diff --git a/pytools/obmcutil b/pytools/obmcutil
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0aa40a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pytools/obmcutil
@@ -0,0 +1,323 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python
+
+import sys
+import dbus
+import argparse
+
+from dbus.mainloop.glib import DBusGMainLoop
+import gobject
+import json
+import os
+import signal
+import time
+from glob import glob
+from os.path import join
+from subprocess import Popen
+
+import obmc_system_config
+
+descriptors = {
+    'power': {
+        'bus_name': 'org.openbmc.control.Power',
+        'object_name': '/org/openbmc/control/power0',
+        'interface_name': 'org.openbmc.control.Power'
+    },
+    'chassison': {
+        'bus_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Chassis',
+        'object_name': '/xyz/openbmc_project/state/chassis0',
+        'interface_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Chassis',
+        'property': 'RequestedPowerTransition',
+        'value': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Chassis.Transition.On',
+        'monitor': 'obmc-chassis-poweron@0.target',
+    },
+    'chassisoff': {
+        'bus_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Chassis',
+        'object_name': '/xyz/openbmc_project/state/chassis0',
+        'interface_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Chassis',
+        'property': 'RequestedPowerTransition',
+        'value': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Chassis.Transition.Off',
+        'monitor': 'obmc-chassis-hard-poweroff@0.target',
+    },
+    'poweron': {
+        'bus_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Host',
+        'object_name': '/xyz/openbmc_project/state/host0',
+        'interface_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Host',
+        'property': 'RequestedHostTransition',
+        'value': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Host.Transition.On',
+        'monitor': 'obmc-host-start@0.target',
+    },
+    'poweroff': {
+        'bus_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Host',
+        'object_name': '/xyz/openbmc_project/state/host0',
+        'interface_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Host',
+        'property': 'RequestedHostTransition',
+        'value': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Host.Transition.Off',
+        'monitor': 'obmc-host-stop@0.target',
+    },
+    'bmcstate': {
+        'bus_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.BMC',
+        'object_name': '/xyz/openbmc_project/state/bmc0',
+        'interface_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.BMC',
+        'property': 'CurrentBMCState',
+    },
+    'chassisstate': {
+        'bus_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Chassis',
+        'object_name': '/xyz/openbmc_project/state/chassis0',
+        'interface_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Chassis',
+        'property': 'CurrentPowerState',
+    },
+    'hoststate': {
+        'bus_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Host',
+        'object_name': '/xyz/openbmc_project/state/host0',
+        'interface_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Host',
+        'property': 'CurrentHostState',
+    },
+    'bootprogress': {
+        'bus_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Host',
+        'object_name': '/xyz/openbmc_project/state/host0',
+        'interface_name': 'xyz.openbmc_project.State.Boot.Progress',
+        'property': 'BootProgress',
+    },
+    'state' : ['bmcstate', 'chassisstate', 'hoststate'],
+    'status' : ['bmcstate', 'chassisstate', 'hoststate'],
+}
+
+GPIO_DEFS_FILE = '/etc/default/obmc/gpio/gpio_defs.json'
+
+
+def find_gpio_base(path="/sys/class/gpio/"):
+    pattern = "gpiochip*"
+    for gc in glob(join(path, pattern)):
+        with open(join(gc, "label")) as f:
+            label = f.readline().strip()
+        if label == "1e780000.gpio":
+            with open(join(gc, "base")) as f:
+                return int(f.readline().strip())
+    # trigger a file not found exception
+    open(join(path, "gpiochip"))
+
+
+GPIO_BASE = find_gpio_base()
+
+
+def convertGpio(name):
+    offset = int(''.join(list(filter(str.isdigit, name))))
+    port = list(filter(str.isalpha, name.upper()))
+    a = ord(port[-1]) - ord('A')
+    if len(port) > 1:
+        a += 26
+    base = a * 8 + GPIO_BASE
+    return base + offset
+
+
+def run_set_property(dbus_bus, dbus_iface, descriptor, args):
+    mainloop = gobject.MainLoop()
+
+    iface = descriptor['interface_name']
+    prop = descriptor['property']
+
+    if 'monitor' not in descriptor:
+        dbus_iface.Set(iface, prop, descriptor['value'])
+        return True
+
+    def property_listener(job, path, unit, state):
+        if descriptor['monitor'] != unit:
+            return
+
+        property_listener.success = (state == 'done')
+        mainloop.quit()
+
+    property_listener.success = True
+
+    if args.wait and args.verbose:
+        pid = Popen(["/bin/journalctl", "-f", "--no-pager"]).pid
+
+    if args.wait:
+        sig_match = dbus_bus.add_signal_receiver(property_listener, "JobRemoved")
+
+    dbus_iface.Set(iface, prop, descriptor['value'])
+
+    if args.wait:
+        mainloop.run()
+        sig_match.remove()
+
+    if args.wait and args.verbose:
+        # wait some time for the journal output
+        time.sleep(args.wait_tune)
+        os.kill(pid, signal.SIGTERM)
+
+    return property_listener.success
+
+def get_dbus_obj(dbus_bus, bus, obj, args):
+    if not args.wait:
+        return dbus_bus.get_object(bus, obj)
+
+    mainloop = gobject.MainLoop()
+
+    def property_listener(job, path, unit, state):
+        if 'obmc-standby.target' == unit:
+            mainloop.quit()
+
+    sig_match = dbus_bus.add_signal_receiver(property_listener, "JobRemoved")
