diff --git a/cmd/config.go b/cmd/config.go
index 4d85863..f7fb8c7 100644
--- a/cmd/config.go
+++ b/cmd/config.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"io"
 
-	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/rpc"
 	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/zfs"
 )
 
@@ -20,8 +19,18 @@ type Global struct {
 	}
 }
 
-type RPCConnecter interface {
-	Connect() (rpc.RPCClient, error)
+type JobDebugSettings struct {
+	Conn struct {
+		ReadDump  string `mapstructure:"read_dump"`
+		WriteDump string `mapstructure:"write_dump"`
+	}
+	RPC struct {
+		Log bool
+	}
+}
+
+type RWCConnecter interface {
+	Connect() (io.ReadWriteCloser, error)
 }
 type AuthenticatedChannelListenerFactory interface {
 	Listen() (AuthenticatedChannelListener, error)
diff --git a/cmd/config_connect.go b/cmd/config_connect.go
index ee98154..35be638 100644
--- a/cmd/config_connect.go
+++ b/cmd/config_connect.go
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/jinzhu/copier"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
-	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/rpc"
 	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/sshbytestream"
-	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/util"
 )
 
 type SSHStdinserverConnecter struct {
@@ -20,8 +18,6 @@ type SSHStdinserverConnecter struct {
 	TransportOpenCommand []string `mapstructure:"transport_open_command"`
 	SSHCommand           string   `mapstructure:"ssh_command"`
 	Options              []string
-	ConnLogReadFile      string `mapstructure:"connlog_read_file"`
-	ConnLogWriteFile     string `mapstructure:"connlog_write_file"`
 }
 
 func parseSSHStdinserverConnecter(i map[string]interface{}) (c *SSHStdinserverConnecter, err error) {
@@ -37,20 +33,14 @@ func parseSSHStdinserverConnecter(i map[string]interface{}) (c *SSHStdinserverCo
 
 }
 
-func (c *SSHStdinserverConnecter) Connect() (client rpc.RPCClient, err error) {
-	var stream io.ReadWriteCloser
+func (c *SSHStdinserverConnecter) Connect() (rwc io.ReadWriteCloser, err error) {
 	var rpcTransport sshbytestream.SSHTransport
 	if err = copier.Copy(&rpcTransport, c); err != nil {
 		return
 	}
-	if stream, err = sshbytestream.Outgoing(rpcTransport); err != nil {
+	if rwc, err = sshbytestream.Outgoing(rpcTransport); err != nil {
+		err = errors.WithStack(err)
 		return
 	}
-	stream, err = util.NewReadWriteCloserLogger(stream, c.ConnLogReadFile, c.ConnLogWriteFile)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-	client = rpc.NewClient(stream)
-	return client, nil
-
+	return
 }
diff --git a/cmd/config_job_local.go b/cmd/config_job_local.go
index 5805540..ce85a1c 100644
--- a/cmd/config_job_local.go
+++ b/cmd/config_job_local.go
@@ -3,30 +3,32 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/rpc"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/rpc"
 )
 
 type LocalJob struct {
 	Name              string
 	Mapping           *DatasetMapFilter
-	SnapshotFilter *PrefixSnapshotFilter
+	SnapshotFilter    *PrefixSnapshotFilter
 	Interval          time.Duration
 	InitialReplPolicy InitialReplPolicy
 	PruneLHS          PrunePolicy
 	PruneRHS          PrunePolicy
+	Debug             JobDebugSettings
 }
 
 func parseLocalJob(name string, i map[string]interface{}) (j *LocalJob, err error) {
 
 	var asMap struct {
-		Mapping map[string]string
-		SnapshotPrefix string `mapstructure:"snapshot_prefix"`
-		Interval string
-		InitialReplPolicy string `mapstructure:"initial_repl_policy"`
-		PruneLHS map[string]interface{} `mapstructure:"prune_lhs"`
-		PruneRHS map[string]interface{} `mapstructure:"prune_rhs"`
+		Mapping           map[string]string
+		SnapshotPrefix    string `mapstructure:"snapshot_prefix"`
+		Interval          string
+		InitialReplPolicy string                 `mapstructure:"initial_repl_policy"`
+		PruneLHS          map[string]interface{} `mapstructure:"prune_lhs"`
+		PruneRHS          map[string]interface{} `mapstructure:"prune_rhs"`
+		Debug             map[string]interface{}
 	}
 
 	if err = mapstructure.Decode(i, &asMap); err != nil {
@@ -62,6 +64,11 @@ func parseLocalJob(name string, i map[string]interface{}) (j *LocalJob, err erro
 		return
 	}
 
