def METHOD_NAME(config_file):
    default_config = {}
    if not os.path.exists(config_file):
        return default_config
    with open(config_file, 'r') as f:
        for line in f.readlines():
            try:
                config_key, config_value = line.split('=')
            except ValueError:
                continue
            default_config[config_key] = config_value
    return default_config