diff --git a/contrib/start_testsite.sh b/contrib/start_testsite.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..014eba9575
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/start_testsite.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2019 The Android Open Source Project
+#
+# 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.
+
+# This script starts the local testsite in debug mode. If the flag "-u" is
+# passed, Gerrit is built from the current state of the repository and the
+# testsite is refreshed. The path to the testsite needs to be provided by
+# the variable GERRIT_TESTSITE or as parameter (after any used flags).
+# The testsite can be stopped by interrupting this script.
+
+SCRIPT_DIR=$(dirname -- "$(readlink -f -- "$BASH_SOURCE")")
+GERRIT_CODE_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/.."
+cd "$GERRIT_CODE_DIR"
+
+UPDATE=false
+while getopts ':u' flag; do
+  case "${flag}" in
+    u) UPDATE=true ;;
+  esac
+done
+shift $(($OPTIND-1))
+
+if [ "$#" -lt 1 ]
+then
+  if [ -z ${GERRIT_TESTSITE+x} ]
+  then
+    echo "Path to local testsite is neither set as GERRIT_TESTSITE nor passed as first argument. Stopping."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+else
+  GERRIT_TESTSITE="$1"
+fi
+
+if [ "$UPDATE" = true ]
+then
+  echo "Refreshing testsite"
+  bazel build gerrit
+  if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+  then
+    echo "Build failed. Stopping."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  $(bazel info output_base)/external/local_jdk/bin/java -jar bazel-bin/gerrit.war init --batch -d "$GERRIT_TESTSITE"
+  if [ $? -ne 0 ]
+  then
+    echo "Patching the testsite failed. Stopping."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
+$(bazel info output_base)/external/local_jdk/bin/java -jar -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=n,address=5005 bazel-bin/gerrit.war daemon -d "$GERRIT_TESTSITE" --console-log