diff --git a/fairmq/options/FairMQProgOptions.cxx b/fairmq/options/FairMQProgOptions.cxx
index eba64648..b7810f3e 100644
--- a/fairmq/options/FairMQProgOptions.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/options/FairMQProgOptions.cxx
@@ -68,6 +68,18 @@ void FairMQProgOptions::ParseAll(const int argc, char** argv, bool allowUnregist
         }
     }
 
+    if (fVarMap.count("print-options"))
+    {
+        PrintOptionsRaw();
+        exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
+    }
+
+    if (fVarMap.count("id") == 0)
+    {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Device id not provided, provide with --id";
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
+
     string verbosity = GetValue<string>("verbosity");
     string logFile = GetValue<string>("log-to-file");
     bool color = GetValue<bool>("log-color");
@@ -183,7 +195,6 @@ void FairMQProgOptions::ParseAll(const int argc, char** argv, bool allowUnregist
             LOG(DEBUG) << "channel-config: Parsing channel configuration";
             UserParser<FairMQParser::SUBOPT>(fVarMap, id);
         }
-
     }
 
     FairProgOptions::PrintOptions();
@@ -312,7 +323,7 @@ void FairMQProgOptions::InitOptionDescription()
             ;
 
         fMQOptionsInCfg.add_options()
-            ("id",                     po::value<string>()->required(),                         "Device ID (required argument).")
+            ("id",                     po::value<string>(),                                     "Device ID (required argument).")
             ("io-threads",             po::value<int   >()->default_value(1),                   "Number of I/O threads.")
             ("transport",              po::value<string>()->default_value("zeromq"),            "Transport ('zeromq'/'nanomsg').")
             ("config",                 po::value<string>()->default_value("static"),            "Config source ('static'/<config library filename>).")
@@ -331,7 +342,7 @@ void FairMQProgOptions::InitOptionDescription()
     else
     {
         fMQOptionsInCmd.add_options()
-            ("id",                     po::value<string>()->required(),                         "Device ID (required argument)")
+            ("id",                     po::value<string>(),                                     "Device ID (required argument)")
             ("io-threads",             po::value<int   >()->default_value(1),                   "Number of I/O threads")
             ("transport",              po::value<string>()->default_value("zeromq"),            "Transport ('zeromq'/'nanomsg').")
             ("config",                 po::value<string>()->default_value("static"),            "Config source ('static'/<config library filename>).")
diff --git a/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.cxx b/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.cxx
index d7beb432..c88f0778 100644
--- a/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.cxx
@@ -37,27 +37,18 @@ FairProgOptions::FairProgOptions() :
     fGenericDesc.add_options()
         ("help,h", "produce help")
         ("version,v", "print version")
-        ("verbosity", po::value<std::string>(&fVerbosityLevel)->default_value("DEBUG"), "Verbosity level : \n"
-            "  TRACE \n"
-            "  DEBUG \n"
-            "  RESULTS \n"
-            "  INFO \n"
-            "  WARN \n"
-            "  ERROR \n"
-            "  STATE \n"
-            "  NOLOG"
-            )
+        ("verbosity", po::value<std::string>(&fVerbosityLevel)->default_value("DEBUG"), "Verbosity level : TRACE, DEBUG, RESULTS, INFO, WARN, ERROR, STATE, NOLOG")
         ("log-color", po::value<bool>()->default_value(true), "logger color: true or false")
-        ;
+        ("print-options", po::value<bool>()->implicit_value(true), "print options in machine-readable format");
 
-    fSeverityMap["TRACE"]              = FairMQ::severity_level::TRACE;
-    fSeverityMap["DEBUG"]              = FairMQ::severity_level::DEBUG;
-    fSeverityMap["RESULTS"]            = FairMQ::severity_level::RESULTS;
-    fSeverityMap["INFO"]               = FairMQ::severity_level::INFO;
-    fSeverityMap["WARN"]               = FairMQ::severity_level::WARN;
-    fSeverityMap["ERROR"]              = FairMQ::severity_level::ERROR;
-    fSeverityMap["STATE"]              = FairMQ::severity_level::STATE;
-    fSeverityMap["NOLOG"]              = FairMQ::severity_level::NOLOG;
+    fSeverityMap["TRACE"]   = FairMQ::severity_level::TRACE;
+    fSeverityMap["DEBUG"]   = FairMQ::severity_level::DEBUG;
+    fSeverityMap["RESULTS"] = FairMQ::severity_level::RESULTS;
+    fSeverityMap["INFO"]    = FairMQ::severity_level::INFO;
+    fSeverityMap["WARN"]    = FairMQ::severity_level::WARN;
+    fSeverityMap["ERROR"]   = FairMQ::severity_level::ERROR;
+    fSeverityMap["STATE"]   = FairMQ::severity_level::STATE;
+    fSeverityMap["NOLOG"]   = FairMQ::severity_level::NOLOG;
 }
 
 /// Destructor
@@ -241,6 +232,31 @@ int FairProgOptions::PrintHelp()  const
     return 0;
 }
 
