diff --git a/p2p/simulations/adapters/exec.go b/p2p/simulations/adapters/exec.go
index 7ef908814d..0ed3deab38 100644
--- a/p2p/simulations/adapters/exec.go
+++ b/p2p/simulations/adapters/exec.go
@@ -184,7 +184,19 @@ func (n *ExecNode) Start(snapshots map[string][]byte) (err error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error generating node config: %s", err)
 	}
-
+	// expose the admin namespace via websocket if it's not enabled
+	exposed := confCopy.Stack.WSExposeAll
+	if !exposed {
+		for _, api := range confCopy.Stack.WSModules {
+			if api == "admin" {
+				exposed = true
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if !exposed {
+		confCopy.Stack.WSModules = append(confCopy.Stack.WSModules, "admin")
+	}
 	// start the one-shot server that waits for startup information
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
@@ -362,13 +374,44 @@ type execNodeConfig struct {
 	PeerAddrs map[string]string `json:"peer_addrs,omitempty"`
 }
 
+func initLogging() {
+	// Initialize the logging by default first.
+	glogger := log.NewGlogHandler(log.StreamHandler(os.Stderr, log.LogfmtFormat()))
+	glogger.Verbosity(log.LvlInfo)
+	log.Root().SetHandler(glogger)
+
+	confEnv := os.Getenv(envNodeConfig)
+	if confEnv == "" {
+		return
+	}
+	var conf execNodeConfig
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(confEnv), &conf); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	var writer = os.Stderr
+	if conf.Node.LogFile != "" {
+		logWriter, err := os.Create(conf.Node.LogFile)
+		if err != nil {
+			return
+		}
+		writer = logWriter
+	}
+	var verbosity = log.LvlInfo
+	if conf.Node.LogVerbosity <= log.LvlTrace && conf.Node.LogVerbosity >= log.LvlCrit {
+		verbosity = conf.Node.LogVerbosity
+	}
+	// Reinitialize the logger
+	glogger = log.NewGlogHandler(log.StreamHandler(writer, log.TerminalFormat(true)))
+	glogger.Verbosity(verbosity)
+	log.Root().SetHandler(glogger)
+}
+
 // execP2PNode starts a simulation node when the current binary is executed with
 // argv[0] being "p2p-node", reading the service / ID from argv[1] / argv[2]
 // and the node config from an environment variable.
 func execP2PNode() {
-	glogger := log.NewGlogHandler(log.StreamHandler(os.Stderr, log.LogfmtFormat()))
-	glogger.Verbosity(log.LvlInfo)
-	log.Root().SetHandler(glogger)
+	initLogging()
+
 	statusURL := os.Getenv(envStatusURL)
 	if statusURL == "" {
 		log.Crit("missing " + envStatusURL)
@@ -380,7 +423,7 @@ func execP2PNode() {
 	if stackErr != nil {
 		status.Err = stackErr.Error()
 	} else {
-		status.WSEndpoint = "ws://" + stack.WSEndpoint()
+		status.WSEndpoint = stack.WSEndpoint()
 		status.NodeInfo = stack.Server().NodeInfo()
 	}
 
@@ -454,7 +497,6 @@ func startExecNodeStack() (*node.Node, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		services[name] = service
-		stack.RegisterLifecycle(service)
 	}
 
 	// Add the snapshot API.
diff --git a/p2p/simulations/adapters/types.go b/p2p/simulations/adapters/types.go
index b6af370089..1da464a10d 100644
--- a/p2p/simulations/adapters/types.go
+++ b/p2p/simulations/adapters/types.go
@@ -120,6 +120,17 @@ type NodeConfig struct {
 	Reachable func(id enode.ID) bool
 
 	Port uint16
+
+	// LogFile is the log file name of the p2p node at runtime.
+	//
+	// The default value is empty so that the default log writer
+	// is the system standard output.
+	LogFile string
+
+	// LogVerbosity is the log verbosity of the p2p node at runtime.
+	//
+	// The default verbosity is INFO.
+	LogVerbosity log.Lvl
 }
 
 // nodeConfigJSON is used to encode and decode NodeConfig as JSON by encoding
@@ -128,10 +139,12 @@ type nodeConfigJSON struct {
 	ID              string   `json:"id"`
 	PrivateKey      string   `json:"private_key"`
 	Name            string   `json:"name"`
-	Services        []string `json:"services"`
+	Lifecycles      []string `json:"lifecycles"`
 	Properties      []string `json:"properties"`
 	EnableMsgEvents bool     `json:"enable_msg_events"`
 	Port            uint16   `json:"port"`
+	LogFile         string   `json:"logfile"`
+	LogVerbosity    int      `json:"log_verbosity"`
 }
 
 // MarshalJSON implements the json.Marshaler interface by encoding the config
@@ -140,10 +153,12 @@ func (n *NodeConfig) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	confJSON := nodeConfigJSON{
 		ID:              n.ID.String(),
 		Name:            n.Name,
-		Services:        n.Lifecycles,
+		Lifecycles:      n.Lifecycles,
 		Properties:      n.Properties,
 		Port:            n.Port,
 		EnableMsgEvents: n.EnableMsgEvents,
+		LogFile:         n.LogFile,
+		LogVerbosity:    int(n.LogVerbosity),
 	}
 	if n.PrivateKey != nil {
 		confJSON.PrivateKey = hex.EncodeToString(crypto.FromECDSA(n.PrivateKey))
@@ -178,10 +193,12 @@ func (n *NodeConfig) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 	}
 
 	n.Name = confJSON.Name
-	n.Lifecycles = confJSON.Services
+	n.Lifecycles = confJSON.Lifecycles
 	n.Properties = confJSON.Properties
 	n.Port = confJSON.Port
 	n.EnableMsgEvents = confJSON.EnableMsgEvents
+	n.LogFile = confJSON.LogFile
+	n.LogVerbosity = log.Lvl(confJSON.LogVerbosity)
 
 	return nil
 }
@@ -211,6 +228,7 @@ func RandomNodeConfig() *NodeConfig {
 		Name:            fmt.Sprintf("node_%s", enodId.String()),
 		Port:            port,
 		EnableMsgEvents: true,
+		LogVerbosity:    log.LvlInfo,
 	}
 }