diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/functional/__init__.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/functional/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/functional/base.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/functional/base.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7e2f5990f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ironic_python_agent/tests/functional/base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# Copyright 2015 Rackspace, Inc.
+#
+# 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.
+
+import logging
+import multiprocessing
+import os
+import time
+
+from oslotest import base as test_base
+import requests
+
+from ironic_python_agent import agent
+
+
+class FunctionalBase(test_base.BaseTestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        """Start the agent and wait for it to start"""
+        super(FunctionalBase, self).setUp()
+        mpl = multiprocessing.log_to_stderr()
+        mpl.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+        test_port = os.environ.get('TEST_PORT', '9999')
+        # Build a basic standalone agent using the config option defaults.
+        # 127.0.0.1:6835 is the fake Ironic client.
+        self.agent = agent.IronicPythonAgent(
+            'http://127.0.0.1:6835', 'localhost', ('0.0.0.0',
+            int(test_port)), 3, 10, None, 300, 1,
+            'agent_ipmitool', True)
+        self.process = multiprocessing.Process(
+            target=self.agent.run)
+        self.process.start()
+
+        # Wait for process to start, otherwise we have a race for tests
+        tries = 0
+        max_tries = os.environ.get('IPA_WAIT_TIME', '2')
+        while tries < int(max_tries):
+            try:
+                return requests.get('http://localhost:%s/v1/commands' %
+                        test_port)
+            except requests.ConnectionError:
+                time.sleep(.1)
+                tries += 1
+
+        raise IOError('Agent did not start after %s seconds.' % max_tries)
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        super(FunctionalBase, self).tearDown()
+        self.process.terminate()
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/functional/test_commands.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/functional/test_commands.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..797485bdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ironic_python_agent/tests/functional/test_commands.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Copyright 2015 Rackspace, Inc.
+#
+# 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.
+
+import os
+import requests
+
+from ironic_python_agent.tests.functional import base
+
+
+class TestCommands(base.FunctionalBase):
+    def test_empty_commands(self):
+        commands = requests.get('http://localhost:%s/v1/commands' %
+                os.environ.get('TEST_PORT', '9999'))
+        self.assertEqual(200, commands.status_code)
+        self.assertEqual({'commands': []}, commands.json())
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/__init__.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/agent.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_agent.py
similarity index 100%
rename from ironic_python_agent/tests/agent.py
rename to ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_agent.py
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/api.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_api.py
similarity index 100%
rename from ironic_python_agent/tests/api.py
rename to ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_api.py
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/backoff.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_backoff.py
similarity index 100%
rename from ironic_python_agent/tests/backoff.py
rename to ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_backoff.py
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/errors.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_errors.py
similarity index 100%
rename from ironic_python_agent/tests/errors.py
rename to ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_errors.py
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/hardware.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_hardware.py
similarity index 100%
rename from ironic_python_agent/tests/hardware.py
rename to ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_hardware.py
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/ironic_api_client.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_ironic_api_client.py
similarity index 100%
rename from ironic_python_agent/tests/ironic_api_client.py
rename to ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_ironic_api_client.py
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/multi_hardware.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_multi_hardware.py
similarity index 100%
rename from ironic_python_agent/tests/multi_hardware.py
rename to ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_multi_hardware.py
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/netutils.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_netutils.py
similarity index 100%
rename from ironic_python_agent/tests/netutils.py
rename to ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/test_netutils.py
diff --git a/ironic_python_agent/tests/utils.py b/ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/utils.py
similarity index 100%
rename from ironic_python_agent/tests/utils.py
rename to ironic_python_agent/tests/unit/utils.py
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 5928a3d42..70665912f 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@ envlist = py27,py34,pep8
 [testenv]
 usedevelop = True
 install_command = pip install --allow-external -U {opts} {packages}
-setenv = VIRTUAL_ENV={envdir}
+# Define virtualenv directory, port to use for functional testing, and number
+# of seconds to wait for the agent to come alive during functional testing.
+setenv =
+    VIRTUAL_ENV={envdir}
+    TEST_PORT=9999
+    IPA_WAIT_TIME=2
 deps = -r{toxinidir}/requirements.txt
        -r{toxinidir}/test-requirements.txt
 commands =