diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 9b0cfe5..528c086 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ if [ ! -d $logdir ] ; then
 	mkdir $logdir
 fi
 
+if [ $install_epel_release=True ] ; then
+    yum -y install epel-release 1>> $yumlogloc 2>> $yumlogloc 3>> $yumlogloc
+fi
+
 # install dependencies
 packages=(gcc wget nginx libsqlite3x-devel.x86_64 postgresql-server postgresql-devel postgresql-contrib bzip2-devel zlib-devel libffi-devel openssl-devel policycoreutils-python.x86_64)
 for package in ${packages[@]};
@@ -34,6 +38,22 @@ do
 done
 
 # firewall
+ports=(80 443)
+for port in ${ports[@]};
+do
+    echo -e "firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=$port/tcp --permanent" > $firelogloc
+    firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=$port/tcp --permanent 1>> $firelogloc 2>> $firelogloc
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
+    	echo -e "\tfirewall failed to update port $port correctly (this may not be an issue). $firelogmsg"
+    fi
+done
+
+echo -e "firewall-cmd --reload" >> $firelogloc
+firewall-cmd --reload 1>> $firelogloc 2>> $firelogloc
+if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
+	echo -e "\tfirewall failed to reload, (this may not be an issue). $firelogmsg"
+fi
+
 echo -e "semanage permissive -a httpd_t" >> $firelogloc
 semanage permissive -a httpd_t >> $firelogloc
 if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
diff --git a/vars b/vars
index 0e98ef9..46a4a0b 100644
--- a/vars
+++ b/vars
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export hostname=""
 export usegit=False         # if you have a django git project
 export giturl=""            # url for git project
 export gitkey=""            # IdentityFile
+install_epel_release=False
 
 # general install settings
 export logdir="/var/log/djangosetup/"