diff --git a/utils/bootstrap.pl b/utils/bootstrap.pl
index 3dd41ba..121065c 100755
--- a/utils/bootstrap.pl
+++ b/utils/bootstrap.pl
@@ -3,14 +3,29 @@
 use warnings;
 use strict;
 use Digest::MD5 qw(md5_hex);
-
-my $myNode = $ARGV[0] || die("usage: ./bootstrap.pl node-id\n");
+use Getopt::Std;
+my $myNode = "";
+my $passwdFile =  "passwd";
+my $callFile = "call";
+my $confFile = "config";
+my $sysFile = "sys";
+my $portFile = "port";
+my %options = ();
 
 sub getNodes {
 	my $nodelist = "../nodelist";
 
 	open(my $data, '<', $nodelist) or die ("Cannot open nodelist");
 
+	if ($options{t}) {
+		print("Truncating existing files\n");
+		truncate($passwdFile,0);
+		truncate($callFile,0);
+		truncate($confFile,0);
+		truncate($sysFile,0);
+		truncate($portFile,0);
+	}
+
 	print("Generating files\n");
 	while (my $line = <$data>) {
 		chomp $line;
@@ -48,7 +63,6 @@ sub generatePort {
 		protocol etyig
 	};
 
-	my $portFile = "port";
 	open(FH, '>>', $portFile);
 	print FH $template;
 }
@@ -76,8 +90,6 @@ sub generateSys {
 		port $currentNode
 	};
 
-	my $sysFile = "sys";
-
 	open(FH, '>>', $sysFile);
 	print FH $template;
 }
@@ -85,7 +97,6 @@ sub generateSys {
 sub generateConfig {
 	my $nodeName = shift;
 
-	my $confFile = "config";
 	open(FH, '>>',$confFile);
 
 	my $nodeConfig = "nodename\t\t".$nodeName."\n";
@@ -103,7 +114,6 @@ sub getKeys {
 sub generateCall{
 	my $nodeName = shift;
 
-	my $callFile = "call";
 
 	my $password = $nodeName.$myNode;
 	my $callHash = md5_hex($password);
@@ -116,7 +126,6 @@ sub generateCall{
 sub generatePasswd {
 	my $nodeName = shift;
 
-	my $passwdFile =  "passwd";
 
 	my $password = $myNode.$nodeName;
 	my $passwdHash = md5_hex($password);
@@ -131,14 +140,36 @@ sub preCheck()
 {
 	print("Updating git repo\n");
 	chdir("../");
-	system("git pull");
+	#system("git pull");
 	print("Installing authorized_keys\n");
-	rename("authorized_keys",".ssh/authorized_keys");
+	#rename("authorized_keys",".ssh/authorized_keys");
 	chdir("./utils");
 	print("Pre-flight checks done\n");
 	getNodes();
 }
 
+sub showHelp()
+{
+	print("Usage: bootstrap.pl [OPTION...] node-id\n");
+	print("Generate uucp configuration files.\n\n");
+	print("  -t     truncate files before appending config\n");
+	print("  -h     display this help and exit\n");
+}
+
+getopts("ht", \%options);
+
+if ($ARGV[0]) {
+	my $myNode=$ARGV[0];
+} else {
+	showHelp();
+	exit;
+}
+
+if ($options{h}) {
+	showHelp();
+	exit;
+}
+
 preCheck();
 print("\n\n");
 print("This setup script has finished. Please move the generated configuration files as ROOT to /etc/uucp\n");