+	if err = mapstructure.Decode(asMap.Debug, &j.Debug); err != nil {
+		err = errors.Wrap(err, "cannot parse 'debug'")
+		return
+	}
+
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/config_job_pull.go b/cmd/config_job_pull.go
index 75a7ee6..ea2501d 100644
--- a/cmd/config_job_pull.go
+++ b/cmd/config_job_pull.go
@@ -5,15 +5,18 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/rpc"
+	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/util"
 )
 
 type PullJob struct {
 	Name              string
-	Connect           RPCConnecter
+	Connect           RWCConnecter
 	Mapping           *DatasetMapFilter
 	SnapshotFilter    *PrefixSnapshotFilter
 	InitialReplPolicy InitialReplPolicy
 	Prune             PrunePolicy
+	Debug             JobDebugSettings
 }
 
 func parsePullJob(name string, i map[string]interface{}) (j *PullJob, err error) {
@@ -24,6 +27,7 @@ func parsePullJob(name string, i map[string]interface{}) (j *PullJob, err error)
 		InitialReplPolicy string `mapstructure:"initial_repl_policy"`
 		Prune             map[string]interface{}
 		SnapshotPrefix    string `mapstructure:"snapshot_prefix"`
+		Debug             map[string]interface{}
 	}
 
 	if err = mapstructure.Decode(i, &asMap); err != nil {
@@ -60,6 +64,11 @@ func parsePullJob(name string, i map[string]interface{}) (j *PullJob, err error)
 		return
 	}
 
+	if err = mapstructure.Decode(asMap.Debug, &j.Debug); err != nil {
+		err = errors.Wrap(err, "cannot parse 'debug'")
+		return
+	}
+
 	return
 }
 
@@ -68,11 +77,23 @@ func (j *PullJob) JobName() string {
 }
 
 func (j *PullJob) JobDo(log Logger) (err error) {
-	client, err := j.Connect.Connect()
+
+	rwc, err := j.Connect.Connect()
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("error connect: %s", err)
 		return err
 	}
+
+	rwc, err = util.NewReadWriteCloserLogger(rwc, j.Debug.Conn.ReadDump, j.Debug.Conn.WriteDump)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	client := rpc.NewClient(rwc)
+	if j.Debug.RPC.Log {
+		client.SetLogger(log, true)
+	}
+
 	defer closeRPCWithTimeout(log, client, time.Second*10, "")
 	return doPull(PullContext{client, log, j.Mapping, j.InitialReplPolicy})
 }
diff --git a/cmd/config_job_source.go b/cmd/config_job_source.go
index 257e8ee..f25415a 100644
--- a/cmd/config_job_source.go
+++ b/cmd/config_job_source.go
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
-	"time"
-
 	mapstructure "github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/rpc"
+	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/util"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
 	"syscall"
+	"time"
 )
 
 type SourceJob struct {
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ type SourceJob struct {
 	SnapshotFilter *PrefixSnapshotFilter
 	Interval       time.Duration
 	Prune          PrunePolicy
+	Debug          JobDebugSettings
 }
 
 func parseSourceJob(name string, i map[string]interface{}) (j *SourceJob, err error) {
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ func parseSourceJob(name string, i map[string]interface{}) (j *SourceJob, err er
 		SnapshotPrefix string `mapstructure:"snapshot_prefix"`
 		Interval       string
 		Prune          map[string]interface{}
+		Debug          map[string]interface{}
 	}
 
 	if err = mapstructure.Decode(i, &asMap); err != nil {
@@ -59,6 +61,11 @@ func parseSourceJob(name string, i map[string]interface{}) (j *SourceJob, err er
 		return
 	}
 
+	if err = mapstructure.Decode(asMap.Debug, &j.Debug); err != nil {
+		err = errors.Wrap(err, "cannot parse 'debug'")
+		return
+	}
+
 	return
 }
 
@@ -100,6 +107,11 @@ outer:
 				break outer // closed because of accept error
 			}
 
+			rwc, err := util.NewReadWriteCloserLogger(rwc, j.Debug.Conn.ReadDump, j.Debug.Conn.WriteDump)
+			if err != nil {
+				panic(err)
+			}
+
 			// construct connection handler
 			handler := Handler{
 				Logger:  log,
@@ -108,6 +120,10 @@ outer:
 
