diff --git a/Shorewall-common/changelog.txt b/Shorewall-common/changelog.txt
index 250cb4262..0ca69d9e3 100644
--- a/Shorewall-common/changelog.txt
+++ b/Shorewall-common/changelog.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ Changes in 4.0.0 RC 2
 
 3)  Remove 3.4 compatibility hacks.
 
+4)  Fix install.sh manpage problem.
+
+5)  Fix LITEDIR mess.
+
 Changes in 4.0.0 RC 1
 
 1)  shorewall-perl RPM no longer installable under shorewall 3.4.
diff --git a/Shorewall-common/releasenotes.txt b/Shorewall-common/releasenotes.txt
index afa7198db..6b1666d21 100644
--- a/Shorewall-common/releasenotes.txt
+++ b/Shorewall-common/releasenotes.txt
@@ -30,6 +30,33 @@ Problems corrected in 4.0.0 RC 2.
 1)  Shorewall-perl now correctly permits zones of type 'ipsec' in the
     ZONE column of /etc/shorewall/tunnels.
 
+2)  The shorewall-common install.sh may now be run multiple times from
+    the same directory. Previously, the manpages were gzipped in-place
+    which made it impossible to rerun the script.
+
+3)  The implementation of LITEDIR has always been
+    unsatisfactory. Furthermore, there have been other cases where
+    people have asked to be able to designate the state directory
+    (default /var/lib/shorewall[-lite]).
+
+    To meet these objectives:
+
+    a)  The LITEDIR variable has been eliminated in
+        /usr/share/shorewall[-lite]/configpath.
+
+    b)  A new file /etc/shorewall[-lite]/vardir has been added. This
+        file is not created by default but may be added as needed. It
+        is expected to contain a single variable assignment:
+
+	   VARDIR=<directory>
+
+	Example:
+
+	   VARDIR=/root/shorewall
+    
+    To change VARDIR, copy the old directory to the new one before you
+    restart Shorewall[-lite].
+
 Other changes in Shorewall 4.0.0 RC 2.
 
 1)  The -f option is no longer the default when Shorewall is started at
diff --git a/Shorewall-lite/shorewall-lite b/Shorewall-lite/shorewall-lite
index b0d991c95..c1a3b5efe 100755
--- a/Shorewall-lite/shorewall-lite
+++ b/Shorewall-lite/shorewall-lite
@@ -474,6 +474,8 @@ export PRODUCT="Shorewall Lite"
 
 [ -n "${VARDIR:=/var/lib/shorewall-lite}" ]
 
+[ -d $VARDIR ] || mkdir -p $VARDIR || fatal_error "Unable to create $VARDIR"
+
 LIBRARIES="$SHAREDIR/lib.base $SHAREDIR/lib.cli"
 VERSION_FILE=$SHAREDIR/version
 HELP=$SHAREDIR/help