diff --git a/docs/man/man5/ansible-modules.1.asciidoc b/docs/man/man5/ansible-modules.1.asciidoc
index 26d9fa9968..e4ae511768 100644
--- a/docs/man/man5/ansible-modules.1.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/man/man5/ansible-modules.1.asciidoc
@@ -40,8 +40,9 @@ This module does not support change hooks.
 
 Returns the return code from the program as well as timing information.
 
-Async command running and command execution time limits are in plan.
-
+Async command running and command execution time limits are in plan.  These will probably
+be special keyvalue parameters expressed on the end of the command line, like ANSTIMEOUT=1
+and ANS_ASYNC=1 or similar.
 
 copy
 ----
@@ -128,10 +129,8 @@ first step in your playbook.
 *metadata=*::
 
 Optionally overrides the default JSON file location of /etc/ansible/setup.
-If used, also supply the metadata parameter to 'template'.
-
-
-Does not support change hooks yet, but in plan.
+If used, also supply the metadata parameter to 'template'.  Change if
+running as a non-root remote user who does not have permissions on /etc/ansible.
 
 
 template
@@ -152,7 +151,8 @@ location to render the template on the remote server
 *metadata*::
 
 location of a JSON file to use to supply template data.  Default is /etc/ansible/setup
-which can be easily created using the 'setup' module.
+which is the same as the default for the setup module.   Change if running as a non-root
+remote user who does not have permissions on /etc/ansible.
 
 
 This module also returns md5sum information about the resultant file.
diff --git a/examples/playbook.yml b/examples/playbook.yml
index 9f102a9b5e..e9b6d9b795 100644
--- a/examples/playbook.yml
+++ b/examples/playbook.yml
@@ -2,21 +2,27 @@
   hosts: '/etc/ansible/hosts'
   tasks:
   - do:
-    - configure template & module variables
+    - configure template & module variables for future template calls
     - setup a=2 b=3 c=4
   - do:
-    - copy a file
-    - copy /srv/a /srv/b
+    - copy a file from the local disk to the remote
+    - copy src=/srv/a dest=/srv/b
     notify: 
     - restart apache
   - do:
     - template from local file template.j2 to remote location /srv/file.out
-    - template /srv/template.j2 /srv/file.out
+    - template src=/srv/template.j2 dest=/srv/file.out
     notify:
     - restart apache
     - quack like a duck
   - do:
-    - something that will fail
+    - if running as non-root whne you template, you should specify the MD file (1)
+    - setup a=3 b=4 c=5 metadata=/tmp/metadata.json 
+  - do:
+    - if running as non-root when you template, you should specify the MD file (2)
+    - template src=/srv/template.j2 dest=/srv/file2.out metadata=/tmp/metadata.json
+  - do:
+    - call something that will fail just to demo failure counts and such
     - command /bin/false
   handlers:
     - do:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index 15ad18de6b..0b759b0eb6 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# control side (aka 'overlord')
 DEFAULT_HOST_LIST      = '/etc/ansible/hosts'
 DEFAULT_MODULE_PATH    = '/usr/share/ansible'
 DEFAULT_MODULE_NAME    = 'ping'
diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner.py b/lib/ansible/runner.py
index 414a8c6600..8c4f755245 100755
--- a/lib/ansible/runner.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner.py
@@ -139,12 +139,21 @@ class Runner(object):
         result = self._execute_module(conn, module)
         return self._return_from_module(conn, host, result)
 
+    def _parse_kv(self, args):
+        options = {}
+        for x in args:
+            if x.find("=") != -1:
+               k, v = x.split("=")
+               options[k]=v
+        return options
+
     def _execute_copy(self, conn, host):
         ''' handler for file transfer operations '''
 
         # transfer the file to a remote tmp location
-        source = self.module_args[0]
-        dest   = self.module_args[1]
+        options = self._parse_kv(self.module_args)
+        source = options['src']
+        dest   = options['dest']
         tmp_dest = self._get_tmp_path(conn, dest.split("/")[-1])
         self._transfer_file(conn, source, tmp_dest)
 
@@ -161,9 +170,10 @@ class Runner(object):
     def _execute_template(self, conn, host):
         ''' handler for template operations '''
 