+int FairProgOptions::PrintOptionsRaw()
+{
+    MapVarValInfo_t mapInfo;
+
+    for (const auto& m : fVarMap)
+    {
+        mapInfo[m.first] = GetVariableValueInfo(m.second);
+    }
+
+    for (const auto& p : mapInfo)
+    {
+        string keyStr;
+        string valueStr;
+        string typeInfoStr;
+        string defaultStr;
+        string emptyStr;
+        keyStr = p.first;
+        tie(valueStr, typeInfoStr, defaultStr, emptyStr) = p.second;
+        auto option = fCmdLineOptions.find_nothrow(keyStr, false);
+        cout << keyStr << ":" << valueStr << ":" << typeInfoStr << ":" << (option ? option->description() : "<not found>") << endl;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
 int FairProgOptions::PrintOptions()
 {
     // //////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.h b/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.h
index 37c45a52..21c6d125 100644
--- a/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.h
+++ b/fairmq/options/FairProgOptions.h
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ class FairProgOptions
     virtual void ParseAll(const int argc, char** argv, bool allowUnregistered = false) = 0;// TODO change return type to bool and propagate to executable
 
     virtual int PrintOptions();
+    virtual int PrintOptionsRaw();
     int PrintHelp() const;
 
   protected:
@@ -176,7 +177,7 @@ class FairProgOptions
 
   private:
     // Methods below are helper functions used in the PrintOptions method
-    typedef std::tuple<std::string, std::string,std::string, std::string> VarValInfo_t;
+    typedef std::tuple<std::string, std::string, std::string, std::string> VarValInfo_t;
     typedef std::map<std::string, VarValInfo_t> MapVarValInfo_t;
 
     VarValInfo_t GetVariableValueInfo(const po::variable_value& varValue);
diff --git a/fairmq/options/FairProgOptionsHelper.h b/fairmq/options/FairProgOptionsHelper.h
index 1576515d..7ef2f417 100644
--- a/fairmq/options/FairProgOptionsHelper.h
+++ b/fairmq/options/FairProgOptionsHelper.h
@@ -155,72 +155,76 @@ struct ConvertVariableValue : T
         //////////////////////////////// std types
         // std::string albeit useless here
         if (is_this_type<std::string>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<std::string>(varValue, std::string(" <string>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<std::string>(varValue, std::string("<string>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // std::vector<std::string>
         if (is_this_type<std::vector<std::string>>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<std::vector<std::string>>(varValue, std::string(" <vector<string>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<std::vector<std::string>>(varValue, std::string("<vector<string>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // int
         if (is_this_type<int>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<int>(varValue, std::string(" <int>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<int>(varValue, std::string("<int>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // std::vector<int>
         if (is_this_type<std::vector<int>>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<std::vector<int>>(varValue, std::string(" <vector<int>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<std::vector<int>>(varValue, std::string("<vector<int>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // float
         if (is_this_type<float>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<float>(varValue, std::string(" <float>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<float>(varValue, std::string("<float>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // std::vector float
         if (is_this_type<std::vector<float>>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<std::vector<float>>(varValue, std::string(" <vector<float>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<std::vector<float>>(varValue, std::string("<vector<float>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // double
         if (is_this_type<double>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<double>(varValue, std::string(" <double>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<double>(varValue, std::string("<double>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // std::vector double
         if (is_this_type<std::vector<double>>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<std::vector<double>>(varValue, std::string(" <vector<double>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<std::vector<double>>(varValue, std::string("<vector<double>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // short
         if (is_this_type<short>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<short>(varValue, std::string(" <short>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<short>(varValue, std::string("<short>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // std::vector short
         if (is_this_type<std::vector<short>>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<std::vector<short>>(varValue, std::string(" <vector<short>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<std::vector<short>>(varValue, std::string("<vector<short>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // long
         if (is_this_type<long>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<long>(varValue, std::string(" <long>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<long>(varValue, std::string("<long>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // std::vector short
         if (is_this_type<std::vector<long>>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<std::vector<long>>(varValue, std::string(" <vector<long>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<std::vector<long>>(varValue, std::string("<vector<long>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // size_t
         if (is_this_type<std::size_t>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<std::size_t>(varValue, std::string(" <std::size_t>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<std::size_t>(varValue, std::string("<std::size_t>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+
+        // uint64_t
+        if (is_this_type<std::uint64_t>(varValue))
+            return T::template Value<std::uint64_t>(varValue, std::string("<std::uint64_t>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // std::vector size_t
         if (is_this_type<std::vector<std::size_t>>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<std::vector<std::size_t>>(varValue, std::string(" <vector<std::size_t>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<std::vector<std::size_t>>(varValue, std::string("<vector<std::size_t>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // bool
         if (is_this_type<bool>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<bool>(varValue, std::string(" <bool>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<bool>(varValue, std::string("<bool>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // std::vector bool
         if (is_this_type<std::vector<bool>>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<std::vector<bool>>(varValue, std::string(" <vector<bool>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<std::vector<bool>>(varValue, std::string("<vector<bool>>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         //////////////////////////////// boost types
         // boost::filesystem::path
         if (is_this_type<boost::filesystem::path>(varValue))
-            return T::template Value<boost::filesystem::path>(varValue, std::string(" <boost::filesystem::path>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
+            return T::template Value<boost::filesystem::path>(varValue, std::string("<boost::filesystem::path>"), defaultedValue, emptyValue);
 
         // if we get here, the type is not supported return unknown info
         return T::DefaultValue(defaultedValue, emptyValue);