diff --git a/stress/config.py b/stress/config.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..3f107af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stress/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# Copyright 2011 Quanta Research Cambridge, 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.
+
+import ConfigParser
+
+
+class StressConfig(object):
+    """Provides configuration information for whitebox stress tests."""
+
+    def __init__(self, conf):
+        self.conf = conf
+
+    def get(self, item_name, default_value=None):
+        try:
+            return self.conf.get("stress", item_name)
+        except (ConfigParser.NoSectionError, ConfigParser.NoOptionError):
+            return default_value
+
+    @property
+    def host_private_key_path(self):
+        """Path to ssh key for logging into compute nodes."""
+        return self.get("host_private_key_path", None)
+
+    @property
+    def host_admin_user(self):
+        """Username for logging into compute nodes."""
+        return self.get("host_admin_user", None)
+
+    @property
+    def nova_logdir(self):
+        """Directory containing log files on the compute nodes"""
+        return self.get("nova_logdir", None)