diff --git a/Tools/SOGoTool.h b/Tools/SOGoTool.h
index 30613c834..bbc4de098 100644
--- a/Tools/SOGoTool.h
+++ b/Tools/SOGoTool.h
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 {
   BOOL verbose;
   NSArray *arguments;
+  NSArray *sanitizedArguments; /* arguments w/o args from NSArgumentDomain */
 }
 
 + (NSString *) command;
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@
                       verbose: (BOOL) isVerbose;
 
 - (void) setArguments: (NSArray *) newArguments;
+- (void) setSanitizedArguments: (NSArray *) newArguments;
 - (void) setVerbose: (BOOL) newVerbose;
 - (BOOL) run;
 
diff --git a/Tools/SOGoTool.m b/Tools/SOGoTool.m
index 602fcf04d..1091f6bad 100644
--- a/Tools/SOGoTool.m
+++ b/Tools/SOGoTool.m
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@
  */
 
 #import <Foundation/NSArray.h>
+#import <Foundation/NSCharacterSet.h>
+#import <Foundation/NSDictionary.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSString.h>
+#import <Foundation/NSUserDefaults.h>
 
 #import "SOGoTool.h"
 
@@ -49,6 +52,7 @@
   [instance autorelease];
 
   [instance setArguments: toolArguments];
+  [instance setSanitizedArguments: toolArguments];
   [instance setVerbose: isVerbose];
 
   return [instance run];
@@ -59,6 +63,7 @@
   if ((self = [super init]))
     {
       arguments = nil;
+      sanitizedArguments = nil;
       verbose = NO;
     }
 
@@ -70,6 +75,51 @@
   ASSIGN (arguments, newArguments);
 }
 
+- (void) setSanitizedArguments: (NSArray *) newArguments
+{
+  NSString *argsString = [newArguments componentsJoinedByString:@" "];
+  NSDictionary   *cliArguments;
+  NSArray *keys;
+
+  int i;
+
+  argsString = [newArguments componentsJoinedByString:@" "];
+
+  /* Remove NSArgumentDomain -key value from the arguments */
+  cliArguments = [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults]
+                                 volatileDomainForName:NSArgumentDomain];
+  keys = [cliArguments allKeys];
+  for (i=0; i < [keys count]; i++)
+    {
+      NSString *k = [keys objectAtIndex: i];
+      NSString *v = [cliArguments objectForKey:k];
+      NSString *argPair = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"-%@ %@", k, v];
+      argsString = [argsString stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString: argPair
+                                                         withString: @""];
+    }
+  if ([argsString length])
+    {
+      /* dance to compact whitespace */
+      NSArray *wordsWP = [argsString componentsSeparatedByCharactersInSet:
+                                       [NSCharacterSet whitespaceCharacterSet]];
+      NSMutableArray *words = [NSMutableArray array];
+      for (NSString *word in wordsWP)
+        {
+          if([word length] > 1) 
+            {
+              [words addObject:word];
+            }
+        }
+      argsString = [words componentsJoinedByString:@" "];
+      ASSIGN (sanitizedArguments, [argsString componentsSeparatedByString:@" "]);
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      DESTROY(sanitizedArguments);
+    }
+
+}
+
 - (void) setVerbose: (BOOL) newVerbose
 {
   verbose = newVerbose;
@@ -78,6 +128,7 @@
 - (void) dealloc
 {
   [arguments release];
+  [sanitizedArguments release];
   [super dealloc];
 }
 
diff --git a/Tools/SOGoToolExpireAutoReply.m b/Tools/SOGoToolExpireAutoReply.m
index b44b1863b..08ae18487 100644
--- a/Tools/SOGoToolExpireAutoReply.m
+++ b/Tools/SOGoToolExpireAutoReply.m
@@ -22,9 +22,11 @@
 
 #import <Foundation/NSArray.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSCalendarDate.h>
+#import <Foundation/NSCharacterSet.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSData.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSDictionary.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSString.h>
+#import <Foundation/NSUserDefaults.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSValue.h>
 
