diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e8f22715c..972feb141 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -49,6 +49,55 @@ dependencies = [
  "memchr",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "anstream"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9e579a7752471abc2a8268df8b20005e3eadd975f585398f17efcfd8d4927371"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstyle",
+ "anstyle-parse",
+ "anstyle-query",
+ "anstyle-wincon",
+ "colorchoice",
+ "is-terminal",
+ "utf8parse",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle"
+version = "1.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "41ed9a86bf92ae6580e0a31281f65a1b1d867c0cc68d5346e2ae128dddfa6a7d"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle-parse"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e765fd216e48e067936442276d1d57399e37bce53c264d6fefbe298080cb57ee"
+dependencies = [
+ "utf8parse",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle-query"
+version = "1.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5ca11d4be1bab0c8bc8734a9aa7bf4ee8316d462a08c6ac5052f888fef5b494b"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "anstyle-wincon"
+version = "1.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4bcd8291a340dd8ac70e18878bc4501dd7b4ff970cfa21c207d36ece51ea88fd"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstyle",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "anyhow"
 version = "1.0.68"
@@ -75,7 +124,7 @@ checksum = "705339e0e4a9690e2908d2b3d049d85682cf19fbd5782494498fbf7003a6a282"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -297,40 +346,45 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "clap"
-version = "4.1.4"
+version = "4.2.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f13b9c79b5d1dd500d20ef541215a6423c75829ef43117e1b4d17fd8af0b5d76"
+checksum = "956ac1f6381d8d82ab4684768f89c0ea3afe66925ceadb4eeb3fc452ffc55d62"
 dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
+ "clap_builder",
  "clap_derive",
- "clap_lex",
- "is-terminal",
  "once_cell",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "clap_builder"
+version = "4.2.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "84080e799e54cff944f4b4a4b0e71630b0e0443b25b985175c7dddc1a859b749"
+dependencies = [
+ "anstream",
+ "anstyle",
+ "bitflags",
+ "clap_lex",
  "strsim",
- "termcolor",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "clap_derive"
-version = "4.1.0"
+version = "4.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "684a277d672e91966334af371f1a7b5833f9aa00b07c84e92fbce95e00208ce8"
+checksum = "3f9644cd56d6b87dbe899ef8b053e331c0637664e9e21a33dfcdc36093f5c5c4"
 dependencies = [
  "heck",
- "proc-macro-error",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.15",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "clap_lex"
-version = "0.3.1"
+version = "0.4.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "783fe232adfca04f90f56201b26d79682d4cd2625e0bc7290b95123afe558ade"
-dependencies = [
- "os_str_bytes",
-]
+checksum = "8a2dd5a6fe8c6e3502f568a6353e5273bbb15193ad9a89e457b9970798efbea1"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "color-backtrace"
@@ -343,6 +397,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "termcolor",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "colorchoice"
+version = "1.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "acbf1af155f9b9ef647e42cdc158db4b64a1b61f743629225fde6f3e0be2a7c7"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "config"
 version = "0.13.3"
@@ -435,7 +495,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "6d2301688392eb071b0bf1a37be05c469d3cc4dbbd95df672fe28ab021e6a096"
 dependencies = [
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -462,7 +522,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "nom 6.1.2",
  "num-bigint",
  "num-traits",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -539,6 +599,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "errno"
+version = "0.3.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4bcfec3a70f97c962c307b2d2c56e358cf1d00b558d74262b5f929ee8cc7e73a"
+dependencies = [
+ "errno-dragonfly",
+ "libc",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "errno-dragonfly"
 version = "0.1.2"
@@ -687,7 +758,7 @@ checksum = "bdfb8ce053d86b91919aad980c220b1fb8401a9394410e1c289ed7e66b61835d"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -926,14 +997,14 @@ checksum = "30e22bd8629359895450b59ea7a776c850561b96a3b1d31321c1949d9e6c9146"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "is-terminal"
