diff --git a/Authors b/Authors
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/Authors
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Please add your name to this list with your first commit request
+
+Karanbir Singh <kbsingh@karan.org>
diff --git a/Readme b/Readme
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/Readme
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+This Git repo contains all the functional tests run for various packages and roles in the CentOS build + release process
+
+filesystem layout:
+
+tests/         : contains all test scripts
+
+tests/0_lib/   : contains all the common functions and shared code for 
+                 the tests all files in that directory are 'sourced' 
+                 before any of the tests are run, which also means it 
+                 can only contain bash code ( no subdir allowed )
+
+tests/_common/ : Contain's testst that are run before any other test,
+                 and immediately after the 0_lib/ code is sourced.
+                 These should be tests that check system sanity and 
+                 environment. These tests should also not leave behind
+                 any state or content residue that would impact package
+                 and role specific tests that are run after
+
+tests/p_<name>/ : Each of the p_<name> directories would contain tests
+                  for that specific package. The <name> needs to be -
+                  rpm --qf "%{name}\n" for the srpm.
+
+                  All package tests are run on a machine which has a minimal
+                  install. Its not possible, at this time, to have a kickstart
+                  attached with the package tests.
+
+tests/r_<role>  : Each of the r_<role> directories should contain the tests
+                  specific to a role. eg: 'lamp'. The test harness looks at
+                  a file called 'pacakge_deps' inside each of the role directories
+                  and runs the role tests if any package listed in that file 
+                  has been changed / built etc.
+
+                  Role tests can be run with specific kickstarts. At the moment
+                  each role can have 1 kickstart file. It must be called 
+                  ks_<role>.cfg and it must be in the tests/r_<role>/ directory
+    
+notes...
+- each of the directories are parsed in alphabetical order, so its possible
+  to set some sort of a run order by using <number>_<TestName>
+
+- if tests are written in any language other than bash, its upto the test
+  to install the required environment ( including python, ruby, perl.. )
diff --git a/WritingTests b/WritingTests
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8aa69d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/WritingTests
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+Any and every script can be a test. The only 2 things that are important
+are that 
+  (a) the script needs to exit with a non zero exit level in
+      order to siginal a 'Fail' 
+
+  (b) the script needs to call yum install to install any
+      packages or libraries that it would need to run 
diff --git a/tests/0_common/00_qa_repo_config.sh b/tests/0_common/00_qa_repo_config.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a73abfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/0_common/00_qa_repo_config.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Disable the normal repositories and points to the QA repo
+mv /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo.disabled
+touch /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo
+
+cat >> /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-QA.repo << EOF
+ 
+[QA-base]
+name=CentOS-\$releasever - OS
+baseurl=http://repo.centos.qa/srv/CentOS/\$releasever/os/\$basearch/
+gpgcheck=1
+enabled=1
+gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
+
+[QA-updates]
+name=CentOS-\$releasever - Updates
+baseurl=http://repo.centos.qa/srv/CentOS/\$releasever/updates/\$basearch/
+gpgcheck=1
+enabled=1
+gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
+
+[QA-extras]
+name=CentOS-\$releasever - Extras
+baseurl=http://repo.centos.qa/srv/CentOS/\$releasever/extras/\$basearch/
+gpgcheck=1
+enabled=1
+gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
+
+[qa-centosplus]
+name=CentOS-$releasever - CentOSPlus
+baseurl=http://repo.centos.qa/srv/CentOS/\$releasever/centosplus/\$basearch/
+gpgcheck=1
+enabled=0
+gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
+
+EOF
+
+yum clean all
+echo "Modifying yum repositories for QA purposes ..."
+yum repolist
+
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then 
+  echo ' PASS'
+else
+  echo ' Fail'
+  exit 1
+fi 
+
diff --git a/tests/0_common/05_stop_yumupdatesd.sh b/tests/0_common/05_stop_yumupdatesd.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6c673f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/0_common/05_stop_yumupdatesd.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+/sbin/service yum-updatesd stop
+sleep 2
diff --git a/tests/0_common/10_remove_32bitpkgs.sh b/tests/0_common/10_remove_32bitpkgs.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d207f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/0_common/10_remove_32bitpkgs.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+echo 'Test that all 32 rpms can be removed'
+
+# only run this test on x86_64 machines!
