diff --git a/common/djangoapps/student/management/commands/create_user.py b/common/djangoapps/student/management/commands/create_user.py
index bf4c084dca52..5f3f3b486e6b 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/student/management/commands/create_user.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/student/management/commands/create_user.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from student.models import CourseEnrollment, Registration
 from student.views import _do_create_account
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+from eventtracking import tracker
 
 
 class Command(BaseCommand):
@@ -64,25 +65,29 @@ def handle(self, *args, **options):
         if not name:
             name = options['email'].split('@')[0]
 
-        post_data = {
-            'username': username,
-            'email': options['email'],
-            'password': options['password'],
-            'name': name,
-            'honor_code': u'true',
-            'terms_of_service': u'true',
-        }
-        create_account = _do_create_account(post_data)
-        if isinstance(create_account, tuple):
-            user = create_account[0]
-            if options['staff']:
-                user.is_staff = True
-                user.save()
-            reg = Registration.objects.get(user=user)
-            reg.activate()
-            reg.save()
-        else:
-            print create_account
-            user = User.objects.get(email=options['email'])
-        if options['course']:
-            CourseEnrollment.enroll(user, options['course'], mode=options['mode'])
+        CONTEXT_NAME = 'edx.mgmt.command'
+        context = {'command': 'create_user'}
+        with tracker.get_tracker().context(CONTEXT_NAME, context):
+
+            post_data = {
+                'username': username,
+                'email': options['email'],
+                'password': options['password'],
+                'name': name,
+                'honor_code': u'true',
+                'terms_of_service': u'true',
+            }
+            create_account = _do_create_account(post_data)
+            if isinstance(create_account, tuple):
+                user = create_account[0]
+                if options['staff']:
+                    user.is_staff = True
+                    user.save()
+                reg = Registration.objects.get(user=user)
+                reg.activate()
+                reg.save()
+            else:
+                print create_account
+                user = User.objects.get(email=options['email'])
+            if options['course']:
+                CourseEnrollment.enroll(user, options['course'], mode=options['mode'])
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/track/views.py b/common/djangoapps/track/views.py
index ec052323957d..48ae896c17e7 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/track/views.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/track/views.py
@@ -68,31 +68,49 @@ def user_track(request):
 
 
 def server_track(request, event_type, event, page=None):
-    """Log events related to server requests."""
-    try:
-        username = request.user.username
-    except:
-        username = "anonymous"
-
-    try:
-        agent = request.META['HTTP_USER_AGENT']
-    except:
-        agent = ''
+    """
+    Log events related to server requests.
 
+    Handle the situation where the request may be NULL, as may happen with management commands.
+    """
+    username = 'anonymous'
+    agent = ''
+    host = ''
+    ip = ''
+    if request is not None:
+        try:
+            username = request.user.username
+        except:
+            pass
+        if hasattr(request, META):
+            try:
+                agent = request.META['HTTP_USER_AGENT']
+            except:
+                pass
+            try:
+                host = request.META['SERVER_NAME']
+            except:
+                pass
+            try:
+                ip = request.META['REMOTE_ADDR']
+            except:
+                pass
+
+    # define output:
     event = {
         "username": username,
-        "ip": request.META['REMOTE_ADDR'],
+        "ip": ip,
         "event_source": "server",
         "event_type": event_type,
         "event": event,
         "agent": agent,
         "page": page,
         "time": datetime.datetime.now(UTC),
-        "host": request.META['SERVER_NAME'],
+        "host": host,
         "context": eventtracker.get_tracker().resolve_context(),
     }
 
-    if event_type.startswith("/event_logs") and request.user.is_staff:
+    if event_type.startswith("/event_logs") and request and request.user.is_staff:
         return  # don't log
 
     log_event(event)