diff --git a/assignment-client/src/main.cpp b/assignment-client/src/main.cpp
index ac34fb0723..d33bf10e2e 100644
--- a/assignment-client/src/main.cpp
+++ b/assignment-client/src/main.cpp
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 const long long ASSIGNMENT_REQUEST_INTERVAL_USECS = 1 * 1000 * 1000;
 
-int main(int argc, char* const argv[]) {
+int main(int argc, const char* argv[]) {
     
     setvbuf(stdout, NULL, _IOLBF, 0);
     
@@ -33,21 +33,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* const argv[]) {
     unsigned char packetData[MAX_PACKET_SIZE];
     ssize_t receivedBytes = 0;
     
-    // loop the parameters to see if we were passed a pool
-    int parameter = -1;
-    const char ALLOWED_PARAMETERS[] = "p::";
-    const char POOL_PARAMETER_CHAR = 'p';
-    
-    char* assignmentPool = NULL;
-    
-    while ((parameter = getopt(argc, argv, ALLOWED_PARAMETERS)) != -1) {
-        if (parameter == POOL_PARAMETER_CHAR) {
-            // copy the passed assignment pool
-            int poolLength = strlen(optarg);
-            assignmentPool = new char[poolLength + sizeof(char)];
-            strcpy(assignmentPool, optarg);
-        }
-    }
+    // grab the assignment pool from argv, if it was passed
+    const char* assignmentPool = getCmdOption(argc, argv, "-p");
     
     // create a request assignment, accept all assignments, pass the desired pool (if it exists)
     Assignment requestAssignment(Assignment::Request, Assignment::All, assignmentPool);
diff --git a/domain-server/src/main.cpp b/domain-server/src/main.cpp
index 882fa85098..4bb554ab53 100644
--- a/domain-server/src/main.cpp
+++ b/domain-server/src/main.cpp
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ unsigned char* addNodeToBroadcastPacket(unsigned char* currentPosition, Node* no
     return currentPosition;
 }
 
-int main(int argc, char* const argv[]) {
+int main(int argc, const char* argv[]) {
     NodeList* nodeList = NodeList::createInstance(NODE_TYPE_DOMAIN, DOMAIN_LISTEN_PORT);
 	// If user asks to run in "local" mode then we do NOT replace the IP
 	// with the EC2 IP. Otherwise, we will replace the IP like we used to
@@ -85,21 +85,11 @@ int main(int argc, char* const argv[]) {
     
     timeval lastStatSendTime = {};
     
-    // loop the parameters to see if we were passed a pool for assignment
-    int parameter = -1;
-    const char ALLOWED_PARAMETERS[] = "p::-local::";
-    const char POOL_PARAMETER_CHAR = 'p';
+    // set our assignment pool from argv, if it exists
+    const char* assignmentPool = getCmdOption(argc, argv, "-p");
     
-    char* assignmentPool = NULL;
-    
-    while ((parameter = getopt(argc, argv, ALLOWED_PARAMETERS)) != -1) {
-        if (parameter == POOL_PARAMETER_CHAR) {
-            // copy the passed assignment pool
-            int poolLength = strlen(optarg);
-            assignmentPool = new char[poolLength + sizeof(char)];
-            strcpy(assignmentPool, optarg);
-        }
-    }
+    // grab the overriden assignment-server hostname from argv, if it exists
+    const char* assignmentServer = getCmdOption(argc, argv, "-a");
     
     // use a map to keep track of iterations of silence for assignment creation requests
     const int ASSIGNMENT_SILENCE_MAX_ITERATIONS = 5;
diff --git a/libraries/shared/src/NodeList.cpp b/libraries/shared/src/NodeList.cpp
index db90856251..cd52ff8ded 100644
--- a/libraries/shared/src/NodeList.cpp
+++ b/libraries/shared/src/NodeList.cpp
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ int NodeList::processDomainServerList(unsigned char* packetData, size_t dataByte
     return readNodes;
 }
 
-const char ASSIGNMENT_SERVER_HOSTNAME[] = "assignment.highfidelity.io";
+const char ASSIGNMENT_SERVER_HOSTNAME[] = "localhost";
 const sockaddr_in assignmentServerSocket = socketForHostnameAndHostOrderPort(ASSIGNMENT_SERVER_HOSTNAME,
                                                                              ASSIGNMENT_SERVER_PORT);