diff --git a/functions.sh b/functions.sh
index d5ef7a2..9f5e2db 100644
--- a/functions.sh
+++ b/functions.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,20 @@ function e {
         echo -ne "${1};"
 }
 
+# get machine number from name
+# arg1: name of machine
+
+function getMachineNumber {
+	latest=${1: -2}
+	left=${latest:0:1}
+	match='[0-9]'
+	if [[ "$left" =~ $match ]] ; then
+		echo $latest
+	else
+		echo ${1: -1}
+	fi
+}
+
 # file age
 # return 0 if given file mtime is older than given age (in day)
 # arg1: file
@@ -158,15 +172,17 @@ function fileMustNOTContains {
 }
 
 # Ok if given user exists
-# Arg1: user
+# Arg1: chroot dir
+# Arg2: user
 function userExists {
-	if ( grep -iq $1 /etc/passwd ) ; then e 1 ; else e 0 ; fi
+	if ( grep -iq $2 ${1}/etc/passwd ) ; then e 1 ; else e 0 ; fi
 }
 
 # Ok if given group exists
-# Arg1: group
+# Arg1: chroot
+# Arg2: group
 function groupExists {
-	if ( grep -iq $1 /etc/group ) ; then e 1 ; else e 0 ; fi
+	if ( grep -iq $2 ${root}/etc/group ) ; then e 1 ; else e 0 ; fi
 }
 
 # insert hostname at beginning of result line
@@ -240,7 +256,7 @@ function commandStdoutPattern {
   local command=$2
   local pattern="$3"
 
-  result=$(chroot ${chroot} bash -c "$command")
+  result=$(chroot ${chroot} bash -c "$command" 2> /dev/null)
   if ( echo -n "$result" | grep -qiE "${pattern}" ) ; then echo -ne "1;" ; else echo -ne "0;" ; fi
 }