diff --git a/shadowsocks/asyncdns.py b/shadowsocks/asyncdns.py
index 9467490..7e4a4ed 100644
--- a/shadowsocks/asyncdns.py
+++ b/shadowsocks/asyncdns.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import struct
 import re
 import logging
 
-from shadowsocks import common, lru_cache, eventloop, utils
+from shadowsocks import common, lru_cache, eventloop, shell
 
 
 CACHE_SWEEP_INTERVAL = 30
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ def parse_response(data):
                 response.answers.append((an[1], an[2], an[3]))
             return response
     except Exception as e:
-        utils.print_exception(e)
+        shell.print_exception(e)
         return None
 
 
diff --git a/shadowsocks/daemon.py b/shadowsocks/daemon.py
index c23ec58..8dc5608 100644
--- a/shadowsocks/daemon.py
+++ b/shadowsocks/daemon.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import sys
 import logging
 import signal
 import time
-from shadowsocks import common, utils
+from shadowsocks import common, shell
 
 # this module is ported from ShadowVPN daemon.c
 
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def write_pid_file(pid_file, pid):
         fd = os.open(pid_file, os.O_RDWR | os.O_CREAT,
                      stat.S_IRUSR | stat.S_IWUSR)
     except OSError as e:
-        utils.print_exception(e)
+        shell.print_exception(e)
         return -1
     flags = fcntl.fcntl(fd, fcntl.F_GETFD)
     assert flags != -1
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ def daemon_start(pid_file, log_file):
         freopen(log_file, 'a', sys.stdout)
         freopen(log_file, 'a', sys.stderr)
     except IOError as e:
-        utils.print_exception(e)
+        shell.print_exception(e)
         sys.exit(1)
 
 
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ def daemon_stop(pid_file):
             if not buf:
                 logging.error('not running')
     except IOError as e:
-        utils.print_exception(e)
+        shell.print_exception(e)
         if e.errno == errno.ENOENT:
             # always exit 0 if we are sure daemon is not running
             logging.error('not running')
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ def daemon_stop(pid_file):
                 logging.error('not running')
                 # always exit 0 if we are sure daemon is not running
                 return
-            utils.print_exception(e)
+            shell.print_exception(e)
             sys.exit(1)
     else:
         logging.error('pid is not positive: %d', pid)
diff --git a/shadowsocks/eventloop.py b/shadowsocks/eventloop.py
index 77c64ef..42f9205 100644
--- a/shadowsocks/eventloop.py
+++ b/shadowsocks/eventloop.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import errno
 import logging
 from collections import defaultdict
 
-from shadowsocks import utils
+from shadowsocks import shell
 
 
 __all__ = ['EventLoop', 'POLL_NULL', 'POLL_IN', 'POLL_OUT', 'POLL_ERR',
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ class EventLoop(object):
                 try:
                     handler(events)
                 except (OSError, IOError) as e:
-                    utils.print_exception(e)
+                    shell.print_exception(e)
             if self._handlers_to_remove:
                 for handler in self._handlers_to_remove:
                     self._handlers.remove(handler)
diff --git a/shadowsocks/local.py b/shadowsocks/local.py
index a4c853e..4255a2e 100755
--- a/shadowsocks/local.py
+++ b/shadowsocks/local.py
@@ -24,11 +24,11 @@ import logging
 import signal
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '../'))
-from shadowsocks import utils, daemon, eventloop, tcprelay, udprelay, asyncdns
+from shadowsocks import shell, daemon, eventloop, tcprelay, udprelay, asyncdns
 
 
 def main():
-    utils.check_python()
+    shell.check_python()
 
     # fix py2exe
     if hasattr(sys, "frozen") and sys.frozen in \
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def main():
         p = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(sys.executable))
         os.chdir(p)
 
-    config = utils.get_config(True)
+    config = shell.get_config(True)
 
     daemon.daemon_exec(config)
 
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def main():
         daemon.set_user(config.get('user', None))
         loop.run()
     except Exception as e:
-        utils.print_exception(e)
+        shell.print_exception(e)
         sys.exit(1)
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/shadowsocks/server.py b/shadowsocks/server.py
index 27515b5..429a20a 100755
--- a/shadowsocks/server.py
+++ b/shadowsocks/server.py
@@ -24,13 +24,13 @@ import logging
 import signal
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '../'))
-from shadowsocks import utils, daemon, eventloop, tcprelay, udprelay, asyncdns
+from shadowsocks import shell, daemon, eventloop, tcprelay, udprelay, asyncdns
 
 
 def main():
-    utils.check_python()
+    shell.check_python()
 