-version = "0.4.3"
+version = "0.4.7"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "22e18b0a45d56fe973d6db23972bf5bc46f988a4a2385deac9cc29572f09daef"
+checksum = "adcf93614601c8129ddf72e2d5633df827ba6551541c6d8c59520a371475be1f"
 dependencies = [
  "hermit-abi 0.3.0",
  "io-lifetimes",
- "rustix",
- "windows-sys 0.45.0",
+ "rustix 0.37.3",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1014,6 +1085,12 @@ version = "0.1.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "f051f77a7c8e6957c0696eac88f26b0117e54f52d3fc682ab19397a8812846a4"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "linux-raw-sys"
+version = "0.3.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9b085a4f2cde5781fc4b1717f2e86c62f5cda49de7ba99a7c2eae02b61c9064c"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "lock_api"
 version = "0.4.9"
@@ -1125,7 +1202,7 @@ checksum = "731f8ecebd9f3a4aa847dfe75455e4757a45da40a7793d2f0b1f9b6ed18b23f3"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1359,7 +1436,7 @@ checksum = "b501e44f11665960c7e7fcf062c7d96a14ade4aa98116c004b2e37b5be7d736c"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1391,12 +1468,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "hashbrown",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "os_str_bytes"
-version = "6.4.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "9b7820b9daea5457c9f21c69448905d723fbd21136ccf521748f23fd49e723ee"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "output_vt100"
 version = "0.1.3"
@@ -1502,7 +1573,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "pest_meta",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1553,7 +1624,7 @@ checksum = "069bdb1e05adc7a8990dce9cc75370895fbe4e3d58b9b73bf1aee56359344a55"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1640,38 +1711,14 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "4ebcd279d20a4a0a2404a33056388e950504d891c855c7975b9a8fef75f3bf04"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
- "syn",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "proc-macro-error"
-version = "1.0.4"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "da25490ff9892aab3fcf7c36f08cfb902dd3e71ca0f9f9517bea02a73a5ce38c"
-dependencies = [
- "proc-macro-error-attr",
- "proc-macro2",
- "quote",
- "syn",
- "version_check",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "proc-macro-error-attr"
-version = "1.0.4"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a1be40180e52ecc98ad80b184934baf3d0d29f979574e439af5a55274b35f869"
-dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2",
- "quote",
- "version_check",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
-version = "1.0.49"
+version = "1.0.56"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "57a8eca9f9c4ffde41714334dee777596264c7825420f521abc92b5b5deb63a5"
+checksum = "2b63bdb0cd06f1f4dedf69b254734f9b45af66e4a031e42a7480257d9898b435"
 dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
@@ -1703,7 +1750,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "prost",
  "prost-types",
  "regex",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
  "tempfile",
  "which",
 ]
@@ -1718,7 +1765,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "itertools",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1763,9 +1810,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "quote"
-version = "1.0.23"
+version = "1.0.26"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "8856d8364d252a14d474036ea1358d63c9e6965c8e5c1885c18f73d70bff9c7b"
+checksum = "4424af4bf778aae2051a77b60283332f386554255d722233d09fbfc7e30da2fc"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
 ]
@@ -1984,10 +2031,24 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "f43abb88211988493c1abb44a70efa56ff0ce98f233b7b276146f1f3f7ba9644"
 dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
- "errno",
+ "errno 0.2.8",
  "io-lifetimes",
  "libc",
- "linux-raw-sys",
+ "linux-raw-sys 0.1.4",
+ "windows-sys 0.45.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rustix"
+version = "0.37.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "62b24138615de35e32031d041a09032ef3487a616d901ca4db224e7d557efae2"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags",
+ "errno 0.3.1",
+ "io-lifetimes",
+ "libc",
+ "linux-raw-sys 0.3.3",
  "windows-sys 0.45.0",
 ]
 
