diff --git a/src/npg/conf.py b/src/npg/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03dea3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/npg/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# Copyright © 2024 Genome Research Ltd. All rights reserved.
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+import configparser
+import dataclasses
+import os
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from os import PathLike
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import TypeVar
+
+from structlog import get_logger
+
+# The TypeVar isn't bound because dataclasses don't have a common base class. It's
+# just here to illustrate that from_file returns an instance of the same dataclass
+# that was passed to the constructor.
+D = TypeVar("D")
+
+log = get_logger(__name__)
+
+
+class ParseError(Exception):
+    """Raised when a configuration file cannot be parsed."""
+
+    pass
+
+
+class IniData:
+    """A configuration class that reads values from an INI file to create an instance of
+    a specified dataclass. Using a dataclass results in configuration that is easier
+    to understand and more maintainable than using a bare dictionary because all its
+    fields are explicitly defined. This means that they are readable, navigable and
+    autocomplete-able in an IDE, can have default values, and can have docstrings.
+
+    E.g. given an INI file 'config.ini':
+
+        [server]
+        host = localhost
+        port = 9000
+
+    and a dataclass:
+
+        @dataclass
+        class ServerConfig:
+            host: str
+            port: str
+
+    the following code will create a new instance obj of the dataclass where
+    host='localhost' and port='9000':
+
+       parser = IniData(ServerConfig)
+       obj = parser.from_file("config.ini", "server")
+
+    If the 'use_env' flag is set, the configuration will fall back to an environment
+    variable if the INI file does not contain a value for that field. The default
+    environment variable name is the field name in upper case. As the shell environment
+    lacks the context of an enclosing dataclass, the default name may benefit from a
+    prefix to make it more descriptive. This can be provided by using the 'env_prefix'
+    argument.
+
+    E.g. given an INI file 'config.ini':
+
+        [server]
+        host = localhost
+
+    with an environment variable 'SERVER_PORT' set to '9001' and the same dataclass as
+    above, the following code will create a new instance obj of the dataclass where
+    host='localhost' and port='9001':
+
+        parser = IniData(ServerConfig, use_env=True, env_prefix="SERVER_").
+        obj = from_file("config.ini", "server")
+
+    All values are treated as strings.
+
+    The class provides INFO level logging of its actions to enable loading of
+    configurations to be traced.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, cls: D, use_env: bool = False, env_prefix: str = ""):
+        """Makes a new configuration instance which can create instances of the
+        dataclass 'D'.
+
+        Args:
+            cls: A dataclass to bind to this configuration.
+            use_env: If True, fall back to environment variables if a value is not found
+                in an INI file. Defaults to False. The environment variable used to
+                supply a missing field's value is the field name in upper case
+                (prefixed with env_prefix, if provided).
+            env_prefix: A prefix to add to the name of any environment variable used as
+                a fallback. Defaults to "". The prefix is folded to upper case.
+                Dataclass field names exist in the context of their class. However,
+                environment variables exist in a global context and can benefit from a
+                more descriptive name. The prefix can be used to provide that.
+        """
+        if dataclass is None:
+            raise ValueError("A dataclass argument is required")
+        if not dataclasses.is_dataclass(cls):
+            raise ValueError(f"'{cls}' is not a dataclass")
+
+        self.dataclass = cls
+        self.use_env = use_env
+        self.env_prefix = env_prefix
+
+    def from_file(
+        self,
+        ini_file: PathLike | str,
+        section: str,
+    ) -> D:
+        """Create a new dataclass instance from an INI file section.
+
+        Args:
+            ini_file: The INI file path.
+            section: The section name containing the configuration.
+
+        Returns:
+            A new dataclass instance with values populated from the INI file.
+        """
+        p = Path(ini_file).resolve().absolute().as_posix()
+
+        log.info(
+            "Reading configuration from file",
+            path=p,
+            section=section,
+            dataclass=self.dataclass,
+        )
+
+        parser = configparser.ConfigParser()
+        if not parser.read(p):
+            raise ParseError(f"Could not read '{p}'")
+
+        kwargs = {}
+        for field in dataclasses.fields(self.dataclass):
+            if parser.has_option(section, field.name):
+                val = parser.get(section, field.name)
+
+                if val is None and self.use_env:
+                    env_var = self.env_prefix.upper() + field.name.upper()
+                    log.info(
+                        "Absent field; using an environment variable",
+                        path=p,
+                        section=section,
+                        field=field.name,
+                        env_var=env_var,
+                    )
+
+                    val = os.environ.get(env_var)
+
+                kwargs[field.name] = val
+
+            elif self.use_env:
+                env_var = self.env_prefix.upper() + field.name.upper()
+
+                log.debug(
+                    "Absent INI section; using an environment variable",
+                    path=p,
+                    section=section,
+                    field=field.name,
+                    env_var=env_var,
+                )
+
+                kwargs[field.name] = os.environ.get(env_var)
+
+        log.debug("Reading complete", dataclass=self.dataclass, kwargs=kwargs)
+
+        return self.dataclass(**kwargs)
diff --git a/tests/test_conf.py b/tests/test_conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ccfbc4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# Copyright © 2024 Genome Research Ltd. All rights reserved.