-    config = utils.get_config(False)
+    config = shell.get_config(False)
 
     daemon.daemon_exec(config)
 
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ def main():
             daemon.set_user(config.get('user', None))
             loop.run()
         except Exception as e:
-            utils.print_exception(e)
+            shell.print_exception(e)
             sys.exit(1)
 
     if int(config['workers']) > 1:
diff --git a/shadowsocks/utils.py b/shadowsocks/shell.py
similarity index 100%
rename from shadowsocks/utils.py
rename to shadowsocks/shell.py
diff --git a/shadowsocks/tcprelay.py b/shadowsocks/tcprelay.py
index a23a58c..c9ed7bd 100644
--- a/shadowsocks/tcprelay.py
+++ b/shadowsocks/tcprelay.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import logging
 import traceback
 import random
 
-from shadowsocks import encrypt, eventloop, utils, common
+from shadowsocks import encrypt, eventloop, shell, common
 from shadowsocks.common import parse_header
 
 # we clear at most TIMEOUTS_CLEAN_SIZE timeouts each time
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ class TCPRelayHandler(object):
                             errno.EWOULDBLOCK):
                 uncomplete = True
             else:
-                utils.print_exception(e)
+                shell.print_exception(e)
                 self.destroy()
                 return False
         if uncomplete:
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ class TCPRelayHandler(object):
                     self._config['fast_open'] = False
                     self.destroy()
                 else:
-                    utils.print_exception(e)
+                    shell.print_exception(e)
                     if self._config['verbose']:
                         traceback.print_exc()
                     self.destroy()
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ class TCPRelayHandler(object):
                         self._update_stream(STREAM_DOWN, WAIT_STATUS_READING)
                     return
                 except Exception as e:
-                    utils.print_exception(e)
+                    shell.print_exception(e)
                     if self._config['verbose']:
                         traceback.print_exc()
         self.destroy()
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ class TCPRelayHandler(object):
         try:
             self._write_to_sock(data, self._local_sock)
         except Exception as e:
-            utils.print_exception(e)
+            shell.print_exception(e)
             if self._config['verbose']:
                 traceback.print_exc()
             # TODO use logging when debug completed
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@ class TCPRelay(object):
         # we just need a sorted last_activity queue and it's faster than heapq
         # in fact we can do O(1) insertion/remove so we invent our own
         if self._timeouts:
-            logging.log(utils.VERBOSE_LEVEL, 'sweeping timeouts')
+            logging.log(shell.VERBOSE_LEVEL, 'sweeping timeouts')
             now = time.time()
             length = len(self._timeouts)
             pos = self._timeout_offset
@@ -663,7 +663,7 @@ class TCPRelay(object):
         # handle events and dispatch to handlers
         for sock, fd, event in events:
             if sock:
-                logging.log(utils.VERBOSE_LEVEL, 'fd %d %s', fd,
+                logging.log(shell.VERBOSE_LEVEL, 'fd %d %s', fd,
                             eventloop.EVENT_NAMES.get(event, event))
             if sock == self._server_socket:
                 if event & eventloop.POLL_ERR:
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ class TCPRelay(object):
                                     errno.EWOULDBLOCK):
                         continue
                     else:
-                        utils.print_exception(e)
+                        shell.print_exception(e)
                         if self._config['verbose']:
                             traceback.print_exc()
             else:
diff --git a/shadowsocks/udprelay.py b/shadowsocks/udprelay.py
index 80c44bb..98bfaaa 100644
--- a/shadowsocks/udprelay.py
+++ b/shadowsocks/udprelay.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ import struct
 import errno
 import random
 
-from shadowsocks import encrypt, eventloop, lru_cache, common, utils
+from shadowsocks import encrypt, eventloop, lru_cache, common, shell
 from shadowsocks.common import parse_header, pack_addr
 
 
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ class UDPRelay(object):
             if err in (errno.EINPROGRESS, errno.EAGAIN):
                 pass
             else:
-                utils.print_exception(e)
+                shell.print_exception(e)
 
     def _handle_client(self, sock):
         data, r_addr = sock.recvfrom(BUF_SIZE)