@@ -2108,7 +2169,7 @@ checksum = "af487d118eecd09402d70a5d72551860e788df87b464af30e5ea6a38c75c541e"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2326,6 +2387,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "syn"
+version = "2.0.15"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a34fcf3e8b60f57e6a14301a2e916d323af98b0ea63c599441eec8558660c822"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "unicode-ident",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "sync_wrapper"
 version = "0.1.2"
@@ -2347,7 +2419,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
  "fastrand",
  "redox_syscall",
- "rustix",
+ "rustix 0.36.8",
  "windows-sys 0.42.0",
 ]
 
@@ -2377,7 +2449,7 @@ checksum = "1fb327af4685e4d03fa8cbcf1716380da910eeb2bb8be417e7f9fd3fb164f36f"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2432,7 +2504,7 @@ checksum = "d266c00fde287f55d3f1c3e96c500c362a2b8c695076ec180f27918820bc6df8"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2560,7 +2632,7 @@ checksum = "4017f8f45139870ca7e672686113917c71c7a6e02d4924eda67186083c03081a"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2704,6 +2776,12 @@ version = "0.7.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "09cc8ee72d2a9becf2f2febe0205bbed8fc6615b7cb429ad062dc7b7ddd036a9"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "utf8parse"
+version = "0.2.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "711b9620af191e0cdc7468a8d14e709c3dcdb115b36f838e601583af800a370a"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "uuid"
 version = "1.2.2"
@@ -2771,7 +2849,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "once_cell",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
  "wasm-bindgen-shared",
 ]
 
@@ -2793,7 +2871,7 @@ checksum = "07bc0c051dc5f23e307b13285f9d75df86bfdf816c5721e573dec1f9b8aa193c"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 1.0.107",
  "wasm-bindgen-backend",
  "wasm-bindgen-shared",
 ]
@@ -2900,12 +2978,12 @@ version = "0.42.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5a3e1820f08b8513f676f7ab6c1f99ff312fb97b553d30ff4dd86f9f15728aa7"
 dependencies = [
- "windows_aarch64_gnullvm",
+ "windows_aarch64_gnullvm 0.42.1",
  "windows_aarch64_msvc 0.42.1",
  "windows_i686_gnu 0.42.1",
  "windows_i686_msvc 0.42.1",
  "windows_x86_64_gnu 0.42.1",
- "windows_x86_64_gnullvm",
+ "windows_x86_64_gnullvm 0.42.1",
  "windows_x86_64_msvc 0.42.1",
 ]
 
