diff --git a/apps/cli/cli_pipe.c b/apps/cli/cli_pipe.c
index a1e30009..f593877f 100644
--- a/apps/cli/cli_pipe.c
+++ b/apps/cli/cli_pipe.c
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
   ***** END LICENSE BLOCK *****
  * 
- * Note, here assume all binaries are in /bin
+ * @note Paths to bins, such as GREP_BIN, are detected in configure.ac
  */
 
 #ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
@@ -80,33 +80,40 @@
  */
 int
 pipe_arg_fn(clicon_handle h,
-            const char   *cmd,
-            const char   *option,
-            const char   *value)
+            char         *cmd,
+            char         *option,
+            char         *value)
 {
-    int     retval = -1;
-
-    /* XXX rewrite using execv */
-    if (option){
-        if (value){
-            fprintf(stderr, "%s (1): %s %s %s %s NULL\n", __FUNCTION__, cmd, cmd, option, value);
-            retval = execl(cmd, cmd, option, value, NULL);
-        }
-        else{
-            fprintf(stderr, "%s (2): %s %s %s NULL\n", __FUNCTION__, cmd, cmd, option);
-            retval = execl(cmd, cmd, option, NULL);
-        }
+    int          retval = -1;
+    struct stat  fstat;
+    char       **argv = NULL;
+    int          i;
+    
+    if (cmd == NULL || strlen(cmd) == 0){
+        clicon_err(OE_PLUGIN, EINVAL, "cmd '%s' NULL or empty", cmd);
+        goto done;
     }
-    else{
-        if (value){
-            fprintf(stderr, "%s (3): %s %s %s NULL\n", __FUNCTION__, cmd, cmd, value);
-            retval = execl(cmd, cmd, value, NULL);
-        }
-        else{
-            fprintf(stderr, "%s (4): %s %s NULL\n", __FUNCTION__, cmd, cmd);
-            retval = execl(cmd, cmd, NULL);
-        }
+    if (stat(cmd, &fstat) < 0) {
+        clicon_err(OE_UNIX, errno, "stat(%s)", cmd);
+        goto done;
     }
+    if (!S_ISREG(fstat.st_mode)){
+        clicon_err(OE_UNIX, errno, "%s is not a regular file", cmd);
+        goto done;
+    }
+    if ((argv = calloc(4, sizeof(char *))) == NULL){
+        clicon_err(OE_UNIX, errno, "calloc");
+        goto done;
+    }
+    i = 0;
+    argv[i++] = cmd;
+    argv[i++] = option;
+    argv[i++] = value;
+    argv[i++] = NULL;
+    retval = execv(cmd, argv);
+ done:
+    if (argv)
+        free(argv);
     return retval;
 }
 
@@ -146,12 +153,41 @@ pipe_grep_fn(clicon_handle h,
             strlen(str))
             value = str;
     }
-    retval = pipe_arg_fn(h, "/bin/grep", option, value);
+    retval = pipe_arg_fn(h, GREP_BIN, option, value);
  done:
     return retval;
 }
 
-/* Grep pipe output function
+/*! wc pipe output function
+ *
+ * @param[in]  h     Clicon handle
+ * @param[in]  cvv   Vector of cli string and instantiated variables 
+ * @param[in]  argv  String vector of options. Format: <option> <value>
+ */
+int
+pipe_wc_fn(clicon_handle h,
+             cvec         *cvv,
+             cvec         *argv)
+{
+    int     retval = -1;
+    cg_var *cv;
+    char   *str;
+    char   *option;
+    
+    if (cvec_len(argv) != 1){
+        clicon_err(OE_PLUGIN, EINVAL, "Received %d arguments. Expected: <option>", cvec_len(argv));
+        goto done;
+    }
+    if ((cv = cvec_i(argv, 0)) != NULL &&
+        (str = cv_string_get(cv)) != NULL &&
+        strlen(str))
+        option = str;
+    retval = pipe_arg_fn(h, WC_BIN, option, NULL);
+ done:
+    return retval;
+}
+
+/*! wc pipe output function
  *
  * @param[in]  h     Clicon handle
  * @param[in]  cvv   Vector of cli string and instantiated variables 
@@ -159,12 +195,19 @@ pipe_grep_fn(clicon_handle h,
  */
 int
 pipe_tail_fn(clicon_handle h,
-             cvec         *cvv,
-             cvec         *argv)
+           cvec         *cvv,
+           cvec         *argv)
 {
-    return pipe_arg_fn(h, "/bin/tail", "-5", NULL);
+    return pipe_arg_fn(h, TAIL_BIN, "-5", NULL);
 }
 
