diff --git a/doc/source/users/index.rst b/doc/source/users/index.rst
index 5ea3649ae..363dabab9 100644
--- a/doc/source/users/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/users/index.rst
@@ -96,3 +96,4 @@ can be customized.
    identity_v3
    resource
    service_filter
+   utils
diff --git a/doc/source/users/utils.rst b/doc/source/users/utils.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f69638e30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/source/users/utils.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+Utilities
+=========
+.. automodule:: openstack.utils
+   :members: enable_logging
diff --git a/examples/common.py b/examples/common.py
index c3b5a88b4..68bcdceda 100755
--- a/examples/common.py
+++ b/examples/common.py
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ import traceback
 import uuid
 
 from openstack import user_preference
+from openstack import utils
 
-CONSOLE_MESSAGE_FORMAT = '%(levelname)s: %(name)s %(message)s'
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -318,31 +318,9 @@ def option_parser():
     return parser
 
 
-def configure_logging(opts):
-    """Typical app logging setup
-
-    Based on OSC/cliff
-
-    """
-
-    root_logger = logging.getLogger('')
-
-    # Always send higher-level messages to the console via stderr
-    console = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stderr)
-    formatter = logging.Formatter(CONSOLE_MESSAGE_FORMAT)
-    console.setFormatter(formatter)
-    root_logger.addHandler(console)
-
-    if opts.debug:
-        root_logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
-    else:
-        root_logger.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
-    return
-
-
 def setup():
     opts = option_parser().parse_args()
-    configure_logging(opts)
+    utils.enable_logging(opts.debug)
     return opts
 
 
diff --git a/openstack/tests/test_utils.py b/openstack/tests/test_utils.py
index 4031d9c8e..59e4e0868 100644
--- a/openstack/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/openstack/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -12,9 +12,50 @@
 
 import unittest
 
+import mock
+
 from openstack import utils
 
 
+class Test_enable_logging(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def _console_tests(self, fake_logging, level, debug):
+        the_logger = mock.MagicMock()
+        fake_logging.getLogger.return_value = the_logger
+
+        utils.enable_logging(debug=debug)
+
+        self.assertEqual(the_logger.addHandler.call_count, 1)
+        the_logger.setLevel.assert_called_with(level)
+
+    def _file_tests(self, fake_logging, level, debug):
+        the_logger = mock.MagicMock()
+        fake_logging.getLogger.return_value = the_logger
+        fake_path = "fake/path.log"
+
+        utils.enable_logging(debug=debug, path=fake_path)
+
+        fake_logging.FileHandler.assert_called_with(fake_path)
+        self.assertEqual(the_logger.addHandler.call_count, 2)
+        the_logger.setLevel.assert_called_with(level)
+
+    @mock.patch("openstack.utils.logging")
+    def test_debug_console(self, fake_logging):
+        self._console_tests(fake_logging, fake_logging.DEBUG, True)
+
+    @mock.patch("openstack.utils.logging")
+    def test_warning_console(self, fake_logging):
+        self._console_tests(fake_logging, fake_logging.WARNING, False)
+
+    @mock.patch("openstack.utils.logging")
+    def test_debug_file(self, fake_logging):
+        self._file_tests(fake_logging, fake_logging.DEBUG, True)
+
+    @mock.patch("openstack.utils.logging")
+    def test_warning_file(self, fake_logging):
+        self._file_tests(fake_logging, fake_logging.WARNING, False)
+
+
 class Test_urljoin(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_strings(self):
diff --git a/openstack/utils.py b/openstack/utils.py
index ae7342e0b..367a53985 100644
--- a/openstack/utils.py
+++ b/openstack/utils.py
@@ -10,6 +10,44 @@
 # License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 # under the License.
 
+import logging
+import sys
+
+
+def enable_logging(debug=False, path=None):
+    """Enable logging of messages to sys.stderr
+
+    This function is available for debugging purposes. If you wish to
+    log this package's message in your application, the standard library
+    ``logging`` package will receive these messages in any handlers you
+    create.
+
+    :param bool debug: Set this to ``True`` to receive debug messages,
+                       which includes HTTP requests and responses,
+                       or ``False`` for warning messages.
+    :param str path: If a *path* is specified, logging output will
+                     written to that file in addition to sys.stderr.
+                     The path is passed to logging.FileHandler,
+                     which will append messages the file (and create
+                     it if needed). *Default: None*
+
+    :rtype: None
+    """
+    root_logger = logging.getLogger('')
+    formatter = logging.Formatter(
+        '%(asctime)s %(levelname)s: %(name)s %(message)s')
+
+    console = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stderr)
+    console.setFormatter(formatter)
+    root_logger.addHandler(console)
+
+    if path is not None:
+        file_handler = logging.FileHandler(path)
+        file_handler.setFormatter(formatter)
+        root_logger.addHandler(file_handler)
+
+    root_logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG if debug else logging.WARNING)
+
 
 def urljoin(*args):
     """A custom version of urljoin that simply joins strings into a path.