diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3c0bc1ff8ce0c409325c62442e015405066f5071..962a904dca6d63b531ee49d1cfdb4bb0bdfc110f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,6 @@
 
 */raw/
 .idea/
+
+*.cfg
+*.log
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/color.py b/color.py
index 5d1f58c007fbc1c4dc74223cf47f1e2efb7bfa69..59fc7d6bc356b77085ad6e097407195d394791a0 100644
--- a/color.py
+++ b/color.py
@@ -21,26 +21,26 @@ import re
 
 from ammsml.config import constants as C
 
-IS_COLOR: bool = True
-
-if not hasattr(sys.stdout, 'isatty') or not sys.stdout.isatty():
-    IS_COLOR = False
+AMMSML_COLOR: bool = True
+if C.AMMSML_NOCOLOR:
+    AMMSML_COLOR = False
+elif not hasattr(sys.stdout, 'isatty') or not sys.stdout.isatty():
+    AMMSML_COLOR = False
 else:
     try:
         import curses
         curses.setupterm()
         if curses.tigetnum('colors') < 0:
-            IS_COLOR = False
+            AMMSML_COLOR = False
     except ImportError:
         # curses library was not found
         pass
     except curses.error:
         # curses returns an error (e.g. could not find terminal)
-        IS_COLOR = False
+        AMMSML_COLOR = False
 
-# TODO implement some Config entry for Color
-# if C.IS_FORCE_COLOR:
-#     IS_COLOR = True
+if C.AMMSML_FORCE_COLOR:
+    AMMSML_COLOR = True
 
 # --- begin "pretty"
 #
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ def parsecolor(color):
 def stringc(text: str, color) -> str:
     """String in color."""
 
-    if IS_COLOR:
+    if AMMSML_COLOR:
         color_code = parsecolor(color)
         return "\n".join(["\033[%sm%s\033[0m" % (color_code, t) for t in text.split('\n')])
     else:
@@ -98,13 +98,13 @@ def stringc(text: str, color) -> str:
 def colorize(lead, num, color):
     """ Print 'lead' = 'num' in 'color' """
     s = "%s=%-4s" % (lead, str(num))
-    if num != 0 and IS_COLOR and color is not None:
+    if num != 0 and AMMSML_COLOR and color is not None:
         s = stringc(s, color)
     return s
 
 
 def hostcolor(host: str, stats: list, color: bool = True) -> str:
-    if IS_COLOR and color:
+    if AMMSML_COLOR and color:
         if stats['failures'] != 0 or stats['unreachable'] != 0:
             return "%-37s" % stringc(host, C.COLOR_ERROR)
         elif stats['changed'] != 0:
diff --git a/display.py b/display.py
index 14820797de908ddfbdf541a30f942123bfbe8fcc..978d6efdd326002cc9ccca1ba8911e10504ed5fc 100644
--- a/display.py
+++ b/display.py
@@ -25,13 +25,14 @@ import time
 import textwrap
 import subprocess
 import logging
+import getpass
 
 from struct import unpack, pack
 from termios import TIOCGWINSZ
 
 from ammsml.utils.color import stringc
 from ammsml.utils.parsing import to_text, boolean
-from ammsml.utils.errors import AMMSMLError
+from ammsml.utils.errors import AMMSMLError, AMMSMLAssertionError
 from ammsml.utils.singleton import Singleton, with_metaclass
 from ammsml.config import constants as C
 from ammsml.utils.wrap import wrap_var
@@ -47,15 +48,16 @@ class FilterBlackList(logging.Filter):
 
