diff --git a/utils/createfs.py b/utils/createfs.py
index 7b7fe637..8d0e51d5 100755
--- a/utils/createfs.py
+++ b/utils/createfs.py
@@ -1,22 +1,40 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 
-import os, pickle, sys, locale
+import os, pickle, sys, locale, getopt
 from stat import *
 
-def recurse(root, tree, count = 0):
-    A_NAME, A_TYPE, A_UID, A_GID, A_SIZE, A_MODE, \
-        A_CTIME, A_CONTENTS, A_TARGET, A_REALFILE = range(0, 10)
-    T_LINK, T_DIR, T_FILE, T_BLK, T_CHR, T_SOCK, T_FIFO = range(0, 7)
+A_NAME, A_TYPE, A_UID, A_GID, A_SIZE, A_MODE, \
+    A_CTIME, A_CONTENTS, A_TARGET, A_REALFILE = range(0, 10)
+T_LINK, T_DIR, T_FILE, T_BLK, T_CHR, T_SOCK, T_FIFO = range(0, 7)
+PROC = False
+VERBOSE = False
 
-    for name in os.listdir(root):
-        path = os.path.join(root, name)
-        if path in (
+def logit(ftxt):
+    if VERBOSE:
+        sys.stderr.write(ftxt)
+
+def recurse(localroot, root, tree, maxdepth = sys.maxint):
+    if maxdepth == 0: return
+
+    localpath = os.path.join(localroot, root[1:])
+
+    logit(' %s\n' % (localpath))
+
+    if not os.access(localpath, os.R_OK):
+       logit(' Cannot access %s\n' % localpath)
+       return
+
+    for name in os.listdir(localpath):
+        fspath = os.path.join(root, name)
+        if fspath in (
                 '/root/fs.pickle',
                 '/root/createfs.py',
                 '/root/.bash_history',
                 ):
             continue
 
+        path = os.path.join(localpath, name)
+
         try:
             if os.path.islink(path):
                 s = os.lstat(path)
@@ -29,12 +47,21 @@ def recurse(root, tree, count = 0):
             int(s.st_mtime), [], None, None]
 
         if S_ISLNK(s[ST_MODE]):
-            entry[A_TYPE] = T_LINK
-            entry[A_TARGET] = os.path.realpath(path)
+            if not os.access(path, os.R_OK):
+                logit(' Cannot access link: %s\n' % path)
+                continue
+            realpath = os.path.realpath(path)
+            if not realpath.startswith(localroot):
+                logit(' Link "%s" has real path "%s" outside local root "%s"\n' \
+                    % (path, realpath, localroot))
+                continue
+            else:
+                entry[A_TYPE] = T_LINK
+                entry[A_TARGET] = realpath[len(localroot):]
         elif S_ISDIR(s[ST_MODE]):
             entry[A_TYPE] = T_DIR
-            if not path.startswith('/proc/'):
-                recurse(path, entry[A_CONTENTS])
+            if  (PROC or not localpath.startswith('/proc/')) and maxdepth > 0:
+                recurse(localroot, fspath, entry[A_CONTENTS], maxdepth - 1)
         elif S_ISREG(s[ST_MODE]):
             entry[A_TYPE] = T_FILE
         elif S_ISBLK(s[ST_MODE]):
@@ -51,15 +78,50 @@ def recurse(root, tree, count = 0):
 
         tree.append(entry)
 
+def help(brief = False):
+    print 'Usage: %s [-h] [-v] [-p] [-l dir] [-d maxdepth] [-o file]\n' % \
+        os.path.basename(sys.argv[0])
+
+    if not brief:
+        print '  -v             verbose'
+        print '  -p             include /proc'
+        print '  -l <dir>       local root directory (default is current working directory)'
+        print '  -d <depth>     maximum depth (default is full depth)'
+        print '  -o <file>      write output to file instead of stdout'
+        print '  -h             display this help\n'
+
+    sys.exit(1)
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    A_NAME, A_TYPE, A_UID, A_GID, A_SIZE, A_MODE, \
-        A_CTIME, A_CONTENTS, A_TARGET, A_REALFILE = range(0, 10)
-    T_LINK, T_DIR, T_FILE, T_BLK, T_CHR, T_SOCK, T_FIFO = range(0, 7)
+    maxdepth = sys.maxint
+    localroot = os.getcwd()
+    output = ''
+
+    try:
+        optlist, args = getopt.getopt(sys.argv[1:], 'hvpl:d:o:', ['help'])
+    except getopt.GetoptError, error:
+        sys.stderr.write('Error: %s\n' % error)
+        help()
+
+    for o, a in optlist:
+        if   o == '-v': VERBOSE = True
+        elif o == '-p': PROC = True
+        elif o == '-l': localroot = a
+        elif o == '-d': maxdepth = int(a)
+        elif o == '-o': output = a
+        elif o in ['-h', '--help']: help()
+
+    if output and os.path.isfile(output):
+        sys.stderr.write('File: %s exists!\n' % output)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    logit('Processing:\n')
 
     tree = ['/', T_DIR, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, [], '']
-    # change to / to recurse a whole server:
-    recurse('/', tree[A_CONTENTS], tree[A_CONTENTS])
+    recurse(localroot, '/', tree[A_CONTENTS], maxdepth)
 
-    sys.stderr.write('Doing stuff\n')
+    if output:
+        pickle.dump(tree, open(output, 'wb'))
+    else:
+        print pickle.dumps(tree)
 
-    print pickle.dumps(tree)