diff --git a/TestON/drivers/common/cli/emulator/mininetclidriver.py b/TestON/drivers/common/cli/emulator/mininetclidriver.py
index ccf3baf..419ee06 100644
--- a/TestON/drivers/common/cli/emulator/mininetclidriver.py
+++ b/TestON/drivers/common/cli/emulator/mininetclidriver.py
@@ -808,6 +808,7 @@
 
         '''
         import json
+        #main.log.debug("Switches_json string: ", switches_json)
         output = {"switches":[]}
         for switch in topo.graph.switches: #iterate through the MN topology and pull out switches and and port info
             #print vars(switch)
@@ -818,7 +819,10 @@
             output['switches'].append({"name": switch.name, "dpid": str(switch.dpid).zfill(16), "ports": ports })
         #print output
 
+        #print "mn"
         #print json.dumps(output, sort_keys=True,indent=4,separators=(',', ': '))
+        #print "onos"
+        #print json.dumps(switches_json, sort_keys=True,indent=4,separators=(',', ': '))
 
 
         # created sorted list of dpid's in MN and ONOS for comparison
@@ -828,7 +832,7 @@
         mnDPIDs.sort()
         #print mnDPIDs
         if switches_json == "":#if rest call fails
-            main.log.error(self.name + ".compare_topo(): Empty JSON object given from ONOS")
+            main.log.error(self.name + ".compare_switches(): Empty JSON object given from ONOS")
             return main.FALSE
         onos=switches_json
         onosDPIDs=[]
@@ -1019,184 +1023,6 @@
         return link_results
 