+
+/*! Show as JSON
+ *
+ * @param[in]  h     Clicon handle
+ * @param[in]  cvv   Vector of cli string and instantiated variables 
+ * @param[in]  argv  String vector of options. Format: <option> <value>
+ */
 int
 pipe_json_fn(clicon_handle h,
              cvec         *cvv,
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index ff147318..3afa8ef6 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -180,7 +180,8 @@ test -x / || exit 1"
   as_suggested="  as_lineno_1=";as_suggested=$as_suggested$LINENO;as_suggested=$as_suggested" as_lineno_1a=\$LINENO
   as_lineno_2=";as_suggested=$as_suggested$LINENO;as_suggested=$as_suggested" as_lineno_2a=\$LINENO
   eval 'test \"x\$as_lineno_1'\$as_run'\" != \"x\$as_lineno_2'\$as_run'\" &&
-  test \"x\`expr \$as_lineno_1'\$as_run' + 1\`\" = \"x\$as_lineno_2'\$as_run'\"' || exit 1"
+  test \"x\`expr \$as_lineno_1'\$as_run' + 1\`\" = \"x\$as_lineno_2'\$as_run'\"' || exit 1
+test \$(( 1 + 1 )) = 2 || exit 1"
   if (eval "$as_required") 2>/dev/null
 then :
   as_have_required=yes
@@ -647,6 +648,9 @@ ac_includes_default="\
 ac_header_c_list=
 ac_subst_vars='LTLIBOBJS
 LIBOBJS
+WC_BIN
+TAIL_BIN
+GREP
 SSH_BIN
 LEXLIB
 LEX_OUTPUT_ROOT
@@ -5718,6 +5722,176 @@ fi
 printf "%s\n" "#define SSH_BIN \"$SSH_BIN\"" >>confdefs.h
 
