diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index b22b107f..cc21e80d 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -20757,3 +20757,7 @@
 2021-05-28 Fred Gleason <fredg@paravelsystems.com>
 	* Fixed a use-after-delete bug in rdimport(1) that could cause
 	a segfault when the '--fix-broken-formats' switch was given.
+2021-05-28 Fred Gleason <fredg@paravelsystems.com>
+	* Added syslog DEBUG messages around the start/stop of ephemeral
+	processes in rdservice(8).
+	* Added an '--initial-maintenance' switch to rdservice(8).
diff --git a/docs/manpages/rdservice.xml b/docs/manpages/rdservice.xml
index 0f81534c..be83b7f4 100644
--- a/docs/manpages/rdservice.xml
+++ b/docs/manpages/rdservice.xml
@@ -89,6 +89,18 @@
 	</para>
       </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
+
+    <varlistentry>
+      <term>
+	<option>--initial-maintenance-interval=<replaceable>interval</replaceable></option>
+      </term>
+      <listitem>
+	<para>
+	  Schedule the initial maintenance run to be started
+	  <replaceable>interval</replaceable> milliseconds after startup.
+	</para>
+      </listitem>
+    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
   </refsect1>
 
diff --git a/rdservice/maint_routines.cpp b/rdservice/maint_routines.cpp
index 26e28f01..2165ac4f 100644
--- a/rdservice/maint_routines.cpp
+++ b/rdservice/maint_routines.cpp
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 //
 // Rivendell Maintenance Routines
 //
-//   (C) Copyright 2008-2020 Fred Gleason <fredg@paravelsystems.com>
+//   (C) Copyright 2008-2021 Fred Gleason <fredg@paravelsystems.com>
 //
 //   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 //   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
@@ -23,12 +23,15 @@
 
 #include <rd.h>
 #include <rdapplication.h>
+#include <rdconf.h>
 #include <rdpaths.h>
 
 #include "rdservice.h"
 
 void MainObject::checkMaintData()
 {
+  rda->syslog(LOG_DEBUG,"starting maintenance checks");
+
   QString sql;
   RDSqlQuery *q;
   QDateTime current_datetime=
@@ -38,7 +41,12 @@ void MainObject::checkMaintData()
   //
   // Schedule Next Maintenance Run
   //
-  svc_maint_timer->start(GetMaintInterval());
+  int interval=GetMaintInterval();
+  svc_maint_timer->start(interval);
+  rda->syslog(LOG_DEBUG,"next maintenance run at %s [%s from now]",
+	      QDateTime::currentDateTime().addMSecs(interval).
+	      toString("hh:mm:ss").toUtf8().constData(),
+	      RDGetTimeLength(interval,false,false).toUtf8().constData());
 
   RunLocalMaintRoutine();
 
@@ -107,12 +115,15 @@ int MainObject::GetMaintInterval() const
 void MainObject::RunEphemeralProcess(int id,const QString &program,
 				     const QStringList &args)
 {
+  rda->syslog(LOG_DEBUG,"starting ephemeral process \"%s\"",
+	      (program+" "+args.join(" ")).trimmed().toUtf8().constData());
   svc_processes[id]=new RDProcess(id,this);
   connect(svc_processes[id],SIGNAL(finished(int)),
 	  this,SLOT(processFinishedData(int)));
   svc_processes[id]->start(program,args);
   if(!svc_processes[id]->process()->waitForStarted()) {
-    QString err_msg=tr("unable to start")+"\""+program+"\": "+
+    QString err_msg=tr("unable to start ephemeral process ")+
+      "\""+(program+" "+args.join(" ")).trimmed()+"\": "+
       svc_processes[id]->errorText();
     rda->syslog(LOG_WARNING,"%s",(const char *)err_msg.toUtf8());
     delete svc_processes[id];
diff --git a/rdservice/rdservice.cpp b/rdservice/rdservice.cpp
index e2ea297f..294e4e15 100644
--- a/rdservice/rdservice.cpp
+++ b/rdservice/rdservice.cpp
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 //
 // Rivendell Services Manager
 //
-//   (C) Copyright 2018-2019 Fred Gleason <fredg@paravelsystems.com>
+//   (C) Copyright 2018-2021 Fred Gleason <fredg@paravelsystems.com>
 //
 //   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 //   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ MainObject::MainObject(QObject *parent)
 {
   QString err_msg;
   RDApplication::ErrorType err_type=RDApplication::ErrorOk;
+  int initial_maintenance_interval=-1;
+  bool ok=false;
 
   svc_startup_target=MainObject::TargetAll;
 
@@ -77,6 +79,7 @@ MainObject::MainObject(QObject *parent)
 		(const char *)err_msg.utf8());
     exit(RDApplication::ExitNoDb);
   }
+  rda->syslog(LOG_DEBUG,"starting up");
 
   //
   // Process Startup Options
@@ -88,6 +91,15 @@ MainObject::MainObject(QObject *parent)
 	svc_startup_target=target;
 	rda->cmdSwitch()->setProcessed(i,true);
       }
+      if(rda->cmdSwitch()->key(i)=="--initial-maintenance-interval") {
+	initial_maintenance_interval=rda->cmdSwitch()->value(i).toInt(&ok);
+	if(!ok) {
+	  fprintf(stderr,
+	      "rdservice: invalid \"--initial-maintenance-interval\" value\n");
+	  exit(4);
+	}
+	rda->cmdSwitch()->setProcessed(i,true);
+      }
     }
     if(!rda->cmdSwitch()->processed(i)) {
       fprintf(stderr,"rdservice: unknown command-line option\n");
@@ -121,6 +133,13 @@ MainObject::MainObject(QObject *parent)
   connect(svc_maint_timer,SIGNAL(timeout()),this,SLOT(checkMaintData()));
   int interval=GetMaintInterval();
   if(!rda->config()->disableMaintChecks()) {
+    if(initial_maintenance_interval>=0) {
+      interval=initial_maintenance_interval;
+    }
+    rda->syslog(LOG_DEBUG,"initial maintenance run at %s [%s from now]",
+		QDateTime::currentDateTime().addMSecs(interval).
+		toString("hh:mm:ss").toUtf8().constData(),
+		RDGetTimeLength(interval,false,false).toUtf8().constData());
     svc_maint_timer->start(interval);
   }
   else {
@@ -136,7 +155,26 @@ MainObject::MainObject(QObject *parent)
 
 void MainObject::processFinishedData(int id)
 {
-  svc_processes[id]->deleteLater();
+  RDProcess *proc=svc_processes.value(id);
+  if(proc->process()->exitStatus()!=QProcess::NormalExit) {
+    rda->syslog(LOG_WARNING,"process \"%s\" crashed!",
+		(proc->program()+" "+proc->arguments().join(" ").trimmed()).
+		toUtf8().constData());
+  }
+  else {
+    if(proc->process()->exitCode()!=0) {
+      rda->syslog(LOG_WARNING,"process \"%s\" exited with exit code %d",
+		  (proc->program()+" "+proc->arguments().join(" ").trimmed()).
+		  toUtf8().constData(),
+		  proc->process()->exitCode());
+    }
+    else {
+      rda->syslog(LOG_DEBUG,"process \"%s\" exited normally",
+		  (proc->program()+" "+proc->arguments().join(" ").trimmed()).
+		  toUtf8().constData());
+    }
+  }
+  proc->process()->deleteLater();
   svc_processes.remove(id);
 }