diff --git a/deployment/bare_metal/start.sh b/deployment/bare_metal/start.sh
index e2d3ce8cf..9592b219e 100755
--- a/deployment/bare_metal/start.sh
+++ b/deployment/bare_metal/start.sh
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ done
 echo "================================================================================================"
 
 # *** 2nd read gradido-federation.conf file in env variable
-export FEDERATION_NGINX_CONF < $NGINX_CONFIG_DIR/gradido-federation.conf
+export FEDERATION_NGINX_CONFr=$(< $NGINX_CONFIG_DIR/gradido-federation.conf)
 echo "FEDERATION_NGINX_CONF=$FEDERATION_NGINX_CONF"
 
 # *** 3rd generate gradido nginx config including federation modules per api-version