diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3877e87..f9b8c28 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 #### Run Unit Tests
 * `cd ~/son-emu`
 * `sudo py.test -v src/emuvim/test/unittests`
+(To force using Python2: `python2 -m  pytest -v src/emuvim/test/unittests`)
 
 
 ### Building
diff --git a/src/emuvim/api/rest/network.py b/src/emuvim/api/rest/network.py
index 84db87e..1374373 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/api/rest/network.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/api/rest/network.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 import json
 import networkx
 
-logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
+logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
 
 CORS_HEADER = {'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': '*'}
 
@@ -83,8 +83,7 @@
             # check if json data is a dict
             data = request.args
             # try json payload
-            if data is None:
-                data = request.json
+            data = request.json
             # then no data
             if data is None:
                 data = {}
diff --git a/src/emuvim/api/rest/rest_api_endpoint.py b/src/emuvim/api/rest/rest_api_endpoint.py
index 10b6c26..b2a7b86 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/api/rest/rest_api_endpoint.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/api/rest/rest_api_endpoint.py
@@ -56,10 +56,13 @@
     default command line client.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, listenip, port):
+    def __init__(self, listenip, port, DCnetwork=None):
         self.ip = listenip
         self.port = port
 
+        # connect this DC network to the rest api endpoint (needed for the networking and monitoring api)
+        self.connectDCNetwork(DCnetwork)
+
         # setup Flask
         # find directory of dashboard files
         dashboard_file = pkg_resources.resource_filename('emuvim.dashboard', "index.html")
diff --git a/src/emuvim/cli/rest/compute.py b/src/emuvim/cli/rest/compute.py
index 9e5e0ab..fdfc11b 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/cli/rest/compute.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/cli/rest/compute.py
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
             Popen(['xterm', '-xrm', 'XTerm.vt100.allowTitleOps: false', '-T', vnf_name,
                    '-e', "docker exec -it mn.{0} /bin/bash".format(vnf_name)])
 
-parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="""son-emu compute
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="""son-emu-cli compute
     
     Examples:
     - son-emu-cli compute start -d dc2 -n client -i sonatanfv/sonata-iperf3-vnf
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@
 parser.add_argument(
     "--endpoint", "-e", dest="endpoint",
     default="http://127.0.0.1:5001",
-    help="UUID of the plugin to be manipulated.")
+    help="REST API endpoint of son-emu (default:http://127.0.0.1:5001)")
 
 
 def main(argv):
diff --git a/src/emuvim/cli/rest/datacenter.py b/src/emuvim/cli/rest/datacenter.py
index e8a41ce..651c55c 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/cli/rest/datacenter.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/cli/rest/datacenter.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
         print (tabulate(table, headers=headers, tablefmt="grid"))
 
 
-parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='son-emu datacenter')
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='son-emu-cli datacenter')
 parser.add_argument(
     "command",
     choices=['list', 'status'],
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
 parser.add_argument(
     "--endpoint", "-e", dest="endpoint",
     default="http://127.0.0.1:5001",
-    help="UUID of the plugin to be manipulated.")
+    help="REST API endpoint of son-emu (default:http://127.0.0.1:5001)")
 
 
 def main(argv):
diff --git a/src/emuvim/cli/rest/monitor.py b/src/emuvim/cli/rest/monitor.py
index 7af1fbb..8be1e7f 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/cli/rest/monitor.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/cli/rest/monitor.py
@@ -46,52 +46,47 @@
             print("Command not implemented.")
 
     def setup_metric(self, args):
-        vnf_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("vnf_name"))
-        vnf_interface = self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("vnf_name"))
 
-        response = put("%s/restapi/monitor/interface/%s/%s/%s" %
-                       (args.get("endpoint"),
-                        vnf_name,
-                        vnf_interface,
-                        args.get("metric")))
-        pp.pprint(response.json())
+        params = self._create_dict(
+            vnf_name=self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("vnf_name")),
+            vnf_interface = self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("vnf_name")),
+            metric = args.get("metric"))
+
+        url = "{0}/restapi/monitor/interface".format(args.get("endpoint"))
+        response = put(url, params=params)
+        pp.pprint(response.text)
 
     def stop_metric(self, args):
-        vnf_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("vnf_name"))
-        vnf_interface = self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("vnf_name"))
+        params = self._create_dict(
+            vnf_name=self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("vnf_name")),
+            vnf_interface=self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("vnf_name")),
+            metric=args.get("metric"))
 
-        response = delete("%s/restapi/monitor/interface/%s/%s/%s" %
-                       (args.get("endpoint"),
-                        vnf_name,
-                        vnf_interface,
-                        args.get("metric")))
-        pp.pprint(response.json())
+        url = "{0}/restapi/monitor/interface".format(args.get("endpoint"))
+        response = put(url, params=params)
+        pp.pprint(response.text)
 
     def setup_flow(self, args):
-        vnf_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("vnf_name"))
-        vnf_interface = self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("vnf_name"))
+        params = self._create_dict(
+            vnf_name=self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("vnf_name")),
+            vnf_interface=self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("vnf_name")),
+            metric=args.get("metric"),
+            cookie=args.get("cookie"))
 
