diff --git a/sapconf b/sapconf
index 369b6be..6cd6173 100644
--- a/sapconf
+++ b/sapconf
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ function rec_out() {
 out ""
 out "######         RECOMMENDATIONS                ######"
 out "##  Below are recommended settings that can not   ##"
-out "##  Be carried out by the ${SCRIPTNAME} script      ##"
+out "##  Be carried out by the ${SCRIPTNAME} script          ##"
 out "##  Please check and set them manually            ##"
 out "## ---------------------------------------------- ##"
 for (( i=1; i<=$rec_count; i++))
@@ -276,7 +276,13 @@ SHMMAX_REQ=$(( $VIRT_MEMORY_TOTAL * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 ))
 
 # The two kernel parameters required by Sybase ASE
 RANDOMIZE_VA_SPACE=`/sbin/sysctl -n kernel.randomize_va_space`
-EXEC_SHIELD=`/sbin/sysctl -n kernel.exec-shield`
+EXEC_SHIELD=`/sbin/sysctl -en kernel.exec-shield`
+
+# Check if exec-shield is not set as it seems to be not used on 64bit systems, otherwise set it
+# to 0 to indicate that is already disabled
+if [ -z "$EXEC_SHIELD" ]; then
+    EXEC_SHIELD=0
+fi
 
 ARCH=`uname -m`
 case $ARCH in
@@ -498,7 +504,7 @@ else
 fi
 
 ## modify /etc/hosts
-## at this point in time /etc/sysconfig network is ok.
+## at this point in time /etc/sysconfig/network is ok.
 ## so still need to check, if hosts is correct.
 # Check what happens if $hs=localhost or if a different branch needs to be added, which
 #               finds the ip adress of the first network card
@@ -627,13 +633,12 @@ if [ $(getenforce | awk '{ print $1 } ') = enforcing ]; then
 fi
 
 # Firewall needs to be off
-if service iptables status > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then
+if systemctl status firewalld.service > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then
    if [ $CHECK_ONLY == 0 ]; then
       # disable firewall or open required ports
-      service iptables save > /dev/null 2>&1
-      chkconfig iptables off
-      service iptables stop > /dev/null 2>&1
-      out "Firewall has been disabled for SAP. iptables settings are saved in file /etc/sysconfig/iptables"
+      systemctl disable firewalld.service
+      systemctl stop firewalld.service > /dev/null 2>&1
+      out "Firewall has been disabled for SAP"
    else
       rec "Firewall is enabled. If you leave the firewall on please open up the ports for SAP products. Firewall will be disabled by ${SCRIPTNAME} in execution mode"
    #out "Firewall state ... OK"
@@ -650,7 +655,9 @@ fi
 
 function check_chronyd() {
 
-if service chronyd status 1>/dev/null 2>&1 ; then
+systemctl status chronyd.service > /dev/null 2>&1
+rc=$?
+if [ $rc -eq 0 ]; then
         out "NTP service is running ... OK"
 else
         rec "NTP Service should be configured and started"
@@ -731,7 +738,7 @@ fi
 
 function check_links() {
 # set symbolic links for LDAP
-if [ -e /usr/lib64/libldap.so.199 -a -e /usr/lib64/liblber.so.199 ]; then
+if [ -L /usr/lib64/libldap.so.199 -a -L /usr/lib64/liblber.so.199 ]; then
         out "SAP LDAP Links ... OK"
 else
         #out "SAP LDAP Links ... not OK"
@@ -748,7 +755,7 @@ else
 fi
 
 # old version backward compatibility
-if [ -e /usr/lib/libstdc++-libc6.1-1.so.3 ]; then
+if [ -L /usr/lib/libstdc++-libc6.1-1.so.3 ]; then
         out "SAP old version compat links ... OK"
 else
         #out "SAP old version compat Links ... not OK"
@@ -771,20 +778,22 @@ fi
 
 function check_uuidd() {
 if [ $CHECK_ONLY == 0 ]; then
-        if chkconfig uuidd; then
+        systemctl is-enabled uuidd.service > /dev/null 2>&1
+        rc=$?
+        if [ $rc -eq 0 ]; then
                 out "Service uuidd autostart ... OK"
         else
                 # uuidd permissions
-                chkconfig uuidd on
+                systemctl enable uuidd.service
                 out "Service uuidd set to autostart ... OK"
         fi
-        service uuidd status > /dev/null 2>&1
+        systemctl status uuidd.service > /dev/null 2>&1
         rc=$?
         if [ $rc -eq 0 ]; then
                 out "Service uuidd already running"
         else
                 out "Service uuidd not running ... Starting"
-                service uuidd start > /dev/null 2>&1
+                systemctl start uuidd.service > /dev/null 2>&1
         fi
 else
         rpm -q uuidd > /dev/null 2>&1
@@ -792,13 +801,15 @@ else
         if [ $rc -eq 1 ]; then
                 rec "Please make sure that package uuidd is installed, and service uuidd is started and set to autostart: yum install -y -q uuidd; service uuidd start; chkconfig uuidd on"
         else
-                if !(chkconfig uuidd); then
-                        rec "Please make sure that service uuidd is set to autostart: chkconfig uuidd on"
+                systemctl is-enabled uuidd.service > /dev/null 2>&1
+                rc=$?
+                if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then
+                        rec "Please make sure that service uuidd is set to autostart: systemctl enable uuidd.service"
                 fi
-                service uuidd status > /dev/null 2>&1
+                systemctl status uuidd.service > /dev/null 2>&1
                 rc=$?
                 if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then
-                        rec "Please make sure that service uuidd is started: service uuidd start"
+                        rec "Please make sure that service uuidd is started: systemctl start uuidd.service"
                 fi
         fi
 fi
@@ -842,7 +853,7 @@ if [ $1 ]; then
      usage
 fi
 
-out "######        ${SCRIPTNAME} by Red Hat          ######"
+out "######           ${SCRIPTNAME} by Red Hat           ######"
 if [ $CHECK_ONLY == 0 ]; then
         out "###### Preparing System for SAP Installation  ######"
 else