diff --git a/bin/run-radiopadre b/bin/run-radiopadre
index a7f639f..2ed7b06 100755
--- a/bin/run-radiopadre
+++ b/bin/run-radiopadre
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ import signal
 signal.signal(signal.SIGHUP, _handle_hup)
 
 # work out browser
-if config.BROWSER.upper() in ("NONE", "FALSE", "0"):
+if str(config.BROWSER).upper() in ("NONE", "FALSE", "0"):
     config.BROWSER = None
 
 
diff --git a/iglesia/__init__.py b/iglesia/__init__.py
index 9367c27..d8132ee 100644
--- a/iglesia/__init__.py
+++ b/iglesia/__init__.py
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ def get_carta_url(*args):
     url = f"http://localhost:{CARTA_PORT}"
 
     if CARTA_VERSION < "2":
-        args = [f"socketUrl=ws://localhost:{CARTA_WS_PORT}"] + args
+        args = [f"socketUrl=ws://localhost:{CARTA_WS_PORT}"] + list(args)
         args += [f"token={uuid.UUID(SESSION_ID)}"]
 
     if args:
diff --git a/iglesia/utils.py b/iglesia/utils.py
index 7e48090..42363ad 100644
--- a/iglesia/utils.py
+++ b/iglesia/utils.py
@@ -34,10 +34,13 @@ def bye(x, code=1):
     message(x, level=logging.ERROR)
     sys.exit(code)
 
-def shell(cmd, ignore_fail=False):
+def shell(cmd, ignore_fail=False, env=None):
     """Runs shell command. If ignore_fail is set, returns None on failure"""
+    if env is not None:
+        env = dict(**env)
+        env.update(os.environ)
     try:
-       return subprocess.check_call(cmd, shell=True)
+       return subprocess.check_call(cmd, shell=True, env=env)
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
         if ignore_fail:
             return None
diff --git a/radiopadre_client/backends/venv.py b/radiopadre_client/backends/venv.py
index 3abe534..65ce2be 100644
--- a/radiopadre_client/backends/venv.py
+++ b/radiopadre_client/backends/venv.py
@@ -120,9 +120,14 @@ def update_installation():
         else:
             bye("no radiopadre installation method specified (see --server-install options)")
 
+        if config.VENV_IGNORE_JS9:
+            env = dict(RADIOPADRE_JS9_IGNORE_ERRORS='1')
+        else:
+            env = None
+
         cmd = f"{pip_install} -U {install}"
         message(f"Running {cmd}")
-        shell(cmd)
+        shell(cmd, env=env)
 
     # if not config.INSIDE_CONTAINER_PORTS:
     #     message(f"  Radiopadre has been installed from {config.SERVER_INSTALL_PATH}")
diff --git a/radiopadre_client/remote.py b/radiopadre_client/remote.py
index 0b8f7f0..2061e01 100644
--- a/radiopadre_client/remote.py
+++ b/radiopadre_client/remote.py
@@ -223,10 +223,11 @@ def check_remote_command(command):
         if not check_remote_file(f"{config.RADIOPADRE_VENV}/bin/activate", "-f"):
             message(f"Creating virtualenv {remote_venv}")
             ssh_remote_v(f"virtualenv -p python3 {config.RADIOPADRE_VENV}")
+            extras = "pip setuptools"
             if config.VENV_EXTRAS:
-                extras = " ".join(config.VENV_EXTRAS.split(","))
-                message(f"Installing specified extras: {extras}")
-                ssh_remote_v(f"source {config.RADIOPADRE_VENV}/bin/activate && {pip_install} {extras}")
+                extras += " ".join(config.VENV_EXTRAS.split(","))
+            message(f"Installing {extras}")
+            ssh_remote_v(f"source {config.RADIOPADRE_VENV}/bin/activate && {pip_install} -U {extras}")
         else:
             message(f"Installing into existing virtualenv {remote_venv}")
 
@@ -314,6 +315,7 @@ def check_remote_command(command):
     for _ in range(NUM_PORTS):
         starting_port = find_unused_port(starting_port + 1, 10000)
         ports.append(starting_port)
+    iglesia.set_userside_ports(ports)
 
     remote_config["remote"] = ":".join(map(str, ports))
 
@@ -422,6 +424,7 @@ def check_remote_command(command):
                         iglesia.CARTA_VERSION = match.group(1)
                         if config.CARTA_BROWSER:
                             urls.append(iglesia.get_carta_url())
+                        message(f"Remote CARTA version is {iglesia.CARTA_VERSION} ({config.CARTA_BROWSER})")
                         continue
 
                     if "jupyter notebook server is running" in line: