diff --git a/lynis-report-converter.pl b/lynis-report-converter.pl
index d1744d8..e87416c 100755
--- a/lynis-report-converter.pl
+++ b/lynis-report-converter.pl
@@ -10,17 +10,21 @@ use Getopt::Long qw( :config no_ignore_case bundling );
 use Data::Dumper;
 use Module::Load::Conditional qw( can_load check_install requires );
 
-my ($help,$verbose,$excel,$output,$pdf);
+my ($help,$verbose,$excel,$output,$pdf,$debug,$json,$quiet,$xml);
 GetOptions(
 	'h|help'		=>	\$help,
 	'v|verbose+'	=>	\$verbose,
 	'E|excel'		=>	\$excel,
 	'o|output=s'	=>	\$output,
 	'p|pdf'			=>	\$pdf,
+	'D|debug'		=>	\$debug,
+	'j|json'		=>	\$json,
+	'x|xml'			=>	\$xml,
+	'q|quiet'		=>	\$quiet,
 );
 
 &usage if ($help);
-&usage if (!$output);
+&usage if ((!$output) and (!$json));
 
 my %to_bool = (	0 => 'false', 1 => 'true' );
 my %vm_mode = ( 0 => 'false', 1 => 'guest', 2 => 'host' );
@@ -32,6 +36,8 @@ my %systemd_uf_status_color = (
 	'masked'	=>	'goldenrod'
 );
 
+if ($json) { $quiet = 1; }
+
 my ($basename, $path, $suffix, $htmldoc);
 
 if ($excel) {
@@ -59,18 +65,22 @@ if (( -e $lynis_report) and ( ! -z $lynis_report )) {
 }
 
 if (($audit_run) and ($audit_run >= 1)) {
-	print colored("Looks like the audit has been run.", "bold green");
-	print "\n";
+	print colored("Looks like the audit has been run.", "bold green") unless ($quiet);
+	print "\n" unless ($quiet);
 } else {
-	print colored("Couldn't find one or more of the lynis output files.  Try running the audit again. \n", "bold red");
+	warn colored("Couldn't find one or more of the lynis output files.  Try running the audit again. \n", "bold red");
 }
 
-print colored("Outputting report to $output, in ", "bold green");
-if ($excel) { print colored("Excel ", "bold green"); }
-elsif ($pdf) { print colored("PDF ", "bold green)"); }
-else { print colored("HTML ", "bold green"); }
-print colored("format.", "bold green");
-print "\n";
+unless ($quiet) {
+	print colored("Outputting report to $output, in ", "bold green");
+	if ($excel) { print colored("Excel ", "bold green"); }
+	elsif ($pdf) { print colored("PDF ", "bold green)"); }
+	elsif ($xml) { print colored("XML ", "bold green"); }
+	elsif ($json) { print colored("JSON ", "bold green"); }
+	else { print colored("HTML ", "bold green"); }
+	print colored("format.", "bold green");
+	print "\n";
+}
 
 # the report is easy to process, and actually doesn't contain the "audit findings"....just the data.
 # but it is not our job to draw conclusions here, just present the findings of the tool.
@@ -100,6 +110,8 @@ while (my $line = <RPT>) {
 }
 close RPT or die colored("There was a problem closing the lynis report: $! \n", "bold red");
 
+	
+
 @{$lynis_report_data{'automation_tool_running[]'}} = &dedup_array($lynis_report_data{'automation_tool_running[]'}) if (ref($lynis_report_data{'automation_tool_running[]'}) eq 'ARRAY');
 @{$lynis_report_data{'boot_service[]'}} = &dedup_array($lynis_report_data{'boot_service[]'}) if (ref($lynis_report_data{'boot_service[]'}) eq "ARRAY");
 @{$lynis_report_data{'cronjob[]'}} = &dedup_array($lynis_report_data{'cronjob[]'}) if (ref($lynis_report_data{'cronjob[]'}) eq 'ARRAY');
@@ -135,6 +147,51 @@ delete($lynis_report_data{'tests_skipped'});
 @tests_executed = @{$lynis_report_data{'tests_executed'}};
 delete($lynis_report_data{'tests_executed'});
 
+if ($debug) {
+	print Dumper(\%lynis_report_data);
+	exit 1;
+}
+
+if ($json) {
+	require JSON;
+	if ($output) {
+		# open the file and write to it
+	}
+	# it's moe likely JSON consumers would want to pipe the output to another process
+	# so print to STDOUT
+	my $json_obj = JSON->new->allow_nonref;
+	my $json_text = $json_obj->encode( \%lynis_report_data );
+	print $json_text;
+	exit 0;
+}
+
+if ($xml) {
+	require XML::Writer;
+	my $writer = XML::Writer->new('CONTENT'=>'self','DATA_MODE'=>1,'DATA_INDENT'=>2,);
+	$writer->xmlDecl('UTF-8');
+	$writer->startTag('lynisReportData');
+	foreach my $key ( sort keys %lynis_report_data ) {
+		if (ref($lynis_report_data{$key}) eq 'ARRAY') {
+			my $tmpkey = $key;
+			$tmpkey =~ s/\[\]//g;
+			$writer->startTag("${tmpkey}s");
+			foreach my $ele ( sort @{$lynis_report_data{$key}} ) {
+				$writer->dataElement($tmpkey, $ele);
+			}
+			$writer->endTag("${tmpkey}s");
+		} else {	
+			$writer->dataElement($key, $lynis_report_data{$key});
+		}
+	}
+	$writer->endTag('lynisReportData');
+	my $xml = $writer->end();
+	if ($output) {
+		# open the file and write to it
+	}
+	print $xml;
+	exit 0;
+}
+
 if ($excel) {
 	require Excel::Writer::XLSX;
 	my $i = 0;
@@ -2010,6 +2067,11 @@ if ($verbose) {
 # subs
 ###############################################################################
 sub usage {
+
+	if (!$output) {
+		print colored("You must specify an output file.\n", "bold yellow");
+	}
+
 	print <<END;
 
 $0 -h|--help -v|--verbose -E|--excel -o|--output