 #import <GDLAccess/EOAdaptorChannel.h>
@@ -63,10 +65,12 @@
 
 - (void) usage
 {
-  fprintf (stderr, "expire-autoreply authname:authpassword\n\n"
-	   "       authname       administrator username of the Sieve server\n"
-	   "       authpassword   administrator password of the Sieve server\n\n"
-           "The expire-autoreply action should be configured as a daily cronjob.\n");
+  fprintf (stderr, "expire-autoreply -p credentialFile\n\n"
+     "  -p credentialFile    Specify the file containing the sieve admin credentials\n"
+     "                       The file should contain a single line:\n"
+     "                         username:password\n"
+     "\n"
+     "The expire-autoreply action should be configured as a daily cronjob.\n");
 }
 
 - (BOOL) removeAutoReplyForLogin: (NSString *) theLogin
@@ -123,12 +127,20 @@
   now = [[NSCalendarDate calendarDate] timeIntervalSince1970];
   sd = [SOGoSystemDefaults sharedSystemDefaults];
   profileURL = [sd profileURL];
-  if (profileURL)
+  if (!profileURL)
+    {
+      NSLog(@"Couldn't obtain the profileURL. (Hint: SOGoProfileURL)");
+    }
+  else
     {
       tableURL = [[NSURL alloc] initWithString: profileURL];
       cm = [GCSChannelManager defaultChannelManager];
       channel = [cm acquireOpenChannelForURL: tableURL];
-      if (channel)
+      if (!channel)
+        {
+          NSLog(@"Couldn't acquire channel for profileURL");
+        }
+      else
         {
           sql = [NSString stringWithFormat: @"SELECT c_uid, c_defaults FROM %@",
                           [tableURL gcsTableName]];
@@ -166,30 +178,60 @@
     }
 }
 
-
 - (BOOL) run
 {
+  NSError *err;
   NSRange r;
-  NSString *creds, *authname, *authpwd;
+  NSString *creds, *credsFile, *authname, *authpwd;
   BOOL rc;
   int max;
   
-  max = [arguments count];
+  max = [sanitizedArguments count];
+  creds = nil;
+  authname = nil;
+  authpwd = nil;
   rc = NO;
 
+  credsFile = [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] stringForKey: @"p"];
+  if (credsFile)
+    {
+      creds = [NSString stringWithContentsOfFile: credsFile
+                                        encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding
+                                           error: &err];
+      if (!creds)
+        {
+          NSLog(@"Error reading credential file '%@': %@", credsFile, err);
+        }
+      creds = [creds stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:
+                     [NSCharacterSet newlineCharacterSet]];
+    }
+
   if (max > 0)
     {
-      creds = [arguments objectAtIndex: 0];
-      r = [creds rangeOfString: @":"];
-      if (r.location != NSNotFound)
-        {
-          authname = [creds substringToIndex: r.location];
-          authpwd = [creds substringFromIndex: r.location+1];
-          [self expireAutoReplyWithUsername: authname andPassword: authpwd];
-          rc = YES;
-        }
+      /* assume we got the creds directly on the cli */
+      creds = [sanitizedArguments objectAtIndex: 0];
     }
 
+  if (creds)
+   {
+     r = [creds rangeOfString: @":"];
+     if (r.location == NSNotFound)
+      {
+        NSLog(@"Invalid credential string format (user:pass)");
+      }
+     else
+      {
+        authname = [creds substringToIndex: r.location];
+        authpwd = [creds substringFromIndex: r.location+1];
+      }
+   }
+
+  if (authname && authpwd)
+   {
+     [self expireAutoReplyWithUsername: authname andPassword: authpwd];
+     rc = YES;
+   }
+
   if (!rc)
     [self usage];
   
diff --git a/Tools/SOGoToolUserPreferences.m b/Tools/SOGoToolUserPreferences.m
index 32e9490d5..7f5c6d99b 100644
--- a/Tools/SOGoToolUserPreferences.m
+++ b/Tools/SOGoToolUserPreferences.m
@@ -21,9 +21,11 @@
  */
 
 #import <Foundation/NSArray.h>
+#import <Foundation/NSCharacterSet.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSData.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSDictionary.h>
 #import <Foundation/NSString.h>
+#import <Foundation/NSUserDefaults.h>
 
