fpm-createPackages.sh
+++ b/contrib/fpm-createPackages.sh
@@ -20,8 +20,7 @@ URI="https://github.com/BIAndrews/sshfail2kml"
 LIC="GPLv3"
 PROV="sshfail2kml"
 EMAIL="bryanandrews@gmail.com"
-VER="#VER#"
-RELEASE="#BUILD#"
+. version.sh
 
 install -d $DIR/var/lib/sshfail2kml $DIR/etc/cron.d $DIR/usr/bin
 cp -f ../sshfail2kml $DIR/usr/bin
diff --git a/contrib/version.sh b/contrib/version.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..25aea62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# example, external file to work better with CI/CD
+VER="1.99"
+RELEASE="100"