-        source   = self.module_args[0]
-        dest     = self.module_args[1]
-        metadata = '/etc/ansible/setup'
+        options  = self._parse_kv(self.module_args)
+        source   = options['src']
+        dest     = options['dest']
+        metadata = options.get('metadata', '/etc/ansible/setup')
 
         # first copy the source template over
         tempname = os.path.split(source)[-1]
diff --git a/library/copy b/library/copy
index aa944924ef..95b70ee1a4 100644
--- a/library/copy
+++ b/library/copy
@@ -8,14 +8,27 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     import simplejson as json
 
-source   = sys.argv[1]
-dest     = sys.argv[2]
+# ===========================================
+# convert arguments of form ensure=running name=foo
+# to a dictionary
+# FIXME: make more idiomatic
+
+args = " ".join(sys.argv[1:])
+items = shlex.split(args)
+params = {}
+for x in items:
+    (k, v) = x.split("=")
+    params[k] = v
+
+src  = params['src']
+dest = params['dest']
+
  
-# raise an error if there is no source file
-if not os.path.exists(source):
+# raise an error if there is no src file
+if not os.path.exists(src):
     print json.dumps({
         "failed" : 1,
-        "msg"    : "Source %s failed to transfer" % source
+        "msg"    : "Source %s failed to transfer" % src
     })
     sys.exit(1)
 
@@ -24,7 +37,7 @@ changed = False
 if os.path.exists(dest):
     md5sum = os.popen("md5sum %s" % dest).read().split()[0]
 
-os.system("cp %s %s" % (source, dest))
+os.system("cp %s %s" % (src, dest))
 
 md5sum2 = os.popen("md5sum %s" % dest).read().split()[0]
 
diff --git a/library/setup b/library/setup
index de52cba709..5e9fccbf35 100755
--- a/library/setup
+++ b/library/setup
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/python
 
-ANSIBLE_DIR       = "/etc/ansible"
-ANSIBLE_SETUP     = "/etc/ansible/setup"
+DEFAULT_ANSIBLE_SETUP     = "/etc/ansible/setup"
 
 import sys
 import os
@@ -15,28 +14,30 @@ except ImportError:
 # load config & template variables
 
 input_data = sys.argv[1:]
-new_options = dict([ x.split("=") for x in input_data ])
+new_options = dict([ x.split('=') for x in input_data ])
+ansible_file = new_options.get('metadata', DEFAULT_ANSIBLE_SETUP)
+ansible_dir = os.path.dirname(metadata)
 
 # create the config dir if it doesn't exist
 
-if not os.path.exists(ANSIBLE_DIR):
-    os.makedirs(ANSIBLE_DIR)
+if not os.path.exists(ansible_dir):
+    os.makedirs(ansible_dir)
 
 changed = False
-if not os.path.exists(ANSIBLE_SETUP):
+if not os.path.exists(ansible_file):
     changed = True
 else:
-    md5sum = os.popen("md5sum %s" % ANSIBLE_SETUP).read()
+    md5sum = os.popen("md5sum %s" % ansible_file).read()
 
 # write the template/settings file using
 # instructions from server
 
-f = open(ANSIBLE_SETUP, "w+")
+f = open(ansible_file, "w+")
 reformat = json.dumps(new_options)
 f.write(reformat)
 f.close()
 
-md5sum2 = os.popen("md5sum %s" % ANSIBLE_SETUP).read()
+md5sum2 = os.popen("md5sum %s" % ansible_file).read()
 
 if md5sum != md5sum2:
    changed = True
diff --git a/library/template b/library/template
index 3bbcbdfcc3..d77c5cef92 100644
--- a/library/template
+++ b/library/template
@@ -8,9 +8,22 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     import simplejson as json
 
-source   = sys.argv[1]
-dest     = sys.argv[2]
-metadata = sys.argv[3]
+# ===========================================
+# convert arguments of form ensure=running name=foo
+# to a dictionary
+# FIXME: make more idiomatic
+
+args = " ".join(sys.argv[1:])
+items = shlex.split(args)
+params = {}
+for x in items:
+    (k, v) = x.split("=")
+    params[k] = v
+
+source  = params['src']
+dest    = params['dest']
+metadata = params.get('metadata', '/etc/ansible/setup') 
+
  
 # raise an error if there is no template metadata
 if not os.path.exists(metadata):