 #import <SOGo/NSString+Utilities.h>
 #import <SOGo/SOGoUser.h>
@@ -62,13 +64,16 @@ typedef enum
 
 - (void) usage
 {
-  fprintf (stderr, "user-preferences get|set|unset defaults|settings user [authname:authpassword] key [value|-f filename]\n\n"
-	   "       user       the user of whom to set the defaults/settings key/value\n"
-	   "       value      the JSON-formatted value of the key\n\n"
-	   "  Examples:\n"
-           "       sogo-tool user-preferences get defaults janedoe SOGoLanguage\n"
-           "       sogo-tool user-preferences unset settings janedoe Mail\n"
-           "       sogo-tool user-preferences set defaults janedoe SOGoTimeFormat '{\"SOGoTimeFormat\":\"%%I:%%M %%p\"}'\n");
+  fprintf (stderr, "user-preferences get|set|unset defaults|settings user [-p credentialFile] key [value|-f filename]\n\n"
+      "     user              the user of whom to set the defaults/settings key/value\n"
+      "     value             the JSON-formatted value of the key\n\n"
+      "  -p credentialFile    Specify the file containing the sieve admin credentials\n"
+      "                       The file should contain a single line:\n"
+      "                         username:password\n"
+      "  Examples:\n"
+      "       sogo-tool user-preferences get defaults janedoe SOGoLanguage\n"
+      "       sogo-tool user-preferences unset settings janedoe Mail\n"
+      "       sogo-tool user-preferences set defaults janedoe SOGoTimeFormat '{\"SOGoTimeFormat\":\"%%I:%%M %%p\"}'\n");
 }
 
 //
@@ -79,11 +84,12 @@ typedef enum
   if ([theString length] > 2)
     {
       if ([theString caseInsensitiveCompare: @"get"] == NSOrderedSame)
-	return UserPreferencesGet;
+        return UserPreferencesGet;
       else if  ([theString caseInsensitiveCompare: @"set"] == NSOrderedSame)
-	return UserPreferencesSet;
+        return UserPreferencesSet;
       else if ([theString caseInsensitiveCompare: @"unset"] == NSOrderedSame)
-	return UserPreferencesUnset;    }
+        return UserPreferencesUnset;
+    }
 
   return UserPreferencesUnknown;
 }
@@ -96,42 +102,64 @@ typedef enum
 //
 - (BOOL) _updateSieveScripsForkey: (NSString *) theKey
                           manager: (SOGoSieveManager *) theManager
-			    login: (NSString *) theLogin
-			 authname: (NSString *) theAuthName
-			 password: (NSString *) thePassword
+                            login: (NSString *) theLogin
 {
   if ([theKey caseInsensitiveCompare: @"Forward"] == NSOrderedSame ||
       [theKey caseInsensitiveCompare: @"SOGoSieveFilters"] == NSOrderedSame ||
       [theKey caseInsensitiveCompare: @"Vacation"] == NSOrderedSame)
     {
-      if ([theAuthName length] == 0 || [thePassword length] == 0)
-	{
-	  NSLog(@"To update Sieve scripts, you must provide the \"authname:password\" parameter");
-	  return NO;
-	}
+      /* credentials file handling */
+      NSRange r;
+      NSString *credsFile, *creds, *authname, *authpwd;
+      authname = nil;
+      authpwd = nil;
+
+      credsFile = [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] stringForKey: @"p"];
+      if (credsFile)
+        {
+          /* TODO: add back support for user:pwd here? */
+          creds = [NSString stringWithContentsOfFile: credsFile
+                                            encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding
+                                               error: NULL];
+          if (creds == nil)
+            {
+              NSLog(@"Error reading credential file '%@'", credsFile);
+              return NO;
+            }
+          creds = [creds stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:
+                           [NSCharacterSet newlineCharacterSet]];
+          r = [creds rangeOfString: @":"];
+          authname = [creds substringToIndex: r.location];
+          authpwd = [creds substringFromIndex: r.location+1];
+        }
+      if (authname == nil || authpwd == nil)
+        {
+          NSLog(@"To update Sieve scripts, you must provide the \"-p credentialFile\" parameter");
+          return NO;
+        }
       
