diff --git a/tests/common-cli.c b/tests/common-cli.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7135856
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/common-cli.c
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+/*
+ * generic CLI test helper functions
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 by David Lamparter,
+ *                   for Open Source Routing / NetDEF, Inc.
+ *
+ * Quagga is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
+ * Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any
+ * later version.
+ *
+ * Quagga is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+ * WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with Quagga; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the Free
+ * Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA
+ * 02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+
+#include <zebra.h>
+
+#include "thread.h"
+#include "vty.h"
+#include "command.h"
+#include "memory.h"
+#include "log.h"
+
+#include "common-cli.h"
+
+struct thread_master *master;
+
+int dump_args(struct vty *vty, const char *descr,
+              int argc, const char **argv)
+{
+  int i;
+  vty_out (vty, "%s with %d args.%s", descr, argc, VTY_NEWLINE);
+  for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
+    {
+      vty_out (vty, "[%02d]: %s%s", i, argv[i], VTY_NEWLINE);
+    }
+
+  return CMD_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+static void vty_do_exit(void)
+{
+  printf ("\nend.\n");
+  exit (0);
+}
+
+/* main routine. */
+int
+main (int argc, char **argv)
+{
+  struct thread thread;
+
+  /* Set umask before anything for security */
+  umask (0027);
+
+  /* master init. */
+  master = thread_master_create ();
+
+  zlog_default = openzlog ("common-cli", ZLOG_NONE,
+                           LOG_CONS|LOG_NDELAY|LOG_PID, LOG_DAEMON);
+  zlog_set_level (NULL, ZLOG_DEST_SYSLOG, ZLOG_DISABLED);
+  zlog_set_level (NULL, ZLOG_DEST_STDOUT, ZLOG_DISABLED);
+  zlog_set_level (NULL, ZLOG_DEST_MONITOR, LOG_DEBUG);
+
+  /* Library inits. */
+  cmd_init (1);
+  host.name = strdup ("test");
+
+  vty_init (master);
+  memory_init ();
+
+  test_init ();
+
+  vty_stdio (vty_do_exit);
+
+  /* Fetch next active thread. */
+  while (thread_fetch (master, &thread))
+    thread_call (&thread);
+
+  /* Not reached. */
+  exit (0);
+}
+