diff --git a/planetstack/util/logger.py b/planetstack/util/logger.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91e47d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/planetstack/util/logger.py
@@ -0,0 +1,205 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python
+
+#----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Copyright (c) 2008 Board of Trustees, Princeton University
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+# a copy of this software and/or hardware specification (the "Work") to
+# deal in the Work without restriction, including without limitation the
+# rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
+# and/or sell copies of the Work, and to permit persons to whom the Work
+# is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
+# included in all copies or substantial portions of the Work.
+#
+# THE WORK IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS 
+# OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF 
+# MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND 
+# NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT 
+# HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, 
+# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, 
+# OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE WORK OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS 
+# IN THE WORK.
+#----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+import os, sys
+import traceback
+import logging, logging.handlers
+
+CRITICAL=logging.CRITICAL
+ERROR=logging.ERROR
+WARNING=logging.WARNING
+INFO=logging.INFO
+DEBUG=logging.DEBUG
+
+# a logger that can handle tracebacks 
+class Logger:
+    def __init__ (self,logfile=None,loggername=None,level=logging.INFO):
+        # default is to locate loggername from the logfile if avail.
+        if not logfile:
+            #loggername='console'
+            #handler=logging.StreamHandler()
+            #handler.setFormatter(logging.Formatter("%(levelname)s %(message)s"))
+            logfile = "/var/log/planetstack.log"
+
+        if not loggername:
+            loggername=os.path.basename(logfile)
+        try:
+            handler=logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler(logfile,maxBytes=1000000, backupCount=5) 
+        except IOError:
+            # This is usually a permissions error becaue the file is
+            # owned by root, but httpd is trying to access it.
+            tmplogfile=os.getenv("TMPDIR", "/tmp") + os.path.sep + os.path.basename(logfile)
+            # In strange uses, 2 users on same machine might use same code,
+            # meaning they would clobber each others files
+            # We could (a) rename the tmplogfile, or (b)
+            # just log to the console in that case.
+            # Here we default to the console.
+            if os.path.exists(tmplogfile) and not os.access(tmplogfile,os.W_OK):
+                loggername = loggername + "-console"
+                handler = logging.StreamHandler()
+            else:
+                handler=logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler(tmplogfile,maxBytes=1000000, backupCount=5) 
+        handler.setFormatter(logging.Formatter("%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s"))
+        self.logger=logging.getLogger(loggername)
+        self.logger.setLevel(level)
+        # check if logger already has the handler we're about to add
+        handler_exists = False
+        for l_handler in self.logger.handlers:
+            if l_handler.baseFilename == handler.baseFilename and \
+               l_handler.level == handler.level:
+                handler_exists = True 
+
+        if not handler_exists:
+            self.logger.addHandler(handler)
+
+        self.loggername=loggername
+
+    def setLevel(self,level):
+        self.logger.setLevel(level)
+
+    # shorthand to avoid having to import logging all over the place
+    def setLevelDebug(self):
+        self.logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+
+    def debugEnabled (self):
+        return self.logger.getEffectiveLevel() == logging.DEBUG
+
+    # define a verbose option with s/t like
+    # parser.add_option("-v", "--verbose", action="count", dest="verbose", default=0)
+    # and pass the coresponding options.verbose to this method to adjust level
+    def setLevelFromOptVerbose(self,verbose):
+        if verbose==0:
+            self.logger.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
+        elif verbose==1:
+            self.logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+        elif verbose>=2:
+            self.logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+    # in case some other code needs a boolean
+    def getBoolVerboseFromOpt(self,verbose):
+        return verbose>=1
+    def getBoolDebugFromOpt(self,verbose):
+        return verbose>=2
+
+    ####################
+    def info(self, msg):
+        self.logger.info(msg)
+
+    def debug(self, msg):
+        self.logger.debug(msg)
+        
+    def warn(self, msg):
+        self.logger.warn(msg)
+
+    # some code is using logger.warn(), some is using logger.warning()
+    def warning(self, msg):
+        self.logger.warning(msg)
+   
+    def error(self, msg):
+        self.logger.error(msg)    
+ 
+    def critical(self, msg):
+        self.logger.critical(msg)
+
+    # logs an exception - use in an except statement
+    def log_exc(self,message):
+        self.error("%s BEG TRACEBACK"%message+"\n"+traceback.format_exc().strip("\n"))
+        self.error("%s END TRACEBACK"%message)
+    
+    def log_exc_critical(self,message):
+        self.critical("%s BEG TRACEBACK"%message+"\n"+traceback.format_exc().strip("\n"))
+        self.critical("%s END TRACEBACK"%message)
+    
+    # for investigation purposes, can be placed anywhere
+    def log_stack(self,message):
+        to_log="".join(traceback.format_stack())
+        self.info("%s BEG STACK"%message+"\n"+to_log)
+        self.info("%s END STACK"%message)
+
+    def enable_console(self, stream=sys.stdout):
+        formatter = logging.Formatter("%(message)s")
+        handler = logging.StreamHandler(stream)
+        handler.setFormatter(formatter)
+        self.logger.addHandler(handler)
+
+
+info_logger = Logger(loggername='info', level=logging.INFO)
+debug_logger = Logger(loggername='debug', level=logging.DEBUG)
+warn_logger = Logger(loggername='warning', level=logging.WARNING)
+error_logger = Logger(loggername='error', level=logging.ERROR)
+critical_logger = Logger(loggername='critical', level=logging.CRITICAL)
+logger = info_logger
+########################################
+import time
+
+def profile(logger):
+    """
+    Prints the runtime of the specified callable. Use as a decorator, e.g.,
+    
+    @profile(logger)
+    def foo(...):
+        ...
+    """
+    def logger_profile(callable):
+        def wrapper(*args, **kwds):
+            start = time.time()
+            result = callable(*args, **kwds)
+            end = time.time()
+            args = map(str, args)
+            args += ["%s = %s" % (name, str(value)) for (name, value) in kwds.iteritems()]
+            # should probably use debug, but then debug is not always enabled
+            logger.info("PROFILED %s (%s): %.02f s" % (callable.__name__, ", ".join(args), end - start))
+            return result
+        return wrapper
+    return logger_profile
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__': 
+    print 'testing logging into logger.log'
+    logger1=Logger('logger.log', loggername='std(info)')
+    logger2=Logger('logger.log', loggername='error', level=logging.ERROR)
+    logger3=Logger('logger.log', loggername='debug', level=logging.DEBUG)
+    
+    for (logger,msg) in [ (logger1,"std(info)"),(logger2,"error"),(logger3,"debug")]:
+        
+        print "====================",msg, logger.logger.handlers
+   
+        logger.enable_console()
+        logger.critical("logger.critical")
+        logger.error("logger.error")
+        logger.warn("logger.warning")
+        logger.info("logger.info")
+        logger.debug("logger.debug")
+        logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+        logger.debug("logger.debug again")
+    
+        @profile(logger)
+        def sleep(seconds = 1):
+            time.sleep(seconds)
+
+        logger.info('console.info')
+        sleep(0.5)
+        logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+        sleep(0.25)
+