       return [theManager updateFiltersForLogin: theLogin
-			 authname: theAuthName
-			 password: thePassword
-			 account: nil];
+                                      authname: authname
+                                      password: authpwd
+                                       account: nil];
     }
   
   return YES;
 }
-		       
+
 
 
 - (BOOL) run
 {
-  NSString *userId, *type, *key;
+  NSString *userId, *type, *key, *value;
+  NSString *jsonValueFile;
   SOGoUserPreferencesCommand cmd;
   id o;
   
-  NSRange r;
   BOOL rc;
   int max;
   
-  max = [arguments count];
+  max = [sanitizedArguments count];
   rc = NO;
 
   if (max > 3)
@@ -140,128 +168,126 @@ typedef enum
       SOGoSieveManager *manager;
       SOGoUser *user;
 
-      cmd = [self _cmdFromString: [arguments objectAtIndex: 0]];
+      cmd = [self _cmdFromString: [sanitizedArguments objectAtIndex: 0]];
 
-      if (cmd != UserPreferencesUnknown)
-	{
-	  type = [arguments objectAtIndex: 1];
-	  userId = [arguments objectAtIndex: 2];
-	  key = [arguments objectAtIndex: 3];
+      type = [sanitizedArguments objectAtIndex: 1];
+      userId = [sanitizedArguments objectAtIndex: 2];
+      key = [sanitizedArguments objectAtIndex: 3];
 
-	  user = [SOGoUser userWithLogin: userId];
-	  manager = [SOGoSieveManager sieveManagerForUser: user];
+      user = [SOGoUser userWithLogin: userId];
+      manager = [SOGoSieveManager sieveManagerForUser: user];
 
-	  if ([type caseInsensitiveCompare: @"defaults"] == NSOrderedSame)
-	    source = [user userDefaults];
-	  else
-	    source = [user userSettings];
+      if ([type caseInsensitiveCompare: @"defaults"] == NSOrderedSame)
+        source = [user userDefaults];
+      else
+        source = [user userSettings];
 
-	  if (cmd == UserPreferencesGet)
-	    {
-	      o = [source objectForKey: key];
+      switch (cmd)
+        {
+          case UserPreferencesGet:
+                 o = [source objectForKey: key];
 
-	      if (o)
-		printf("%s: %s\n", [key UTF8String], [[o jsonRepresentation] UTF8String]);
-	      else
-		NSLog(@"Value for key \"%@\" not found in %@", key, type);
+                 if (o)
+                   {
+                     printf("%s: %s\n", [key UTF8String], [[o jsonRepresentation] UTF8String]);
+                     rc = YES;
+                   }
+                 else
+                   {
+                     NSLog(@"Value for key \"%@\" not found in %@", key, type);
+                     return rc;
+                   }
+                 break;
 
-	      rc = YES;
-	    }
-	  else
-	    {
-	      NSString *authname, *authpwd, *value;
-              NSData *data;
-              int i;
-              
-	      authname = @"";
-	      authpwd = @"";
-	      value = @"";
- 
-	      if (max > 4)
-		{
-		  r = [[arguments objectAtIndex: 3] rangeOfString: @":"];
-                  if (r.location == NSNotFound)
-                    {
-                      i = 3;
-                    }
-                  else
-                    {
-                      authname = [[arguments objectAtIndex: 3] substringToIndex: r.location];
-                      authpwd = [[arguments objectAtIndex: 3] substringFromIndex: r.location+1];
-                      i = 4;
-                    }
+          case UserPreferencesSet:
+                 if (max > 4)
+                   {
+                     /* value specified on command line */
+                     value = [sanitizedArguments objectAtIndex: 4];
+                   }
+                 else
+                   {
+                     /* value is to be found in file specified with -f filename */
+                     jsonValueFile = [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults]
+                                                       stringForKey: @"f"];
 