@@ -2915,7 +2993,16 @@ version = "0.45.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "75283be5efb2831d37ea142365f009c02ec203cd29a3ebecbc093d52315b66d0"
 dependencies = [
- "windows-targets",
+ "windows-targets 0.42.1",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "windows-sys"
+version = "0.48.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "677d2418bec65e3338edb076e806bc1ec15693c5d0104683f2efe857f61056a9"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows-targets 0.48.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2924,21 +3011,42 @@ version = "0.42.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8e2522491fbfcd58cc84d47aeb2958948c4b8982e9a2d8a2a35bbaed431390e7"
 dependencies = [
- "windows_aarch64_gnullvm",
+ "windows_aarch64_gnullvm 0.42.1",
  "windows_aarch64_msvc 0.42.1",
  "windows_i686_gnu 0.42.1",
  "windows_i686_msvc 0.42.1",
  "windows_x86_64_gnu 0.42.1",
- "windows_x86_64_gnullvm",
+ "windows_x86_64_gnullvm 0.42.1",
  "windows_x86_64_msvc 0.42.1",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows-targets"
+version = "0.48.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7b1eb6f0cd7c80c79759c929114ef071b87354ce476d9d94271031c0497adfd5"
+dependencies = [
+ "windows_aarch64_gnullvm 0.48.0",
+ "windows_aarch64_msvc 0.48.0",
+ "windows_i686_gnu 0.48.0",
+ "windows_i686_msvc 0.48.0",
+ "windows_x86_64_gnu 0.48.0",
+ "windows_x86_64_gnullvm 0.48.0",
+ "windows_x86_64_msvc 0.48.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows_aarch64_gnullvm"
 version = "0.42.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8c9864e83243fdec7fc9c5444389dcbbfd258f745e7853198f365e3c4968a608"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_aarch64_gnullvm"
+version = "0.48.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "91ae572e1b79dba883e0d315474df7305d12f569b400fcf90581b06062f7e1bc"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows_aarch64_msvc"
 version = "0.36.1"
@@ -2951,6 +3059,12 @@ version = "0.42.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "4c8b1b673ffc16c47a9ff48570a9d85e25d265735c503681332589af6253c6c7"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_aarch64_msvc"
+version = "0.48.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b2ef27e0d7bdfcfc7b868b317c1d32c641a6fe4629c171b8928c7b08d98d7cf3"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows_i686_gnu"
 version = "0.36.1"
@@ -2963,6 +3077,12 @@ version = "0.42.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "de3887528ad530ba7bdbb1faa8275ec7a1155a45ffa57c37993960277145d640"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_i686_gnu"
+version = "0.48.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "622a1962a7db830d6fd0a69683c80a18fda201879f0f447f065a3b7467daa241"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows_i686_msvc"
 version = "0.36.1"
@@ -2975,6 +3095,12 @@ version = "0.42.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "bf4d1122317eddd6ff351aa852118a2418ad4214e6613a50e0191f7004372605"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_i686_msvc"
+version = "0.48.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4542c6e364ce21bf45d69fdd2a8e455fa38d316158cfd43b3ac1c5b1b19f8e00"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows_x86_64_gnu"
 version = "0.36.1"
@@ -2987,12 +3113,24 @@ version = "0.42.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "c1040f221285e17ebccbc2591ffdc2d44ee1f9186324dd3e84e99ac68d699c45"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_x86_64_gnu"
+version = "0.48.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ca2b8a661f7628cbd23440e50b05d705db3686f894fc9580820623656af974b1"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows_x86_64_gnullvm"
 version = "0.42.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "628bfdf232daa22b0d64fdb62b09fcc36bb01f05a3939e20ab73aaf9470d0463"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_x86_64_gnullvm"
+version = "0.48.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7896dbc1f41e08872e9d5e8f8baa8fdd2677f29468c4e156210174edc7f7b953"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows_x86_64_msvc"
 version = "0.36.1"
@@ -3005,6 +3143,12 @@ version = "0.42.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "447660ad36a13288b1db4d4248e857b510e8c3a225c822ba4fb748c0aafecffd"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "windows_x86_64_msvc"
+version = "0.48.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1a515f5799fe4961cb532f983ce2b23082366b898e52ffbce459c86f67c8378a"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ws_stream_tungstenite"
 version = "0.7.0"
diff --git a/rumqttd/CHANGELOG.md b/rumqttd/CHANGELOG.md
index 3094f7885..b7e0fad4a 100644
--- a/rumqttd/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/rumqttd/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Added
 
 ### Changed
+- Certificate paths configured in config file are checked during startup and throws a panic if it is not valid.
 
 ### Deprecated
 
diff --git a/rumqttd/Cargo.toml b/rumqttd/Cargo.toml
index 20dd93d23..f0ff15b16 100644
--- a/rumqttd/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rumqttd/Cargo.toml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ tracing = { version="0.1", features=["log"] }
 tracing-subscriber = { version="0.3.16", features=["env-filter"] }
 metrics = "0.20.1"
 metrics-exporter-prometheus = "0.11.0"
-clap = { version = "4.1.4", features = ["derive"] }
+clap = { version = "4.2", features = ["derive"] }
 axum = "0.6.4"
 
 [features]
diff --git a/rumqttd/rumqttd.toml b/rumqttd/rumqttd.toml
index 173a6d43c..a494d4bdd 100644
--- a/rumqttd/rumqttd.toml
+++ b/rumqttd/rumqttd.toml
@@ -49,22 +49,22 @@ next_connection_delay_ms = 1
  #      user1 = "p@ssw0rd"
  #      user2 = "password"
 
