diff --git a/xCAT-client/bin/pping b/xCAT-client/bin/pping
index e75c43692..0c59acf3e 100755
--- a/xCAT-client/bin/pping
+++ b/xCAT-client/bin/pping
@@ -8,29 +8,53 @@ BEGIN
 {
     $::XCATROOT = $ENV{'XCATROOT'} ? $ENV{'XCATROOT'} : -d '/opt/xcat' ? '/opt/xcat' : '/usr';
 }
+use strict;
 use lib "$::XCATROOT/lib/perl";
 
+use xCAT::Utils;
+use POSIX qw(:signal_h :errno_h :sys_wait_h);
 use IO::Socket::SSL;
 use XML::Simple;
 $XML::Simple::PREFERRED_PARSER='XML::Parser';
 use Data::Dumper;
 use IO::Handle;
 use IO::Select;
-use xCAT::Utils;
 use Getopt::Long;
+
+my $USAGE="Usage: pping [-i|--interface interface] noderange
+       pping -h|--help
+       pping -v|--version\n"; 
+
 my $interface;
-GetOptions("interface=s" => \$interface);
+if(!GetOptions(
+      'h|help'     => \$::HELP,
+      'v|version'  => \$::VERSION,
+      'X|noexpand'  => \$::NOEXPAND,
+      'interface=s' => \$interface))
+	{
+		print "$USAGE";
+		exit 1;
+	}
+
+if ($::HELP) {  print "$USAGE"; exit 0}
+if ($::VERSION) {print xCAT::Utils->Version() . "\n"; exit 0}
 my $xcathost='localhost:3001';
 if ($ENV{XCATHOST}) {
   $xcathost=$ENV{XCATHOST};
 }
 
 unless (@ARGV) {
-    print "Usage: pping [-i suffix] <noderange>\n";
+    print "$USAGE";
     exit(1);
 }
 my $noderange = $ARGV[0];
-my $client = IO::Socket::SSL->new(
+my @nodes=();
+
+if ($::NOEXPAND) {		# this is when ppping is calling us and has already expanded the noderange
+	@nodes = split(/,/, $noderange);
+}
+else { 		# the normal case of the user running the cmd - expand the noderange using xcatd
+	my $client = IO::Socket::SSL->new(
                 PeerAddr=>$xcathost,
                 SSL_key_file=> xCAT::Utils->getHomeDir()."/.xcat/client-cred.pem",
                 SSL_cert_file=> xCAT::Utils->getHomeDir()."/.xcat/client-cred.pem",
@@ -38,34 +62,39 @@ my $client = IO::Socket::SSL->new(
                 SSL_use_cert => 1,
                 #SSL_verify_mode => 1,
              );
-die "Connection failure: $!\n" unless ($client);
-my %cmdref = (command => 'noderange', noderange => $noderange);
-$SIG{ALRM} = sub { die "No response getting noderange" };
-alarm(15);
-print $client XMLout(\%cmdref,RootName=>'xcatrequest', NoAttr=>1, KeyAttr => []);
-alarm(15);
-my $response="";
-my @nodes=();
-while (<$client>) {
-  alarm(0);
-  $response .= $_;
-  if ($response =~ m/<\/xcatresponse>/) {
-    $rsp=XMLin($response, ForceArray => ['node']);
-    $response='';
-    if ($rsp->{warning}) {
-      printf "Warning: ".$rsp->{warning}."\n";
-    }
-    if ($rsp->{error}) {
-      die ("ERROR: ".$rsp->{error}."\n");
-    } elsif ($rsp->{node}) {
-      @nodes=@{$rsp->{node}};
-    }
-    if ($rsp->{serverdone}) {
-      last;
-    }
-  }
+	die "Connection failure: $!\n" unless ($client);
+	my %cmdref = (command => 'noderange', noderange => $noderange);
+	$SIG{ALRM} = sub { die "No response getting noderange" };
+	alarm(15);
+	print $client XMLout(\%cmdref,RootName=>'xcatrequest', NoAttr=>1, KeyAttr => []);
+	alarm(15);
+	my $response="";
+	while (<$client>) {
+	  alarm(0);
+	  $response .= $_;
+	  if ($response =~ m/<\/xcatresponse>/) {
+	    my $rsp=XMLin($response, ForceArray => ['node']);
+	    $response='';
+	    if ($rsp->{warning}) {
+	      printf "Warning: ".$rsp->{warning}."\n";
+	    }
+	    if ($rsp->{error}) {
+	      die ("ERROR: ".$rsp->{error}."\n");
+	    } elsif ($rsp->{node}) {
+	      @nodes=@{$rsp->{node}};
+	    }
+	    if ($rsp->{serverdone}) {
+	      last;
+	    }
+	  }
+	}
+	close($client);
+}	# end of else that expands the noderange using xcatd
+
+unless (scalar(@nodes)) {
+   exit 1;
 }
-close($client);
+
 my $children = 0;
 my $inputs = new IO::Select;
 $SIG{CHLD} = sub { while (waitpid(-1,WNOHANG) > 0) { $children--; } };
@@ -75,10 +104,6 @@ if ($interface) {
   }
 }
 
