diff --git a/definitions/pacemaker_vip_primitive.rb b/definitions/pacemaker_vip_primitive.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89565b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/definitions/pacemaker_vip_primitive.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+define :pacemaker_vip_primitive, :cb_network => nil, :hostname => nil, :domain => nil, :op => nil do
+  net_db = data_bag_item('crowbar', "#{params[:cb_network]}_network")
+  ip_addr = net_db["allocated_by_name"]["#{params[:hostname]}.#{params[:domain]}"]["address"]
+
+  primitive_name = "#{params[:hostname]}-vip-#{params[:cb_network]}"
+
+  pacemaker_primitive primitive_name do
+    agent "ocf:heartbeat:IPaddr2"
+    params ({
+      "ip" => ip_addr,
+    })
+    op params[:op]
+    action :create
+  end
+
+  # we return the primitive name so that the caller can use it as part of a
+  # pacemaker group if desired
+  primitive_name
+end