 
-
-
-    def compare_topo(self, topo, onos_json):
-        '''
-        compares mn topology with ONOS topology
-        onos_list is a list of ONOS controllers, each element of the list should be (handle, name, ip, port)
-        onos_json is the output of the onos get_json function calling the /wm/onos/topology REST API
-        Returns: True if MN and ONOS topology match and False if the differ. 
-        Differences between ONOS and MN topology will be printed to the log.
-
-        Dependency: Requires STS to be installed on the TestON machine. STS can be pulled 
-        from https://github.com/ucb-sts/sts.git . Currently the required functions from STS are located in the 
-        topology_refactoring2 branch, but may be merged into the master branch soon. You may need to install some
-        python modules such as networkx to use the STS functions.
-
-        To install sts:
-            $ git clone git://github.com/ucb-sts/sts.git
-            $ cd sts
-            $ git clone -b debugger git://github.com/ucb-sts/pox.git
-            $ sudo apt-get install python-dev
-            $ ./tools/install_hassel_python.sh
-            $ sudo pip install networkx
-
-        Include sts in your PYTHONPATH. it should looks comething like: 
-            PYTHONPATH=/home/admin/TestON:/home/admin/sts
-
-        '''
-        import sys
-        sys.path.append("~/sts")
-        #NOTE: Create this once per Test and pass the TestONTopology object around. It takes too long to create this object.
-        #      This will make it easier to use the sts methods for severing links and solve that issue
-        import json
-
-        link_results = main.TRUE
-        switch_results = main.TRUE
-        port_results = main.TRUE
-
-        ########Switches#######
-        output = {"switches":[]}
-        for switch in topo.graph.switches: #iterate through the MN topology and pull out switches and and port info
-            ports = []
-            for port in switch.ports.values():
-                #print port.hw_addr.toStr(separator = '')
-                ports.append({'of_port': port.port_no, 'mac': str(port.hw_addr).replace('\'',''), 'name': port.name})
-            output['switches'].append({"name": switch.name, "dpid": str(switch.dpid).zfill(16), "ports": ports })
-        #print output
-
-        #print json.dumps(output, sort_keys=True,indent=4,separators=(',', ': '))
-
-
-        # created sorted list of dpid's in MN and ONOS for comparison
-        mnDPIDs=[]
-        for switch in output['switches']:
-            mnDPIDs.append(switch['dpid'])
-        mnDPIDs.sort()
-        #print mnDPIDs
-        if onos_json == "":#if rest call fails
-            main.log.error(self.name + ".compare_topo(): Empty JSON object given from ONOS rest call")
-            return main.FALSE
-        onos=onos_json
-        onosDPIDs=[]
-        for switch in onos['switches']:
-            onosDPIDs.append(switch['dpid'].replace(":",''))
-        onosDPIDs.sort()
-        #print onosDPIDs
-
-        if mnDPIDs!=onosDPIDs:
-            switch_results = main.FALSE
-            main.log.report( "Switches in MN but not in ONOS:")
-            main.log.report( str([switch for switch in mnDPIDs if switch not in onosDPIDs]))
-            main.log.report( "Switches in ONOS but not in MN:")
-            main.log.report(  str([switch for switch in onosDPIDs if switch not in mnDPIDs]))
-        else:#list of dpid's match in onos and mn
-            switch_results = main.TRUE
-
-        ################ports#############
-            for switch in output['switches']:
-                mn_ports = []
-                onos_ports = []
-                for port in switch['ports']:
-                    mn_ports.append(port['of_port'])
-                for onos_switch in onos['switches']:
-                    if onos_switch['dpid'].replace(':','') == switch['dpid']:
-                        for port in onos_switch['ports']:
-                            onos_ports.append(port['portNumber']) 
-                mn_ports.sort()
-                onos_ports.sort()
-                #print "mn_ports[] = ", mn_ports
-                #print "onos_ports90 = ", onos_ports
-                
-                #if mn_ports == onos_ports:
-                    #pass #don't set results to true here as this is just one of many checks and it might override a failure
-
-                #For OF1.3, the OFP_local port number is 0xfffffffe or 4294967294 instead of 0xfffe or 65534 in OF1.0, ONOS topology
-                #sees the correct port number, however MN topology as read from line 151 of https://github.com/ucb-sts/sts/blob/
-                #topology_refactoring2/sts/entities/teston_entities.py is 0xfffe which doesn't work correctly with OF1.3 switches.
-                #So a short term fix is to ignore the case when mn_port == 65534 and onos_port ==4294967294.
-                for mn_port,onos_port in zip(mn_ports,onos_ports):
-                    if mn_port == onos_port or (mn_port == 65534 and onos_port ==4294967294):
-                        continue
-                    else:
-                        port_results = main.FALSE
-                        break
-                '''
-                else: #the ports of this switch don't match
-                    port_results = main.FALSE
-                    main.log.report("ports in MN switch %s(%s) but not in ONOS:" % (switch['name'],switch['dpid'])) 
-                    main.log.report( str([port for port in mn_ports if port not in onos_ports]))
-                    main.log.report("ports in ONOS switch %s(%s) but not in MN:" % (switch['name'],switch['dpid']))
-                    main.log.report( str([port for port in onos_ports if port not in mn_ports]))
-                '''
-                if port_results == main.FALSE:
-                    main.log.report("ports in MN switch %s(%s) but not in ONOS:" % (switch['name'],switch['dpid'])) 
-                    main.log.report( str([port for port in mn_ports if port not in onos_ports]))
-                    main.log.report("ports in ONOS switch %s(%s) but not in MN:" % (switch['name'],switch['dpid']))
-                    main.log.report( str([port for port in onos_ports if port not in mn_ports]))
-
-        #######Links########
-        # iterate through MN links and check if and ONOS link exists in both directions
-        # NOTE: Will currently only show mn links as down if they are cut through STS. 
-        #       We can either do everything through STS or wait for up_network_links 
-        #       and down_network_links to be fully implemented.
-        for link in topo.patch_panel.network_links: 
-            #print "Link: %s" % link
-            #TODO: Find a more efficient search method
-            node1 = None
-            port1 = None
-            node2 = None
-            port2 = None
-            first_dir = main.FALSE
-            second_dir = main.FALSE
-            for switch in output['switches']:
-                if switch['name'] == link.node1.name:
-                    node1 = switch['dpid']
-                    for port in switch['ports']:
-                        if str(port['name']) == str(link.port1):
-                            port1 = port['of_port'] 
-                    if node1 is not None and node2 is not None:
-                        break
-                if switch['name'] == link.node2.name:
-                    node2 = switch['dpid']
-                    for port in switch['ports']: 
-                        if str(port['name']) == str(link.port2):
-                            port2 = port['of_port'] 
-                    if node1 is not None and node2 is not None:
-                        break
-            # check onos link from node1 to node2
-            for onos_link in onos['links']:
-                if onos_link['src']['dpid'].replace(":",'') == node1 and onos_link['dst']['dpid'].replace(":",'') == node2:
-                    if onos_link['src']['portNumber'] == port1 and onos_link['dst']['portNumber'] == port2:
-                        first_dir = main.TRUE
-                    else:
-                        main.log.report('the port numbers do not match for ' +str(link) + ' between ONOS and MN')
-                    #print node1, ' to ', node2
-                elif onos_link['src']['dpid'].replace(":",'') == node2 and onos_link['dst']['dpid'].replace(":",'') == node1:
-                    if onos_link['src']['portNumber'] == port2 and onos_link['dst']['portNumber'] == port1:
-                        second_dir = main.TRUE
-                    else:
-                        main.log.report('the port numbers do not match for ' +str(link) + ' between ONOS and MN')
-                    #print node2, ' to ', node1
-                else:#this is not the link you're looking for
-                    pass
-            if not first_dir:
-                main.log.report('ONOS has issues with the link from '+str(link.node1.name) +"(dpid: "+ str(node1)+"):"+str(link.port1)+"(portNumber: "+str(port1)+")"+ ' to ' + str(link.node2.name) +"(dpid: "+ str(node2)+"):"+str(link.port2)+"(portNumber: "+str(port2)+")")
-            if not second_dir:
-                main.log.report('ONOS has issues with the link from '+str(link.node2.name) +"(dpid: "+ str(node2)+"):"+str(link.port2)+"(portNumber: "+str(port2)+")"+ ' to ' + str(link.node1.name) +"(dpid: "+ str(node1)+"):"+str(link.port1)+"(portNumber: "+str(port1)+")")
-            link_results = link_results and first_dir and second_dir
-
-        
-        results =  switch_results and port_results and link_results
-#        if not results: #To print out both topologies
-#            main.log.error("Topology comparison failed, printing json objects, MN then ONOS")
-#            main.log.error(str(json.dumps(output, sort_keys=True,indent=4,separators=(',', ': '))))
-#            main.log.error('MN Links:')
-#            for link in topo.patch_panel.network_links: main.log.error(str("\tLink: %s" % link))
-#            main.log.error(str(json.dumps(onos, sort_keys=True,indent=4,separators=(',', ': '))))
-        return results
-
     def get_hosts(self):
         '''
         Returns a list of all hosts
diff --git a/TestON/drivers/common/cli/onosclidriver.py b/TestON/drivers/common/cli/onosclidriver.py
index 6b7a02e..1caf0ec 100644
--- a/TestON/drivers/common/cli/onosclidriver.py
+++ b/TestON/drivers/common/cli/onosclidriver.py
@@ -208,6 +208,8 @@
             handle += self.handle.after
 
