diff --git a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-restart b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-restart
index bbcfe4c20..176283deb 100755
--- a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-restart
+++ b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-restart
@@ -19,18 +19,22 @@
 
 . /usr/sbin/so-common
 
-echo $banner
-printf "Restarting $1...\n\nThis could take a while if another Salt job is running. \nRun this command with --force to stop all Salt jobs before proceeding.\n"
-echo $banner
+if [ $# -ge 1 ]; then
 
-if [ "$2" = "--force" ]
-then
-   printf "\nForce-stopping all Salt jobs before proceeding\n\n"
-   salt-call saltutil.kill_all_jobs
+        echo $banner
+        printf "Restarting $1...\n\nThis could take a while if another Salt job is running. \nRun this command with --force to stop all Salt jobs before proceeding.\n"
+        echo $banner
+
+        if [ "$2" = "--force" ]; then
+                printf "\nForce-stopping all Salt jobs before proceeding\n\n"
+                salt-call saltutil.kill_all_jobs
+        fi
+
+        case $1 in
+                "cortex") docker stop so-thehive-cortex so-thehive && docker rm so-thehive-cortex so-thehive && salt-call state.apply hive queue=True;;
+                "steno") docker stop so-steno && docker rm so-steno && salt-call state.apply pcap queue=True;;
+                *)  docker stop so-$1 ; docker rm so-$1 ; salt-call state.apply $1 queue=True;;
+        esac
+else
+        echo -e "\nPlease provide an argument by running like so-restart $component, or by using the component-specific script.\nEx. so-restart filebeat, or so-filebeat-restart\n"
 fi
-
-case $1 in
-   "cortex") docker stop so-thehive-cortex so-thehive && docker rm so-thehive-cortex so-thehive && salt-call state.apply hive queue=True;;
-   "steno") docker stop so-steno && docker rm so-steno && salt-call state.apply pcap queue=True;;
-   *)  docker stop so-$1 ; docker rm so-$1 ; salt-call state.apply $1 queue=True;;
-esac
diff --git a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-start b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-start
index 690950373..36517ee6a 100755
--- a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-start
+++ b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-start
@@ -19,18 +19,21 @@
 
 . /usr/sbin/so-common
 
-echo $banner
-printf "Starting $1...\n\nThis could take a while if another Salt job is running. \nRun this command with --force to stop all Salt jobs before proceeding.\n"
-echo $banner
+if [ $# -ge 1 ]; then
+	echo $banner
+	printf "Starting $1...\n\nThis could take a while if another Salt job is running. \nRun this command with --force to stop all Salt jobs before proceeding.\n"
+	echo $banner
 
-if [ "$2" = "--force" ]
-then
-   printf "\nForce-stopping all Salt jobs before proceeding\n\n"
-   salt-call saltutil.kill_all_jobs
+	if [ "$2" = "--force" ]; then
+   		printf "\nForce-stopping all Salt jobs before proceeding\n\n"
+   		salt-call saltutil.kill_all_jobs
+	fi
+
+	case $1 in
+   		"all") salt-call state.highstate queue=True;;
+   		"steno") if docker ps | grep -q so-$1; then printf "\n$1 is already running!\n\n"; else docker rm so-$1 >/dev/null 2>&1 ; salt-call state.apply pcap queue=True; fi ;; 
+   		*) if docker ps | grep -E -q '^so-$1$'; then printf "\n$1 is already running\n\n"; else docker rm so-$1 >/dev/null 2>&1 ; salt-call state.apply $1 queue=True; fi ;; 
+	esac
+else
+	echo -e "\nPlease provide an argument by running like so-start $component, or by using the component-specific script.\nEx. so-start filebeat, or so-filebeat-start\n"	
 fi
-
-case $1 in
-   "all") salt-call state.highstate queue=True;;
-   "steno") if docker ps | grep -q so-$1; then printf "\n$1 is already running!\n\n"; else docker rm so-$1 >/dev/null 2>&1 ; salt-call state.apply pcap queue=True; fi ;; 
-   *) if docker ps | grep -E -q '^so-$1$'; then printf "\n$1 is already running\n\n"; else docker rm so-$1 >/dev/null 2>&1 ; salt-call state.apply $1 queue=True; fi ;; 
-esac
diff --git a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-stop b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-stop
index 4a0dd944b..f0ce6b4d4 100755
--- a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-stop
+++ b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-stop
@@ -19,11 +19,15 @@
 
 . /usr/sbin/so-common
 
-echo $banner
-printf "Stopping $1...\n"
-echo $banner
+if [ $# -ge 1 ]; then
+	echo $banner
+	printf "Stopping $1...\n"
+	echo $banner
 
-case $1 in
-    *) docker stop so-$1 ; docker rm so-$1 ;;
-esac
+	case $1 in
+    		*) docker stop so-$1 ; docker rm so-$1 ;;
+	esac
+else
+	echo -e "\nPlease provide an argument by running like so-stop $component, or by using the component-specific script.\nEx. so-stop filebeat, or so-filebeat-stop\n"	
+fi