+is64=$(uname -m|grep x86_64)
+if [ "$?" -ne '0' ]; then
+  echo ' Skip'
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+yum -d0 -y erase *.i?86 
+#yum -d0 -y erase *.i?86 > /dev/null 2>&1
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then 
+  echo ' PASS'
+else
+  echo ' Fail'
+  exit 1
+fi 
+
+# note, this does not imply the machine is usable after the remove! need
+# to test that independantly 
diff --git a/tests/0_common/20_upgrade_all.sh b/tests/0_common/20_upgrade_all.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8021164
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/0_common/20_upgrade_all.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+echo 'Test that all updates can be applied to this machine cleanly'
+
+
+yum -d0 -y upgrade
+# yum -d0 -y upgrade > /dev/null 2>&1
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then 
+  echo ' PASS'
+else
+  echo ' Fail'
+  exit 1
+fi 
diff --git a/tests/0_common/30_dns_works.sh b/tests/0_common/30_dns_works.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff4f80f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/0_common/30_dns_works.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+echo 'Test to see if dns works'
+
+# test
+# its important we dont hit a dns record with a wildcard like centos.org
+ping -c 1 www.google.com > /dev/null 2>&1
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then 
+  echo ' PASS'
+else
+  echo ' Fail'
+  exit 1
+fi 
+
+
+# implied results:
+# - network works
+# - default route is really routeable
+# - atleast one network link on the machine is working
+# - kernel' ip stack is functional
+
+
diff --git a/tests/0_common/readme b/tests/0_common/readme
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..def2b6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/0_common/readme
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+These are tests that are run everytime a new machine instance comes up;
+these tests are run before any package specific or role specific test is run;
+these tests should :
+- not leave behind any state or content residue that might impact the package/role tests that come after
+
diff --git a/tests/0_lib/readme b/tests/0_lib/readme
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94657a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/0_lib/readme
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Put everything that is shared across all tests here.
+Every file in this directory will get 'sourced' before tests are run
+( which also means we can only ever really use Bash for stuff in here )
+
+this readme file is ignored
diff --git a/tests/r_lamp/40_basic_lamp.sh b/tests/r_lamp/40_basic_lamp.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8f8d68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/r_lamp/40_basic_lamp.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# purpose : install a minimal lamp stack, and test it
+
+# Installing required bits
+
+yum install -y httpd mysql mysql-server php php-mysql wget > /dev/null 2>&1
+service mysqld start
+service httpd start
+
+# Initializing a small MySQL db
+cat >>/tmp/mysql-QA.sql <<EOF
+create database qatests;
+use qatests;
+create table tests (name varchar(20)) ;
+grant all on qatests.* to 'centos'@'localhost' identified by 'qa';
+flush privileges;
+EOF
+
+mysql </tmp/mysql-QA.sql
+/bin/rm /tmp/mysql-QA.sql
+
+# Creating a simple php query page to insert Data in the MySQL DB
+
+cat >>/var/www/html/mysql.php <<EOF
+<?php
+\$dbconnect = mysql_connect("localhost","centos","qa");
+if (!\$dbconnect)
+  {
+  die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
+  }
+
+mysql_select_db("qatests", \$dbconnect);
+
+mysql_query("INSERT INTO tests (name)
+VALUES ('mysqltest')");
+
+
+mysql_close(\$dbconnect);
+?> 
+EOF
+
+
+
+
+####################################################
+# testing
+####################################################
+
+wget http://localhost/mysql.php
+
+echo "Basic LAMP test ..."
+content=`echo "select * from qatests.tests where name='mysqltest'"|mysql -B --skip-column-names`
+if [ "$content" = "mysqltest" ] ; then
+	echo PASS;
+	exit 0;
+else
+	echo Fail;
+	exit 1;
+fi
diff --git a/tests/r_lamp/package_deps b/tests/r_lamp/package_deps
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9c2aed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/r_lamp/package_deps
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# list of package names that this role def depends on
+# the tests here will only be triggered if one of these packages is built
+php
+mysql
+httpd