-#exec "fping ".join(' ',@nodes). " 2> /dev/null";
-unless (scalar(@nodes)) {
-   exit;
-}
 if (-x '/usr/bin/nmap' or -x '/usr/local/bin/nmap') {
     nmap_pping();
     exit;
diff --git a/xCAT-client/bin/ppping b/xCAT-client/bin/ppping
index f1bcff1d9..a90c34c44 100755
--- a/xCAT-client/bin/ppping
+++ b/xCAT-client/bin/ppping
@@ -14,8 +14,11 @@ BEGIN
 	# XCATROOT must be set for this script to work
   $::XCATROOT = $ENV{'XCATROOT'} ? $ENV{'XCATROOT'} : '/opt/xcat';  
 }
+use strict;
 use lib "$::XCATROOT/lib/perl";
 
+use xCAT::Utils;
+use POSIX qw(:signal_h :errno_h :sys_wait_h);
 use IO::Socket::SSL;
 use XML::Simple;
 if ($^O =~ /^linux/i) {
@@ -24,25 +27,22 @@ if ($^O =~ /^linux/i) {
 use Data::Dumper;
 use IO::Handle;
 use IO::Select;
-use xCAT::Utils;
 use Getopt::Long;
 my $interface;
-my $DEBUG = 0;
-my $VERBOSE = 0;
-my $HIERARCHY = 0;
 
-my $USAGE="Usage: ppping [-i|--interface interface] [-d|--debug] [-v|--verbose] [-s|--serial] noderange
+my $USAGE="Usage: ppping [-i|--interface interfaces] [-d|--debug] [-V|--verbose] [-q|--quiet] [-s|--serial] [-H|--hierarchical] noderange
        ppping -h|--help
-       ppping  -V|--version\n"; 
+       ppping  -v|--version\n"; 
 
 # Parse the options
 if(!GetOptions(
       'h|help'     => \$::HELP,
       'v|version'  => \$::VERSION,
       's|serial'  => \$::SERIAL,
-      'd|debug'  => \$DEBUG,
-      'V|verbose'  => \$VERBOSE,
-      'H|hierarchical' => \$HIERARCHY,
+      'd|debug'  => \$::DEBUG,
+      'V|verbose'  => \$::VERBOSE,
+      'H|hierarchical' => \$::HIERARCHY,
+      'q|quiet' => \$::QUIET,
       'interface=s' => \$interface))
 {
   print "$USAGE";
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ if ($::VERSION) {print xCAT::Utils->Version() . "\n"; exit 0}
 
 # A method to prefix and print debug information only if it is wanted.
 sub debug {
-  $debug_text = shift;
-  if($DEBUG){
+  my $debug_text = shift;
+  if($::DEBUG){
     print("---$debug_text");
   }
 }
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ while (<$client>) {
   alarm(0);
   $response .= $_;
   if ($response =~ m/<\/xcatresponse>/) {
-    $rsp=XMLin($response, ForceArray => ['node']);
+    my $rsp=XMLin($response, ForceArray => ['node']);
     $response='';
     if ($rsp->{warning}) {
       printf "Warning: ".$rsp->{warning}."\n";
@@ -117,30 +117,35 @@ close($client);
 debug("[stop] - recieve nodes from xcatd\n");
 debug("\@nodes LENGTH:" . scalar @nodes . "\n");
 
+unless (scalar(@nodes)) {
+  exit 1;
+}
+
 my $children = 0;
 my $inputs = new IO::Select;
 $SIG{CHLD} = sub { while (waitpid(-1,WNOHANG) > 0) { $children--; } };
 
