diff --git a/internal/encoding/graphite/innerconfig.go b/internal/encoding/graphite/config.go
similarity index 88%
rename from internal/encoding/graphite/innerconfig.go
rename to internal/encoding/graphite/config.go
index 2fdab3687..283448e86 100644
--- a/internal/encoding/graphite/innerconfig.go
+++ b/internal/encoding/graphite/config.go
@@ -14,14 +14,14 @@ const (
 )
 
 // Config represents the configuration for Graphite endpoints.
-type InnerConfig struct {
+type Config struct {
 	Separator string
 	Tags      []string
 	Templates []string
 }
 
 // DefaultTags returns the config's tags.
-func (c *InnerConfig) DefaultTags() models.Tags {
+func (c *Config) DefaultTags() models.Tags {
 	tags := models.Tags{}
 	for _, t := range c.Tags {
 		parts := strings.Split(t, "=")
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func (c *InnerConfig) DefaultTags() models.Tags {
 }
 
 // Validate validates the config's templates and tags.
-func (c *InnerConfig) Validate() error {
+func (c *Config) Validate() error {
 	if err := c.validateTemplates(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func (c *InnerConfig) Validate() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *InnerConfig) validateTemplates() error {
+func (c *Config) validateTemplates() error {
 	// map to keep track of filters we see
 	filters := map[string]struct{}{}
 
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ func (c *InnerConfig) validateTemplates() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *InnerConfig) validateTags() error {
+func (c *Config) validateTags() error {
 	for _, t := range c.Tags {
 		if err := c.validateTag(t); err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ func (c *InnerConfig) validateTags() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *InnerConfig) validateTemplate(template string) error {
+func (c *Config) validateTemplate(template string) error {
 	hasMeasurement := false
 	for _, p := range strings.Split(template, ".") {
 		if p == "measurement" || p == "measurement*" {
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ func (c *InnerConfig) validateTemplate(template string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *InnerConfig) validateFilter(filter string) error {
+func (c *Config) validateFilter(filter string) error {
 	for _, p := range strings.Split(filter, ".") {
 		if p == "" {
 			return fmt.Errorf("filter contains blank section: %s", filter)
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ func (c *InnerConfig) validateFilter(filter string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *InnerConfig) validateTag(keyValue string) error {
+func (c *Config) validateTag(keyValue string) error {
 	parts := strings.Split(keyValue, "=")
 	if len(parts) != 2 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid template tags: '%s'", keyValue)
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/exec/README.md b/plugins/inputs/exec/README.md
index 5dabada6b..8f67a480a 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/exec/README.md
+++ b/plugins/inputs/exec/README.md
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ and strings will be ignored.
 # Read flattened metrics from one or more commands that output JSON to stdout
 [[inputs.exec]]
   # Shell/commands array
+  # compatible with old version
+  # we can still use the old command configuration
+  # command = "/usr/bin/mycollector --foo=bar"
   commands = ["/tmp/test.sh","/tmp/test2.sh"]
 
   # Data format to consume. This can be "json", "influx" or "graphite" (line-protocol)
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/exec/config.go b/plugins/inputs/exec/config.go
index 13fe05c71..d2239b0c8 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/exec/config.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/exec/config.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ const (
 // Config represents the configuration for Graphite endpoints.
 type Config struct {
 	Commands []string
-	graphite.InnerConfig
+	graphite.Config
 }
 
 // New Config instance.
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/exec/exec.go b/plugins/inputs/exec/exec.go
index 1697cb936..6f17da932 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/exec/exec.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/exec/exec.go
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ import (
 
 const sampleConfig = `
   # Shell/commands array
+  # compatible with old version
+  # we can still use the old command configuration
+  # command = "/usr/bin/mycollector --foo=bar"
   commands = ["/tmp/test.sh","/tmp/test2.sh"]
 
   # Data format to consume. This can be "json", "influx" or "graphite" (line-protocol)
@@ -52,6 +55,7 @@ const sampleConfig = `
 
 type Exec struct {
 	Commands   []string
+	Command    string
 	DataFormat string
 
 	Separator string
@@ -84,8 +88,6 @@ func (c CommandRunner) Run(e *Exec, command string) ([]byte, error) {
 	}
 
 	cmd := exec.Command(split_cmd[0], split_cmd[1:]...)
-	//name := strings.Replace(filepath.Base(cmd.Path), "/", "_", -1)
-	//name = strings.Replace(name, ".", "_", -1)
 
 	var out bytes.Buffer
 	cmd.Stdout = &out
@@ -119,6 +121,10 @@ func (e *Exec) initConfig() error {
 	e.Lock()
 	defer e.Unlock()
 
+	if e.Command != "" && len(e.Commands) < 1 {
+		e.Commands = []string{e.Command}
+	}
+
 	c := NewConfig(e.Commands, e.Tags, e.Templates, e.Separator)
 	c.WithDefaults()
 	if err := c.Validate(); err != nil {