-[v4.2]
-name = "v4-2"
-listen = "0.0.0.0:8883"
-next_connection_delay_ms = 10
-    # tls config for rustls
-    [v4.2.tls]
-    capath = "/etc/tls/ca.cert.pem"
-    certpath = "/etc/tls/server.cert.pem"
-    keypath = "/etc/tls/server.key.pem"
-    # settings for all the connections on this server
-    [v4.2.connections]
-    connection_timeout_ms = 60000
-    throttle_delay_ms = 0
-    max_payload_size = 20480
-    max_inflight_count = 100
-    max_inflight_size = 1024
+# [v4.2]
+# name = "v4-2"
+# listen = "0.0.0.0:8883"
+# next_connection_delay_ms = 10
+#     # tls config for rustls
+#     [v4.2.tls]
+#     capath = "/etc/tls/ca.cert.pem"
+#     certpath = "/etc/tls/server.cert.pem"
+#     keypath = "/etc/tls/server.key.pem"
+#     # settings for all the connections on this server
+#     [v4.2.connections]
+#     connection_timeout_ms = 60000
+#     throttle_delay_ms = 0
+#     max_payload_size = 20480
+#     max_inflight_count = 100
+#     max_inflight_size = 1024
 
 [v5.1]
 name = "v5-1"
diff --git a/rumqttd/src/lib.rs b/rumqttd/src/lib.rs
index 4debd5ff4..66c52d8b4 100644
--- a/rumqttd/src/lib.rs
+++ b/rumqttd/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
+use std::{collections::HashMap, path::Path};
 
 use segments::Storage;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
@@ -77,6 +77,23 @@ pub enum TlsConfig {
     },
 }
 
+impl TlsConfig {
+    // Returns true only if all of the file paths inside `TlsConfig` actually exists on file system.
+    // NOTE: This doesn't verify if certificate files are in required format or not.
+    pub fn validate_paths(&self) -> bool {
+        match self {
+            TlsConfig::Rustls {
+                capath,
+                certpath,
+                keypath,
+            } => [capath, certpath, keypath]
+                .iter()
+                .all(|v| Path::new(v).exists()),
+            TlsConfig::NativeTls { pkcs12path, .. } => Path::new(pkcs12path).exists(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize, Clone)]
 pub struct ServerSettings {
     pub name: String,
diff --git a/rumqttd/src/main.rs b/rumqttd/src/main.rs
index f5bbedc01..cc8f38e37 100644
--- a/rumqttd/src/main.rs
+++ b/rumqttd/src/main.rs
@@ -78,12 +78,45 @@ fn main() {
     let mut configs: rumqttd::Config = config_builder.build().unwrap().try_deserialize().unwrap();
     configs.console.set_filter_reload_handle(reload_handle);
 
+    validate_config(&configs);
+
     // println!("{:#?}", configs);
 
     let mut broker = Broker::new(configs);
     broker.start().unwrap();
 }
 
+// Do any extra validation that needs to be done before starting the broker here.
+fn validate_config(configs: &rumqttd::Config) {
+    for (name, server_setting) in &configs.v4 {
+        if let Some(tls_config) = &server_setting.tls {
+            if !tls_config.validate_paths() {
+                panic!("Certificate path not valid for server v4.{name}.")
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    if let Some(v5) = &configs.v5 {
+        for (name, server_setting) in v5 {
+            if let Some(tls_config) = &server_setting.tls {
+                if !tls_config.validate_paths() {
+                    panic!("Certificate path not valid for server v5.{name}.")
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    if let Some(ws) = &configs.ws {
+        for (name, server_setting) in ws {
+            if let Some(tls_config) = &server_setting.tls {
+                if !tls_config.validate_paths() {
+                    panic!("Certificate path not valid for server ws.{name}.")
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 fn banner() {
     const B: &str = r#"                                              
          ___ _   _ __  __  ___ _____ _____ ___