diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2de32241..24118dda 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 - Add startup for `fcgiwrap.service` because sometimes it did not start automatically.
   ([#657](https://github.com/chatmail/relay/pull/657))
 
+- Add `cmdeploy init --force` command for recreating chatmail.ini
+  ([#656](https://github.com/chatmail/relay/pull/656))
+
 - Increase maxproc for reinjecting ports from 10 to 100
   ([#646](https://github.com/chatmail/relay/pull/646))
 
diff --git a/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/cmdeploy.py b/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/cmdeploy.py
index 180296a9..66e37c04 100644
--- a/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/cmdeploy.py
+++ b/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/cmdeploy.py
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ from .sshexec import SSHExec
 # cmdeploy sub commands and options
 #
 
+def is_pytest():
+    return "PYTEST_CURRENT_TEST" in os.environ
+
 
 def init_cmd_options(parser):
     parser.add_argument(
@@ -32,18 +35,28 @@ def init_cmd_options(parser):
         action="store",
         help="fully qualified DNS domain name for your chatmail instance",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--force",
+        dest="recreate_ini",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="force reacreate ini file",
+    )
 
 
 def init_cmd(args, out):
     """Initialize chatmail config file."""
     mail_domain = args.chatmail_domain
+    inipath = args.inipath
     if args.inipath.exists():
-        print(f"Path exists, not modifying: {args.inipath}")
-        return 1
-    else:
-        write_initial_config(args.inipath, mail_domain, overrides={})
-        out.green(f"created config file for {mail_domain} in {args.inipath}")
+        if not args.recreate_ini:
+            out.green(f"[WARNING] Path exists, not modifying: {inipath}")
+            return 1
+        else:
+            out.yellow(f"[WARNING] Force argument was provided, deleting config file: {inipath}")
+            inipath.unlink()
 
+    write_initial_config(inipath, mail_domain, overrides={})
+    out.green(f"created config file for {mail_domain} in {inipath}")
 
 def run_cmd_options(parser):
     parser.add_argument(
@@ -263,11 +276,20 @@ class Out:
     def red(self, msg, file=sys.stderr):
         print(colored(msg, "red"), file=file)
 
-    def green(self, msg, file=sys.stderr):
+    def green(self, msg, file=sys.stdout):
         print(colored(msg, "green"), file=file)
 
-    def __call__(self, msg, red=False, green=False, file=sys.stdout):
-        color = "red" if red else ("green" if green else None)
+    def yellow(self, msg, file=sys.stdout):
+        print(colored(msg, "yellow"), file=file)
+
+    def __call__(self, msg, red=False, green=False, yellow=False, file=sys.stdout):
+        color = None
+        if red:
+            color = "red"
+        elif green:
+            color = "green"
+        elif yellow:
+            color = "yellow"
         print(colored(msg, color), file=file)
 
     def check_call(self, arg, env=None, quiet=False):
@@ -352,6 +374,12 @@ def main(args=None):
     args.get_sshexec = get_sshexec
 
     out = Out()
+    if is_pytest(): ## issue: https://github.com/chatmail/relay/issues/622
+        out.green = print
+        out.red = print
+        out.yellow = print
+        out.__call__ = print
+
     kwargs = {}
     if args.func.__name__ not in ("init_cmd", "fmt_cmd"):
         if not args.inipath.exists():
diff --git a/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/test_cmdeploy.py b/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/test_cmdeploy.py
index bdbc3db0..d72f427d 100644
--- a/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/test_cmdeploy.py
+++ b/cmdeploy/src/cmdeploy/tests/test_cmdeploy.py
@@ -25,11 +25,17 @@ class TestCmdline:
 
     def test_init_not_overwrite(self, capsys):
         assert main(["init", "chat.example.org"]) == 0
-        capsys.readouterr()
+        out, err = capsys.readouterr()
+        assert "created config file" in out.lower()
+
         assert main(["init", "chat.example.org"]) == 1
         out, err = capsys.readouterr()
         assert "path exists" in out.lower()
 
+        assert main(["init", "chat.example.org", "--force"]) == 0
+        out, err = capsys.readouterr()
+        assert "deleting config file" in out.lower()
+
 
 def test_www_folder(example_config, tmp_path):
     reporoot = importlib.resources.files(__package__).joinpath("../../../../").resolve()