diff --git a/rptk/command_line.py b/rptk/command_line.py
index 63482bf..75db433 100644
--- a/rptk/command_line.py
+++ b/rptk/command_line.py
@@ -1,24 +1,30 @@
 import sys
 import logging
+import argparse
 from rptk import configuration, dispatch
 
 
 def main():
     log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
     try:
+        parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
+        parser.add_argument(
+            '--debug', '-d', action='store_const', const=logging.DEBUG, dest='log_level',
+            help="print debug logging output", default=logging.WARNING
+        )
+        args, argv = parser.parse_known_args()
         lh = logging.StreamHandler()
         lf = logging.Formatter(fmt="%(asctime)s %(name)s: %(levelname)s %(message)s")
         lh.setFormatter(lf)
         logging.getLogger().addHandler(lh)
-        logging.getLogger().setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+        logging.getLogger().setLevel(args.log_level)
     except Exception as e:
         log.error(msg=e.message)
         return 1
     try:
         log.debug(msg="started")
-        argv = sys.argv[1:]
         log.debug(msg="have %s arguments" % len(argv))
-        config = configuration.Config(argv=argv)
+        config = configuration.Config(argv=argv, parser=parser)
         log.debug(msg="configuration done")
         dispatcher = dispatch.Dispatcher(config=config)
         log.debug(msg="dispatcher ready")
diff --git a/rptk/configuration.py b/rptk/configuration.py
index 1addf1a..b973fd7 100644
--- a/rptk/configuration.py
+++ b/rptk/configuration.py
@@ -1,18 +1,20 @@
 import os
 import ConfigParser
 import argparse
+import logging
 from rptk import _BaseObject
 from rptk.load import ClassLoader
 
 
 class Config(_BaseObject):
-    def __init__(self, argv=None, opts=None):
+    def __init__(self, argv=None, opts=None, parser=None):
         super(Config, self).__init__()
         self.log_init()
         if not argv:
             self.log.debug(msg="no command line args received")
             argv = list()
-        parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
+        if not parser:
+            parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
         config = ConfigParser.SafeConfigParser()
         default_config_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)), 'rptk.conf')
         parser.add_argument(
@@ -24,8 +26,9 @@ def __init__(self, argv=None, opts=None):
         config.read(partial_args.config_path)
         try:
             defaults = dict(config.items("defaults"))
-        except ConfigParser.Error:
-            raise
+        except ConfigParser.Error as e:
+            self.log.error(msg=e.message)
+            raise e
         if opts:
             if not isinstance(opts, dict):
                 self.raise_type_error(arg=opts, cls=dict)
diff --git a/rptk/rptk.conf b/rptk/rptk.conf
index 16582dd..d95dd19 100644
--- a/rptk/rptk.conf
+++ b/rptk/rptk.conf
@@ -15,3 +15,4 @@ yaml: rptk.modules.format.yamlf.YamlFormat
 ios: rptk.modules.format.ios.IosFormat
 junos: rptk.modules.format.junos.JunosFormat
 bird: rptk.modules.format.bird.BirdFormat
+