-unless (scalar(@nodes)) {
-  exit;
-}
-
 ## Use pping to determine which nodes are reachable
 my @reachable_nodes=();
 my @unreachable_nodes=();
 debug("[start] - find unreachable nodes\n");
-open (PPING, "$::XCATROOT/bin/pping ".join(',',@nodes). " 2> /dev/null|") or die("Cannot open pping-internal pipe: $!");
+my $cmd = "$::XCATROOT/bin/pping ".join(',',@nodes). " --noexpand 2>&1";
+debug("Running '$cmd'\n");
+open (PPING, "$cmd |") or die("Cannot open ppinginternal pipe: $!");
 while (<PPING>) {
   if ($_ =~ / ping/) {
       my @a_tmp=split(':', $_);
       push(@reachable_nodes, $a_tmp[0]);
   } 
-  else {
+  elsif ($_ =~ /noping/) {
     my @a_tmp=split(':', $_);
     push(@unreachable_nodes, $a_tmp[0]);
   }
+  else { print $_; }	# probably an error msg, so just echo it
 }
 close(PPING);
+# this next line seems to always have a non-zero $?, even if pping succeeded...
+#if ($?) { die "Error in the pping command used to first test the nodes (exit code=" . ($?>>8) . ").\n"; }
 debug("[stop] - find unreachable nodes\n");
 
 ## Dispose of the unreachable nodes now
@@ -153,54 +158,91 @@ foreach(@unreachable_nodes) {
 debug("[start] - deal with reachable nodes\n");
 debug("REACHABLE_NODES:@reachable_nodes\n");
 
-if (@reachable_nodes > 0) {
-  my $allnodes=join(',', @nodes);
+if (@reachable_nodes == 0) { exit 1; }
 
-  # If verbose is set, take out the quiet flag
-  my $quiet = "-q";
-  if($VERBOSE){
-    $quiet = "";
-  }
-  # If hierarchical behavior is wanted, take out the bypass flag
-  my $bypass = "-B";
-  if($HIERARCHY){
-    $bypass = "";
-  }
-  my $i_string = "";
-  if($interface) {
-    $i_string = "-i $interface";
-  }
+my $allnodes=join(',', @nodes);
+
+# Note: even if verbose is not set, we still do not want to set the quiet flag because we want
+#			to count the pings that come back, unless they request fully quiet mode.
+my $quiet = "";
+if($::QUIET) { $quiet = "-q "; }
+# If hierarchical behavior is wanted, take out the bypass flag
+my $bypass = "-B";
+if($::HIERARCHY){ $bypass = ""; }
+
+my @interfaces;
+if ($interface) { @interfaces = split(/,/, $interface); }
+else { $interfaces[0] = ''; }
+
+# Possible todo: this loop runs xdsh pping2 for each interface.  An optimization could be to send all
+#		the interfaces to pping2 at once.  But this would mix up all the ping responses and making it
+#		harder to tell what is going on.
+foreach my $interf (@interfaces) {
+  my $i_string = $interf ? "-i $interf " : '';
 
   ## If the serial option was set, pping2 one reachable node at a time.
   if ($::SERIAL) {
   	debug("SERIAL:$::SERIAL\n");
   	debug("[start] - xdsh to each reachable node\n");
     foreach(@reachable_nodes) {
-      my $result;
-
-      my $command = "$::XCATROOT/bin/xdsh $_ $bypass -e $::XCATROOT/sbin/pping2 \"$i_string $quiet $allnodes\" 2>&1";
-
-      debug("Running \'$command\'\n");
-      $result=`$command`;
-      print "$result";
+      	my $command = "$::XCATROOT/bin/xdsh $_ $bypass -s -e $::XCATROOT/sbin/pping2 \"$i_string$quiet$allnodes\" 2>&1";
+      	debug("Running '$command'\n");
+    	open (PPING2, "$command |") or die("Cannot open xdsh internal pipe: $!");
+		# Print out the result
+		my %numpings;
+    	while (<PPING2>) {
+    		output($_, \%numpings, $interf);
+    	}
+    	close(PPING2);
     }
 	debug("[stop] - xdsh to each reachable node\n");
   }
 	
   ## If the serial option was not set, pping2 all the reachable nodes simultaneously.
   else {
-		debug("SERIAL not set.\n");
+	debug("SERIAL not set.\n");
     my $node_string=join(',', @reachable_nodes);
-    my $command = "$::XCATROOT/bin/xdsh $node_string $bypass -s -e $::XCATROOT/sbin/pping2 \"$i_string $quiet $allnodes\" 2> /dev/null|";
-    debug("Running \'$command\'\n");
-    open (PPING2, "$command") or die("Cannot open pping-internal pipe: $!");
-		# Print out the result
+    my $command = "$::XCATROOT/bin/xdsh $node_string $bypass -s -e $::XCATROOT/sbin/pping2 \"$i_string$quiet$allnodes\" 2>&1";
+    debug("Running '$command'\n");
+    open (PPING2, "$command |") or die("Cannot open xdsh internal pipe: $!");
+	# Print out the result
+	my %numpings;
     while (<PPING2>) {
-      print "$_";
+    	output($_, \%numpings, $interf);
     }
-    close(PPING2); 
+    close(PPING2);
   }
 }
 debug("[stop] - deal with reachable nodes\n");
 
