diff --git a/tools/ironic/scripts/configure-vm b/tools/ironic/scripts/configure-vm
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..9936b76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ironic/scripts/configure-vm
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+import argparse
+import os.path
+
+import libvirt
+
+templatedir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)),
+                           'templates')
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description="Configure a kvm virtual machine for the seed image.")
+    parser.add_argument('--name', default='seed',
+                        help='the name to give the machine in libvirt.')
+    parser.add_argument('--image',
+                        help='Use a custom image file (must be qcow2).')
+    parser.add_argument('--engine', default='qemu',
+                        help='The virtualization engine to use')
+    parser.add_argument('--arch', default='i686',
+                        help='The architecture to use')
+    parser.add_argument('--memory', default='2097152',
+                        help="Maximum memory for the VM in KB.")
+    parser.add_argument('--cpus', default='1',
+                        help="CPU count for the VM.")
+    parser.add_argument('--bootdev', default='hd',
+                        help="What boot device to use (hd/network).")
+    parser.add_argument('--network', default="brbm",
+                        help='The libvirt network name to use')
+    parser.add_argument('--libvirt-nic-driver', default='e1000',
+                        help='The libvirt network driver to use')
+    parser.add_argument('--emulator', default=None,
+                        help='Path to emulator bin for vm template')
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    with file(templatedir + '/vm.xml', 'rb') as f:
+        source_template = f.read()
+    params = {
+        'name': args.name,
+        'imagefile': args.image,
+        'engine': args.engine,
+        'arch': args.arch,
+        'memory': args.memory,
+        'cpus': args.cpus,
+        'bootdev': args.bootdev,
+        'network': args.network,
+        'emulator': args.emulator,
+    }
+
+    if args.emulator:
+        params['emulator'] = args.emulator
+    else:
+        if os.path.exists("/usr/bin/kvm"):  # Debian
+            params['emulator'] = "/usr/bin/kvm"
+        elif os.path.exists("/usr/bin/qemu-kvm"):  # Redhat
+            params['emulator'] = "/usr/bin/qemu-kvm"
+
+    nicparams = {
+        'nicdriver': args.libvirt_nic_driver,
+        'network': args.network,
+    }
+
+    params['bm_network'] = """
+<!-- neutron friendly 'bare metal' network -->
+<interface type='network'>
+  <source network='%(network)s'/>
+  <virtualport type='openvswitch'/>
+  <model type='%(nicdriver)s'/>
+  <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x04' function='0x0'/>
+</interface>""" % nicparams
+
+    libvirt_template = source_template % params
+    conn = libvirt.open("qemu:///system")
+    a = conn.defineXML(libvirt_template)
+    print ("Created machine %s with UUID %s" % (args.name, a.UUIDString()))
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()