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from typing import Optional
+
+import pytest
+from pytest import mark as m
+
+from npg.conf import IniData, ParseError
+
+
+@dataclass
+class ExampleConfig:
+    """An example dataclass for testing."""
+
+    key1: str
+    key2: Optional[str] = None
+
+
+class NonDataclass:
+    """A example non-dataclass for testing."""
+
+    pass
+
+
+@m.describe("IniData")
+@m.context("When the INI file is missing")
+@m.it("Raises a ParseError")
+def test_missing_ini_file(tmp_path):
+    ini_file = tmp_path / "missing.ini"
+
+    parser = IniData(ExampleConfig)
+    with pytest.raises(ParseError):
+        parser.from_file(ini_file, "section")
+
+
+@m.context("When the dataclass is missing")
+@m.it("Raises a ValueError")
+def test_invalid_dataclass():
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        IniData(None)
+
+
+@m.context("When the dataclass is a non-dataclass")
+@m.it("Raises a ValueError")
+def test_non_dataclass():
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        IniData(NonDataclass)
+
+
+@m.context("When the INI file is present")
+@m.it("Populates a dataclass")
+def test_populate_from_ini_file(tmp_path):
+    ini_file = tmp_path / "config.ini"
+    section = "test"
+    val1 = "value1"
+    val2 = "value2"
+    ini_file.write_text(f"[{section}]\nkey1={val1}\nkey2={val2}\n")
+
+    parser = IniData(ExampleConfig)
+    assert parser.from_file(ini_file, section) == ExampleConfig(key1=val1, key2=val2)
+
+
+@m.context("When a field required by the dataclass is absent")
+@m.it("Raises a TypeError")
+def test_missing_required_value(tmp_path):
+    ini_file = tmp_path / "config.ini"
+    section = "test"
+    val2 = "value2"
+    ini_file.write_text(f"[{section}]\nkey2={val2}\n")
+
+    parser = IniData(ExampleConfig)
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError):
+        parser.from_file(ini_file, section)
+
+
+@m.context("When an optional field is absent")
+@m.it("Populates a dataclass")
+def test_missing_non_required_value(tmp_path):
+    ini_file = tmp_path / "config.ini"
+    section = "test"
+    val1 = "value1"
+    ini_file.write_text(f"[{section}]\nkey1={val1}\n")
+
+    parser = IniData(ExampleConfig)
+    assert parser.from_file(ini_file, section) == ExampleConfig(key1=val1)
+
+
+@m.context("When environment variables are not to be used")
+@m.it("Does not fall back to environment variables when a field is absent")
+def test_no_env_fallback(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    ini_file = tmp_path / "config.ini"
+    section = "test"
+    val1 = "value1"
+    ini_file.write_text(f"[{section}]\nkey1={val1}\n")
+
+    env_val2 = "environment_value2"
+    monkeypatch.setenv("KEY2", env_val2)
+
+    parser = IniData(ExampleConfig, use_env=False)
+
+    assert parser.from_file(ini_file, section) == ExampleConfig(key1=val1, key2=None)
+
+
+@m.context("When environment variables are to be used")
+@m.it("Falls back to environment variables when a field is absent")
+def test_env_fallback(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    ini_file = tmp_path / "config.ini"
+    section = "test"
+    val1 = "value1"
+    ini_file.write_text(f"[{section}]\nkey1={val1}\n")
+
+    env_val2 = "environment_value2"
+    monkeypatch.setenv("KEY2", env_val2)
+
+    parser = IniData(ExampleConfig, use_env=True)
+    assert parser.from_file(ini_file, section) == ExampleConfig(
+        key1=val1, key2=env_val2
+    )
+
+
+@m.context("When environment variables are to be used with a prefix")
+@m.it("Falls back to environment variables with a prefix when a field is absent")
+def test_env_fallback_with_prefix(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    ini_file = tmp_path / "config.ini"
+    section = "test"
+    val1 = "value1"
+    ini_file.write_text(f"[{section}]\nkey1={val1}\n")
+
+    env_val2 = "environment_value2"
+    monkeypatch.setenv("EXAMPLE_KEY2", env_val2)
+
+    parser = IniData(ExampleConfig, use_env=True, env_prefix="EXAMPLE_")
+    assert parser.from_file(ini_file, section) == ExampleConfig(
+        key1=val1, key2=env_val2
+    )