diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 43d0c5fc4..b7c00a9f1 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ If the cloud being used has no default_floating_pool defined in nova.conf,
 you will need to define a pool name using the nodepool yaml file to use
 floating ips.
 
+
 Set up database for interactive testing:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
@@ -60,6 +61,9 @@ Set up database for unit tests:
     mysql> flush privileges;
     mysql> create database openstack_citest;
 
+Note that the script tools/test-setup.sh can be used for the step
+above.
+
 Export variable for your ssh key so you can log into the created instances:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
diff --git a/tools/test-setup.sh b/tools/test-setup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..f4a045869
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test-setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+#!/bin/bash -xe
+
+# This script will be run by OpenStack CI before unit tests are run,
+# it sets up the test system as needed.
+# Developers should setup their test systems in a similar way.
+
+# This setup needs to be run as a user that can run sudo.
+
+# The root password for the MySQL database; pass it in via
+# MYSQL_ROOT_PW.
+DB_ROOT_PW=${MYSQL_ROOT_PW:-insecure_slave}
+
+# This user and its password are used by the tests, if you change it,
+# your tests might fail.
+DB_USER=openstack_citest
+DB_PW=openstack_citest
+
+sudo -H mysqladmin -u root password $DB_ROOT_PW
+
+# It's best practice to remove anonymous users from the database.  If
+# a anonymous user exists, then it matches first for connections and
+# other connections from that host will not work.
+sudo -H mysql -u root -p$DB_ROOT_PW -h localhost -e "
+    DELETE FROM mysql.user WHERE User='';
+    FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
+    GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.*
+        TO '$DB_USER'@'%' identified by '$DB_PW' WITH GRANT OPTION;"
+
+# Now create our database.
+mysql -u $DB_USER -p$DB_PW -h 127.0.0.1 -e "
+    SET default_storage_engine=MYISAM;
+    DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS openstack_citest;
+    CREATE DATABASE openstack_citest CHARACTER SET utf8;"