diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 32832460a2..33e337121b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "dspace-angular",
-  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "version": "7.4.0-next",
   "scripts": {
     "ng": "ng",
     "config:watch": "nodemon",
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     "start:prod": "yarn run build:prod && cross-env NODE_ENV=production yarn run serve:ssr",
     "start:mirador:prod": "yarn run build:mirador && yarn run start:prod",
     "preserve": "yarn base-href",
-    "serve": "ng serve --configuration development",
+    "serve": "ts-node --project ./tsconfig.ts-node.json scripts/serve.ts",
     "serve:ssr": "node dist/server/main",
     "analyze": "webpack-bundle-analyzer dist/browser/stats.json",
     "build": "ng build --configuration development",
diff --git a/scripts/serve.ts b/scripts/serve.ts
index 09e517c3d4..99bfc822d4 100644
--- a/scripts/serve.ts
+++ b/scripts/serve.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ const appConfig: AppConfig = buildAppConfig();
  * Any CLI arguments given to this script are patched through to `ng serve` as well.
  */
 child.spawn(
-  `ng serve --host ${appConfig.ui.host} --port ${appConfig.ui.port} --serve-path ${appConfig.ui.nameSpace} --ssl ${appConfig.ui.ssl} ${process.argv.slice(2).join(' ')}`,
+  `ng serve --host ${appConfig.ui.host} --port ${appConfig.ui.port} --serve-path ${appConfig.ui.nameSpace} --ssl ${appConfig.ui.ssl} ${process.argv.slice(2).join(' ')} --configuration development`,
   { stdio: 'inherit', shell: true }
 );
diff --git a/server.ts b/server.ts
index 9fe03fe5b5..c9cdf3d76a 100644
--- a/server.ts
+++ b/server.ts
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ import { ServerAppModule } from './src/main.server';
 import { buildAppConfig } from './src/config/config.server';
 import { APP_CONFIG, AppConfig } from './src/config/app-config.interface';
 import { extendEnvironmentWithAppConfig } from './src/config/config.util';
+import { logStartupMessage } from './startup-message';
 
 /*
  * Set path for the browser application's dist folder
@@ -281,6 +282,8 @@ function run() {
 }
 
 function start() {
+  logStartupMessage(environment);
+
   /*
   * If SSL is enabled
   * - Read credentials from configuration files
diff --git a/src/app/init.service.ts b/src/app/init.service.ts
index 69ed2ad555..a0cbb06b66 100644
--- a/src/app/init.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/init.service.ts
@@ -143,10 +143,6 @@ export abstract class InitService {
     if (environment.debug) {
       console.info(environment);
     }
-
-    const env: string = environment.production ? 'Production' : 'Development';
-    const color: string = environment.production ? 'red' : 'green';
-    console.info(`Environment: %c${env}`, `color: ${color}; font-weight: bold;`);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/config/config.server.ts b/src/config/config.server.ts
index 69da1a02b2..278cf4f1d5 100644
--- a/src/config/config.server.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.server.ts
@@ -54,14 +54,28 @@ const getEnvironment = (): Environment => {
   return environment;
 };
 
-const getLocalConfigPath = (env: Environment) => {
-  // default to config/config.yml
-  let localConfigPath = join(CONFIG_PATH, 'config.yml');
+/**
+ * Get the path of the default config file.
+ */
+const getDefaultConfigPath = () => {
 
-  if (!fs.existsSync(localConfigPath)) {
-    localConfigPath = join(CONFIG_PATH, 'config.yaml');
+  // default to config/config.yml
+  let defaultConfigPath = join(CONFIG_PATH, 'config.yml');
+
+  if (!fs.existsSync(defaultConfigPath)) {
+    defaultConfigPath = join(CONFIG_PATH, 'config.yaml');
   }
 
+  return defaultConfigPath;
+};
+
+/**
+ * Get the path of an environment-specific config file.
+ *
+ * @param env   the environment to get the config file for
+ */
+const getEnvConfigFilePath = (env: Environment) => {
+
   // determine app config filename variations
   let envVariations;
   switch (env) {
@@ -76,22 +90,21 @@ const getLocalConfigPath = (env: Environment) => {
       envVariations = ['dev', 'development'];
   }
 
