diff --git a/xCAT-buildkit/bin/buildkit b/xCAT-buildkit/bin/buildkit
index 70947316d..46ccf1c39 100755
--- a/xCAT-buildkit/bin/buildkit
+++ b/xCAT-buildkit/bin/buildkit
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
      cleantar              - deletes the Kit deployment directory and Kit
      cleanall               - equivalent to buildkit cleanrepo all and
                                             buildkit cleantar
-     addpkgs -p <packagedir> [--kitversion <version>] [--kitrelease <release>] <kit tarfile>
+     addpkgs -p <packagedir> [-k|--kitversion <version>] [-r|--kitrelease <release>] <kit tarfile>
                            - used by customer to add external product
                              packages when they are not built into the 
                              shipped kit tar file
@@ -317,8 +317,8 @@ if (
                 'v|version'    => \$::VERSION,
                 'V|verbose'    => \$::VERBOSE,
                 'p|pkgdir=s'   => \$::PKGDIR,
-                'kitversion=s' => \$::KITVERSION,
-                'kitrelease=s' => \$::KITRELEASE,
+                'k|kitversion=s' => \$::KITVERSION,
+                'r|kitrelease=s' => \$::KITRELEASE,
     )
   )
 {
@@ -2336,6 +2336,8 @@ sub create_kitconf
             }
             $::kit_config->{$s}{entries}[$li]->{$a} = $se->{$a};
           }
+          # cp_to_kitconfig=2 means copy the file to the new kit
+          # but only do the copy if this is a final kit build
           if (( $::buildkit_def{$s}{$a}->{cp_to_kitconfig} eq '2' ) &&
               ( defined ($se->{$a}) ) &&
               !$::HAVE_EXTERNAL_PKG && !$::HAVE_NON_NATIVE_PKGS ) {
@@ -2346,10 +2348,15 @@ sub create_kitconf
                     ($a eq 'genimage_postinstall')) {
                     $prefix = "KIT_".$prefix;
                 }
-            }
-            if ( !($::kit_config->{$s}{entries}[$li]->{$a} = 
+                if ( !($::kit_config->{$s}{entries}[$li]->{$a} = 
+                   &cp_to_builddir($a,$se->{$a},$::workdir.'/'.$::buildkit_def{$s}{$a}->{base_dir},$prefix, $::bldkit_config->{$s}{entries}[$li])) ) {
+                   return 1;
+                }
+            } else {
+                if ( !($::kit_config->{$s}{entries}[$li]->{$a} = 
                     &cp_to_builddir($a,$se->{$a},$::workdir.'/'.$::buildkit_def{$s}{$a}->{base_dir},$prefix)) ) {
-              return 1;
+                  return 1;
+                }
             }
           }
         }
@@ -2441,6 +2448,7 @@ sub create_kitconf
 =head3    cp_to_builddir
 	
    Copy specified files into the build directory renaming as indicated
+   and substituting strings if needed
 
 =cut
 
@@ -2454,6 +2462,7 @@ sub cp_to_builddir
     my $files = shift;
     my $from_dir = shift;
     my $prefix = shift;
+    my $kitcomp = shift;
 
     my $copied_files;
     my $other_files = $::deploy_dir."/other_files";
@@ -2467,14 +2476,42 @@ sub cp_to_builddir
         my $from_file_base = basename($file); 
         my $to_file_base = $prefix."_".$from_file_base;
         my $to_file = $other_files."/".$to_file_base;
-        if ( system("cp -fp $from_file $to_file") ) {
-            # non-zero return from system call
+
+        # Read in the file
+        my $FF;
+        unless ( open( $FF, "<", $from_file ) ) {
+            print  "The Kit file $from_file could not be read. \n";
+            return 1;
+        }
+        my @lines = <$FF>;
+        for (@lines) {
+            s/<<<buildkit_WILL_INSERT_kit_name_HERE>>>/$::bldkit_config->{kit}{entries}[0]->{kitname}/g;
+            s/<<<buildkit_WILL_INSERT_kit_basename_HERE>>>/$::bldkit_config->{kit}{entries}[0]->{basename}/g;
+            s/<<<buildkit_WILL_INSERT_kit_version_HERE>>>/$::bldkit_config->{kit}{entries}[0]->{version}/g;
+            s/<<<buildkit_WILL_INSERT_kit_release_HERE>>>/$::bldkit_config->{kit}{entries}[0]->{release}/g;
+            if ( defined ($kitcomp) ) {
+                s/<<<buildkit_WILL_INSERT_kitcomponent_name_HERE>>>/$kitcomp->{kitcompname}/g;
+                s/<<<buildkit_WILL_INSERT_kitcomponent_basename_HERE>>>/$kitcomp->{basename}/g;
+                s/<<<buildkit_WILL_INSERT_kitcomponent_version_HERE>>>/$kitcomp->{version}/g;
+                s/<<<buildkit_WILL_INSERT_kitcomponent_release_HERE>>>/$kitcomp->{release}/g;
+            }
+        }
+        # Write the file back out
+        my $TF;
+        unless ( open( $TF, ">$to_file" ) ) {
             print "Error copying file $from_file to build directory $other_files \n";
-            return;
-         }        
+            return 1;
+        }
+        if ($::VERBOSE) {
+            print "Copied $from_file to $to_file replacing kit and kitcomponent strings as needed. \n";
+        }
+        print $TF @lines;
+        close($TF);
+
         $copied_files .= ",$to_file_base";
  
-        if ($type eq 'postbootscripts') {
+        if (($type eq 'postbootscripts') ||  
+            ($type eq 'genimage_postinstall')) {
             system("chmod 755 $to_file");
         }
     }
@@ -2792,6 +2829,10 @@ sub edit_plugin
 {
     my $file = shift; 
     my $kitname = $::bldkit_config->{kit}{entries}[0]->{kitname};
+    # convert dashes to underscore since the kitname is used as perl pkg names
+    # in the plugin and this causes perl syntax errors
+    $kitname =~ s/\-/\_/g;
+    $kitname =~ s/\./\_/g;
 
     # read in the file
     my $PF;