+    try:
+        return dbus_bus.get_object(bus, obj)
+    except dbus.exceptions.DBusException as e:
+        if args.verbose:
+            pid = Popen(["/bin/journalctl", "-f", "--no-pager"]).pid
+
+        mainloop.run()
+
+        if args.verbose:
+            os.kill(pid, signal.SIGTERM)
+    finally:
+        sig_match.remove()
+
+    return dbus_bus.get_object(bus, obj)
+
+def run_one_command(dbus_bus, descriptor, args):
+    bus = descriptor['bus_name']
+    obj = descriptor['object_name']
+    iface = descriptor['interface_name']
+    dbus_obj = get_dbus_obj(dbus_bus, bus, obj, args)
+    result = None
+
+    if 'property' in descriptor:
+        dbus_iface = dbus.Interface(dbus_obj, "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties")
+        if 'value' in descriptor:
+            result = run_set_property(dbus_bus, dbus_iface, descriptor, args)
+        else:
+            prop = descriptor['property']
+            dbus_prop = dbus_iface.Get(iface, prop)
+            print '{:<20}: {}'.format(prop, str(dbus_prop))
+            result = True
+    else:
+        dbus_iface = dbus.Interface(dbus_obj, "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties")
+        props = dbus_iface.GetAll(iface)
+        for p in props:
+            print "{} = {}".format(p, str(props[p]))
+        result = True
+
+    return result
+
+def run_all_commands(dbus_bus, recipe, args):
+    if isinstance(recipe, dict):
+        return run_one_command(dbus_bus, recipe, args)
+
+    assert isinstance(recipe, list)
+    for command in recipe:
+        descriptor = descriptors[command]
+        if not run_one_command(dbus_bus, descriptor, args):
+            print "Failed to execute command: {}".format(descriptor)
+            return False
+
+    return True
+
+def gpio_set_value(gpio_name, active_low, asserted):
+    gpio_id = convertGpio(gpio_name)
+    gpio_value_path = "/sys/class/gpio/gpio{}/value".format(gpio_id)
+
+    with open(gpio_value_path, 'w') as gpio:
+        # Inversion behaviour needs to change with the resolution of
+        # https://github.com/openbmc/openbmc/issues/2489, where properly
+        # configuring the kernel will allow it to handle the inversion for us.
+        gpio.write(str(int(asserted ^ active_low)))
+
+    return True
+
+def gpio_deassert(gpio_name, active_low, args):
+    # Deal with silly python2 exception handling as outlined in main
+    if args.verbose:
+        return gpio_set_value(gpio_name, active_low, False)
+
+    try:
+        return gpio_set_value(gpio_name, active_low, False)
+    except IOError as e:
+        print >> sys.stderr, "Failed to access GPIO {}: {}".format(gpio_name, e.message)
+        return False
+
+def run_chassiskill(args):
+    # We shouldn't be able to invoke run_chassiskill() unless it's been
+    # explicitly added as a valid command to argparse in main()
+    assert can_chassiskill()
+
+    data = {}
+    with open(GPIO_DEFS_FILE, 'r') as json_input:
+        data = json.load(json_input)
+
+    gpios = data['gpio_configs']['power_config']['power_up_outs']
+    defs = data['gpio_definitions']
+
+    for gpio in gpios:
+
+        definition = filter(lambda g: g['name'] == gpio['name'], defs)
+        if len(definition) == 0:
+            print >> sys.stderr, "Missing definition for GPIO {}".format(gpio['name'])
+            continue
+
+        pin = str(definition[0]['pin'])
+        active_low = not gpio['polarity']
+
+        if not gpio_deassert(pin, active_low, args):
+            return False
+
+    return True
+
+def can_chassiskill():
+
+    try:
+        with open(GPIO_DEFS_FILE, 'r') as json_input:
+            data = json.load(json_input)
+            gpios = data['gpio_configs']['power_config']['power_up_outs']
+            return len(gpios) > 0
+    except:
+        pass
+
+    return False
+
+def main():
+    dbus.mainloop.glib.DBusGMainLoop(set_as_default=True)
+
+    # Conditionally add the `chassiskill` command based on whether the
+    # required GPIO configuration is present in the system description.
+    if can_chassiskill():
+        descriptors['chassiskill'] = None
+
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument('--verbose', '-v', action='store_true',
+            help="Verbose output")
+    parser.add_argument('--wait', '-w', action='store_true',
+            help='Block until the state transition succeeds or fails')
+    parser.add_argument('--wait-tune', '-t', nargs='?', default=8, type=float,
+            # help='Seconds to wait for journal output to complete after receiving DBus signal',
+            help=argparse.SUPPRESS)
+    parser.add_argument('recipe', choices=sorted(descriptors.keys()))
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    # This is a special case: directly pull the power, don't do any D-Bus
+    # related stuff
+    if args.recipe == "chassiskill":
+        return run_chassiskill(args)
+
+    dbus_bus = dbus.SystemBus()
+
+    # The only way to get a sensible backtrace with python 2 without stupid
+    # hoops is to let the uncaught exception handler do the work for you.
+    # Catching and binding an exception appears to overwrite the stack trace at
+    # the point of bind.
+    #
+    # So, if we're in verbose mode, don't try to catch the DBus exception. That
+    # way we can understand where it originated.
+    if args.verbose:
+        return run_all_commands(dbus_bus, descriptors[args.recipe], args)
+
+    # Otherwise, we don't care about the traceback. Just catch it and print the
+    # error message.
+    try:
+        return run_all_commands(dbus_bus, descriptors[args.recipe], args)
+    except dbus.exceptions.DBusException as e:
+        print >> sys.stderr, "DBus error occurred: {}".format(e.get_dbus_message())
+    finally:
+        dbus_bus.close()
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(0 if main() else 1)