diff --git a/jrunner/src/main/java/jrunner/jrunner.java b/jrunner/src/main/java/jrunner/jrunner.java
index e4533a3..ce244b3 100644
--- a/jrunner/src/main/java/jrunner/jrunner.java
+++ b/jrunner/src/main/java/jrunner/jrunner.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import java.util.*;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path ;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.nio.file.attribute.PosixFilePermission;
 import java.time.*;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerBulkCopy;
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ public class jrunner {
         String nl = "\n";
         Boolean queryMode = false;
         String outputFormat = "csv";
+        String passFilePath = "";
         String msg = "";
         Connection scon = null;
         Connection dcon = null;
@@ -67,9 +69,13 @@ public class jrunner {
         msg = msg + nl + "-c         clear target table";
         msg = msg + nl + "-b         bulk copy into destination (SQL Server dest only)";
         msg = msg + nl + "-f         output format (csv, tsv, table, json) - default: csv";
+        msg = msg + nl + "--passfile path to the connection alias file - default: ~/.jrunnerpass";
         msg = msg + nl + "--help     info";
         msg = msg + nl + "";
-        msg = msg + nl + "~/.jrunnerpass format:";
+        msg = msg + nl + "Prefer -sc/-dc aliases over -scp/-dcp: a password given on the";
+        msg = msg + nl + "command line is visible to any local user via 'ps'.";
+        msg = msg + nl + "";
+        msg = msg + nl + "passfile format:";
         msg = msg + nl + "  [alias]";
         msg = msg + nl + "  url=jdbc:...";
         msg = msg + nl + "  user=username";
@@ -140,6 +146,10 @@ public class jrunner {
                 case "-f":
                     outputFormat = args[i+1].toLowerCase();
                     break;
+                //alias file location (the service user has no home directory)
+                case "--passfile":
+                    passFilePath = args[i+1];
+                    break;
                 case "-v":
                     System.out.println(msg);
                     return;
@@ -163,13 +173,16 @@ public class jrunner {
             }
         }
 
-        // Resolve connection aliases from ~/.jrunnerpass
+        // Resolve connection aliases from the passfile
         if (!scAlias.isEmpty() || !dcAlias.isEmpty()) {
-            Map<String, String[]> connections = loadPassFile();
+            Path resolvedPassFile = passFilePath.isEmpty()
+                ? Paths.get(System.getProperty("user.home"), ".jrunnerpass")
+                : Paths.get(passFilePath);
+            Map<String, String[]> connections = loadPassFile(resolvedPassFile);
             if (!scAlias.isEmpty()) {
                 String[] sc = connections.get(scAlias);
                 if (sc == null) {
-                    System.err.println("Error: source alias '" + scAlias + "' not found in ~/.jrunnerpass");
+                    System.err.println("Error: source alias '" + scAlias + "' not found in " + resolvedPassFile);
                     System.exit(1);
                 }
                 if (scu.isEmpty()) scu = sc[0];
@@ -179,7 +192,7 @@ public class jrunner {
             if (!dcAlias.isEmpty()) {
                 String[] dc = connections.get(dcAlias);
                 if (dc == null) {
-                    System.err.println("Error: destination alias '" + dcAlias + "' not found in ~/.jrunnerpass");
+                    System.err.println("Error: destination alias '" + dcAlias + "' not found in " + resolvedPassFile);
                     System.exit(1);
                 }
                 if (dcu.isEmpty()) dcu = dc[0];
@@ -758,19 +771,22 @@ public class jrunner {
         return value.replaceAll("\t", " ").replaceAll("\n", " ").replaceAll("\r", " ");
     }
 
-    // Loads ~/.jrunnerpass and returns a map of alias -> {url, user, pass}
+    // Loads a passfile and returns a map of alias -> {url, user, pass}
     // Format:
     //   [alias]
     //   url=jdbc:...
     //   user=username
     //   pass=password
-    private static Map<String, String[]> loadPassFile() {
+    //
+    // Defaults to ~/.jrunnerpass; --passfile overrides it, which is what lets a
+    // service account with no home directory keep its passwords off argv.
+    private static Map<String, String[]> loadPassFile(Path passFile) {
         Map<String, String[]> connections = new LinkedHashMap<>();
-        Path passFile = Paths.get(System.getProperty("user.home"), ".jrunnerpass");
         if (!Files.exists(passFile)) {
-            System.err.println("Error: ~/.jrunnerpass not found");
+            System.err.println("Error: passfile not found: " + passFile);
             System.exit(1);
         }
+        warnIfGroupOrWorldReadable(passFile);
         try {
             String currentAlias = null;
             String url = "", user = "", pass = "";
@@ -795,9 +811,23 @@ public class jrunner {
                 connections.put(currentAlias, new String[]{url, user, pass});
             }
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            System.err.println("Error reading ~/.jrunnerpass: " + e.getMessage());
+            System.err.println("Error reading passfile " + passFile + ": " + e.getMessage());
             System.exit(1);
         }
         return connections;
     }
+
+    // The passfile holds plaintext passwords, so a too-permissive mode defeats
+    // the point of moving them off argv. Warn rather than refuse — the file may
+    // be deliberately group-readable by a service group.
+    private static void warnIfGroupOrWorldReadable(Path passFile) {
+        try {
+            Set<PosixFilePermission> perms = Files.getPosixFilePermissions(passFile);
+            if (perms.contains(PosixFilePermission.OTHERS_READ)) {
+                System.err.println("Warning: " + passFile + " is world-readable; chmod 600 it");
+            }
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            // Non-POSIX filesystem, or permissions unreadable — not worth failing over.
+        }
+    }
 }