             main.log.info("Command sent.")
+            ansi_escape = re.compile(r'\x1b[^m]*m')
+            handle = ansi_escape.sub('', handle)
 
             return handle
         except pexpect.EOF:
@@ -688,8 +690,95 @@
             main.cleanup()
             main.exit()
     
-    #TODO:
-    #def hosts(self):
+    def hosts(self, json_format=True, grep_str=""):
+        '''
+        Lists all discovered hosts 
+        Optional argument:
+            * grep_str - pass in a string to grep
+        '''
+        try:
+            self.handle.sendline("")
+            self.handle.expect("onos>")
+            
+            if json_format:
+                if not grep_str:
+                    self.handle.sendline("hosts -j")
+                    self.handle.expect("hosts -j")
+                    self.handle.expect("onos>")
+                else:
+                    self.handle.sendline("hosts -j | grep '"+
+                        str(grep_str)+"'")
+                    self.handle.expect("hosts -j | grep '"+str(grep_str)+"'")
+                    self.handle.expect("onos>")
+                handle = self.handle.before
+                '''
+                handle variable here contains some ANSI escape color code sequences at the end which are invisible in the print command output
+                To make that escape sequence visible, use repr() function. The repr(handle) output when printed shows the ANSI escape sequences.
+                In json.loads(somestring), this somestring variable is actually repr(somestring) and json.loads would fail with the escape sequence.
+                So we take off that escape sequence using 
+                ansi_escape = re.compile(r'\r\r\n\x1b[^m]*m')
+                handle1 = ansi_escape.sub('', handle) 
+                '''
+                #print "repr(handle) =", repr(handle)
+                ansi_escape = re.compile(r'\r\r\n\x1b[^m]*m')
+                handle1 = ansi_escape.sub('', handle)
+                #print "repr(handle1) = ", repr(handle1)
+                return handle1
+            else:
+                if not grep_str:
+                    self.handle.sendline("hosts")
+                    self.handle.expect("onos>")
+                else:
+                    self.handle.sendline("hosts | grep '"+
+                        str(grep_str)+"'")
+                    self.handle.expect("onos>")
+                handle = self.handle.before
+                print "handle =",handle
+                return handle
+        except pexpect.EOF:
+            main.log.error(self.name + ": EOF exception found")
+            main.log.error(self.name + ":    " + self.handle.before)
+            main.cleanup()
+            main.exit()
+        except:
+            main.log.info(self.name+" ::::::")
+            main.log.error( traceback.print_exc())
+            main.log.info(self.name+" ::::::")
+            main.cleanup()
+            main.exit()
+
+    def get_host(self, mac):
+        '''
+        Return the first host from the hosts api whose 'id' contains 'mac'
+        Note: mac must be a colon seperated mac address, but could be a partial mac address
+        Return None if there is no match
+        '''
+        import json
+        try:
+            if mac == None:
+                return None
+            else:
+                mac = mac
+                raw_hosts = self.hosts()
+                hosts_json = json.loads(raw_hosts)
+                #search json for the host with mac then return the device
+                for host in hosts_json:
+                    print "%s in  %s?" % (mac, host['id'])
+                    if mac in host['id']:
+                        return host
+            return None
+        except pexpect.EOF:
+            main.log.error(self.name + ": EOF exception found")
+            main.log.error(self.name + ":    " + self.handle.before)
+            main.cleanup()
+            main.exit()
+        except:
+            main.log.info(self.name+" ::::::")
+            main.log.error( traceback.print_exc())
+            main.log.info(self.name+" ::::::")
+            main.cleanup()
+            main.exit()
+
 
