diff --git a/tests/common-cli.h b/tests/common-cli.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f67515
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/common-cli.h
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+#ifndef _COMMON_CLI_H
+#define _COMMON_CLI_H
+
+#include "zebra.h"
+#include "vty.h"
+#include "command.h"
+
+/* function to be implemented by test */
+extern void test_init (void);
+
+/* functions provided by common cli
+ * (includes main())
+ */
+extern struct thread_master *master;
+
+extern int dump_args(struct vty *vty, const char *descr,
+              int argc, const char **argv);
+
+#define DUMMY_HELPSTR \
+       "00\n01\n02\n03\n04\n05\n06\n07\n08\n09\n" \
+       "10\n11\n12\n13\n14\n15\n16\n17\n18\n19\n" \
+       "20\n21\n22\n23\n24\n25\n26\n27\n28\n29\n"
+#define DUMMY_DEFUN(name, cmdstr) \
+        DEFUN (name, name ## _cmd, cmdstr, DUMMY_HELPSTR) \
+        { return dump_args(vty, #name, argc, argv); }
+
+#endif /* _COMMON_CLI_H */