diff --git a/proxmoxer/backends/base_ssh.py b/proxmoxer/backends/base_ssh.py
index da624d9..10da5ac 100644
--- a/proxmoxer/backends/base_ssh.py
+++ b/proxmoxer/backends/base_ssh.py
@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@
 
 
 class Response(object):
-    def __init__(self, content, status_code):
+    def __init__(self, content, status_code, reason):
         self.status_code = status_code
         self.content = content
         self.headers = {"content-type": "application/json"}
+        self.reason = reason
 
 
 class ProxmoxBaseSSHSession(object):
@@ -40,19 +41,20 @@ def request(self, method, url, data=None, params=None, headers=None):
             data['filename'] = data['filename'].name
             data['tmpfilename'] = tmp_filename
 
-        translated_data = ' '.join(["-{0} {1}".format(k, v) for k, v in chain(data.items(), params.items())])
-        full_cmd = 'pvesh {0}'.format(' '.join(filter(None, (cmd, url, translated_data))))
+        translated_data = ' '.join(["-{0} {1}".format(k, v if not isinstance(v, str) or " " not in v else '"{}"'.format(v)) for k, v in chain(data.items(), params.items())])
+        full_cmd = 'pvesh {0} --output-format json-pretty'.format(' '.join(filter(None, (cmd, url, translated_data))))
 
-        stdout, stderr = self._exec(full_cmd)
+        stdout, stderr, error_code = self._exec(full_cmd)
         match = lambda s: re.match('\d\d\d [a-zA-Z]', s)
         # sometimes contains extra text like 'trying to acquire lock...OK'
-        status_code = next(
-            (int(s.split()[0]) for s in stderr.splitlines() if match(s)),
-            500)
-        if stdout:
-            return Response(stdout, status_code)
+
+        if (error_code == 0):
+            status_code=200
         else:
-            return Response(stderr, status_code)
+            status_code = next(
+                (int(s.split()[0]) for s in stderr.splitlines() if match(s)),
+                500)
+        return Response(stdout, status_code, stderr)
 
     def upload_file_obj(self, file_obj, remote_path):
         raise NotImplementedError()
diff --git a/proxmoxer/backends/openssh.py b/proxmoxer/backends/openssh.py
index 6c18373..4ac5553 100644
--- a/proxmoxer/backends/openssh.py
+++ b/proxmoxer/backends/openssh.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def _exec(self, cmd):
         if self.sudo:
             cmd = "sudo " + cmd
         ret = self.ssh_client.run(cmd, forward_ssh_agent=self.forward_ssh_agent)
-        return ret.stdout, ret.stderr
+        return ret.stdout, ret.stderr, ret.returncode
 
     def upload_file_obj(self, file_obj, remote_path):
         self.ssh_client.scp((file_obj,), target=remote_path)
diff --git a/proxmoxer/backends/ssh_paramiko.py b/proxmoxer/backends/ssh_paramiko.py
index 482da55..7b0896f 100644
--- a/proxmoxer/backends/ssh_paramiko.py
+++ b/proxmoxer/backends/ssh_paramiko.py
@@ -56,9 +56,10 @@ def _exec(self, cmd):
             cmd = 'sudo ' + cmd
         session = self.ssh_client.get_transport().open_session()
         session.exec_command(cmd)
-        stdout = session.makefile('rb', -1).read().decode()
-        stderr = session.makefile_stderr('rb', -1).read().decode()
-        return stdout, stderr
+        error_code = session.recv_exit_status()
+        stdout = ''.join(session.makefile('r', -1))
+        stderr = ''.join(session.makefile_stderr('r', -1))
+        return stdout, stderr, error_code
 
     def upload_file_obj(self, file_obj, remote_path):
         sftp = self.ssh_client.open_sftp()
diff --git a/proxmoxer/core.py b/proxmoxer/core.py
index 43c3a06..b2c9b49 100644
--- a/proxmoxer/core.py
+++ b/proxmoxer/core.py
@@ -42,7 +42,16 @@ def url_join(self, base, *args):
 
 
 class ResourceException(Exception):
-    pass
+    def __init__(self, status_code, status_message, content, reason):
+        self.status_code = status_code
+        self.status_message = status_message
+        self.content = content
+        self.reason = reason.strip()
+        super(ResourceException, self).__init__(self.__repr__())
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return "{0} {1}: {2}, Content:{3}".format(
+            self.status_code, self.status_message, self.reason, self.content)
 
 
 class ProxmoxResource(ProxmoxResourceBase):
@@ -75,8 +84,7 @@ def _request(self, method, data=None, params=None):
         logger.debug('Status code: %s, output: %s', resp.status_code, resp.content)
 
         if resp.status_code >= 400:
-            raise ResourceException("{0} {1}: {2}".format(resp.status_code, httplib.responses[resp.status_code],
-                                                          resp.content))
+            raise ResourceException(resp.status_code, httplib.responses[resp.status_code], resp.content, resp.reason)
         elif 200 <= resp.status_code <= 299:
             return self._store["serializer"].loads(resp)