 
+# For cli pipe output functions
+{ printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for grep that handles long lines and -e" >&5
+printf %s "checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... " >&6; }
+if test ${ac_cv_path_GREP+y}
+then :
+  printf %s "(cached) " >&6
+else $as_nop
+  if test -z "$GREP"; then
+  ac_path_GREP_found=false
+  # Loop through the user's path and test for each of PROGNAME-LIST
+  as_save_IFS=$IFS; IFS=$PATH_SEPARATOR
+for as_dir in $PATH$PATH_SEPARATOR/usr/xpg4/bin
+do
+  IFS=$as_save_IFS
+  case $as_dir in #(((
+    '') as_dir=./ ;;
+    */) ;;
+    *) as_dir=$as_dir/ ;;
+  esac
+    for ac_prog in grep ggrep
+   do
+    for ac_exec_ext in '' $ac_executable_extensions; do
+      ac_path_GREP="$as_dir$ac_prog$ac_exec_ext"
+      as_fn_executable_p "$ac_path_GREP" || continue
+# Check for GNU ac_path_GREP and select it if it is found.
+  # Check for GNU $ac_path_GREP
+case `"$ac_path_GREP" --version 2>&1` in
+*GNU*)
+  ac_cv_path_GREP="$ac_path_GREP" ac_path_GREP_found=:;;
+*)
+  ac_count=0
+  printf %s 0123456789 >"conftest.in"
+  while :
+  do
+    cat "conftest.in" "conftest.in" >"conftest.tmp"
+    mv "conftest.tmp" "conftest.in"
+    cp "conftest.in" "conftest.nl"
+    printf "%s\n" 'GREP' >> "conftest.nl"
+    "$ac_path_GREP" -e 'GREP$' -e '-(cannot match)-' < "conftest.nl" >"conftest.out" 2>/dev/null || break
+    diff "conftest.out" "conftest.nl" >/dev/null 2>&1 || break
+    as_fn_arith $ac_count + 1 && ac_count=$as_val
+    if test $ac_count -gt ${ac_path_GREP_max-0}; then
+      # Best one so far, save it but keep looking for a better one
+      ac_cv_path_GREP="$ac_path_GREP"
+      ac_path_GREP_max=$ac_count
+    fi
+    # 10*(2^10) chars as input seems more than enough
+    test $ac_count -gt 10 && break
+  done
+  rm -f conftest.in conftest.tmp conftest.nl conftest.out;;
+esac
+
+      $ac_path_GREP_found && break 3
+    done
+  done
+  done
+IFS=$as_save_IFS
+  if test -z "$ac_cv_path_GREP"; then
+    as_fn_error $? "no acceptable grep could be found in $PATH$PATH_SEPARATOR/usr/xpg4/bin" "$LINENO" 5
+  fi
+else
+  ac_cv_path_GREP=$GREP
+fi
+
+fi
+{ printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: $ac_cv_path_GREP" >&5
+printf "%s\n" "$ac_cv_path_GREP" >&6; }
+ GREP="$ac_cv_path_GREP"
+
+
+
+printf "%s\n" "#define GREP_BIN \"$GREP\"" >>confdefs.h
+
+# Extract the first word of "tail", so it can be a program name with args.
+set dummy tail; ac_word=$2
+{ printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for $ac_word" >&5
+printf %s "checking for $ac_word... " >&6; }
+if test ${ac_cv_path_TAIL_BIN+y}
+then :
+  printf %s "(cached) " >&6
+else $as_nop
+  case $TAIL_BIN in
+  [\\/]* | ?:[\\/]*)
+  ac_cv_path_TAIL_BIN="$TAIL_BIN" # Let the user override the test with a path.
+  ;;
+  *)
+  as_save_IFS=$IFS; IFS=$PATH_SEPARATOR
+for as_dir in $PATH
+do
+  IFS=$as_save_IFS
+  case $as_dir in #(((
+    '') as_dir=./ ;;
+    */) ;;
+    *) as_dir=$as_dir/ ;;
+  esac
+    for ac_exec_ext in '' $ac_executable_extensions; do
+  if as_fn_executable_p "$as_dir$ac_word$ac_exec_ext"; then
+    ac_cv_path_TAIL_BIN="$as_dir$ac_word$ac_exec_ext"
+    printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: found $as_dir$ac_word$ac_exec_ext" >&5
+    break 2
+  fi
+done
+  done
+IFS=$as_save_IFS
+
+  ;;
+esac
+fi
+TAIL_BIN=$ac_cv_path_TAIL_BIN
+if test -n "$TAIL_BIN"; then
+  { printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: $TAIL_BIN" >&5
+printf "%s\n" "$TAIL_BIN" >&6; }
+else
+  { printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: no" >&5
+printf "%s\n" "no" >&6; }
+fi
+
+
+
+printf "%s\n" "#define TAIL_BIN \"$TAIL_BIN\"" >>confdefs.h
+
+# Extract the first word of "wc", so it can be a program name with args.
+set dummy wc; ac_word=$2
+{ printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for $ac_word" >&5
+printf %s "checking for $ac_word... " >&6; }
+if test ${ac_cv_path_WC_BIN+y}
+then :
+  printf %s "(cached) " >&6
+else $as_nop
+  case $WC_BIN in
+  [\\/]* | ?:[\\/]*)
+  ac_cv_path_WC_BIN="$WC_BIN" # Let the user override the test with a path.
+  ;;
+  *)
+  as_save_IFS=$IFS; IFS=$PATH_SEPARATOR
+for as_dir in $PATH
+do
+  IFS=$as_save_IFS
+  case $as_dir in #(((
+    '') as_dir=./ ;;
+    */) ;;
+    *) as_dir=$as_dir/ ;;
+  esac
+    for ac_exec_ext in '' $ac_executable_extensions; do
+  if as_fn_executable_p "$as_dir$ac_word$ac_exec_ext"; then
+    ac_cv_path_WC_BIN="$as_dir$ac_word$ac_exec_ext"
+    printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: found $as_dir$ac_word$ac_exec_ext" >&5
+    break 2
+  fi
+done
+  done
+IFS=$as_save_IFS
+
+  ;;
+esac
+fi
+WC_BIN=$ac_cv_path_WC_BIN
+if test -n "$WC_BIN"; then
+  { printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: $WC_BIN" >&5
+printf "%s\n" "$WC_BIN" >&6; }
+else
+  { printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: no" >&5
+printf "%s\n" "no" >&6; }
+fi
+
+
+
+printf "%s\n" "#define WC_BIN \"$WC_BIN\"" >>confdefs.h
+
+
 # Get "bison" from bison -y or other string
 if test "$YACC" = "${YACC##bison}" ; then
    as_fn_error $? "CLIXON does not find bison.  There are several problems with yacc and byacc. Please install bison. YACC=\"$YACC\"" "$LINENO" 5
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 3df2fbf4..81213080 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -158,6 +158,14 @@ fi
 AC_PATH_PROG(SSH_BIN, ssh)
 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(SSH_BIN, "$SSH_BIN", [SSH binary])
 
