diff --git a/daemon/core/api/tlv/corehandlers.py b/daemon/core/api/tlv/corehandlers.py
index e520ce95..a531efe2 100644
--- a/daemon/core/api/tlv/corehandlers.py
+++ b/daemon/core/api/tlv/corehandlers.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ from core.emulator.enumerations import (
     RegisterTlvs,
     SessionTlvs,
 )
-from core.errors import CoreError
+from core.errors import CoreCommandError, CoreError
 from core.location.mobility import BasicRangeModel
 from core.nodes.network import WlanNode
 from core.services.coreservices import ServiceManager, ServiceShim
@@ -882,16 +882,21 @@ class CoreHandler(socketserver.BaseRequestHandler):
                 return (reply,)
             else:
                 logging.info("execute message with cmd=%s", command)
+                command = utils.split_args(command)
                 # execute command and send a response
                 if (
                     message.flags & MessageFlags.STRING.value
                     or message.flags & MessageFlags.TEXT.value
                 ):
-                    # shlex.split() handles quotes within the string
                     if message.flags & MessageFlags.LOCAL.value:
                         status, res = utils.cmd_output(command)
                     else:
-                        status, res = node.cmd_output(command)
+                        try:
+                            res = node.node_net_cmd(command)
+                            status = 0
+                        except CoreCommandError as e:
+                            res = e.stderr
+                            status = e.returncode
                     logging.info(
                         "done exec cmd=%s with status=%d res=(%d bytes)",
                         command,
@@ -913,7 +918,7 @@ class CoreHandler(socketserver.BaseRequestHandler):
                     if message.flags & MessageFlags.LOCAL.value:
                         utils.mute_detach(command)
                     else:
-                        node.cmd(command, wait=False)
+                        node.node_net_cmd(command, wait=False)
         except CoreError:
             logging.exception("error getting object: %s", node_num)
             # XXX wait and queue this message to try again later
diff --git a/daemon/core/emane/emanemanager.py b/daemon/core/emane/emanemanager.py
index 2902c47c..49cf4f24 100644
--- a/daemon/core/emane/emanemanager.py
+++ b/daemon/core/emane/emanemanager.py
@@ -772,7 +772,8 @@ class EmaneManager(ModelManager):
         Kill the appropriate EMANE daemons.
         """
         # TODO: we may want to improve this if we had the PIDs from the specific EMANE daemons that we"ve started
-        args = ["killall", "-q", "emane"]
+        kill_emaned = ["killall", "-q", "emane"]
+        kill_transortd = ["killall", "-q", "emanetransportd"]
         stop_emane_on_host = False
         for node in self.getnodes():
             if hasattr(node, "transport_type") and node.transport_type == "raw":
@@ -780,13 +781,19 @@ class EmaneManager(ModelManager):
                 continue
 
             if node.up:
-                node.cmd(args, wait=False)
+                node.node_net_cmd(kill_emaned, wait=False)
                 # TODO: RJ45 node
 
         if stop_emane_on_host:
             try:
-                utils.check_cmd(args)
-                utils.check_cmd(["killall", "-q", "emanetransportd"])
+                utils.check_cmd(kill_emaned)
+                utils.check_cmd(kill_transortd)
+                kill_emaned = " ".join(kill_emaned)
+                kill_transortd = " ".join(kill_transortd)
+                for server in self.session.servers:
+                    conn = self.session[server]
+                    distributed.remote_cmd(conn, kill_emaned)
+                    distributed.remote_cmd(conn, kill_transortd)
             except CoreCommandError:
                 logging.exception("error shutting down emane daemons")
 
@@ -976,8 +983,13 @@ class EmaneManager(ModelManager):
         Return True if an EMANE process associated with the given node is running, False otherwise.
         """
         args = ["pkill", "-0", "-x", "emane"]
-        status = node.cmd(args)
-        return status == 0
+        try:
+            node.node_net_cmd(args)
+            result = True
+        except CoreCommandError:
+            result = False
+
+        return result
 
 
 class EmaneGlobalModel(EmaneModel):
diff --git a/daemon/core/emulator/distributed.py b/daemon/core/emulator/distributed.py
index 35cbf208..abec0a57 100644
--- a/daemon/core/emulator/distributed.py
+++ b/daemon/core/emulator/distributed.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from core.errors import CoreCommandError
 LOCK = threading.Lock()
 
 
-def remote_cmd(server, cmd, env=None, cwd=None):
+def remote_cmd(server, cmd, env=None, cwd=None, wait=True):
     """
     Run command remotely using server connection.
 
