diff --git a/pyzoo/zoo/common/nncontext.py b/pyzoo/zoo/common/nncontext.py
index d66bfc13861..7bbfb7dacbe 100644
--- a/pyzoo/zoo/common/nncontext.py
+++ b/pyzoo/zoo/common/nncontext.py
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ def init_spark_standalone(num_executors,
                           executor_memory="10g",
                           driver_memory="1g",
                           driver_cores=4,
-                          spark_master=None,
+                          master=None,
                           extra_executor_memory_for_ray=None,
                           extra_python_lib=None,
                           spark_log_level="WARN",
@@ -142,8 +142,8 @@ def init_spark_standalone(num_executors,
     :param executor_memory: The memory for each executor. Default to be '2g'.
     :param driver_cores: The number of cores for the Spark driver. Default to be 4.
     :param driver_memory: The memory for the Spark driver. Default to be '1g'.
-    :param spark_master: The master URL of an existing Spark standalone cluster starting with
-    'spark://'. You only need to specify this if you have already started a standalone cluster.
+    :param master: The master URL of an existing Spark standalone cluster: 'spark://master:port'.
+    You only need to specify this if you have already started a standalone cluster.
     Default to be None and a new standalone cluster would be started in this case.
     :param extra_executor_memory_for_ray: The extra memory for Ray services. Default to be None.
     :param extra_python_lib: Extra python files or packages needed for distribution.
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ def init_spark_standalone(num_executors,
         executor_memory=executor_memory,
         driver_memory=driver_memory,
         driver_cores=driver_cores,
-        spark_master=spark_master,
+        master=master,
         extra_executor_memory_for_ray=extra_executor_memory_for_ray,
         extra_python_lib=extra_python_lib,
         conf=conf,
diff --git a/pyzoo/zoo/util/spark.py b/pyzoo/zoo/util/spark.py
index d84714eb24c..1792c72028a 100644
--- a/pyzoo/zoo/util/spark.py
+++ b/pyzoo/zoo/util/spark.py
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ def init_spark_standalone(self,
                               executor_memory="10g",
                               driver_memory="1g",
                               driver_cores=4,
-                              spark_master=None,
+                              master=None,
                               extra_executor_memory_for_ray=None,
                               extra_python_lib=None,
                               conf=None,
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ def init_spark_standalone(self,
 
         if 'PYSPARK_PYTHON' not in os.environ:
             os.environ["PYSPARK_PYTHON"] = self._detect_python_location()
-        if not spark_master:
+        if not master:
             pyspark_home = os.path.abspath(pyspark.__file__ + "/../")
             zoo_standalone_home = os.path.abspath(__file__ + "/../../share/bin/standalone")
             node_ip = get_node_ip()
@@ -266,18 +266,19 @@ def init_spark_standalone(self,
                 "{}/sbin/start-master.sh".format(zoo_standalone_home),
                 shell=True, env=SparkRunner.standalone_env)
             os.waitpid(start_master_pro.pid, 0)
-            spark_master = "spark://{}:7077".format(node_ip)  # 7077 is the default port
+            master = "spark://{}:7077".format(node_ip)  # 7077 is the default port
             # Start worker
             start_worker_pro = subprocess.Popen(
-                "{}/sbin/start-worker.sh {}".format(zoo_standalone_home, spark_master),
+                "{}/sbin/start-worker.sh {}".format(zoo_standalone_home, master),
                 shell=True, env=SparkRunner.standalone_env)
             os.waitpid(start_worker_pro.pid, 0)
         else:  # A Spark standalone cluster has already been started by the user.
-            assert spark_master.startswith("spark://"), \
-                "Please input a valid master address for Spark standalone: spark://master:port"
+            assert master.startswith("spark://"), \
+                "Please input a valid master address for your Spark standalone cluster: " \
+                "spark://master:port"
 
         # Start pyspark-shell
-        submit_args = " --master " + spark_master
+        submit_args = " --master " + master
         submit_args = submit_args + " --driver-cores {} --driver-memory {} --num-executors {}" \
                                     " --executor-cores {} --executor-memory {}"\
             .format(driver_cores, driver_memory, num_executors, executor_cores, executor_memory)
@@ -318,6 +319,8 @@ def stop_spark_standalone():
             import pyspark
             pyspark_home = os.path.abspath(pyspark.__file__ + "/../")
             zoo_standalone_home = os.path.abspath(__file__ + "/../../share/bin/standalone")
+            pro = subprocess.Popen(["chmod", "-R", "+x", "{}/sbin".format(zoo_standalone_home)])
+            os.waitpid(pro.pid, 0)
             env = {"SPARK_HOME": pyspark_home,
                    "ZOO_STANDALONE_HOME": zoo_standalone_home}
         stop_worker_pro = subprocess.Popen(