-                  key = [arguments objectAtIndex: i++];
+                     if (jsonValueFile == nil)
+                       {
+                         NSLog(@"No value specified, aborting");
+                         [self usage];
+                         return rc;
+                       }
+                     else
+                       {
 
-		  if (max > i)
-                    {
-                      value = [arguments objectAtIndex: i++];
-                      if ([value caseInsensitiveCompare: @"-f"] == NSOrderedSame)
-                        {
-                          if (max > i)
-                            {
-                              data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile: [arguments objectAtIndex: i]];
-                              value = [[NSString alloc] initWithData: data encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding];
-                              [value autorelease];
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-		}
-	      else
-		{
-		  if (cmd == UserPreferencesUnset)
-		    {
-		      key = [arguments objectAtIndex: 3];
-		    }
-		  else
-		    {
-		      key = [arguments objectAtIndex: 3];
-		      value = [arguments objectAtIndex: 4];
-		    }
-		}
-	      
-	      if (cmd == UserPreferencesUnset)
-		[source removeObjectForKey: key];
-	      else
-		{
-		  o = [value objectFromJSONString];
-		  
-		  //
-		  // We support setting only "values" - for example, setting :
-		  //
-		  // SOGoDayStartTime to 9:00
-		  //
-		  // Values in JSON must be a dictionary so we must support passing:
-		  // 
-		  // key == SOGoDayStartTime
-		  // value == '{"SOGoDayStartTime":  "09:00"}'
-		  //
-		  // to achieve what we want.
-		  //
-		  if (o && [o count] == 1)
-		    {
-		      [source setObject: [[o allValues] lastObject] forKey: key];
-		    }
-		  //
-		  // We also support passing values that are already dictionaries so in this
-		  // case, we simply set it to the passed key.
-		  //
-		  else if (o)
-		    {
-		      [source setObject: o  forKey: key];
-		    }
-		  else
-		    NSLog(@"Invalid JSON input - no changes performed in the database. The supplied value was: %@", value);
-		}
-		  
-	      [source synchronize];
-	      rc = [self _updateSieveScripsForkey: key
-			 manager: manager
-			 login: userId
-			 authname: authname
-			 password: authpwd];
-	    }
-	}
+                         NSData *data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile: jsonValueFile];
+                         if (data == nil)
+                           {
+                             NSLog(@"Error reading file '%@'", jsonValueFile);
+                             [self usage];
+                             return rc;
+                           }
+                         value = [[NSString alloc] initWithData: data encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding];
+                         [value autorelease];
+                       }
+                   }
+                 o = [value objectFromJSONString];
+
+                 //
+                 // We support setting only "values" - for example, setting :
+                 //
+                 // SOGoDayStartTime to 9:00
+                 //
+                 // Values in JSON must be a dictionary so we must support passing:
+                 // 
+                 // key == SOGoDayStartTime
+                 // value == '{"SOGoDayStartTime":  "09:00"}'
+                 //
+                 // to achieve what we want.
+                 //
+                 if (o && [o count] == 1)
+                  {
+                    [source setObject: [[o allValues] lastObject] forKey: key];
+                  }
+                 //
+                 // We also support passing values that are already dictionaries so in this
+                 // case, we simply set it to the passed key.
+                 //
+                 else if (o)
+                   {
+                     [source setObject: o  forKey: key];
+                   }
+                 else
+                   {
+                     NSLog(@"Invalid JSON input - no changes performed in the database. The supplied value was: %@", value);
+                     [self usage];
+                     return rc;
+                   }
+
+                 rc = [self _updateSieveScripsForkey: key
+                                             manager: manager
+                                               login: userId];
+                 if (rc)
+                   [source synchronize];
+                 else
+                   NSLog(@"Error updating sieve script, not updating database");
+
+                 break;
+
+          case UserPreferencesUnset:
+                 [source removeObjectForKey: key];
+                 rc = [self _updateSieveScripsForkey: key
+                                             manager: manager
+                                               login: userId];
+                 if (rc)
+                   [source synchronize];
+                 else
+                   NSLog(@"Error updating sieve script, not updating database");
+
+                 break;
+          case UserPreferencesUnknown:
+                 break;
+        }
     }
 
   if (!rc)