@@ -20,12 +20,18 @@ def remote_cmd(server, cmd, env=None, cwd=None):
     :param dict env: environment for remote command, default is None
     :param str cwd: directory to run command in, defaults to None, which is the user's
         home directory
+    :param bool wait: True to wait for status, False to background process
     :return: stdout when success
     :rtype: str
     :raises CoreCommandError: when a non-zero exit status occurs
     """
-    logging.info("remote cmd server(%s): %s", server, cmd)
+
     replace_env = env is not None
+    if not wait:
+        cmd += " &"
+    logging.info(
+        "remote cmd server(%s) cwd(%s) wait(%s): %s", server.host, cwd, wait, cmd
+    )
     try:
         with LOCK:
             if cwd is None:
diff --git a/daemon/core/emulator/session.py b/daemon/core/emulator/session.py
index 31e75de2..9bc2ab80 100644
--- a/daemon/core/emulator/session.py
+++ b/daemon/core/emulator/session.py
@@ -2044,4 +2044,5 @@ class Session(object):
             utils.mute_detach(data)
         else:
             node = self.get_node(node_id)
-            node.cmd(data, wait=False)
+            data = utils.split_args(data)
+            node.node_net_cmd(data, wait=False)
diff --git a/daemon/core/errors.py b/daemon/core/errors.py
index bb124434..5b76abb3 100644
--- a/daemon/core/errors.py
+++ b/daemon/core/errors.py
@@ -10,7 +10,12 @@ class CoreCommandError(subprocess.CalledProcessError):
     """
 
     def __str__(self):
-        return "Command(%s), Status(%s):\n%s" % (self.cmd, self.returncode, self.output)
+        return "Command(%s), Status(%s):\nstdout: %s\nstderr: %s" % (
+            self.cmd,
+            self.returncode,
+            self.output,
+            self.stderr,
+        )
 
 
 class CoreError(Exception):
diff --git a/daemon/core/nodes/base.py b/daemon/core/nodes/base.py
index d8cac8c5..147989d7 100644
--- a/daemon/core/nodes/base.py
+++ b/daemon/core/nodes/base.py
@@ -630,29 +630,31 @@ class CoreNode(CoreNodeBase):
         """
         return self.client.cmd_output(args)
 
-    def node_net_cmd(self, args):
+    def node_net_cmd(self, args, wait=True):
         """
         Runs a command that is used to configure and setup the network within a
         node.
 
-        :param list[str]|str args: command to run
+        :param list[str] args: command to run
+        :param bool wait: True to wait for status, False otherwise
         :return: combined stdout and stderr
         :rtype: str
         :raises CoreCommandError: when a non-zero exit status occurs
         """
         if self.server is None:
             logging.info("node(%s) cmd: %s", self.name, args)
-            return self.check_cmd(args)
+            return self.client.check_cmd(args, wait=wait)
         else:
             args = self.client._cmd_args() + args
             args = " ".join(args)
-            return distributed.remote_cmd(self.server, args)
+            return distributed.remote_cmd(self.server, args, wait=wait)
 
     def check_cmd(self, args):
         """
         Runs shell command on node.
 
         :param list[str]|str args: command to run
+        :param bool wait: True to wait for status, False otherwise
         :return: combined stdout and stderr
         :rtype: str
         :raises CoreCommandError: when a non-zero exit status occurs
diff --git a/daemon/core/nodes/client.py b/daemon/core/nodes/client.py
index 6b7fa44c..6c72547b 100644
--- a/daemon/core/nodes/client.py
+++ b/daemon/core/nodes/client.py
@@ -97,17 +97,18 @@ class VnodeClient(object):
         status = p.wait()
         return status, output.decode("utf-8").strip()
 
-    def check_cmd(self, args):
+    def check_cmd(self, args, wait=True):
         """
         Run command and return exit status and combined stdout and stderr.
 
         :param list[str]|str args: command to run
+        :param bool wait: True to wait for command status, False otherwise
         :return: combined stdout and stderr
         :rtype: str
         :raises core.CoreCommandError: when there is a non-zero exit status
         """
         status, output = self.cmd_output(args)
-        if status != 0:
+        if wait and status != 0:
             raise CoreCommandError(status, args, output)
         return output.strip()
 
diff --git a/daemon/core/nodes/physical.py b/daemon/core/nodes/physical.py
index ba8cdc25..48bd5a5a 100644
--- a/daemon/core/nodes/physical.py
+++ b/daemon/core/nodes/physical.py
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class PhysicalNode(CoreNodeBase):
         return output.strip()
 
     def shcmd(self, cmdstr, sh="/bin/sh"):
-        return self.cmd([sh, "-c", cmdstr])
+        return self.node_net_cmd([sh, "-c", cmdstr])
 
     def sethwaddr(self, ifindex, addr):
         """
diff --git a/daemon/core/services/coreservices.py b/daemon/core/services/coreservices.py
index b34daa73..d6eeb1b5 100644
--- a/daemon/core/services/coreservices.py
+++ b/daemon/core/services/coreservices.py
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ services.
 
