diff --git a/crates/integration_test/src/logger.rs b/crates/integration_test/src/logger.rs
index 34412ffb..e6591448 100644
--- a/crates/integration_test/src/logger.rs
+++ b/crates/integration_test/src/logger.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
-//! Default Youki Logger
-
-use anyhow::{bail, Context, Result};
+use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use log::{LevelFilter, Log, Metadata, Record};
 use once_cell::sync::OnceCell;
 use std::borrow::Cow;
@@ -11,27 +9,13 @@ use std::str::FromStr;
 
 pub static LOG_FILE: OnceCell<Option<File>> = OnceCell::new();
 const LOG_LEVEL_ENV_NAME: &str = "YOUKI_INTEGRATION_LOG_LEVEL";
-const LOG_FORMAT_TEXT: &str = "text";
-const LOG_FORMAT_JSON: &str = "json";
-enum LogFormat {
-    Text,
-    Json,
-}
 
-/// If in debug mode, default level is debug to get maximum logging
-#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
-const DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL: &str = "debug";
-
-/// If not in debug mode, default level is warn to get important logs
-#[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
-const DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL: &str = "warn";
 
 /// Initialize the logger, must be called before accessing the logger
 /// Multiple parts might call this at once, but the actual initialization
 /// is done only once due to use of OnceCell
-pub fn init(log_file: Option<PathBuf>, log_format: Option<String>) -> Result<()> {
-    let level = detect_log_level(true).context("failed to parse log level")?;
-    let format = detect_log_format(log_format).context("failed to detect log format")?;
+pub fn init(log_file: Option<PathBuf>, debug: bool) -> Result<()> {
+    let level = detect_log_level(debug).context("failed to parse log level")?;
     let _ = LOG_FILE.get_or_init(|| -> Option<File> {
         log_file.map(|path| {
             OpenOptions::new()
@@ -43,7 +27,7 @@ pub fn init(log_file: Option<PathBuf>, log_format: Option<String>) -> Result<()>
         })
     });
 
-    let logger = IntegrationLogger::new(level.to_level(), format);
+    let logger = IntegrationLogger::new(level.to_level());
     log::set_boxed_logger(Box::new(logger))
         .map(|()| log::set_max_level(level))
         .expect("set logger failed");
@@ -51,35 +35,27 @@ pub fn init(log_file: Option<PathBuf>, log_format: Option<String>) -> Result<()>
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn detect_log_format(log_format: Option<String>) -> Result<LogFormat> {
-    match log_format.as_deref() {
-        None | Some(LOG_FORMAT_TEXT) => Ok(LogFormat::Text),
-        Some(LOG_FORMAT_JSON) => Ok(LogFormat::Json),
-        Some(unknown) => bail!("unknown log format: {}", unknown),
-    }
-}
-
 fn detect_log_level(is_debug: bool) -> Result<LevelFilter> {
     let filter: Cow<str> = if is_debug {
         "debug".into()
     } else if let Ok(level) = std::env::var(LOG_LEVEL_ENV_NAME) {
         level.into()
     } else {
-        DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL.into()
+        "off".into()
     };
+
     Ok(LevelFilter::from_str(filter.as_ref())?)
 }
 
 struct IntegrationLogger {
     /// Indicates level up to which logs are to be printed
     level: Option<log::Level>,
-    format: LogFormat,
 }
 
 impl IntegrationLogger {
     /// Create new logger
-    pub fn new(level: Option<log::Level>, format: LogFormat) -> Self {
-        Self { level, format }
+    pub fn new(level: Option<log::Level>) -> Self {
+        Self { level }
     }
 }
 
@@ -97,10 +73,7 @@ impl Log for IntegrationLogger {
     /// Function to carry out logging
     fn log(&self, record: &Record) {
         if self.enabled(record.metadata()) {
-            let log_msg = match self.format {
-                LogFormat::Text => text_format(record),
-                LogFormat::Json => json_format(record),
-            };
+            let log_msg =text_format(record);
             // if log file is set, write to it, else write to stderr
             if let Some(mut log_file) = LOG_FILE.get().unwrap().as_ref() {
                 let _ = writeln!(log_file, "{}", log_msg);
@@ -120,15 +93,6 @@ impl Log for IntegrationLogger {
     }
 }
 
-fn json_format(record: &log::Record) -> String {
-    serde_json::to_string(&serde_json::json!({
-        "level": record.level().to_string(),
-        "time": chrono::Local::now().to_rfc3339(),
-        "message": record.args(),
-    }))
-    .expect("serde::to_string with string keys will not fail")
-}
-
 fn text_format(record: &log::Record) -> String {
     let log_msg = match (record.file(), record.line()) {
         (Some(file), Some(line)) => format!(
diff --git a/crates/integration_test/src/main.rs b/crates/integration_test/src/main.rs
index 162a6157..6edd998a 100644
--- a/crates/integration_test/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/integration_test/src/main.rs
@@ -17,14 +17,20 @@ use tests::cgroups;
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
 #[clap(version = "0.0.1", author = "youki team")]
 struct Opts {
-    /// path for the container runtime to be tested
+    /// Path for the container runtime to be tested
     #[clap(short, long)]
     runtime: PathBuf,
-    /// selected tests to be run, format should be
+    /// Selected tests to be run, format should be
     /// space separated groups, eg
     /// -t group1::test1,test3 group2 group3::test5
     #[clap(short, long, multiple_values = true, value_delimiter = ' ')]
     tests: Option<Vec<String>>,
+    /// Enables debug output 
+    #[clap(short, long)]
+    debug: bool,
+    /// Logs to the specified file
+    #[clap(long)]
+    log: Option<PathBuf>,
 }
 
 // parse test string given in commandline option as pair of testgroup name and tests belonging to that
@@ -45,7 +51,7 @@ fn parse_tests(tests: &[String]) -> Vec<(&str, Option<Vec<&str>>)> {
 fn main() -> Result<()> {
     let opts: Opts = Opts::parse();
 
-    if let Err(e) = logger::init(None, None) {
+    if let Err(e) = logger::init(opts.log, opts.debug) {
         eprintln!("logger could not be initialized: {:?}", e);
     }