diff --git a/layerindex/static/css/additional.css b/layerindex/static/css/additional.css
index 185e2f8..dc48971 100644
--- a/layerindex/static/css/additional.css
+++ b/layerindex/static/css/additional.css
@@ -320,3 +320,8 @@ td.info {
     appearance: none;
   }
 }
+
+.vertical-scroll {
+    height: 400px;
+    overflow-y: scroll;
+}
diff --git a/layerindex/tasks.py b/layerindex/tasks.py
index 8fdb736..7ed0663 100644
--- a/layerindex/tasks.py
+++ b/layerindex/tasks.py
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# Celery task definitions for the layer index app
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2018 Intel Corporation
+# Author: Paul Eggleton <paul.eggleton@linux.intel.com>
+#
+# Licensed under the MIT license, see COPYING.MIT for details
+
 from celery import Celery
 from django.core.mail import EmailMessage
 from . import utils
@@ -36,7 +43,12 @@ def run_update_command(self, branch_name, update_command):
     update_command = update_command.replace('%update%', str(updateobj.id))
     update_command = update_command.replace('%branch%', branch_name)
     try:
-        output = utils.runcmd(update_command, os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)))
+        os.makedirs(settings.TASK_LOG_DIR)
+    except FileExistsError:
+        pass
+    logfile = os.path.join(settings.TASK_LOG_DIR, 'task_%s.log' % str(self.request.id))
+    try:
+        output = utils.runcmd(update_command, os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)), outfile=logfile)
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
         output = e.output
     except Exception as e:
diff --git a/layerindex/templatetags/extrafilters.py b/layerindex/templatetags/extrafilters.py
index c061a94..d79f9a1 100644
--- a/layerindex/templatetags/extrafilters.py
+++ b/layerindex/templatetags/extrafilters.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-from datetime import datetime
 from django import template
 from .. import utils
 
@@ -18,22 +17,4 @@ def truncatesimple(strval, length):
 
 @register.filter
 def timesince2(date, date2=None):
-    # Based on http://www.didfinishlaunchingwithoptions.com/a-better-timesince-template-filter-for-django/
-    if date2 is None:
-        date2 = datetime.now()
-    if date > date2:
-        return '0 seconds'
-    diff = date2 - date
-    periods = (
-        (diff.days // 365, 'year', 'years'),
-        (diff.days // 30, 'month', 'months'),
-        (diff.days // 7, 'week', 'weeks'),
-        (diff.days, 'day', 'days'),
-        (diff.seconds // 3600, 'hour', 'hours'),
-        (diff.seconds // 60, 'minute', 'minutes'),
-        (diff.seconds, 'second', 'seconds'),
-    )
-    for period, singular, plural in periods:
-        if period:
-            return '%d %s' % (period, singular if period == 1 else plural)
-    return '0 seconds'
+    return utils.timesince2(date, date2)
diff --git a/layerindex/urls.py b/layerindex/urls.py
index 9f9a74e..e8ba8c9 100644
--- a/layerindex/urls.py
+++ b/layerindex/urls.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from django.conf.urls import *
 from django.views.generic import TemplateView, DetailView, ListView, RedirectView
 from django.views.defaults import page_not_found
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse_lazy
-from layerindex.views import LayerListView, LayerReviewListView, LayerReviewDetailView, RecipeSearchView, MachineSearchView, LayerDetailView, edit_layer_view, delete_layer_view, edit_layernote_view, delete_layernote_view, HistoryListView, EditProfileFormView, AdvancedRecipeSearchView, BulkChangeView, BulkChangeSearchView, bulk_change_edit_view, bulk_change_patch_view, BulkChangeDeleteView, RecipeDetailView, RedirectParamsView, ClassicRecipeSearchView, ClassicRecipeDetailView, ClassicRecipeStatsView, LayerUpdateDetailView, UpdateListView, UpdateDetailView, StatsView, publish_view, LayerCheckListView, BBClassCheckListView, TaskStatusView, ComparisonRecipeSelectView, ComparisonRecipeSelectDetailView
+from layerindex.views import LayerListView, LayerReviewListView, LayerReviewDetailView, RecipeSearchView, MachineSearchView, LayerDetailView, edit_layer_view, delete_layer_view, edit_layernote_view, delete_layernote_view, HistoryListView, EditProfileFormView, AdvancedRecipeSearchView, BulkChangeView, BulkChangeSearchView, bulk_change_edit_view, bulk_change_patch_view, BulkChangeDeleteView, RecipeDetailView, RedirectParamsView, ClassicRecipeSearchView, ClassicRecipeDetailView, ClassicRecipeStatsView, LayerUpdateDetailView, UpdateListView, UpdateDetailView, StatsView, publish_view, LayerCheckListView, BBClassCheckListView, TaskStatusView, ComparisonRecipeSelectView, ComparisonRecipeSelectDetailView, task_log_view
 from layerindex.models import LayerItem, Recipe, RecipeChangeset
 from rest_framework import routers
 from . import restviews
@@ -168,6 +168,9 @@ urlpatterns = [
         TaskStatusView.as_view(
             template_name='layerindex/task.html'),
             name='task_status'),
+    url(r'^tasklog/(?P<task_id>[-\w]+)/$',
+            task_log_view,
+            name='task_log'),
     url(r'^ajax/layerchecklist/(?P<branch>[-\w]+)/$',
         LayerCheckListView.as_view(
             template_name='layerindex/layerchecklist.html'),
diff --git a/layerindex/utils.py b/layerindex/utils.py
index 63759f2..b1544fb 100644
--- a/layerindex/utils.py
+++ b/layerindex/utils.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import fcntl
 import signal
 import codecs
 import re
+from datetime import datetime
 from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
 
