diff --git a/tools/marvin/marvin/configGenerator.py b/tools/marvin/marvin/configGenerator.py
index ba639ff9882..7967ab43ccd 100644
--- a/tools/marvin/marvin/configGenerator.py
+++ b/tools/marvin/marvin/configGenerator.py
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ def generate_setup_config(config, file=None):
     
 def get_setup_config(file):
     if not os.path.exists(file):
-        return None
+        raise IOError("config file %s not found. please specify a valid config file"%file)
     config = cloudstackConfiguration()
     fp = open(file, 'r')
     config = json.load(fp)
diff --git a/tools/marvin/marvin/deployDataCenter.py b/tools/marvin/marvin/deployDataCenter.py
index aa40b00fba8..39b5e4e6f26 100644
--- a/tools/marvin/marvin/deployDataCenter.py
+++ b/tools/marvin/marvin/deployDataCenter.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import configGenerator
 import cloudstackException
 import cloudstackTestClient
 import sys
+import os
 import logging
 from cloudstackAPI import *
 from optparse import OptionParser
@@ -22,6 +23,8 @@ from optparse import OptionParser
 class deployDataCenters():
 
     def __init__(self, cfgFile):
+        if not os.path.exists(cfgFile):
+            raise IOError("config file %s not found. please specify a valid config file"%cfgFile)
         self.configFile = cfgFile
 
     def addHosts(self, hosts, zoneId, podId, clusterId, hypervisor):