diff --git a/maxctrl/lib/cluster.js b/maxctrl/lib/cluster.js
index 4a2eeb9ca..6ac12b250 100644
--- a/maxctrl/lib/cluster.js
+++ b/maxctrl/lib/cluster.js
@@ -178,9 +178,8 @@ exports.builder = function(yargs) {
                  })
         .command('sync <target>', 'Synchronize the cluster with target MaxScale server.', function(yargs) {
             return yargs.epilog('This command will alter all MaxScale instances given in the --hosts ' +
-                                'option to represent the <target> MaxScale. If the synchronization of ' +
-                                'a MaxScale instance fails, it will be disabled by executing the `stop maxscale` ' +
-                                'command on that instance. Synchronization can be attempted again if a previous ' +
+                                'option to represent the <target> MaxScale. Value of <target> ' +
+                                'must be in HOST:PORT format. Synchronization can be attempted again if a previous ' +
                                 'attempt failed due to a network failure or some other ephemeral error. Any other ' +
                                 'errors require manual synchronization of the MaxScale configuration files and a ' +
                                 'restart of the failed Maxscale.\n\n' +
diff --git a/maxctrl/lib/common.js b/maxctrl/lib/common.js
index f0f0ce5b4..4a8974fb7 100644
--- a/maxctrl/lib/common.js
+++ b/maxctrl/lib/common.js
@@ -361,7 +361,12 @@ module.exports = function() {
         args.auth = {user: argv.u, pass: argv.p}
         args.json = true
         args.timeout = this.argv.timeout
-        setTlsCerts(args)
+
+        try {
+            setTlsCerts(args)
+        } catch (err) {
+            return error('Failed to set TLS certificates: ' + JSON.stringify(err, null, 4))
+        }
 
         return request(args)
             .then(function(res) {
diff --git a/maxctrl/lib/core.js b/maxctrl/lib/core.js
index d43838dd2..47b76b9f8 100644
--- a/maxctrl/lib/core.js
+++ b/maxctrl/lib/core.js
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ program
     })
     .option('q', {
         alias: 'quiet',
-        describe: 'Silence all output',
+        describe: 'Silence all output. This option is not used in the interactive mode.',
         default: false,
         type: 'boolean'
     })
@@ -123,7 +123,19 @@ program
             base_opts = ['--user=' + argv.user,
                         '--password=' + argv.password,
                         '--hosts=' + argv.hosts,
-                        '--timeout=' + argv.timeout]
+                        '--timeout=' + argv.timeout,
+                        '--tsv=' + argv.tsv,
+                        '--secure=' + argv.secure,
+                        '--tls-verify-server-cert=' + argv['tls-verify-server-cert']]
+
+            // Only set the string options if they are defined, otherwise we'll end up with the value as
+            // the string 'undefined'
+            for (i of ['tls-key', 'tls-cert', 'tls-passphrase', 'tls-ca-cert']) {
+                if (argv[i]) {
+                    base_opts.push('--' + i + '=' + argv[i])
+                }
+            }
+
             return askQuestion()
         } else {
             maxctrl(argv, function() {
diff --git a/server/core/admin.cc b/server/core/admin.cc
index a5b45cffb..238dc41f4 100644
--- a/server/core/admin.cc
+++ b/server/core/admin.cc
@@ -39,6 +39,13 @@
 using std::string;
 using std::ifstream;
 
+enum class LoadResult
+{
+    OK,
+    IGNORE,
+    ERROR
+};
+
 static struct MHD_Daemon* http_daemon = NULL;
 
 /** In-memory certificates in PEM format */
@@ -333,34 +340,48 @@ static char* load_cert(const char* file)
 
         if (!infile.good())
         {
-            MXS_ERROR("Failed to load certificate file: %s", file);
             delete rval;
             rval = NULL;
         }
     }
 
+    if (!rval)
+    {
+        MXS_ERROR("Failed to load certificate file '%s': %d, %s", file, errno, mxb_strerror(errno));
+    }
+
     return rval;
 }
 
-static bool load_ssl_certificates()
+static LoadResult load_ssl_certificates()
 {
-    bool rval = false;
+    LoadResult rval = LoadResult::IGNORE;
     const char* key = config_get_global_options()->admin_ssl_key;
     const char* cert = config_get_global_options()->admin_ssl_cert;
     const char* ca = config_get_global_options()->admin_ssl_ca_cert;
 
-    if (*key && *cert)
+    if (!*key != !*cert)
+    {
+        MXS_ERROR("Both the admin TLS certificate and private key must be defined.");
+        rval = LoadResult::ERROR;
+    }
+    else if (*key && *cert)
     {
         admin_ssl_key = load_cert(key);
         admin_ssl_cert = load_cert(cert);
-        admin_ssl_ca_cert = load_cert(ca);
 
-        if (admin_ssl_key && admin_ssl_cert)
+        if (*ca)
         {
-            rval = true;
+            admin_ssl_ca_cert = load_cert(ca);
+        }
+
+        if (admin_ssl_key && admin_ssl_cert && (!*ca || admin_ssl_ca_cert))
+        {
+            rval = LoadResult::OK;
         }
         else
         {
+            rval = LoadResult::ERROR;
             delete admin_ssl_key;
             delete admin_ssl_cert;
             delete admin_ssl_ca_cert;
@@ -400,10 +421,17 @@ bool mxs_admin_init()
             options |= MHD_USE_DUAL_STACK;
         }
 
-        if (load_ssl_certificates())
+        auto ssl_res = load_ssl_certificates();
+
+        if (ssl_res == LoadResult::OK)
         {
             using_ssl = true;
             options |= MHD_USE_SSL;
+            MXS_NOTICE("The REST API will be encrypted, all requests must use HTTPS.");
+        }
+        else if (ssl_res == LoadResult::ERROR)
+        {
+            return false;
         }
 
         // The port argument is ignored and the port in the struct sockaddr is used instead
diff --git a/server/core/gateway.cc b/server/core/gateway.cc
index eb969d6fa..549091387 100644
--- a/server/core/gateway.cc
+++ b/server/core/gateway.cc
@@ -1084,7 +1084,7 @@ static void usage(void)
             "dir will be '/path/maxscale/var/log/maxscale', the config dir will be\n"
             "'/path/maxscale/etc' and the default config file will be\n"
             "'/path/maxscale/etc/maxscale.cnf'.\n\n"
-            "MaxScale documentation: https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb-enterprise/mariadb-maxscale-21/ \n",
+            "MaxScale documentation: https://mariadb.com/kb/en/maxscale/ \n",
             get_configdir(),
             default_cnf_fname,
             get_configdir(),