 exit 0;
+
+# Process the output if the xdsh pping2 commands
+sub output {
+	my $line = shift;
+	my $numpings = shift;
+	my $interface = shift;
+      if ($line =~ /^\s*$/) { return; }		# xdsh had a habit of adding an extra blank line in streaming mode
+      # In verbose mode we just echo everything.  In quiet mode, the only thing that will come back
+      # from pping2 are the nopings, so we echo everything in that case too.
+      if ($::VERBOSE || $::QUIET) { print "$line";  return; }
+      
+      # This is the default case in which pping2 will return both pings and nopings.
+      # We want to count the pings and display the nopings.
+      my $node;
+      if ( ($node) = $line =~ /^(\S+):.+:\s+ping$/) {
+      	if (!($numpings->{$node}==-1)) {
+      		$numpings->{$node}++;
+    		# If we got pings for all the nodes then print success
+      		if ($numpings->{$node} >= scalar(@nodes)) {
+      			my $istr = $interface ? " on interface $interface" : '';
+      			print "$node: pinged all nodes successfully$istr\n";
+      			$numpings->{$node} = -1;
+      		}
+      	}
+      }
+      else {
+      	print "$line";
+      	if ( ($node) = $line =~ /^(\S+?):/) { $numpings->{$node} = -1; }		# something beside ping, stop counting
+      }
+}
diff --git a/xCAT-client/pods/man1/pping.1.pod b/xCAT-client/pods/man1/pping.1.pod
index 261024cd3..0df9262c7 100644
--- a/xCAT-client/pods/man1/pping.1.pod
+++ b/xCAT-client/pods/man1/pping.1.pod
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 
 =head1 NAME
 
-B<pping> - parallel ping.
+B<pping> - parallel ping the nodes.
 
 =head1 SYNOPSIS
 
-B<pping>  [B<-q>] [B<-s>] [B<-i> I<interface>] I<noderange>
+B<pping> [B<-i>|B<--interface> I<interface>] I<noderange>
 
 B<pping> [B<-h>|B<--help>]
 
@@ -14,42 +14,56 @@ B<pping> {B<-v>|B<--version>}
 
 =head1 DESCRIPTION
 
-B<pping> is a utility used to ping list of nodes in parallel.See noderange(3).
-B<pping> will return an unsorted list of nodes with a ping or noping status.  The list is actually sorted by first ping, unless -s is specified.
-B<pping> front-ends ping and fping if available.
+B<pping> is a utility used to ping a list of nodes in parallel.
+B<pping> will return an unsorted list of nodes with a ping or noping status.
+B<pping> front-ends nmap and fping if available.
 
 This command does not support the xcatd client/server communication.  It must be run on the management node.
 
 =head1 OPTIONS
 
-B<-q> quiet, only show noping nodes
+=over 10
 
-B<-s> Ping serially
+=item B<-i>|B<--interface> I<interface>
 
-B<-i interface> interface
+An interface name that should be pinged instead of the interface represented by the nodename/hostname.
+The following name resolution convention is assumed:  an interface is reachable by the hostname <nodename>-<interface>.  For example,
+the ib2 interface on node3 has a hostname of node3-ib2.
 
-B<-h | help>  help
+=item B<-h>|B<--help>
 
-B<-v | version> version
+Show usage information.
 
+=item B<-v>|B<--version>
+
+Display the installed version of xCAT.
+
+=back
 
 =head1 EXAMPLES
 
-	pping all
+=over 3
 
-	blade7: ping
-	blade8: ping
-	blade9: ping
-	devmaster: ping
-	node4: ping
-	node2: noping
+=item 1.
 
-	pping -q all
+pping all
 
-	node2: noping
+ blade7: ping
+ blade8: ping
+ blade9: ping
+ devmaster: ping
+ node4: ping
+ node2: noping
 
+=item 2.
+
+pping all -i eth1
+
+ node2-eth1: noping
+
+=back
 
 =head1 SEE ALSO
 
-L<psh(1)|psh.1>
+L<psh(1)|psh.1>, L<noderange(3)|noderange.3>
 
diff --git a/xCAT-client/pods/man1/ppping.1.pod b/xCAT-client/pods/man1/ppping.1.pod
index cb5099df0..10683dae5 100644
--- a/xCAT-client/pods/man1/ppping.1.pod
+++ b/xCAT-client/pods/man1/ppping.1.pod
@@ -1,57 +1,98 @@
 
 =head1 NAME
 
-B<ppping> - parallel ping between nodes in cluster.
+B<ppping> - parallel ping from nodes to other nodes in the cluster.
 
