diff --git a/installer/ubuntu/hnn-ubuntu.sh b/installer/ubuntu/hnn-ubuntu.sh
index d2279f20b..4af9990d8 100755
--- a/installer/ubuntu/hnn-ubuntu.sh
+++ b/installer/ubuntu/hnn-ubuntu.sh
@@ -61,17 +61,17 @@ echo "Using python version $PYTHON_VERSION" | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
 export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
 echo "Updating package repository..." | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
-sudo -E apt-get update &> "$LOGFILE"
+sudo -E apt-get update &>> "$LOGFILE"
 
 echo "Updating OS python packages..." | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
 if [[ "${PYTHON_VERSION}" =~ "3.7" ]] && [[ "$DISTRIB" =~ "bionic" ]]; then
-  sudo -E apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y python3.7 python3-pip python3.7-tk python3.7-dev &> "$LOGFILE" && \
-    sudo python3.7 -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools &> "$LOGFILE"
+  sudo -E apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y python3.7 python3-pip python3.7-tk python3.7-dev &>> "$LOGFILE" && \
+    sudo python3.7 -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools &>> "$LOGFILE"
   sudo ln -s /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt_pkg.cpython-36m-x86_64-linux-gnu.so \
     /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt_pkg.so
 else
-  sudo -E apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y python3 python3-pip python3-tk python3-setuptools &> "$LOGFILE" && \
-    sudo pip3 install --upgrade pip &> "$LOGFILE"
+  sudo -E apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y python3 python3-pip python3-tk python3-setuptools &>> "$LOGFILE" && \
+    sudo pip3 install --upgrade pip &>> "$LOGFILE"
 fi
 
 if which python3 &> /dev/null; then
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ echo "Using python: $PYTHON with pip: $PIP" | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
 echo "Installing OS compilation toolchain..." | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
 # get prerequisites from pip. requires gcc to build psutil
 sudo -E apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y \
-        make gcc g++ python3-dev &> "$LOGFILE"
+        make gcc g++ python3-dev &>> "$LOGFILE"
 
 $PIP install --no-cache-dir NEURON
 
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ fi
 
 echo "Installing python packages for HNN with pip..." | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
 $PIP install --no-cache-dir --user matplotlib PyOpenGL \
-        pyqt5 pyqtgraph scipy numpy nlopt psutil &> "$LOGFILE"
+        pyqt5 pyqtgraph scipy numpy nlopt psutil &>> "$LOGFILE"
 
 # save dir installing hnn to
 startdir=$(pwd)
@@ -115,11 +115,11 @@ if [[ $TRAVIS_TESTING -ne 1 ]]; then
 
     cd hnn_source_code
     if [ -d "$source_code_dir/.git" ]; then
-      git pull origin master &> "$LOGFILE"
+      git pull origin master &>> "$LOGFILE"
     fi
   else
     echo "Downloading and extracting HNN..." | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
-    wget -O hnn.tar.gz https://github.com/jonescompneurolab/hnn/releases/latest/download/hnn.tar.gz | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
+    wget --no-hsts --no-check-certificate -O hnn.tar.gz https://github.com/jonescompneurolab/hnn/releases/latest/download/hnn.tar.gz | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
     mkdir hnn_source_code
     tar -x --strip-components 1 -f hnn.tar.gz -C hnn_source_code &>> "$LOGFILE" && \
       cd hnn_source_code &>> "$LOGFILE" 
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ else
 fi
 
 echo "Building HNN..." | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
-make -j4 &> "$LOGFILE"
+make -j4 &>> "$LOGFILE"
 MAKE_PID=$!
 
 # create the global session variables
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ if [[ -d "$HOME/Desktop" ]]; then
     cp -f hnn.desktop "$HOME/Desktop" && \
     sed -i "s~/home/hnn_user\(.*\)$~\"$startdir\"\1~g" "$HOME/Desktop/hnn.desktop" && \
     chmod +x "$HOME/Desktop/hnn.desktop"
-  } &> "$LOGFILE"
+  } &>> "$LOGFILE"
 fi
 
 echo "Installing prerequisites..." | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
@@ -160,11 +160,11 @@ sudo -E apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y \
         libx11-dev libreadline-dev \
         libxcb-icccm4 libxcb-util1 libxcb-image0 libxcb-keysyms1 \
         libxcb-render0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-randr0 libxcb-render-util0 \
-        libxcb-xinerama0 libxcb-xfixes0 &> "$LOGFILE"
+        libxcb-xinerama0 libxcb-xfixes0 &>> "$LOGFILE"
 
 # Clean up a little
 echo "Cleaning up..." | tee -a "$LOGFILE"
-sudo -E apt-get clean &> "$LOGFILE"
+sudo -E apt-get clean &>> "$LOGFILE"
 
 if [[ $TRAVIS_TESTING -ne 1 ]]; then
   echo "Waiting for HNN module build to finish..."