diff --git a/dns-client.rb b/dns-client.rb
index adb75c6..1e682ac 100644
--- a/dns-client.rb
+++ b/dns-client.rb
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ raise 'at least one of -4 or -6 required' unless options[:ipv4] || options[:ipv6
 password = options[:pw_file]
 raise "file does not exist or is not readable: #{password}" unless File::readable?(password)
 
+def error(msg)
+  puts msg
+  raise msg
+end
+
 # XMPP client for Fudo Backplane
 class XMPPClient
   def initialize(domain, hostname, server, password)