diff --git a/services/settings/syncsettings.go b/services/settings/syncsettings.go
index d672dd64..7f2c3d63 100644
--- a/services/settings/syncsettings.go
+++ b/services/settings/syncsettings.go
@@ -14,26 +14,26 @@ import (
 
 // SyncSettings is the struct holding sync-settings information
 type SyncSettings struct {
-	settingsFile           string
-	defaultsFile           string
-	currentFile            string
-	osForSyncSettings      string
-	tmpSettingsFile        string
-	syncSettingsExecutable string
-	uidFile                string
+	SettingsFile           string
+	DefaultsFile           string
+	CurrentFile            string
+	OS                     string
+	TmpSettingsFile        string
+	SyncSettingsExecutable string
+	UIDFile                string
 }
 
 // NewSyncSettings creates a new settings object
-func NewSyncSettings(settingsfile string, defaultsfile string, currentfile string, osforsyncsettings string, tmpsettingsfile string, syncsettingsexecutable string, uidfile string) *SyncSettings {
+func NewSyncSettings(settingsfile string, defaultsfile string, currentfile string, os string, tmpsettingsfile string, syncsettingsexecutable string, uidfile string) *SyncSettings {
 	s := new(SyncSettings)
 
-	s.settingsFile = settingsfile
-	s.defaultsFile = defaultsfile
-	s.currentFile = currentfile
-	s.osForSyncSettings = osforsyncsettings
-	s.tmpSettingsFile = tmpsettingsfile
-	s.syncSettingsExecutable = syncsettingsexecutable
-	s.uidFile = uidfile
+	s.SettingsFile = settingsfile
+	s.DefaultsFile = defaultsfile
+	s.CurrentFile = currentfile
+	s.OS = os
+	s.TmpSettingsFile = tmpsettingsfile
+	s.SyncSettingsExecutable = syncsettingsexecutable
+	s.UIDFile = uidfile
 
 	return s
 
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func NewSyncSettings(settingsfile string, defaultsfile string, currentfile strin
 // CreateDefaults creates the settings defauls.json file
 func (s *SyncSettings) CreateDefaults() error {
 	// sync the defaults
-	cmdArgs := []string{"-o", s.osForSyncSettings, "-c", "-s", "-f", s.tmpSettingsFile}
+	cmdArgs := []string{"-o", s.OS, "-c", "-s", "-f", s.TmpSettingsFile}
 	err := s.runSyncSettings(cmdArgs)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Warn("Error creating defaults: %s\n", err.Error())
@@ -50,19 +50,19 @@ func (s *SyncSettings) CreateDefaults() error {
 	}
 
 	// move the defaults. Have to read/write file to avoid docker copy errors
-	defaultsBytes, readErr := ioutil.ReadFile(s.tmpSettingsFile)
+	defaultsBytes, readErr := ioutil.ReadFile(s.TmpSettingsFile)
 	if readErr != nil {
 		logger.Warn("Failure copying defaults over: %s\n", readErr.Error())
 		return readErr
 	}
 
-	writeErr := ioutil.WriteFile(s.defaultsFile, defaultsBytes, 0660)
+	writeErr := ioutil.WriteFile(s.DefaultsFile, defaultsBytes, 0660)
 	if writeErr != nil {
 		logger.Warn("Failure copying defaults over: %s\n", writeErr.Error())
 		return writeErr
 	}
 
-	removeErr := os.Remove(s.tmpSettingsFile)
+	removeErr := os.Remove(s.TmpSettingsFile)
 	if removeErr != nil {
 		logger.Warn("Could not remove default tmp file: %s. Continueing\n", removeErr.Error())
 	}
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ func (s *SyncSettings) CreateDefaults() error {
 
 // NormalSync runs sync settings with OS and filename specified
 func (s *SyncSettings) NormalSync() error {
-	cmdArgs := []string{"-o", s.osForSyncSettings, "-f", s.settingsFile}
+	cmdArgs := []string{"-o", s.OS, "-f", s.SettingsFile}
 	err := s.runSyncSettings(cmdArgs)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Warn("Error running sync-settings: %s\n", err.Error())
@@ -81,12 +81,26 @@ func (s *SyncSettings) NormalSync() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// SimulateSync will run sync-settings with simulation flag on the given filePath
+// This will not write any files out or restart any services
+// but will get the return result as if the file was run properly
+func (s *SyncSettings) SimulateSync(filePath string) error {
+	cmdArgs := []string{"-o", s.OS, "-s", "-f", filePath}
+	err := s.runSyncSettings(cmdArgs)
+	if err != nil {
+		logger.Warn("Error running sync-settings with simulate flag : %s\n", err.Error())
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // FirstSyncSettingsRun will create the settings file if it doesn't exist, or rerun sync-settings for good measure
 func (s *SyncSettings) FirstSyncSettingsRun() error {
-	cmdArgs := []string{"-o", s.osForSyncSettings, "-n"}
+	cmdArgs := []string{"-o", s.OS, "-n"}
 
 	// check if settings.json exists, if not create it
-	info, checkErr := os.Stat(s.settingsFile)
+	info, checkErr := os.Stat(s.SettingsFile)
 	if os.IsNotExist(checkErr) {
 		cmdArgs = append(cmdArgs, "-c")
 	} else if info.IsDir() {
@@ -107,7 +121,7 @@ func (s *SyncSettings) FirstSyncSettingsRun() error {
 
 // runSyncSettings runs sync settings with given cmd args
 func (s *SyncSettings) runSyncSettings(cmdArgs []string) error {
-	cmd := exec.Command(s.syncSettingsExecutable, cmdArgs...)
+	cmd := exec.Command(s.SyncSettingsExecutable, cmdArgs...)
 	outbytes, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 	output := string(outbytes)
 	var runErr error