diff --git a/cmd/goal/defaultNetworkTemplate.json b/cmd/goal/defaultNetworkTemplate.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2ca207bf44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/goal/defaultNetworkTemplate.json
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+{
+    "Genesis": {
+        "NetworkName": "Default Network Template",
+        "RewardsPoolBalance": 0,
+        "FirstPartKeyRound": 0,
+        "LastPartKeyRound":  30000,
+        "Wallets": [
+            {
+                "Name": "Wallet1",
+                "Stake": 40,
+                "Online": true
+            },
+            {
+                "Name": "Wallet2",
+                "Stake": 40,
+                "Online": true
+            },
+            {
+                "Name": "Wallet3",
+                "Stake": 20,
+                "Online": false
+            }
+        ]
+    },
+    "Nodes": [
+        {
+            "Name": "Node",
+            "IsRelay": false,
+            "Wallets": [
+                { 
+                    "Name": "Wallet1", 
+                    "ParticipationOnly": false 
+                },
+                { 
+                    "Name": "Wallet2", 
+                    "ParticipationOnly": false 
+                },
+                { 
+                    "Name": "Wallet3", 
+                    "ParticipationOnly": false 
+                }
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
+
diff --git a/cmd/goal/network.go b/cmd/goal/network.go
index d7212123f5..ddad6f99d1 100644
--- a/cmd/goal/network.go
+++ b/cmd/goal/network.go
@@ -17,9 +17,12 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	_ "embed"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
@@ -45,7 +48,6 @@ func init() {
 
 	networkCreateCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&networkName, "network", "n", "", "Specify the name to use for the private network")
 	networkCreateCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&networkTemplateFile, "template", "t", "", "Specify the path to the template file for the network")
-	networkCreateCmd.MarkFlagRequired("template")
 	networkCreateCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&noImportKeys, "noimportkeys", "K", false, "Do not import root keys when creating the network (by default will import)")
 	networkCreateCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&noClean, "noclean", false, "Prevents auto-cleanup on error - for diagnosing problems")
 	networkCreateCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&devModeOverride, "devMode", false, "Forces the configuration to enable DevMode, returns an error if the template is not compatible with DevMode.")
@@ -73,6 +75,9 @@ The basic idea is that we create one or more data directories and wallets to for
 	},
 }
 
+//go:embed defaultNetworkTemplate.json
+var defaultNetworkTemplate string
+
 var networkCreateCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "create",
 	Short: "Create a private named network from a template",
@@ -83,10 +88,25 @@ var networkCreateCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		if err != nil {
 			panic(err)
 		}
-		networkTemplateFile, err := filepath.Abs(networkTemplateFile)
-		if err != nil {
-			panic(err)
+
+		var templateReader io.Reader
+
+		if networkTemplateFile == "" {
+			templateReader = strings.NewReader(defaultNetworkTemplate)
+		} else {
+			networkTemplateFile, err = filepath.Abs(networkTemplateFile)
+			if err != nil {
+				panic(err)
+			}
+			file, err := os.Open(networkTemplateFile)
+			if err != nil {
+				reportErrorf(errorCreateNetwork, err)
+			}
+
+			defer file.Close()
+			templateReader = file
 		}
+
 		// Make sure target directory does not exist or is empty
 		if util.FileExists(networkRootDir) && !util.IsEmpty(networkRootDir) {
 			reportErrorf(infoNetworkAlreadyExists, networkRootDir)
@@ -104,7 +124,7 @@ var networkCreateCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			consensus, _ = config.PreloadConfigurableConsensusProtocols(dataDir)
 		}
 
-		network, err := netdeploy.CreateNetworkFromTemplate(networkName, networkRootDir, networkTemplateFile, binDir, !noImportKeys, nil, consensus, devModeOverride)
+		network, err := netdeploy.CreateNetworkFromTemplate(networkName, networkRootDir, templateReader, binDir, !noImportKeys, nil, consensus, devModeOverride)
 		if err != nil {
 			if noClean {
 				reportInfof(" ** failed ** - Preserving network rootdir '%s'", networkRootDir)
diff --git a/netdeploy/network.go b/netdeploy/network.go
index 1d5e503de3..520f185a3c 100644
--- a/netdeploy/network.go
+++ b/netdeploy/network.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package netdeploy
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"sort"
@@ -57,15 +58,18 @@ type Network struct {
 
