diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7a5cb9ce6f82e93229aee2ed5809364a83d28cba..079626ee603626e844061408a7536c1ec7f8ae15 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -28,21 +28,21 @@ ssh-add ~/path/to/private/key
 7. `sudo ceph-salt update --reboot` to update all nodes; reboot the admin node with `sudo shutdown -r now`
 8. log back in to the admin node (same command as step 1)
 9. `sudo ceph-salt apply`
-10. access the web interface (in the terraform outputs as `web_ip_address`)
+10. access the web interface (in the terraform outputs with `terraform output web_ip_address`)
 
 # Variables
 
 | Variable             | Type         | Required | Default              | Description                                                     |
 | :---                 | :---         | :---     | :---                 | :---                                                            |
 | `user_name`          | string       | yes      |                      | OpenStack username                                              |
-| `user_domain_name`   | string       | no       | `uab`                | The login domain to use for the user                            |
+| `user_domain_name`   | string       | yes      |                      | The login domain to use for the user                            |
 | `appcred_id`         | string       | yes      |                      | Application credential ID. Get one from the openstack dashboard |
 | `appcred_name`       | string       | yes      |                      | Name of the application credential                              |
 | `appcred_secret`     | string       | yes      |                      | Application credential secret                                   |
 | `ssh_keypair`        | string       | yes      |                      | ssh keypair name to use for authentication                      |
 | `base_image_name`    | string       | no       | `sles-15-sp2-x86_64` | Base image to use for all instances                             |
 | `osd_node_count`     | number       | no       | 3                    | Amount of OSD node(s) to provision                              |
-| `public_network_dns` | list(string) | no       | \["138.26.134.2"\]   | DNS to use for hosts                                            |
+| `public_network_dns` | list(string) | yes      |                      | DNS to use for hosts                                            |
 | `sles_reg_code`      | string       | yes      |                      | SUSE Enterprise registration code                               |
 | `sles_reg_email`     | string       | yes      |                      | email for use with SUSE registration                            |
 | `sles_ses_reg`       | string       | yes      |                      | code to register for the storage package in SUSE                |
diff --git a/terraform.tfvars.example b/terraform.tfvars.example
index e4315622abc3605c45d0fe965c98c8159d589d0c..e518494509298e23b5b0deb9f2c598e6d8e8378b 100644
--- a/terraform.tfvars.example
+++ b/terraform.tfvars.example
@@ -1,9 +1,36 @@
+##
+# Variables related to openstack authentication
+##
+
+# username and user domain
 user_name        = "openstack_user_name"
 user_domain_name = "openstack_domain_name"
+# application credential data
 appcred_id       = "application_credential_id"
 appcred_name     = "application_credential_name"
 appcred_secret   = "application_credential_secret"
+# ssh keypair name
 ssh_keypair      = "ssh_keypair_name"
+
+##
+# Instance customization
+##
+
+# base image name; right now only suse is supported
+#base_image_name = "sles-15-sp2-x86_64"
+# the number of OSD instance(s) to deploy
+#osd_node_count = 1
+# an array of IPs to use for dns in the instance
+public_network_dns = ["8.8.8.8", "1.1.1.1"]
+# An array of disks to add to the OSD instances, in GB; the default creates 2 8GB disks
+#osd_disk_sizes = [8, 8]
+
+
+##
+# SUSE registration data
+##
+
+# suse registration details
 sles_reg_code    = "suse registration code
 sles_reg_email   = "suse registration email"
 sles_ses_reg     = "suse storage extension registration code"
diff --git a/variables.tf b/variables.tf
index c245cccd76e0719e6ea5d829968adcebd3134ee4..5333ee6eb007403ffd5af2ed9d133d5927de8640 100644
--- a/variables.tf
+++ b/variables.tf
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ variable "user_name" {
 
 variable "user_domain_name" {
   type        = string
-  default     = "uab"
   description = "the domain to use for the user"
 }
 
@@ -43,8 +42,7 @@ variable "osd_node_count" {
 
 variable "public_network_dns" {
   type        = list(string)
-  default     = ["138.26.134.2"]
-  description = "dns to use for hosts - defaulted to one that works"
+  description = "dns to use for hosts"
 }
 
 variable "sles_reg_code" {