diff --git a/packages/taler-harness/src/index.ts b/packages/taler-harness/src/index.ts
index a172bc9da..841e17dc7 100644
--- a/packages/taler-harness/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/taler-harness/src/index.ts
@@ -170,6 +170,39 @@ const sandcastleCli = testingCli.subcommand("sandcastleArgs", "sandcastle", {
   help: "Subcommands for handling GNU Taler sandcastle deployments.",
 });
 
+const configCli = testingCli.subcommand("configArgs", "config", {
+  help: "Subcommands for handling the Taler configuration.",
+});
+
+configCli.subcommand("show", "show").action(async (args) => {
+  const config = Configuration.load();
+  const cfgStr = config.stringify({
+    diagnostics: true,
+  });
+  console.log(cfgStr);
+});
+
+configCli
+  .subcommand("get", "get")
+  .requiredArgument("section", clk.STRING)
+  .requiredArgument("option", clk.STRING)
+  .flag("file", ["-f"])
+  .action(async (args) => {
+    const config = Configuration.load();
+    let res;
+    if (args.get.file) {
+      res = config.getString(args.get.section, args.get.option);
+    } else {
+      res = config.getPath(args.get.section, args.get.option);
+    }
+    if (res.isDefined()) {
+      console.log(res.value);
+    } else {
+      console.warn("not found");
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+  });
+
 const deploymentCli = testingCli.subcommand("deploymentArgs", "deployment", {
   help: "Subcommands for handling GNU Taler deployments.",
 });
diff --git a/packages/taler-util/src/talerconfig.ts b/packages/taler-util/src/talerconfig.ts
index 948ccb9c4..d86c58678 100644
--- a/packages/taler-util/src/talerconfig.ts
+++ b/packages/taler-util/src/talerconfig.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
  This file is part of GNU Taler
- (C) 2020 Taler Systems S.A.
+ (C) 2020-2023 Taler Systems S.A.
 
  GNU Taler is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
  terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
@@ -40,12 +40,22 @@ export class ConfigError extends Error {
 }
 
 enum EntryOrigin {
-  // From a default file
-  Default = 1,
-  // Loaded from file or string
-  Loaded = 2,
-  // Changed after loading
-  Changed = 3,
+  /**
+   * From a default file.
+   */
+  DefaultFile = 1,
+  /**
+   * From a system/installation specific default value.
+   */
+  DefaultSystem = 2,
+  /**
+   * Loaded from file or string
+   */
+  Loaded = 3,
+  /**
+   * Changed after loading
+   */
+  Changed = 4,
 }
 
 interface Entry {
@@ -169,12 +179,12 @@ export function pathsub(
 
           const r = lookup(inner, depth + 1);
           if (r !== undefined) {
-            s = s.substr(0, start) + r + s.substr(p + 1);
+            s = s.substring(0, start) + r + s.substring(p + 1);
             l = start + r.length;
             continue;
           } else if (defaultValue !== undefined) {
             const resolvedDefault = pathsub(defaultValue, lookup, depth + 1);
-            s = s.substr(0, start) + resolvedDefault + s.substr(p + 1);
+            s = s.substring(0, start) + resolvedDefault + s.substring(p + 1);
             l = start + resolvedDefault.length;
             continue;
           }
@@ -186,7 +196,7 @@ export function pathsub(
         if (m && m[0]) {
           const r = lookup(m[0], depth + 1);
           if (r !== undefined) {
-            s = s.substr(0, l) + r + s.substr(l + 1 + m[0].length);
+            s = s.substring(0, l) + r + s.substring(l + 1 + m[0].length);
             l = l + r.length;
             continue;
           }
@@ -492,7 +502,9 @@ export class Configuration {
           value: val,
           sourceFile: opts.filename ?? "<unknown>",
           sourceLine: lineNo,
-          origin: isDefaultSource ? EntryOrigin.Default : EntryOrigin.Loaded,
+          origin: isDefaultSource
+            ? EntryOrigin.DefaultFile
+            : EntryOrigin.Loaded,
         };
         continue;
       }
@@ -535,6 +547,23 @@ export class Configuration {
     };
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Set a string value to a value from default locations.
+   */
+  private setStringSystemDefault(
+    section: string,
+    option: string,
+    value: string,
+  ): void {
+    const sec = this.provideSection(section);
+    sec.entries[option.toUpperCase()] = {
+      value,
+      sourceLine: 0,
+      sourceFile: "<unknown>",
+      origin: EntryOrigin.DefaultSystem,
+    };
+  }
+
   /**
    * Get upper-cased section names.
    */
@@ -595,7 +624,7 @@ export class Configuration {
   lookupVariable(x: string, depth: number = 0): string | undefined {
     // We loop up options in PATHS in upper case, as option names
     // are case insensitive
-    const val = this.findEntry("PATHS", x)?.value;
+    let val = this.findEntry("PATHS", x)?.value;
     if (val !== undefined) {
       return pathsub(val, (v, d) => this.lookupVariable(v, d), depth);
     }
@@ -623,21 +652,54 @@ export class Configuration {
   }
 