+# For cli pipe output functions
+AC_PROG_GREP
+AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(GREP_BIN, "$GREP", [Grep binary])
+AC_PATH_PROG(TAIL_BIN, tail)
+AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(TAIL_BIN, "$TAIL_BIN", [tail binary])
+AC_PATH_PROG(WC_BIN, wc)
+AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(WC_BIN, "$WC_BIN", [wc binary])
+
 # Get "bison" from bison -y or other string
 if test "$YACC" = "${YACC##bison}" ; then
    AC_MSG_ERROR(CLIXON does not find bison.  There are several problems with yacc and byacc. Please install bison. YACC="$YACC")
diff --git a/include/clixon_config.h.in b/include/clixon_config.h.in
index 4dc456fe..4e543649 100644
--- a/include/clixon_config.h.in
+++ b/include/clixon_config.h.in
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 /* Enable YANG patch, RFC 8072 */
 #undef CLIXON_YANG_PATCH
 
+/* Grep binary */
+#undef GREP_BIN
+
 /* Define to 1 if you have the `alphasort' function. */
 #undef HAVE_ALPHASORT
 
@@ -81,9 +84,6 @@
 /* Define to 1 if you have the `xml2' library (-lxml2). */
 #undef HAVE_LIBXML2
 
-/* Define to 1 if you have the <memory.h> header file. */
-#undef HAVE_MEMORY_H
-
 /* Define to 1 if you have the <net-snmp/net-snmp-config.h> header file. */
 #undef HAVE_NET_SNMP_NET_SNMP_CONFIG_H
 
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@
 /* Define to 1 if you have the <stdint.h> header file. */
 #undef HAVE_STDINT_H
 
+/* Define to 1 if you have the <stdio.h> header file. */
+#undef HAVE_STDIO_H
+
 /* Define to 1 if you have the <stdlib.h> header file. */
 #undef HAVE_STDLIB_H
 
@@ -156,9 +159,17 @@
 /* SSH binary */
 #undef SSH_BIN
 
-/* Define to 1 if you have the ANSI C header files. */
+/* Define to 1 if all of the C90 standard headers exist (not just the ones
+   required in a freestanding environment). This macro is provided for
+   backward compatibility; new code need not use it. */
 #undef STDC_HEADERS
 
+/* tail binary */
+#undef TAIL_BIN
+
+/* wc binary */
+#undef WC_BIN
+
 /* Restconf package */
 #undef WITH_RESTCONF
 
diff --git a/test/test_cli_pipe.sh b/test/test_cli_pipe.sh
index ed3c4b7a..0fe31efa 100755
--- a/test/test_cli_pipe.sh
+++ b/test/test_cli_pipe.sh
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ CLICON_MODE="|mypipe"; # Must start with |
    grep <arg:string>, pipe_grep_fn("-e", "arg");
    except <arg:string>, pipe_grep_fn("-v", "arg");
    tail, pipe_tail_fn();
+   count, pipe_wc_fn("-l");
    showas {
      json, pipe_json_fn();
      text, pipe_text_fn();
@@ -173,6 +174,9 @@ expectpart "$($clixon_cli -1 -m $mode -f $cfg show explicit config \| grep par)"
 new "$mode show explicit | tail"
 expectpart "$($clixon_cli -1 -m $mode -f $cfg show explicit config \| tail)" 0 "<name>y</name>" --not-- "<name>x</name>"
 
+new "$mode show explicit | count"
+expectpart "$($clixon_cli -1 -m $mode -f $cfg show explicit config \| count)" 0 10
+
 new "$mode show explicit | showas json"
 expectpart "$($clixon_cli -1 -m $mode -f $cfg show explicit config \| showas json)" 0 '"name": "x",' --not-- "<name>"