@@ -487,11 +487,23 @@
 ;; immediately set MT_TARGET if -reqtarg or -target are available
 ;;
 (let ((targ (or (args:get-arg "-reqtarg")(args:get-arg "-target"))))
   (if targ (setenv "MT_TARGET" targ)))
 
-;; watchdog was here
+;; The watchdog is to keep an eye on things like db sync etc.
+;;
+
+;; TODO: for multiple areas, we will have multiple watchdogs; and multiple threads to manage
+(define *watchdog* (make-thread
+		    (lambda ()
+		      (handle-exceptions
+			  exn
+			  (begin
+			    (print-call-chain)
+			    (print " message: " ((condition-property-accessor 'exn 'message) exn)))
+			(common:watchdog)))
+		    "Watchdog thread"))
 
 ;;(if (not (args:get-arg "-server"))
 ;;    (thread-start! *watchdog*)) ;; if starting a server; wait till we get to running state before kicking off watchdog
 (let* ((no-watchdog-args
        '("-list-runs"
@@ -1019,10 +1031,55 @@
             ((json)
              (json-write targets))
             (else
              (debug:print-error 0 *default-log-port* "dump output format " (args:get-arg "-dumpmode") " not supported for -list-targets")))
           (set! *didsomething* #t))))
+
+;; cache the runconfigs in $MT_LINKTREE/$MT_TARGET/$MT_RUNNAME/.runconfig
+;;
+;; NOTE: Moved to runconfig-inc.scm
+;;
+#;(define (full-runconfigs-read)
+;; in the envprocessing branch the below code replaces the further below code
+;;  (if (eq? *configstatus* 'fulldata)
+;;      *runconfigdat*
+;;      (begin
+;;	(launch:setup)
+;;	*runconfigdat*)))
+
+  (let* ((rundir (if (and (getenv "MT_LINKTREE")(getenv "MT_TARGET")(getenv "MT_RUNNAME"))
+		     (conc (getenv "MT_LINKTREE") "/" (getenv "MT_TARGET") "/" (getenv "MT_RUNNAME"))
+		     #f))
+	 (cfgf   (if rundir (conc rundir "/.runconfig." megatest-version "-" megatest-fossil-hash) #f)))
+    (if (and cfgf
+	     (common:file-exists? cfgf)
+	     (file-write-access? cfgf)
+	     (common:use-cache?))
+	(configf:read-alist cfgf)
+	(let* ((keys   (rmt:get-keys))
+	       (target (common:args-get-target))
+	       (key-vals (if target (keys:target->keyval keys target) #f))
+	       (sections (if target (list "default" target) #f))
+	       (data     (begin
+			   (setenv "MT_RUN_AREA_HOME" *toppath*)
+			   (if key-vals
+			       (for-each (lambda (kt)
+					   (setenv (car kt) (cadr kt)))
+					 key-vals))
+			   ;; (read-config (conc *toppath* "/runconfigs.config") #f #t sections: sections))))
+                           (runconfig:read (conc *toppath* "/runconfigs.config") target #f))))
+	  (if (and rundir ;; have all needed variabless
+		   (directory-exists? rundir)
+		   (file-write-access? rundir))
+	      (begin
+                (if (not (common:in-running-test?))
+                    (configf:write-alist data cfgf))
+		;; force re-read of megatest.config - this resolves circular references between megatest.config
+		(launch:setup force-reread: #t)
+		;; (launch:cache-config) ;; there are two independent config cache locations, turning this one off for now. MRW.
+		)) ;; we can safely cache megatest.config since we have a valid runconfig
+	  data))))
 
 (if (args:get-arg "-show-runconfig")
     (let ((tl (launch:setup)))
       (push-directory *toppath*)
       (let ((data (full-runconfigs-read)))