 =head1 SYNOPSIS
 
-B<ppping>   [B<-s>] [B<-i> I<interface>] I<noderange>
+B<ppping> [B<-i>|B<--interface> I<interfaces>] [B<-d>|B<--debug>] [B<-V>|B<--verbose>] [B<-q>|B<--quiet>] [B<-s>|B<--serial>] [B<-H>|B<--hierarchical>] I<noderange>
 
 B<ppping> [B<-h>|B<--help>]
 
 B<pping> {B<-v>|B<--version>}
 
-
 =head1 DESCRIPTION
 
-B<ppping> is a utility used to test ping between nodes in the noderange.
-B<ppping> will return an unsorted list of nodes with a noping status.  
-B<ppping> front-ends ping and fping if available.
+B<ppping> is a utility used to test the connectivity between nodes in the noderange using ping.
+By default, B<ppping> will return an unsorted list of the node pairs that are not able to ping each other, or a message that all nodes are pingable.
+More or less output can be controlled by the -V and -q options.
+B<ppping> front-ends B<pping> and B<xdsh>.
 
 This command does not support the xcatd client/server communication.  It must be run on the management node. 
 
-
 =head1 OPTIONS
 
+=over 10
 
-B<-s> Ping serially
+=item B<-s>
 
-B<-i interface> interface
+Ping serially instead of in parallel.
 
-B<-V | verbose> verbose
+=item B<-i>|B<--interface> I<interfaces>
 
-B<-H | hierarchical> Allow management node hierarchy
+A comma separated list of network interface names that should be pinged instead of the interface represented by the nodename/hostname.
+The following name resolution convention is assumed:  an interface is reachable by the hostname <nodename>-<interface>.  For example,
+the ib2 interface on node3 has a hostname of node3-ib2.
 
-B<-d | debug> Print debug information
+If more than one interface is specified, each interface will be combined with the nodenames as described above and will be pinged in turn.
 
-B<-h | help>  help
+=item B<-V>|B<--verbose>
 
-B<-v | version> version
+Display verbose output.  The result of every ping attempt from every node will be displayed.  Without this option, just a summary
+of the successful pings are displayed, along with all of the unsuccessful pings.
 
+=item B<-q>|B<--quiet>
+
+Display minimum output:  just the unsuccessful pings.  This option has the effect that if all pings are successful, nothing is displayed.
+But it also has the performance benefit that each node does not have to send successful ping info back to the management node.
+
+=item B<-H>|B<--hierarchical>
+
+Enable B<ppping> to run in hierarchical mode (i.e. through service nodes).  By default, B<ppping> does not go through xcatd.
+
+=item B<-d>|B<--debug>
+
+Print debug information.
+
+=item B<-h>|B<--help>
+
+Show usage information.
+
+=item B<-v>|B<--version>
+
+Display the installed version of xCAT.
+
+=back
 
 =head1 EXAMPLES
 
-	ppping all
+=over 3
 
-	blade7: node2: noping
-	blade8: node2: noping
-	blade9: node2: noping
-	devmaster: node2: noping
-	node2: noping
+=item 1.
 
+ppping all -q
 
+ blade7: node2: noping
+ blade8: node2: noping
+ blade9: node2: noping
+ devmaster: node2: noping
+ node2: noping
+
+=item 2.
+
+ppping node1,node2 -i ib0,ib1,ib2,ib3
+
+ node1: pinged all nodes successfully on interface ib0
+ node1: pinged all nodes successfully on interface ib1
+ node1: pinged all nodes successfully on interface ib2
+ node1: pinged all nodes successfully on interface ib3
+ node2: pinged all nodes successfully on interface ib0
+ node2: pinged all nodes successfully on interface ib1
+ node2: pinged all nodes successfully on interface ib2
+ node2: pinged all nodes successfully on interface ib3
+
+=back
 
 =head1 SEE ALSO
 
 L<psh(1)|psh.1>, L<pping(1)|pping.1>
-
diff --git a/xCAT-client/pods/man1/rflash.1.pod b/xCAT-client/pods/man1/rflash.1.pod
index 50300fb4b..4c85fd14d 100644
--- a/xCAT-client/pods/man1/rflash.1.pod
+++ b/xCAT-client/pods/man1/rflash.1.pod
@@ -114,5 +114,5 @@ This command is part of the xCAT software product.
 
 =head1 SEE ALSO
 
-rinv(1)
+L<rinv(1)|rinv.1>, L<rspconfig(1)|rspconfig.1>