diff --git a/lib/bmc_ssh_utils.py b/lib/bmc_ssh_utils.py
index 94ccf3d..5db5cbd 100755
--- a/lib/bmc_ssh_utils.py
+++ b/lib/bmc_ssh_utils.py
@@ -136,3 +136,70 @@
                                    quiet, test_mode)
 
 ###############################################################################
+
+
+###############################################################################
+def xcat_execute_command(cmd_buf,
+                         print_out=0,
+                         print_err=0,
+                         ignore_err=0,
+                         fork=0,
+                         quiet=None,
+                         test_mode=None):
+
+    r"""
+    Run the given command in an XCAT SSH session and return the stdout, stderr
+    and the return code.
+
+    This function will obtain the global values for XCAT_HOST, XCAT_USERNAME,
+    etc.
+
+    Description of arguments:
+    cmd_buf                         The command string to be run in an SSH
+                                    session.
+    print_out                       If this is set, this function will print
+                                    the stdout/stderr generated by the shell
+                                    command.
+    print_err                       If show_err is set, this function will
+                                    print a standardized error report if the
+                                    shell command returns non-zero.
+    ignore_err                      Indicates that errors encountered on the
+                                    sshlib.execute_command are to be ignored.
+    fork                            Indicates that sshlib.start is to be used
+                                    rather than sshlib.execute_command.
+    quiet                           Indicates whether this function should run
+                                    the pissuing() function prints an
+                                    "Issuing: <cmd string>" to stdout.  This
+                                    defaults to the global quiet value.
+    test_mode                       If test_mode is set, this function will
+                                    not actually run the command.  This
+                                    defaults to the global test_mode value.
+    """
+
+    # Get global XCAT variable values.
+    xcat_host = BuiltIn().get_variable_value("${XCAT_HOST}", default="")
+    xcat_username = BuiltIn().get_variable_value("${XCAT_USERNAME}",
+                                                 default="")
+    xcat_password = BuiltIn().get_variable_value("${XCAT_PASSWORD}",
+                                                 default="")
+    xcat_port = BuiltIn().get_variable_value("${XCAT_PORT}",
+                                             default="22")
+
+    if not gv.valid_value(xcat_host):
+        return "", "", 1
+    if not gv.valid_value(xcat_username):
+        return "", "", 1
+    if not gv.valid_value(xcat_password):
+        return "", "", 1
+    if not gv.valid_value(xcat_port):
+        return "", "", 1
+
+    open_connection_args = {'host': xcat_host, 'alias': 'xcat_connection',
+                            'port': xcat_port}
+    login_args = {'username': xcat_username, 'password': xcat_password}
+
+    return grs.execute_ssh_command(cmd_buf, open_connection_args, login_args,
+                                   print_out, print_err, ignore_err, fork,
+                                   quiet, test_mode)
+
+###############################################################################