diff --git a/src/common/Makefile.am b/src/common/Makefile.am
--- a/src/common/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/common/Makefile.am
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 pkglib_LTLIBRARIES = libdistrencommon.la
 
-libdistrencommon_la_SOURCES = options.c options.h execio.h execio.c remoteio.h remoteio.c
+libdistrencommon_la_SOURCES = options.c options.h execio.h execio.c remoteio.h libremoteio.h remoteio.c
 #evidently the following should not be LDADD, but LDFLAGS because automake doesn't like the idea of LDADD for libraries for some reason... or I am very confused
 libdistrencommon_la_LIBADD = @DISTLIBS_LIBS@
 libdistrencommon_la_CXXFLAGS = @DISTLIBS_CFLAGS@
diff --git a/src/common/libremoteio.h b/src/common/libremoteio.h
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/libremoteio.h
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+  Copyright 2009 Nathan Phillip Brink
+
+  This file is a part of DistRen.
+
+  DistRen is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+  it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  DistRen is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+  along with DistRen.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#ifndef _DISTREN_LIBREMOTEIO_H
+#define _DISTREN_LIBREMOTEIO_H
+
+#include "remoteio.h"
+
+/**
+  private declarations for remoteio, to be included by options.c and remoteio.c
+ */
+
+struct remoteio_opts {
+  char *ssh_command;
+};
+
+
+#endif
diff --git a/src/common/options.c b/src/common/options.c
--- a/src/common/options.c
+++ b/src/common/options.c
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 
 #include "options.h"
 
+/* privat-ish files for components we need to config */
+#include "libremoteio.h"
+
 #include <confuse.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -71,10 +74,22 @@ int options_init(int argc, char *argv[],
       return 1;
     }
   memset((*allopts)->data, '\0', sizeof(struct options_common_data));
+
+  (*allopts)->remoteio = malloc(sizeof(struct remoteio_opts));
+  if(!(*allopts)->data)
+    {
+      perror("malloc");
+      free(configfile);
+      free((*allopts)->data);
+      free(*allopts);
+      return 1;
+    }
+  memset((*allopts)->remoteio, '\0', sizeof(struct remoteio_opts));
   
-  /* Conf File Parser */
+  
   cfg_opt_t common_opts[] =
     {
+      CFG_SIMPLE_STR("ssh-command", &(*allopts)->remoteio->ssh_command),
       CFG_END()
     };
   
@@ -142,6 +157,7 @@ int options_free(struct options_common *
 
   cfg_free(opts->data->cfg);
 
+  free(opts->remoteio);
   free(opts->data);
   free(opts);
   
diff --git a/src/common/remoteio.c b/src/common/remoteio.c
--- a/src/common/remoteio.c
+++ b/src/common/remoteio.c
@@ -24,10 +24,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 
-/**
-   @todo there must be passage of a configuratoin struct to allow configuration of different ssh clients.
- */
-int remoteio_open(struct remoteio **rem, char *servername)
+int remoteio_open(struct remoteio **rem, struct remoteio_opts *opts, char *servername)
 {
   char *sshargs[] = {"ssh", servername, "distrend", "-d", (char *)NULL};
   int rtn;
diff --git a/src/common/remoteio.h b/src/common/remoteio.h
--- a/src/common/remoteio.h
+++ b/src/common/remoteio.h
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@
   RemoteIO provides an abstraction to the method of talking to a remote distrend. It is a layer on top of execio that should provide an equivalent interface.
  */
 
+struct remoteio_opts;
+
 struct remoteio {
   struct execio *execio;
 };
@@ -35,7 +37,7 @@ struct remoteio {
 
    @todo should this be asynchronous?
  */
-int remoteio_open(struct remoteio **rem, char *servername);
+int remoteio_open(struct remoteio **rem, struct remoteio_opts *opts, char *servername);
 
 /**
    non-blocking I/O.