 logger = None
 # TODO: make this a callback event instead
-# if getattr(C, 'DEFAULT_LOG_PATH'):
-#     path = C.DEFAULT_LOG_PATH
-#     if path and (os.path.exists(path) and os.access(path, os.W_OK)) or os.access(os.path.dirname(path), os.W_OK):
-#         logging.basicConfig(filename=path, level=logging.INFO, format='%(asctime)s p=%(user)s u=%(process)d | %(message)s')
-#         logger = logging.LoggerAdapter(logging.getLogger('ammsml'), {'user': getpass.getuser()})
-#         for handler in logging.root.handlers:
-#             handler.addFilter(FilterBlackList(getattr(C, 'DEFAULT_LOG_FILTER', [])))
-#     else:
-#         print("[WARNING]: log file at %s is not writeable and we cannot create it, aborting\n" % path, file=sys.stderr)
+if getattr(C, 'DEFAULT_LOG_PATH'):
+    path = C.DEFAULT_LOG_PATH
+    if path and (os.path.exists(path) and os.access(path, os.W_OK)) or os.access(os.path.dirname(path), os.W_OK):
+        logging.basicConfig(filename=path, level=logging.INFO,
+                            format='%(asctime)s p=%(user)s u=%(process)d | %(message)s')
+        logger = logging.LoggerAdapter(logging.getLogger('ammsml'), {'user': getpass.getuser()})
+        for handler in logging.root.handlers:
+            handler.addFilter(FilterBlackList(getattr(C, 'DEFAULT_LOG_FILTER', [])))
+    else:
+        print("[WARNING]: log file at %s is not writeable and we cannot create it, aborting\n" % path, file=sys.stderr)
 
 
 # map color to log levels
@@ -150,6 +152,26 @@ class Display(with_metaclass(Singleton, object)):
                 if e.errno != errno.EPIPE:
                     raise
 
+        if logger and not screen_only:
+            # We first convert to a byte string so that we get rid of
+            # color and characters that are invalid in the user's locale
+            msg2 = to_text(nocolor.lstrip(u'\n'))
+
+            if sys.version_info >= (3,):
+                # Convert back to text string on python3
+                msg2 = to_text(msg2, self._output_encoding(stderr=stderr))
+
+            lvl = logging.INFO
+            if color:
+                # set logger level based on color (not great)
+                try:
+                    lvl = color_to_log_level[color]
+                except KeyError:
+                    # this should not happen, but JIC
+                    raise AMMSMLAssertionError('Invalid color supplied to display: %s' % color)
+            # actually log
+            logger.log(lvl, msg2)
+
     def v(self, msg, host=None):
         return self.verbose(msg, host=host, caplevel=0)
 
@@ -169,7 +191,6 @@ class Display(with_metaclass(Singleton, object)):
         return self.verbose(msg, host=host, caplevel=5)
 
     def debug(self, msg, host=None):
-        # TODO boolean() neccesary?
         if boolean(C.DEFAULT_DEBUG):
             if host is None:
                 self.display("%6d %0.5f: %s" % (os.getpid(), time.time(), msg), color=C.COLOR_DEBUG)
diff --git a/errors/__init__.py b/errors/__init__.py
index 7596195c08db81fbc1f06854df37d7a54e542a5a..dec48f73ba46f3d8c5a7ace3b11160c199716c7f 100644
--- a/errors/__init__.py
+++ b/errors/__init__.py
@@ -195,3 +195,8 @@ class TemplateParsingError(AMMSMLError):
 class AMMSMLOptionsError(AMMSMLError):
 
     pass
+
+
+class AMMSMLAssertionError(AMMSMLError, AssertionError):
+    """Invalid assertion"""
+    pass
diff --git a/path.py b/path.py
index 8c7e365ba6693ece17d10ba5de8d025478dc1242..fec51a44fe51d53442312696c5d42209889bbc21 100644
--- a/path.py
+++ b/path.py
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ def unfrackpath(path, follow=True, basedir=None):
     """
     Returns a path that is free of symlinks (if follow=True), environment variables,
     relative path traversals and symbols (~)
-    :param path: A byte or text string representing a path to be canonicalized
+    :param path: A byte or text string representing a path to be canonised
     :param follow: A boolean to indicate of symlinks should be resolved or not
-    :raises UnicodeDecodeError: If the canonicalized version of the path
+    :raises UnicodeDecodeError: If the canonised version of the path
         contains non-utf8 byte sequences.
     :rtype: A text string
     :returns: An absolute path with symlinks, environment variables, and tilde