diff --git a/nova/baserpc.py b/nova/baserpc.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..803a1b614
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nova/baserpc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2013 Red Hat, 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.
+#
+
+"""
+Base RPC client and server common to all services.
+"""
+
+from nova.openstack.common import jsonutils
+import nova.openstack.common.rpc.proxy as rpc_proxy
+
+
+_NAMESPACE = 'baseapi'
+
+
+class BaseAPI(rpc_proxy.RpcProxy):
+    """Client side of the base rpc API.
+
+    API version history:
+
+        1.0 - Initial version.
+    """
+
+    #
+    # NOTE(russellb): This is the default minimum version that the server
+    # (manager) side must implement unless otherwise specified using a version
+    # argument to self.call()/cast()/etc. here.  It should be left as X.0 where
+    # X is the current major API version (1.0, 2.0, ...).  For more information
+    # about rpc API versioning, see the docs in
+    # openstack/common/rpc/dispatcher.py.
+    #
+    BASE_RPC_API_VERSION = '1.0'
+
+    def __init__(self, topic):
+        super(BaseAPI, self).__init__(topic=topic,
+                default_version=self.BASE_RPC_API_VERSION)
+        self.namespace = _NAMESPACE
+
+    def ping(self, context, arg, timeout=None):
+        arg_p = jsonutils.to_primitive(arg)
+        msg = self.make_namespaced_msg('ping', self.namespace, arg=arg_p)
+        return self.call(context, msg, timeout=timeout)
+
+
+class BaseRPCAPI(object):
+    """Server side of the base RPC API."""
+
+    RPC_API_NAMESPACE = _NAMESPACE
+    RPC_API_VERSION = '1.0'
+
+    def __init__(self, service_name):
+        self.service_name = service_name
+
+    def ping(self, context, arg):
+        resp = {'service': self.service_name, 'arg': arg}
+        return jsonutils.to_primitive(resp)
diff --git a/nova/manager.py b/nova/manager.py
index d6a62c509..f2a0636d1 100644
--- a/nova/manager.py
+++ b/nova/manager.py
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ import datetime
 import eventlet
 from oslo.config import cfg
 
+from nova import baserpc
 from nova.db import base
 from nova import exception
 from nova.openstack.common import log as logging
@@ -195,12 +196,13 @@ class Manager(base.Base):
     # Set RPC API version to 1.0 by default.
     RPC_API_VERSION = '1.0'
 
-    def __init__(self, host=None, db_driver=None):
+    def __init__(self, host=None, db_driver=None, service_name='undefined'):
         if not host:
             host = CONF.host
         self.host = host
         self.load_plugins()
         self.backdoor_port = None
+        self.service_name = service_name
         super(Manager, self).__init__(db_driver)
 
     def load_plugins(self):
@@ -213,7 +215,8 @@ class Manager(base.Base):
         If a manager would like to set an rpc API version, or support more than
         one class as the target of rpc messages, override this method.
         '''
-        return rpc_dispatcher.RpcDispatcher([self])
+        base_rpc = baserpc.BaseRPCAPI(self.service_name)
+        return rpc_dispatcher.RpcDispatcher([self, base_rpc])
 
     def periodic_tasks(self, context, raise_on_error=False):
         """Tasks to be run at a periodic interval."""
@@ -292,7 +295,8 @@ class SchedulerDependentManager(Manager):
         self.last_capabilities = None
         self.service_name = service_name
         self.scheduler_rpcapi = scheduler_rpcapi.SchedulerAPI()
-        super(SchedulerDependentManager, self).__init__(host, db_driver)
+        super(SchedulerDependentManager, self).__init__(host, db_driver,
+                service_name)
 
     def load_plugins(self):
         pluginmgr = pluginmanager.PluginManager('nova', self.service_name)
diff --git a/nova/scheduler/manager.py b/nova/scheduler/manager.py
index c6e1ed390..94438a2cd 100644
--- a/nova/scheduler/manager.py
+++ b/nova/scheduler/manager.py
@@ -63,7 +63,8 @@ class SchedulerManager(manager.Manager):
         if not scheduler_driver:
             scheduler_driver = CONF.scheduler_driver
         self.driver = importutils.import_object(scheduler_driver)
-        super(SchedulerManager, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        super(SchedulerManager, self).__init__(service_name='scheduler',
+                                               *args, **kwargs)
 
     def post_start_hook(self):
         """After we start up and can receive messages via RPC, tell all