 			// handle connection
 			rpcServer := rpc.NewServer(rwc)
+			if j.Debug.RPC.Log {
+				rpclog := util.NewPrefixLogger(log, "rpc")
+				rpcServer.SetLogger(rpclog, true)
+			}
 			registerEndpoints(rpcServer, handler)
 			if err = rpcServer.Serve(); err != nil {
 				log.Printf("error serving connection: %s", err)
diff --git a/cmd/config_parse.go b/cmd/config_parse.go
index 0aa1930..47524ab 100644
--- a/cmd/config_parse.go
+++ b/cmd/config_parse.go
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ func parseJob(i map[string]interface{}) (j Job, err error) {
 
 }
 
-func parseConnect(i map[string]interface{}) (c RPCConnecter, err error) {
+func parseConnect(i map[string]interface{}) (c RWCConnecter, err error) {
 
 	t, err := extractStringField(i, "type", true)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/config_serve_stdinserver.go b/cmd/config_serve_stdinserver.go
index e8f6f88..3f411b5 100644
--- a/cmd/config_serve_stdinserver.go
+++ b/cmd/config_serve_stdinserver.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ftrvxmtrx/fd"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
-	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/util"
 	"io"
 	"net"
 	"os"
@@ -13,9 +12,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 type StdinserverListenerFactory struct {
-	ClientIdentity   string `mapstructure:"client_identity"`
-	ConnLogReadFile  string `mapstructure:"connlog_read_file"`
-	ConnLogWriteFile string `mapstructure:"connlog_write_file"`
+	ClientIdentity string `mapstructure:"client_identity"`
 }
 
 func parseStdinserverListenerFactory(i map[string]interface{}) (f *StdinserverListenerFactory, err error) {
@@ -63,15 +60,13 @@ func (f *StdinserverListenerFactory) Listen() (al AuthenticatedChannelListener,
 		return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "cannot listen on unix socket %s", unixaddr)
 	}
 
-	l := &StdinserverListener{ul, f.ConnLogReadFile, f.ConnLogWriteFile}
+	l := &StdinserverListener{ul}
 
 	return l, nil
 }
 
 type StdinserverListener struct {
-	l                *net.UnixListener
-	ConnLogReadFile  string `mapstructure:"connlog_read_file"`
-	ConnLogWriteFile string `mapstructure:"connlog_write_file"`
+	l *net.UnixListener
 }
 
 type fdRWC struct {
@@ -109,12 +104,7 @@ func (l *StdinserverListener) Accept() (ch io.ReadWriteCloser, err error) {
 
 	rwc := fdRWC{files[0], files[1], c.(*net.UnixConn)}
 
-	rwclog, err := util.NewReadWriteCloserLogger(rwc, l.ConnLogReadFile, l.ConnLogWriteFile)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-
-	return rwclog, nil
+	return rwc, nil
 
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/config_test.go b/cmd/config_test.go
index a775831..09b3826 100644
--- a/cmd/config_test.go
+++ b/cmd/config_test.go
@@ -11,10 +11,11 @@ import (
 
 func TestSampleConfigsAreParsedWithoutErrors(t *testing.T) {
 
-	paths:= []string{
+	paths := []string{
 		"./sampleconf/localbackup/host1.yml",
 		"./sampleconf/pullbackup/backuphost.yml",
 		"./sampleconf/pullbackup/productionhost.yml",
+		"./sampleconf/random/debugging.yml",
 	}
 
 	for _, p := range paths {
diff --git a/cmd/sampleconf/random/debugging.yml b/cmd/sampleconf/random/debugging.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4030db8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/sampleconf/random/debugging.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+global:
+  serve:
+    stdinserver:
+      sockdir: /var/run/zrepl/stdinserver
+
+jobs:
+
+- name: debian2_pull
+  # JOB DEBUGGING OPTIONS
+  # should be equal for all job types, but each job implements the debugging itself
+  # => consult job documentation for supported options
+  debug:
+    conn: # debug the io.ReadWriteCloser connection
+      read_dump: /tmp/connlog_read   # dump results of Read() invocations to this file
+      write_dump: /tmp/connlog_write # dump results of Write() invocations to this file
+    rpc: # debug the RPC protocol implementation
+      log: true # log output from rpc layer to the job log
+
+  # ... just to make the unit tests pass.
+  # check other examples, e.g. localbackup or pullbackup for what the sutff below means
+  type: source
+  serve:
+    type: stdinserver
+    client_identity: debian2
+  datasets: {
+    "pool1/db<": ok
+  }
+  snapshot_prefix: zrepl_
+  interval: 1s
+  prune:
+    policy: grid
+    grid: 1x10s(keep=all)
+