 def get_branch(branchname):
@@ -284,33 +285,40 @@ def parse_layer_conf(layerdir, data, logger=None):
     data = parse_conf(conf_file, data)
     data.expandVarref('LAYERDIR')
 
-def runcmd(cmd, destdir=None, printerr=True, logger=None):
+def runcmd(cmd, destdir=None, printerr=True, outfile=None, logger=None):
     """
         execute command, raise CalledProcessError if fail
         return output if succeed
     """
     if logger:
         logger.debug("run cmd '%s' in %s" % (cmd, os.getcwd() if destdir is None else destdir))
-    out = tempfile.TemporaryFile()
+    if outfile:
+        out = open(outfile, 'wb+')
+    else:
+        out = tempfile.TemporaryFile()
     try:
-        subprocess.check_call(cmd, stdout=out, stderr=out, cwd=destdir, shell=True)
-    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+        try:
+            subprocess.check_call(cmd, stdout=out, stderr=out, cwd=destdir, shell=True)
+        except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+            out.seek(0)
+            output = out.read()
+            output = output.decode('utf-8', errors='replace').strip()
+            if printerr:
+                if logger:
+                    logger.error("%s" % output)
+                else:
+                    sys.stderr.write("%s\n" % output)
+            e.output = output
+            raise e
+
         out.seek(0)
         output = out.read()
         output = output.decode('utf-8', errors='replace').strip()
-        if printerr:
-            if logger:
-                logger.error("%s" % output)
-            else:
-                sys.stderr.write("%s\n" % output)
-        e.output = output
-        raise e
-
-    out.seek(0)
-    output = out.read()
-    output = output.decode('utf-8', errors='replace').strip()
-    if logger:
-        logger.debug("output: %s" % output.rstrip() )
+        if logger:
+            logger.debug("output: %s" % output.rstrip() )
+    finally:
+        if outfile:
+            out.close()
     return output
 
 def setup_django():
@@ -431,3 +439,24 @@ def sanitise_html(html):
 
 def squashspaces(string):
     return re.sub("\s+", " ", string).strip()
+
+def timesince2(date, date2=None):
+    # Based on http://www.didfinishlaunchingwithoptions.com/a-better-timesince-template-filter-for-django/
+    if date2 is None:
+        date2 = datetime.now()
+    if date > date2:
+        return '0 seconds'
+    diff = date2 - date
+    periods = (
+        (diff.days // 365, 'year', 'years'),
+        (diff.days // 30, 'month', 'months'),
+        (diff.days // 7, 'week', 'weeks'),
+        (diff.days, 'day', 'days'),
+        (diff.seconds // 3600, 'hour', 'hours'),
+        (diff.seconds // 60, 'minute', 'minutes'),
+        (diff.seconds, 'second', 'seconds'),
+    )
+    for period, singular, plural in periods:
+        if period:
+            return '%d %s' % (period, singular if period == 1 else plural)
+    return '0 seconds'
diff --git a/layerindex/views.py b/layerindex/views.py
index 55a3633..3302054 100644
--- a/layerindex/views.py
+++ b/layerindex/views.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 # Licensed under the MIT license, see COPYING.MIT for details
 
 import sys
+import os
 from pkg_resources import parse_version
 from itertools import islice
 from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404, get_list_or_404, render
@@ -29,6 +30,8 @@ from django.utils.decorators import method_decorator
 from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
 from django.contrib import messages
 from django import forms
+from django.utils.html import escape
+
 from reversion.models import Revision
 from . import utils
 from . import simplesearch
@@ -225,8 +228,6 @@ def bulk_change_edit_view(request, template_name, pk):
     })
 
 def bulk_change_patch_view(request, pk):
-    import os
-    import os.path
     changeset = get_object_or_404(RecipeChangeset, pk=pk)
     # FIXME this couples the web server and machine running the update script together,
     # but given that it's a separate script the way is open to decouple them in future
@@ -1372,8 +1373,36 @@ class TaskStatusView(TemplateView):
         context['task_id'] = task_id
         context['result'] = AsyncResult(task_id)
         context['update'] = get_object_or_404(Update, task_id=task_id)
+        context['log_url'] = reverse_lazy('task_log', args=(task_id,))
         return context
 
