diff --git a/lib/host.rb b/lib/host.rb
index 9ac0ef5..8d22e6f 100644
--- a/lib/host.rb
+++ b/lib/host.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ module RubyQA
       :hostname      => "",
       :ip            => "",
       :port          => 22,
-      :user          => "",
+      :user          => ENV["USER"],
       :password      => "",
       :site          => "",
       :cluster       => false,
@@ -28,7 +28,16 @@ module RubyQA
     end
 
     def init_client
-      @client = Net::SSH.start(@data[:ip], @data[:user])
+      begin 
+        if @data[:password]
+          @client = Net::SSH.start(@data[:ip], @data[:user], password: @data[:password])
+        else
+          @client = Net::SSH.start(@data[:ip], @data[:user])
+        end
+
+      rescue SocketError
+        raise "Failed to make ssh client for #{@data[:hostname]}"
+      end
     end
 
     def exec (command)