   private loadDefaults(): void {
-    let bc = process.env["TALER_BASE_CONFIG"];
-    if (!bc) {
+    let baseConfigDir = process.env["TALER_BASE_CONFIG"];
+    if (!baseConfigDir) {
       /* Try to locate the configuration based on the location
        * of the taler-config binary. */
       const path = which("taler-config");
       if (path) {
-        bc = nodejs_fs.realpathSync(
+        baseConfigDir = nodejs_fs.realpathSync(
           nodejs_path.dirname(path) + "/../share/taler/config.d",
         );
       }
     }
-    if (!bc) {
-      bc = "/usr/share/taler/config.d";
+    if (!baseConfigDir) {
+      baseConfigDir = "/usr/share/taler/config.d";
     }
-    this.loadDefaultsFromDir(bc);
+
+    let installPrefix = process.env["TALER_PREFIX"];
+    if (!installPrefix) {
+      /* Try to locate install path based on the location
+       * of the taler-config binary. */
+      const path = which("taler-config");
+      if (path) {
+        installPrefix = nodejs_fs.realpathSync(
+          nodejs_path.dirname(path) + "/..",
+        );
+      }
+    }
+    if (!installPrefix) {
+      installPrefix = "/usr";
+    }
+
+    this.setStringSystemDefault(
+      "PATHS",
+      "LIBEXECDIR",
+      `${installPrefix}/taler/libexec/`,
+    );
+    this.setStringSystemDefault(
+      "PATHS",
+      "DOCDIR",
+      `${installPrefix}/share/doc/taler/`,
+    );
+    this.setStringSystemDefault("PATHS", "ICONDIR", `${installPrefix}/share/icons/`);
+    this.setStringSystemDefault("PATHS", "LOCALEDIR", `${installPrefix}/share/locale/`);
+    this.setStringSystemDefault("PATHS", "PREFIX", `${installPrefix}/`);
+    this.setStringSystemDefault("PATHS", "BINDIR", `${installPrefix}/bin`);
+    this.setStringSystemDefault("PATHS", "LIBDIR", `${installPrefix}/lib/taler/`);
+    this.setStringSystemDefault("PATHS", "DATADIR", `${installPrefix}/share/taler/`);
+
+    this.loadDefaultsFromDir(baseConfigDir);
   }
 
   getDefaultConfigFilename(): string | undefined {
@@ -698,7 +760,11 @@ export class Configuration {
       let headerWritten = false;
       for (const optionName of Object.keys(sec.entries)) {
         const entry = this.sectionMap[sectionName].entries[optionName];
-        if (opts.excludeDefaults && entry.origin === EntryOrigin.Default) {
+        if (
+          opts.excludeDefaults &&
+          (entry.origin === EntryOrigin.DefaultSystem ||
+            entry.origin === EntryOrigin.DefaultFile)
+        ) {
           continue;
         }
         if (!headerWritten) {
@@ -711,7 +777,16 @@ export class Configuration {
         }
         if (entry !== undefined) {
           if (opts.diagnostics) {
-            s += `# ${entry.sourceFile}:${entry.sourceLine}\n`;
+            switch (entry.origin) {
+              case EntryOrigin.DefaultFile:
+              case EntryOrigin.Changed:
+              case EntryOrigin.Loaded:
+                s += `# ${entry.sourceFile}:${entry.sourceLine}\n`;
+                break;
+              case EntryOrigin.DefaultSystem:
+                s += `# (system/installation default)\n`;
+                break;
+            }
           }
           s += `${optionName} = ${entry.value}\n`;
         }