+  let envLocalConfigPath;
+
   // check if any environment variations of app config exist
   for (const envVariation of envVariations) {
-    let envLocalConfigPath = join(CONFIG_PATH, `config.${envVariation}.yml`);
+    envLocalConfigPath = join(CONFIG_PATH, `config.${envVariation}.yml`);
+    if (fs.existsSync(envLocalConfigPath)) {
+      break;
+    }
+    envLocalConfigPath = join(CONFIG_PATH, `config.${envVariation}.yaml`);
     if (fs.existsSync(envLocalConfigPath)) {
-      localConfigPath = envLocalConfigPath;
       break;
-    } else {
-      envLocalConfigPath = join(CONFIG_PATH, `config.${envVariation}.yaml`);
-      if (fs.existsSync(envLocalConfigPath)) {
-        localConfigPath = envLocalConfigPath;
-        break;
-      }
     }
   }
 
-  return localConfigPath;
+  return envLocalConfigPath;
 };
 
 const overrideWithConfig = (config: Config, pathToConfig: string) => {
@@ -174,12 +187,20 @@ export const buildAppConfig = (destConfigPath?: string): AppConfig => {
       console.log(`Building ${colors.green.bold(`development`)} app config`);
   }
 
-  // override with dist config
-  const localConfigPath = getLocalConfigPath(env);
+  // override with default config
+  const defaultConfigPath = getDefaultConfigPath();
+  if (fs.existsSync(defaultConfigPath)) {
+    overrideWithConfig(appConfig, defaultConfigPath);
+  } else {
+    console.warn(`Unable to find default config file at ${defaultConfigPath}`);
+  }
+
+  // override with env config
+  const localConfigPath = getEnvConfigFilePath(env);
   if (fs.existsSync(localConfigPath)) {
     overrideWithConfig(appConfig, localConfigPath);
   } else {
-    console.warn(`Unable to find dist config file at ${localConfigPath}`);
+    console.warn(`Unable to find env config file at ${localConfigPath}`);
   }
 
   // override with external config if specified by environment variable `DSPACE_APP_CONFIG_PATH`
diff --git a/src/modules/app/browser-init.service.ts b/src/modules/app/browser-init.service.ts
index 05c591b0c6..1135de5e93 100644
--- a/src/modules/app/browser-init.service.ts
+++ b/src/modules/app/browser-init.service.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import { StoreAction, StoreActionTypes } from '../../app/store.actions';
 import { coreSelector } from '../../app/core/core.selectors';
 import { find, map } from 'rxjs/operators';
 import { isNotEmpty } from '../../app/shared/empty.util';
+import { logStartupMessage } from '../../../startup-message';
 
 /**
  * Performs client-side initialization.
@@ -79,6 +80,7 @@ export class BrowserInitService extends InitService {
       this.initCorrelationId();
 
       this.checkEnvironment();
+      logStartupMessage(environment);
 
       this.initI18n();
       this.initAngulartics();
diff --git a/startup-message.ts b/startup-message.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d87a239ec8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/startup-message.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import PACKAGE_JSON from './package.json';
+import { BuildConfig } from './src/config/build-config.interface';
+
+/**
+ * Log a message at the start of the application containing the version number and the environment.
+ *
+ * @param environment   the environment configuration
+ */
+export const logStartupMessage = (environment: Partial<BuildConfig>) => {
+  const env: string = environment.production ? 'Production' : 'Development';
+  const color: string = environment.production ? 'red' : 'green';
+
+  console.info('');
+  console.info(`%cdspace-angular`, `font-weight: bold;`);
+  console.info(`Version: %c${PACKAGE_JSON.version}`, `font-weight: bold;`);
+  console.info(`Environment: %c${env}`, `color: ${color}; font-weight: bold;`);
+  console.info('');
+
+}