diff --git a/updatemodules b/updatemodules
index 2a1ee0e..200e424 100755
--- a/updatemodules
+++ b/updatemodules
@@ -3,18 +3,21 @@ set -e
 
 # config options
 declare -A keep
-remote="origin"
-branch="main"
-package_base_url=
-package_relative_url="../../rpm"
+REMOTE="origin"
+BASE_BRANCH="main"
+PACKAGE_BASE_URL=
+PACKAGE_RELATIVE_URL="../../rpm"
 # https://api.opensuse.org/public/source/openSUSE:Factory:Rings:0-Bootstrap
-ring0api=
-date="$(date "+%s %z")"
+RING0API=
+DATE="$(date "+%s %z")"
 keep["dummy-release"]=1
 
 # command line only
 single=
 verbose=0
+cfg_file=
+
+###################
 
 # constant needed to aid quoting
 nl=$'\n'
@@ -87,11 +90,11 @@ while true ; do
 		-v|--verbose) verbose=$((++verbose)); shift ;;
                 -c|--config) cfg_file="$2"; shift 2 ;;
                 --single) single=1; shift ;;
-                --remote) remote="$2"; shift 2 ;;
-                --branch) branch="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+                --remote) REMOTE="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+                --branch) BASE_BRANCH="$2"; shift 2 ;;
 		--status) show_status; exit 0 ;;
 		--clear) clear_queue; exit 0 ;;
-                --date) date="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+                --date) DATE="$2"; shift 2 ;;
                 --) shift ; break ;;
                 *) echo "Internal error!" ; exit 1 ;;
         esac
@@ -99,21 +102,22 @@ done
 
 modules=("$@")
 
-if [ "${date:0:1}" = '@' ]; then
-	date="$(stat -c %Y "${date:1}") +0100"
-fi
-
-package_base_url="$(git config --get remote."$remote".url)"
-export GIT_AUTHOR_NAME="Auto"
-export GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="auto@suse.de"
-export GIT_AUTHOR_DATE="$date"
-export GIT_COMMITTER_NAME="Auto"
-export GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL="auto@suse.de"
-export GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="$date"
+PACKAGE_BASE_URL="$(git config --get remote."$REMOTE".url)"
 
 # shellcheck disable=SC1090
 . "${cfg_file:-.settings}"
 
+if [ "${DATE:0:1}" = '@' ]; then
+	DATE="$(stat -c %Y "${DATE:1}") +0100"
+fi
+
+export GIT_AUTHOR_NAME="Auto"
+export GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="auto@suse.de"
+export GIT_AUTHOR_DATE="$DATE"
+export GIT_COMMITTER_NAME="Auto"
+export GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL="auto@suse.de"
+export GIT_COMMITTER_DATE="$DATE"
+
 tmpfile=$(mktemp updatemodules.XXXXXX)
 tmpfile2=$(mktemp updatemodules.XXXXXX)
 cleanup()
@@ -129,13 +133,13 @@ while read -r m t cid p; do
 	fi
 	[ "$t" = "commit" ]  || continue
 	revs["$p"]="$cid"
-done < <(git cat-file -p "$remote/$branch^{tree}")
+done < <(git cat-file -p "$REMOTE/$BASE_BRANCH^{tree}")
 
-if [ -n "$ring0api" ]; then
+if [ -n "$RING0API" ]; then
 	while read -r p; do
 		ring0["$p"]=1
 		[ -n "${revs[$p]}" ] || new["$p"]=1
-	done < <(curl -s -f "$ring0api"|sed -ne 's/.*entry name="\([^":]*\).*\/>/\1/p'|sort -u  | grep -v AGGR)
+	done < <(curl -s -f "$RING0API"|sed -ne 's/.*entry name="\([^":]*\).*\/>/\1/p'|sort -u  | grep -v AGGR)
 
 	for m in "${!revs[@]}"; do
 		[ -n "${ring0[$m]}" -o -n "${keep[$m]}" ] || drop["$m"]=1
@@ -151,13 +155,13 @@ fi
 
 # check remotes for updates
 declare -A commits
-treetext=$(git cat-file -p "$remote/$branch^{tree}")
-git cat-file -p "$remote/$branch":.gitmodules > "$tmpfile"
+treetext=$(git cat-file -p "$REMOTE/$BASE_BRANCH^{tree}")
+git cat-file -p "$REMOTE/$BASE_BRANCH":.gitmodules > "$tmpfile"
 cat "$tmpfile" > "$tmpfile2"
 for m in "${modules[@]}"; do
 	if isnew "$m"; then
 		path="$m"
-		url="$package_relative_url/$m"
+		url="$PACKAGE_RELATIVE_URL/$m"
 		smbranch=
 		git config -f "$tmpfile" --add "submodule.$m.path" "$path"
 		git config -f "$tmpfile" --add "submodule.$m.url" "$url"
@@ -171,16 +175,18 @@ for m in "${modules[@]}"; do
 		continue
 	fi
 	if [ "${url:0:3}" = '../' ]; then
-		url="$package_base_url/$url"
+		url="$PACKAGE_BASE_URL/$url"
 	fi
 
 	cid=
 	if ! todrop "$m"; then
+		set -x
 		read -r cid _d < <(git ls-remote "$url" "${smbranch:-HEAD}")
 		if [ -z "$cid" ]; then
 			echo "$path not in pool" >&2
 			continue
 		fi
+		set +x
 	fi
 
 	# create a new commit for this package
@@ -209,7 +215,7 @@ for m in "${modules[@]}"; do
 			msg="Update $m"
 			isnew "$m" && msg="Add $m"
 			todrop "$m" && msg="Remove $m"
-			newcid="$(git commit-tree -p "$remote/$branch" -m "$msg" "$newtree")"
+			newcid="$(git commit-tree -p "$REMOTE/$BASE_BRANCH" -m "$msg" "$newtree")"
 			commits["$m"]="$newcid"
 			cat "$tmpfile2" > "$tmpfile"
 		fi
@@ -218,10 +224,11 @@ done
 
 if [ "$single" = 1 ]; then
 	newtree="$(echo "$treetext" | git mktree)"
-	newcid="$(git commit-tree -p "$remote/$branch" -m "Update all" "$newtree")"
+	newcid="$(git commit-tree -p "$REMOTE/$BASE_BRANCH" -m "Update all" "$newtree")"
 	commits["all"]="$newcid"
 fi
 
+# push queue
 declare -A pq
 makedict pq git for-each-ref 'refs/pq/*' --format '%(refname)'