diff --git a/src/sftp.js b/src/sftp.js
index 0f10c8ad9..2dc3bc75d 100644
--- a/src/sftp.js
+++ b/src/sftp.js
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ async function ensureKeys() {
             debug(`ensureSecrets: generating new sftp keys of type ${keyType}`);
             safe.fs.unlinkSync(publicKeyFile);
             safe.fs.unlinkSync(privateKeyFile);
-            if (!safe.child_process.execSync(`ssh-keygen -m PEM -t ${keyType} -f "${paths.SFTP_KEYS_DIR}/ssh_host_${keyType}_key" -q -N ""`)) throw new BoxError(BoxError.OPENSSL_ERROR, `Could not generate sftp ${keyType} keys: ${safe.error.message}`);
+            const [error] = await safe(shell.promises.exec('ensureKeys', `ssh-keygen -m PEM -t ${keyType} -f "${paths.SFTP_KEYS_DIR}/ssh_host_${keyType}_key" -q -N ""`, {}));
+            if (error) throw new BoxError(BoxError.OPENSSL_ERROR, `Could not generate sftp ${keyType} keys: ${error.message}`);
             const newPublicKey = safe.fs.readFileSync(publicKeyFile);
             await blobs.set(`sftp_${keyType}_public_key`, newPublicKey);
             const newPrivateKey = safe.fs.readFileSync(privateKeyFile);
diff --git a/src/shell.js b/src/shell.js
index f830031ae..f8852431f 100644
--- a/src/shell.js
+++ b/src/shell.js
@@ -33,9 +33,6 @@ function exec(tag, cmd, options, callback) {
         const stdoutResult = stdout ? stdout.toString('utf8') : null;
         const stderrResult = stderr ? stderr.toString('utf8') : null;
 
-        debug(`${tag} (stdout): %s`, stdoutResult);
-        debug(`${tag} (stderr): %s`, stderrResult);
-
         if (error) error.stdout = stdoutResult; // when promisified, this is the way to get stdout
         if (error) error.stderr = stderrResult; // when promisified, this is the way to get stderr
 
diff --git a/src/system.js b/src/system.js
index 139a02bea..6f5e51fcc 100644
--- a/src/system.js
+++ b/src/system.js
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ async function hdparm(file) {
 }
 
 async function getSwaps() {
-    const stdout = safe.child_process.execSync('swapon --noheadings --raw --bytes --show=type,size,used,name', { encoding: 'utf8' });
-    if (!stdout) return {};
+    const [error, stdout] = await safe(shell.promises.exec('getSwaps', 'swapon --noheadings --raw --bytes --show=type,size,used,name', { encoding: 'utf8' }));
+    if (error) return {};
 
     const swaps = {};
     for (const line of stdout.trim().split('\n')) {
@@ -329,8 +329,10 @@ async function getLogs(unit, options) {
 }
 
 async function getBlockDevices() {
-    const info = safe.JSON.parse(safe.child_process.execSync('lsblk --paths --json --list --fs', { encoding: 'utf8' }));
-    if (!info) throw new BoxError(BoxError.INTERNAL_ERROR, safe.error.message);
+    const [error, result] = await safe(shell.promises.exec('getBlockDevices', 'lsblk --paths --json --list --fs', { encoding: 'utf8' }));
+    if (error) throw new BoxError(BoxError.INTERNAL_ERROR, `lsblk failed: ${error.message}`);
+    const info = safe.JSON.parse(result);
+    if (!info) throw new BoxError(BoxError.INTERNAL_ERROR, `failed to parse lsblk: ${safe.error.message}`);
 
     const devices = info.blockdevices.filter(d => d.fstype === 'ext4' || d.fstype === 'xfs');