+def task_log_view(request, task_id):
+    from celery.result import AsyncResult
+    if not request.user.is_authenticated():
+        raise PermissionDenied
+
+    if '/' in task_id:
+        # Block anything that looks like a path
+        raise Http404
+
+    result = AsyncResult(task_id)
+    start = request.GET.get('start', 0)
+    try:
+        f = open(os.path.join(settings.TASK_LOG_DIR, 'task_%s.log' % task_id), 'rb')
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        raise Http404
+    f.seek(int(start))
+    # We need to escape this or else things that look like tags in the output
+    # will be interpreted as such by the browser
+    data = escape(f.read())
+    response = HttpResponse(data)
+    if result.ready():
+        response['Task-Done'] = '1'
+        updateobj = get_object_or_404(Update, task_id=task_id)
+        response['Task-Duration'] = utils.timesince2(updateobj.started, updateobj.finished)
+    else:
+        response['Task-Done'] = '0'
+    return response
 
 class ComparisonRecipeSelectView(ClassicRecipeSearchView):
     def _can_edit(self):
diff --git a/settings.py b/settings.py
index 981adfb..a456eb7 100644
--- a/settings.py
+++ b/settings.py
@@ -238,5 +238,8 @@ RABBIT_BACKEND = 'rpc://'
 # Used for fetching repo
 PARALLEL_JOBS = "4"
 
+# Full path to directory to store logs for dynamically executed tasks
+TASK_LOG_DIR = "/tmp/layerindex-task-logs"
+
 # Full path to directory where rrs tools stores logs
 TOOLS_LOG_DIR = ""
diff --git a/templates/layerindex/task.html b/templates/layerindex/task.html
index 371945e..c2e9c28 100644
--- a/templates/layerindex/task.html
+++ b/templates/layerindex/task.html
@@ -12,10 +12,6 @@
 {% endcomment %}
 
 
-{% block head_extra %}
-{% if not update.finished %}<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5" />{% endif %}
-{% endblock %}
-
 <!--
 {% block title_append %} - task status{% endblock %}
 -->
@@ -23,13 +19,9 @@
 {% block content %}
 {% autoescape on %}
 
-<p>Task status for {{ update.task_id }} started by {{ update.triggered_by }} {% if update.finished %} on {{ update.started }} (finished in {{ update.started | timesince2:update.finished }}){% else %}{{ update.started | timesince2 }} ago{% endif%}:</p>
+<p>Task status for {{ update.task_id }} started by {{ update.triggered_by }} on {{ update.started }}<span id="task_status_fragment">{% if update.finished %} (finished in {{ update.started | timesince2:update.finished }}){% endif %}</span>:</p>
 
-{% if update.log %}
-<pre>{{ update.log }}</pre>
-{% else %}
-<p>{% if update.finished %}(no output){% else %}(no output - waiting for task to finish){% endif %}
-{% endif %}
+<pre id="task_log" class="vertical-scroll">{{ update.log }}</pre>
 
 {% if update.comparisonrecipeupdate_set.exists %}
 <h3>Updated comparison recipes</h3>
@@ -45,3 +37,45 @@
 
 {% block footer %}
 {% endblock %}
+
+{% block scripts %}
+<script>
+    var posn = 0;
+    var done = '0';
+    var duration = ''
+    var scrolling = true;
+
+    function updateLog() {
+        $.ajax({
+            url: '{{ log_url }}?start=' + posn,
+            success: function( data, code, xhr ) {
+                task_log = $("#task_log")
+                task_log.append(data);
+                if(scrolling) {
+                    task_log.animate({ scrollTop: task_log.prop('scrollHeight') }, "slow");
+                }
+                posn += data.length
+                done = xhr.getResponseHeader('Task-Done')
+                duration = xhr.getResponseHeader('Task-Duration')
+            }
+        }).always(function () {
+            if(done == '1') {
+                $("#task_status_fragment").html(" (finished in " + duration + ")")
+            }
+            else {
+                window.setTimeout(updateLog, 1000);
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    $("#task_log").scroll(function() {
+        scrolling = ($(this).scrollTop() + $(this).height() + 50 > $(this).prop('scrollHeight'))
+    });
+
+    $(document).ready(function() {
+        {% if not update.finished %}
+        updateLog();
+        {% endif %}
+    });
+</script>
+{% endblock %}