diff --git a/testingtoolchain/machinectl.sh b/testingtoolchain/machinectl.sh
index c26ef8f..cc3eb55 100755
--- a/testingtoolchain/machinectl.sh
+++ b/testingtoolchain/machinectl.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 set -u
-set -x
+
+# small library for output
+. "$(dirname $0)/out.sh"
+
 # questo coso assume che si usa machinectl
 
 # questa macchina e' una debian pulita
@@ -14,25 +17,66 @@ testmachine=wwwd8-test-$(date +%y%m%d%H%M%S)
 conf="$(dirname $0)/../config.sh"
 [[ -f "$conf" ]]  && . "$conf"
 
+
 machineexists() {
 	machinectl list-images|awk '{ print $1 }'|egrep -q "^${1}\$"
 }
 
+inm() {
+	# execute command IN Machine
+	machine=$1
+	shift 1
+	systemd-nspawn --setenv='DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive' -D "/var/lib/machines/${machine}" "$@"
+}
+
 # intermediate creation END {{{1
 if ! machineexists "$intermediate"; then
 	if ! machineexists "$sourcemachine"; then
+		progress "Creating source machine"
 		debootstrap "/var/lib/machines/${sourcemachine}"
+		ok "Source machine created ($sourcemachine)"
 	fi
 	machinectl clone "${sourcemachine}" "${intermediate}"
 fi
+progress "Setting up intermediate machine $intermediate"
+cat <<EOF > /var/lib/machines/${intermediate}/etc/gitconfig
+[transfer]
+        fsckobjects = true
+[fetch]
+        fsckobjects = true
+[receive]
+        fsckObjects = true 
+EOF
+cat <<EOF > /var/lib/machines/${intermediate}/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/default.conf
+APT::Default-Release "jessie";
+EOF
+if [[ ! -f /var/lib/machines/${intermediate}/etc/apt/sources.list.d/stretch.list ]]; then
+	cat <<EOF > /var/lib/machines/${intermediate}/etc/apt/sources.list.d/stretch.list
+	deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian stretch main
+EOF
+	inm $intermediate apt-get update
+fi
 # those are idempotent, so...
-systemd-nspawn --setenv='DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive' -D "/var/lib/machines/${intermediate}" /usr/bin/apt-get -y install apache2 libapache2-mod-php5 php5-gd mariadb-server
-systemd-nspawn --setenv='DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive' -D "/var/lib/machines/${intermediate}" /usr/sbin/a2enmod rewrite
-systemd-nspawn --setenv='DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive' -D "/var/lib/machines/${intermediate}" /usr/sbin/a2enmod php5
-systemd-nspawn --setenv='DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive' -D "/var/lib/machines/${intermediate}" /bin/mkdir -p /mig
+inm $intermediate /usr/bin/apt-get -y install apache2 libapache2-mod-php5 php5-gd mariadb-server git
+inm $intermediate /usr/bin/apt-get -y install -t stretch composer
+inm $intermediate /usr/sbin/a2enmod rewrite
+inm $intermediate /usr/sbin/a2enmod php5
+inm $intermediate /bin/mkdir -p /mig
+progress "Installation of Drush"
+inm $intermediate /usr/bin/composer global require drush/drush:8.0.3
+if ! inm $intermediate  /usr/bin/test -x /root/.composer/vendor/bin/drush; then
+	error Cannot install drush
+	exit 1
+else
+	ln -sf /root/.composer/vendor/bin/drush /usr/bin/drush
+	ok "Drush installed"
+fi
+ok "Intermediate machine $intermediate set up"
 # intermediate creation END }}}1
 
 machinectl clone "${intermediate}" "${testmachine}"
+progress "deploying on ${testmachine}"
 systemd-nspawn -D "/var/lib/machines/${testmachine}" --bind-ro="$(readlink -f $(dirname $0)/../):/mig" /mig/deploy/deploy.sh
+ok "all done"
 
 # vim: set fdm=marker:
diff --git a/testingtoolchain/out.sh b/testingtoolchain/out.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c8bec5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testingtoolchain/out.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# output utilities
+
+tp() {
+	tput "$@"
+}
+
+error() {
+	echo "$(tp bold)$(tp setaf 1)$*$(tp sgr0)" >&2
+}
+
+progress() {
+	echo "[$(tp setaf 3)DOING$(tp sgr0)] $(tp sgr0)$*"
+}
+
+ok() {
+	echo "[$(tp bold)$(tp setaf 2)DONE$(tp sgr0)] $(tp sgr0)$*"
+}