diff --git a/tests/atests/common/volthaMngr.py b/tests/atests/common/volthaMngr.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..553f7c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/atests/common/volthaMngr.py
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2018 the original author or authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+"""
+vOLT-HA Start/Stop module
+"""
+
+
+import os
+import time
+import subprocess
+import paramiko
+import spur
+
+class volthaMngr(object):
+
+    """
+    This class implements voltha startup/shutdown callable helper functions
+    """
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.__rootDir = None
+        self.__volthaDir = None
+        self.__logDir = None
+        self.__rootSsh = None
+
+    def configDir(self, rootDir, volthaDir, logDir):
+        self.__rootDir = rootDir
+        self.__volthaDir = volthaDir
+        self.__logDir = logDir
+        
+        os.chdir(volthaDir)
+
+    def openRootSsh(self):
+        shell = spur.SshShell(hostname='localhost', username='root',
+                              password='root',
+                              missing_host_key=spur.ssh.MissingHostKey.accept)
+        return shell
+
+    def getAllRunningContainers(self):
+        allContainers = []
+        proc1 = subprocess.Popen(['docker', 'ps', '-a'],
+                                 stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+                                 stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+        proc2 = subprocess.Popen(['grep', '-v', 'CONT'], stdin=proc1.stdout,
+                                 stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+                                 stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+        proc1.stdout.close
+        out, err = proc2.communicate()
+        if out:
+            for line in out.split('\n'):
+                items = line.split()
+                if len(items):
+                    allContainers.append(items)
+        return allContainers
+
+    def stopPonsim(self):
+        command = "for pid in $(ps -ef | grep ponsim | grep -v grep | " \
+                  "awk '{print $2}'); do echo $pid; done"
+        client = paramiko.SSHClient()
+        client.load_system_host_keys()
+        client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
+        client.connect('localhost', username='root', password='root')
+        transport = client.get_transport()
+        channel = transport.open_session()
+
+        channel.exec_command(command)
+        procIds = channel.recv(4096).replace('\n', ' ')
+        channel = transport.open_session()
+        channel.exec_command('sudo kill -9 %s' % procIds)
+
+    def removeExistingContainers(self):
+        allContainers = self.getAllRunningContainers()
+        for container in allContainers:
+            procID = container[0]
+            os.system('docker rm -f %s > /dev/null 2>&1' % procID)
+
+    def startVolthaContainers(self):
+        print('Start VOLTHA containers')
+        # Bring up all the containers required for VOLTHA (total 15)
+        os.system(
+            'docker-compose -f compose/docker-compose-system-test.yml '
+            'up -d > %s/start_voltha_containers.log 2>&1' %
+            self.__logDir)
+
+    def collectAllLogs(self):
+        print('Collect all VOLTHA container logs')
+        allContainers = self.getAllRunningContainers()
+        for container in allContainers:
+            containerName = container[-1]
+            os.system('docker logs --since 0m -f %s > %s/%s.log 2>&1 &' %
+                      (containerName, self.__logDir, containerName))
+
+    def enableBridge(self):
+        self.__rootSsh = self.openRootSsh()
+        result = self.__rootSsh.run([self.__rootDir + '/enable_bridge.sh'])
+        print(result.output)
+
+    def startPonsim(self, onusAmount=1):
+        command = 'source env.sh ; ./ponsim/main.py -v'
+        if onusAmount > 1:
+            command += ' -o %s' % onusAmount
+        ponsimLog = open('%s/ponsim.log' % self.__logDir, 'w')
+        process = self.__rootSsh.spawn(['bash', '-c', command],
+                                       cwd=self.__volthaDir, store_pid=True,
+                                       stdout=ponsimLog)
+        return process.pid
+
+
+def voltha_Initialize(rootDir, volthaDir, logDir):
+
+    voltha = volthaMngr()
+    voltha.configDir(rootDir, volthaDir, logDir)
+    voltha.stopPonsim()
+    voltha.removeExistingContainers()
+    voltha.startVolthaContainers()
+    voltha.collectAllLogs()
+    voltha.enableBridge()
+    voltha.startPonsim(3)
+