 // CreateNetworkFromTemplate uses the specified template to deploy a new private network
 // under the specified root directory.
-func CreateNetworkFromTemplate(name, rootDir, templateFile, binDir string, importKeys bool, nodeExitCallback nodecontrol.AlgodExitErrorCallback, consensus config.ConsensusProtocols, overrideDevMode bool) (Network, error) {
+func CreateNetworkFromTemplate(name, rootDir string, templateReader io.Reader, binDir string, importKeys bool, nodeExitCallback nodecontrol.AlgodExitErrorCallback, consensus config.ConsensusProtocols, overrideDevMode bool) (Network, error) {
 	n := Network{
 		rootDir:          rootDir,
 		nodeExitCallback: nodeExitCallback,
 	}
 	n.cfg.Name = name
-	n.cfg.TemplateFile = templateFile
 
-	template, err := loadTemplate(templateFile)
+	var err error
+	template := defaultNetworkTemplate
+
+	err = loadTemplateFromReader(templateReader, &template)
+
 	if err == nil {
 		if overrideDevMode {
 			template.Genesis.DevMode = true
@@ -73,9 +77,11 @@ func CreateNetworkFromTemplate(name, rootDir, templateFile, binDir string, impor
 				template.Nodes[0].IsRelay = false
 			}
 		}
-		err = template.Validate()
+	} else {
+		return n, err
 	}
-	if err != nil {
+
+	if err = template.Validate(); err != nil {
 		return n, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/netdeploy/networkTemplate.go b/netdeploy/networkTemplate.go
index 4d5aa67b95..34cd01e1b6 100644
--- a/netdeploy/networkTemplate.go
+++ b/netdeploy/networkTemplate.go
@@ -165,16 +165,16 @@ func loadTemplate(templateFile string) (NetworkTemplate, error) {
 	}
 	defer f.Close()
 
-	if runtime.GOARCH == "arm" || runtime.GOARCH == "arm64" {
-		// for arm machines, use smaller key dilution
-		template.Genesis.PartKeyDilution = 100
-	}
-
 	err = loadTemplateFromReader(f, &template)
 	return template, err
 }
 
 func loadTemplateFromReader(reader io.Reader, template *NetworkTemplate) error {
+
+	if runtime.GOARCH == "arm" || runtime.GOARCH == "arm64" {
+		// for arm machines, use smaller key dilution
+		template.Genesis.PartKeyDilution = 100
+	}
 	dec := json.NewDecoder(reader)
 	return dec.Decode(template)
 }
diff --git a/test/framework/fixtures/libgoalFixture.go b/test/framework/fixtures/libgoalFixture.go
index 7294bafc40..c0527fdd62 100644
--- a/test/framework/fixtures/libgoalFixture.go
+++ b/test/framework/fixtures/libgoalFixture.go
@@ -96,7 +96,9 @@ func (f *LibGoalFixture) setup(test TestingTB, testName string, templateFile str
 	os.RemoveAll(f.rootDir)
 	templateFile = filepath.Join(f.testDataDir, templateFile)
 	importKeys := false // Don't automatically import root keys when creating folders, we'll import on-demand
-	network, err := netdeploy.CreateNetworkFromTemplate("test", f.rootDir, templateFile, f.binDir, importKeys, f.nodeExitWithError, f.consensus, false)
+	file, err := os.Open(templateFile)
+	f.failOnError(err, "Template file could not be opened: %v")
+	network, err := netdeploy.CreateNetworkFromTemplate("test", f.rootDir, file, f.binDir, importKeys, f.nodeExitWithError, f.consensus, false)
 	f.failOnError(err, "CreateNetworkFromTemplate failed: %v")
 	f.network = network
 
diff --git a/test/scripts/test_private_network.sh b/test/scripts/test_private_network.sh
index 1886a6548e..f1adc7f62b 100755
--- a/test/scripts/test_private_network.sh
+++ b/test/scripts/test_private_network.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,18 @@ ${GOPATH}/bin/goal network stop -r ${NETROOTPATH}
 
 ${GOPATH}/bin/goal network delete -r ${NETROOTPATH}
 
+# default network with no template specified
+
+rm -rf ${NETROOTPATH}
+
+${GOPATH}/bin/goal network create -r ${NETROOTPATH}
+
+${GOPATH}/bin/goal network start -r ${NETROOTPATH}
+
+${GOPATH}/bin/goal network stop -r ${NETROOTPATH}
+
+${GOPATH}/bin/goal network delete -r ${NETROOTPATH}
+
 echo "----------------------------------------------------------------------"
 echo "  DONE: test_private_network"
 echo "----------------------------------------------------------------------"