-        response = put("%s/restapi/monitor/flow/%s/%s/%s/%s" %
-                       (args.get("endpoint"),
-                        vnf_name,
-                        vnf_interface,
-                        args.get("metric"),
-                        args.get("cookie")))
-
-        pp.pprint(response.json())
+        url = "{0}/restapi/monitor/flow".format(args.get("endpoint"))
+        response = put(url, params=params)
+        pp.pprint(response.text)
 
     def stop_flow(self, args):
-        vnf_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("vnf_name"))
-        vnf_interface = self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("vnf_name"))
+        params = self._create_dict(
+            vnf_name=self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("vnf_name")),
+            vnf_interface=self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("vnf_name")),
+            metric=args.get("metric"),
+            cookie=args.get("cookie"))
 
-        response = delete("%s/restapi/monitor/flow/%s/%s/%s/%s" %
-                       (args.get("endpoint"),
-                        vnf_name,
-                        vnf_interface,
-                        args.get("metric"),
-                        args.get("cookie")))
-
-        pp.pprint(response.json())
+        url = "{0}/restapi/monitor/flow".format(args.get("endpoint"))
+        response = put(url, params=params)
+        pp.pprint(response.text)
 
     def prometheus(self, args):
         # This functions makes it more user-friendly to create the correct prometheus query
@@ -100,6 +95,7 @@
         vnf_interface = self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("vnf_name"))
         dc_label = args.get("datacenter")
         query = args.get("query")
+
         vnf_status = get("%s/restapi/compute/%s/%s" %
             (args.get("endpoint"),
              args.get("datacenter"),
@@ -122,7 +118,10 @@
 
         return vnf_interface
 
-parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='son-emu monitor')
+    def _create_dict(self, **kwargs):
+        return kwargs
+
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='son-emu-cli monitor')
 parser.add_argument(
     "command",
     choices=['setup_metric', 'stop_metric', 'setup_flow', 'stop_flow','prometheus'],
@@ -145,7 +144,7 @@
 parser.add_argument(
     "--endpoint", "-e", dest="endpoint",
     default="http://127.0.0.1:5001",
-    help="UUID of the plugin to be manipulated.")
+    help="REST API endpoint of son-emu (default:http://127.0.0.1:5001)")
 
 def main(argv):
     args = vars(parser.parse_args(argv))
diff --git a/src/emuvim/cli/rest/network.py b/src/emuvim/cli/rest/network.py
index 91051dd..44cba60 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/cli/rest/network.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/cli/rest/network.py
@@ -44,10 +44,9 @@
             print("Command not implemented.")
 
     def add(self, args):
-        vnf_src_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("source"))
-        vnf_dst_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("destination"))
-
         params = self._create_dict(
+            vnf_src_name=self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("source")),
+            vnf_dst_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("destination")),
             vnf_src_interface=self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("source")),
             vnf_dst_interface=self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("destination")),
             weight=args.get("weight"),
@@ -56,18 +55,14 @@
             cookie=args.get("cookie"),
             priority=args.get("priority"))
 
-        response = put("%s/restapi/network/%s/%s" %
-                       (args.get("endpoint"),
-                        vnf_src_name,
-                        vnf_dst_name),
-                       json=params)
-        pp.pprint(response.json())
+        response = put("{0}/restapi/network".format(args.get("endpoint")),
+                       params=params)
+        pp.pprint(response.text)
 
     def remove(self, args):
-        vnf_src_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("source"))
-        vnf_dst_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("destination"))
-
         params = self._create_dict(
+            vnf_src_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("source")),
+            vnf_dst_name = self._parse_vnf_name(args.get("destination")),
             vnf_src_interface=self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("source")),
             vnf_dst_interface=self._parse_vnf_interface(args.get("destination")),
             weight=args.get("weight"),
@@ -76,12 +71,9 @@
             cookie=args.get("cookie"),
             priority=args.get("priority"))
 
-        response = delete("%s/restapi/network/%s/%s" %
-                       (args.get("endpoint"),
-                        vnf_src_name,
-                        vnf_dst_name),
-                       json=params)
-        pp.pprint(response.json())
+        response = delete("{0}/restapi/network".format(args.get("endpoint")),
+                       params=params)
+        pp.pprint(response.text)
 
     def _parse_vnf_name(self, vnf_name_str):
         vnf_name = vnf_name_str.split(':')[0]
@@ -98,7 +90,7 @@
     def _create_dict(self, **kwargs):
         return kwargs
 
-parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='son-emu network')
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='son-emu-cli network')
 parser.add_argument(
     "command",
     choices=['add', 'remove'],
@@ -130,7 +122,7 @@
 parser.add_argument(
     "--endpoint", "-e", dest="endpoint",
     default="http://127.0.0.1:5001",
-    help="UUID of the plugin to be manipulated.")
+    help="REST API endpoint of son-emu (default:http://127.0.0.1:5001)")
 
 def main(argv):
     args = vars(parser.parse_args(argv))
diff --git a/src/emuvim/examples/simple_topology.py b/src/emuvim/examples/simple_topology.py
index d63a07c..b43ad78 100755
--- a/src/emuvim/examples/simple_topology.py
+++ b/src/emuvim/examples/simple_topology.py
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@
        this API, e.g., start/stop/list compute instances.
     """
     # create a new instance of a endpoint implementation
-    rapi1 = RestApiEndpoint("127.0.0.1", 5001)
+    rapi1 = RestApiEndpoint("127.0.0.1", 5001, net)
     # connect data centers to this endpoint
     rapi1.connectDatacenter(dc1)
     rapi1.connectDatacenter(dc2)