 import enum
 import logging
-import shlex
 import time
 from multiprocessing.pool import ThreadPool
 
@@ -598,7 +597,7 @@ class CoreServices(object):
         status = 0
         for cmd in cmds:
             logging.debug("validating service(%s) using: %s", service.name, cmd)
-            cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
+            cmd = utils.split_args(cmd)
             try:
                 node.node_net_cmd(cmd)
             except CoreCommandError as e:
@@ -730,11 +729,9 @@ class CoreServices(object):
 
         status = 0
         for cmd in cmds:
-            cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
+            cmd = utils.split_args(cmd)
             try:
-                if wait:
-                    cmd.append("&")
-                node.node_net_cmd(cmd)
+                node.node_net_cmd(cmd, wait)
             except CoreCommandError:
                 logging.exception("error starting command")
                 status = -1
diff --git a/daemon/examples/python/switch.py b/daemon/examples/python/switch.py
index d669478d..3c6ec383 100644
--- a/daemon/examples/python/switch.py
+++ b/daemon/examples/python/switch.py
@@ -43,11 +43,14 @@ def example(options):
     last_node = session.get_node(options.nodes + 1)
 
     print("starting iperf server on node: %s" % first_node.name)
-    first_node.cmd(["iperf", "-s", "-D"])
+    first_node.node_net_cmd(["iperf", "-s", "-D"])
     first_node_address = prefixes.ip4_address(first_node)
     print("node %s connecting to %s" % (last_node.name, first_node_address))
-    last_node.client.icmd(["iperf", "-t", str(options.time), "-c", first_node_address])
-    first_node.cmd(["killall", "-9", "iperf"])
+    output = last_node.node_net_cmd(
+        ["iperf", "-t", str(options.time), "-c", first_node_address]
+    )
+    print(output)
+    first_node.node_net_cmd(["killall", "-9", "iperf"])
 
     # shutdown session
     coreemu.shutdown()
diff --git a/daemon/examples/python/wlan.py b/daemon/examples/python/wlan.py
index 376f34d0..3d5171c2 100644
--- a/daemon/examples/python/wlan.py
+++ b/daemon/examples/python/wlan.py
@@ -47,11 +47,11 @@ def example(options):
     last_node = session.get_node(options.nodes + 1)
 
     print("starting iperf server on node: %s" % first_node.name)
-    first_node.cmd(["iperf", "-s", "-D"])
+    first_node.node_net_cmd(["iperf", "-s", "-D"])
     address = prefixes.ip4_address(first_node)
     print("node %s connecting to %s" % (last_node.name, address))
-    last_node.client.icmd(["iperf", "-t", str(options.time), "-c", address])
-    first_node.cmd(["killall", "-9", "iperf"])
+    last_node.node_net_cmd(["iperf", "-t", str(options.time), "-c", address])
+    first_node.node_net_cmd(["killall", "-9", "iperf"])
 
     # shutdown session
     coreemu.shutdown()
diff --git a/daemon/tests/emane/test_emane.py b/daemon/tests/emane/test_emane.py
index 85836605..d9001065 100644
--- a/daemon/tests/emane/test_emane.py
+++ b/daemon/tests/emane/test_emane.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ _DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
 
 def ping(from_node, to_node, ip_prefixes, count=3):
     address = ip_prefixes.ip4_address(to_node)
-    return from_node.cmd(["ping", "-c", str(count), address])
+    return from_node.node_net_cmd(["ping", "-c", str(count), address])
 
 
 class TestEmane:
diff --git a/daemon/tests/test_core.py b/daemon/tests/test_core.py
index e120dcc8..7d64ae69 100644
--- a/daemon/tests/test_core.py
+++ b/daemon/tests/test_core.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ def createclients(sessiondir, clientcls=VnodeClient, cmdchnlfilterfunc=None):
 
 def ping(from_node, to_node, ip_prefixes):
     address = ip_prefixes.ip4_address(to_node)
-    return from_node.cmd(["ping", "-c", "3", address])
+    return from_node.node_net_cmd(["ping", "-c", "3", address])
 
 
 class TestCore:
@@ -102,7 +102,6 @@ class TestCore:
 
         # check various command using vcmd module
         command = ["ls"]
-        assert not client.cmd(command)
         status, output = client.cmd_output(command)
         assert not status
         p, stdin, stdout, stderr = client.popen(command)
@@ -110,7 +109,6 @@ class TestCore:
         assert not client.icmd(command)
 
         # check various command using command line
-        assert not client.cmd(command)
         status, output = client.cmd_output(command)
         assert not status
         p, stdin, stdout, stderr = client.popen(command)