diff --git a/setup/functions.sh b/setup/functions.sh
index be5c84d6..94958774 100644
--- a/setup/functions.sh
+++ b/setup/functions.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 PHP_VER=8.0
 
+# ansi escapes for hilighting text
+F_DANGER=$(echo -e "\033[31m")
+F_WARN=$(echo -e "\033[93m")
+F_SUCCESS=$(echo -e "\033[32m")
+F_RESET=$(echo -e "\033[39m")
+
 function hide_output {
 	# This function hides the output of a command unless the command fails
 	# and returns a non-zero exit code.
diff --git a/setup/setupmods.sh b/setup/setupmods.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..ca124f0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/setupmods.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#####
+##### This file is part of Mail-in-a-Box-LDAP which is released under the
+##### terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the
+##### Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at
+##### your option) any later version. See file LICENSE or go to
+##### https://github.com/downtownallday/mailinabox-ldap for full license
+##### details.
+#####
+
+source /etc/mailinabox.conf # load global vars
+source setup/functions.sh # load our functions
+
+run_mods() {
+    MOD_COUNT=0
+    if [ -d "$LOCAL_MODS_DIR" ]; then
+        for mod in $(ls "$LOCAL_MODS_DIR" | grep -v '~$'); do
+            mod_path="$LOCAL_MODS_DIR/$mod"
+            if [ -f "$mod_path" -a -x "$mod_path" ]; then
+                echo "${F_WARN}Do setup mod: $(realpath -m --no-symlinks --relative-base "$(pwd)" "$mod_path")${F_RESET}"
+                "$mod_path"
+                let MOD_COUNT+=1
+            fi
+        done
+    fi
+}
+
+
+backup_mods() {
+    local dst="$STORAGE_ROOT/setup/mods-backup.tgz"
+    if [ -d "$LOCAL_MODS_DIR" -a ! -z "$(ls -A "$LOCAL_MODS_DIR" 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
+        local tmp="$dst.new"
+        mkdir -p "$(dirname "$dst")"
+        pushd "$LOCAL_MODS_DIR" >/dev/null
+        tar czf "$tmp" \
+            --exclude-backups \
+            --exclude-caches \
+            --exclude=*/__pycache__/* \
+            --exclude=*/__pycache__ \
+            *
+        popd >/dev/null
+        rm -f "$dst"
+        mv "$tmp" "$dst"
+    else
+        rm -f "$dst"
+    fi
+}
+
+
+restore_mods() {
+    local dst="$STORAGE_ROOT/setup/mods-backup.tgz"
+    local r=0
+    if [ -e "$dst" -a ! -d "$LOCAL_MODS_DIR" ]; then
+        mkdir -p "$LOCAL_MODS_DIR"
+        pushd "$LOCAL_MODS_DIR" >/dev/null
+        tar xzf "$dst"
+        popd >/dev/null
+        return 0
+    fi
+    return 1
+}
+
+
+
+if restore_mods; then
+    echo "${F_WARN}Restore setup mods from user-data backup${F_RESET}"
+fi
+
+run_mods
+if [ $MOD_COUNT -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo "No setup mods are enabled. To customize setup, please see setup/mods.available/README.md"
+fi
+
+backup_mods
+
diff --git a/setup/start.sh b/setup/start.sh
index 2547ce3b..471a355f 100755
--- a/setup/start.sh
+++ b/setup/start.sh
@@ -172,18 +172,8 @@ certbot register --register-unsafely-without-email --agree-tos --config-dir $STO
 fi
 
 #
-# Run setup mods 
-#
-if [ -d "$LOCAL_MODS_DIR" ]; then
-    for mod in $(ls "$LOCAL_MODS_DIR" | grep -v '~$'); do
-        mod_path="$LOCAL_MODS_DIR/$mod"
-        if [ -f "$mod_path" -a -x "$mod_path" ]; then
-            echo ""
-            echo "Running mod: $mod_path"
-            "$mod_path"
-        fi
-    done
-fi
+# Setup mods
+source setup/setupmods.sh
 
 # Done.
 echo