diff --git a/scripts/check_vcdat_update.py b/scripts/check_vcdat_update.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 3473470..d8cf396
--- a/scripts/check_vcdat_update.py
+++ b/scripts/check_vcdat_update.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import subprocess
 
 
-def run_command(cmd, stdin=None):
+def run_command(cmd, stdin=None, verbose=False):
     commands = cmd.split("|")
     if len(commands) > 1:
         p = subprocess.Popen(
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ def run_command(cmd, stdin=None):
             stdin=stdin)
         return run_command("|".join(commands[1:]), stdin=p.stdout)
     else:
+        if verbose: print("Excuting:",cmd)
         cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
         p = subprocess.Popen(
             cmd,
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ def run_command(cmd, stdin=None):
     help="update env if needed")
 P.add_argument("-C", "--copy", action="store_true", default=False,
                help="create a copy of the environment before updating")
+P.add_argument("-v", "--verbose", default=False, action="store_true", help="verbose mode")
 P.add_argument(
     "-c",
     "--channels",
@@ -53,17 +55,18 @@ def run_command(cmd, stdin=None):
 # retrieve cdat channels used
 cmd = "conda list | grep cdat | awk '{print $NF}'"
 channels = run_command(cmd).split()
-channels.remove("<pip>")
+if "<pip>" in channels:
+    channels.remove("<pip>")
 if channels[0].find(":") != -1:
     channels.pop(0)
 channels = list(set(channels))
 if "cdat/label/nightly" in channels:
     channels.remove("cdat/label/nightly")
     channels.insert(0, "cdat/label/nightly")
-channels += P.channels
+channels = P.channels + channels
 # Did the user send us more channels
 cmd = "conda update --dry-run vcs-js vcdat -c {}".format(" -c ".join(channels))
-result = run_command(cmd)
+result = run_command(cmd, verbose=P.verbose)
 update = result.find("UPDATED")
 if update > -1:
     spl = result[update + 8:].split("\n")
@@ -84,4 +87,4 @@ def run_command(cmd, stdin=None):
     if answer[0].lower() == "y":
         cmd = "conda update -y vcs-js vcdat -c {}".format(
             " -c ".join(channels))
-        run_command(cmd)
+        run_command(cmd, verbose=P.verbose)