     def get_hosts_id(self, host_list):
         '''
@@ -1162,4 +1251,65 @@
             main.cleanup()
             main.exit()
 
+    def check_status(self, ip, numoswitch, numolink, log_level="info"):
+        '''
+        Checks the number of swithes & links that ONOS sees against the 
+        supplied values. By default this will report to main.log, but the 
+        log level can be specifid.
+        
+        Params: ip = ip used for the onos cli
+                numoswitch = expected number of switches
+                numlink = expected number of links
+                log_level = level to log to. Currently accepts 'info', 'warn' and 'report'
+
+
+        log_level can
+
+        Returns: main.TRUE if the number of switchs and links are correct, 
+                 main.FALSE if the numer of switches and links is incorrect,
+                 and main.ERROR otherwise
+        '''
+
+        try:
+            topology = self.get_topology(ip)
+            if topology == {}:
+                return main.ERROR
+            output = ""
+            #Is the number of switches is what we expected
+            devices = topology.get('devices',False)
+            links = topology.get('links',False)
+            if devices == False or links == False:
+                return main.ERROR
+            switch_check = ( int(devices) == int(numoswitch) )
+            #Is the number of links is what we expected
+            link_check = ( int(links) == int(numolink) )
+            if (switch_check and link_check):
+                #We expected the correct numbers
+                output = output + "The number of links and switches match "\
+                        + "what was expected"
+                result = main.TRUE
+            else:
+                output = output + \
+                        "The number of links and switches does not match what was expected"
+                result = main.FALSE
+            output = output + "\n ONOS sees %i devices (%i expected) and %i links (%i expected)"\
+                    % ( int(devices), int(numoswitch), int(links), int(numolink) )
+            if log_level == "report":
+                main.log.report(output)
+            elif log_level == "warn":
+                main.log.warn(output)
+            else:
+                main.log.info(output)
+            return result 
+        except pexpect.EOF:
+            main.log.error(self.name + ": EOF exception found")
+            main.log.error(self.name + ":    " + self.handle.before)
+            main.cleanup()
+            main.exit()
+        except:
+            main.log.info(self.name+" ::::::")
+            main.log.error( traceback.print_exc())
+            main.log.info(self.name+" ::::::")
+            main.cleanup()
+            main.exit()
     #***********************************
diff --git a/TestON/drivers/common/cli/onosdriver.py b/TestON/drivers/common/cli/onosdriver.py
index 17b74ec..e924c29 100644
--- a/TestON/drivers/common/cli/onosdriver.py
+++ b/TestON/drivers/common/cli/onosdriver.py
@@ -366,10 +366,14 @@
             self.handle.sendline("export TERM=xterm-256color")
             self.handle.expect("xterm-256color")
             self.handle.expect("\$")
-            self.handle.sendline("cd " + self.home + "; git log -1 --pretty=fuller --decorate=short | grep -A 5 \"commit\" --color=never; cd \.\.")
-            self.handle.expect("cd ..")
+            self.handle.sendline("\n")
+            self.handle.expect("\$")
+            self.handle.sendline("cd " + self.home + "; git log -1 --pretty=fuller --decorate=short | grep -A 6 \"commit\" --color=never")
+            self.handle.expect("--color=never")
             self.handle.expect("\$")
             response=(self.name +": \n"+ str(self.handle.before + self.handle.after))
+            self.handle.sendline("cd " + self.home)
+            self.handle.expect("\$")
             lines=response.splitlines()
             for line in lines:
                 print line
@@ -631,10 +635,10 @@
                 main.log.warn("Network is unreachable")
                 return main.FALSE
             elif i == 1:
-                main.log.info("ONOS was installed on the VM and started")
+                main.log.info("ONOS was installed on " + node + " and started")
                 return main.TRUE
             elif i == 2: 
-                main.log.info("Installation of ONOS on the VM timed out")
+                main.log.info("Installation of ONOS on " + node + " timed out")
                 return main.FALSE
 
         except pexpect.EOF: