diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/pom.xml b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/pom.xml
index 8b59870..1a94210 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/pom.xml
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/pom.xml
@@ -185,5 +185,9 @@
       <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
       <artifactId>log4j-api</artifactId>
     </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
+      <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
+    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/NCServiceIT.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/NCServiceIT.java
index 4983ba1..544d414 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/NCServiceIT.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/NCServiceIT.java
@@ -19,16 +19,24 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.test.server;
 
 import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
 import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 
+import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
 import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
 import org.apache.http.HttpStatus;
 import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient;
 import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet;
 import org.apache.http.impl.client.HttpClients;
 import org.apache.http.util.EntityUtils;
+import org.apache.hyracks.test.server.process.HyracksCCProcess;
+import org.apache.hyracks.test.server.process.HyracksNCServiceProcess;
 import org.apache.hyracks.test.server.process.HyracksVirtualCluster;
 import org.apache.hyracks.util.file.FileUtil;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
@@ -55,8 +63,13 @@
     @BeforeClass
     public static void setUp() throws Exception {
         cluster = new HyracksVirtualCluster(new File(APP_HOME), null);
-        cluster.addNCService(new File(RESOURCE_DIR, "nc-red.conf"), new File(LOG_DIR, "nc-red.log"));
-        cluster.addNCService(new File(RESOURCE_DIR, "nc-blue.conf"), new File(LOG_DIR, "nc-blue.log"));
+        File tempConf = new File(TARGET_DIR, "cc.conf");
+        FileUtils.copyFile(new File(RESOURCE_DIR, "cc.conf"), tempConf);
+        Files.write(tempConf.toPath(), ("log.dir: " + LOG_DIR).getBytes(), StandardOpenOption.APPEND);
+        File log4jPath = new File(FileUtil.joinPath("..", "..", "src", "test", "resources", "log4j2-hyracks-test.xml"));
+
+        cluster.addNCService(new File(RESOURCE_DIR, "nc-red.conf"), new File(LOG_DIR, "nc-red.log"), log4jPath);
+        cluster.addNCService(new File(RESOURCE_DIR, "nc-blue.conf"), new File(LOG_DIR, "nc-blue.log"), log4jPath);
 
         try {
             Thread.sleep(2000);
@@ -64,7 +77,7 @@
         }
 
         // Start CC
-        cluster.start(new File(RESOURCE_DIR, "cc.conf"), new File(LOG_DIR, "cc.log"));
+        cluster.start(tempConf, new File(LOG_DIR, "cc.log"), log4jPath);
 
         try {
             Thread.sleep(10000);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java
index b39def5..2ac6f2b 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@
         this.workingDir = workingDir;
     }
 
+    public HyracksCCProcess(File configFile, File logFile, File appHome, File workingDir, File log4jPath) {
+        this(configFile, logFile, appHome, workingDir);
+        args.add("-Dlog4j.configurationFile=file://" + log4jPath.getAbsolutePath());
+    }
+
     @Override
     protected String getMainClassName() {
         return CCDriver.class.getName();
@@ -41,7 +46,8 @@
     @SuppressWarnings("squid:CommentedOutCodeLine")
     protected void addJvmArgs(List<String> cList) {
         // CC needs more than default memory
-        cList.add("-Xmx1024m");
+        args.add("-Xmx1024m");
+        cList.addAll(args);
         // cList.add("-agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=y,address=5005");
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksNCServiceProcess.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksNCServiceProcess.java
index 67fea0f..d0e0244 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksNCServiceProcess.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksNCServiceProcess.java
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@
         this.workingDir = workingDir;
     }
 
+    public HyracksNCServiceProcess(File configFile, File logFile, File appHome, File workingDir, File log4jPath) {
+        this(configFile, logFile, appHome, workingDir);
+        args.add("-Dlog4j.configurationFile=file://" + log4jPath.getAbsolutePath());
+    }
+
     @Override
     protected String getMainClassName() {
         return NCService.class.getName();
@@ -40,6 +45,8 @@
     @Override
     protected void addJvmArgs(List<String> cList) {
         // NCService needs little memory
-        cList.add("-Xmx128m");
+        args.add("-Xmx128m");
+        cList.addAll(args);
     }
+
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java
index d157c6f..a8c363b 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
     protected File logFile = null;
     protected File appHome = null;
     protected File workingDir = null;
+    protected List<String> args = new ArrayList<>();
 
     public void start() throws IOException {
         String[] cmd = buildCommand();
@@ -114,6 +115,10 @@
     protected void addCmdLineArgs(List<String> cList) {
     }
 
+    public void addArg(String arg) {
+        args.add(arg);
+    }
+
     protected abstract String getMainClassName();
 
     private final String getClasspath() {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksVirtualCluster.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksVirtualCluster.java
index fc7bf73..6c77628 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksVirtualCluster.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/server/process/HyracksVirtualCluster.java
@@ -35,11 +35,14 @@
 
     /**
      * Construct a Hyracks-based cluster.
-     * @param appHome - path to the installation root of the Hyracks application.
-     *                At least bin/hyracksnc (or the equivalent NC script for
-     *                the application) must exist in this directory.
-     * @param workingDir - directory to use as CWD for all child processes. May
-     *                be null, in which case the CWD of the invoking process is used.
+     *
+     * @param appHome
+     *            - path to the installation root of the Hyracks application.
+     *            At least bin/hyracksnc (or the equivalent NC script for
+     *            the application) must exist in this directory.
+     * @param workingDir
+     *            - directory to use as CWD for all child processes. May
+     *            be null, in which case the CWD of the invoking process is used.
      */
     public HyracksVirtualCluster(File appHome, File workingDir) {
         this.appHome = appHome;
@@ -48,8 +51,11 @@
 
     /**
      * Creates and starts an NCService.
-     * @param configFile - full path to an ncservice.conf. May be null to accept all defaults.
-     * @throws IOException - if there are errors starting the process.
+     *
+     * @param configFile
+     *            - full path to an ncservice.conf. May be null to accept all defaults.
+     * @throws IOException
+     *             - if there are errors starting the process.
      */
     public HyracksNCServiceProcess addNCService(File configFile, File logFile) throws IOException {
         HyracksNCServiceProcess proc = new HyracksNCServiceProcess(configFile, logFile, appHome, workingDir);
@@ -59,11 +65,30 @@
     }
 
     /**
+     * Creates and starts an NCService.
+     *
+     * @param configFile
+     *            - full path to an ncservice.conf. May be null to accept all defaults.
+     * @throws IOException
+     *             - if there are errors starting the process.
+     */
+    public HyracksNCServiceProcess addNCService(File configFile, File logFile, File log4jConfig) throws IOException {
+        HyracksNCServiceProcess proc =
+                new HyracksNCServiceProcess(configFile, logFile, appHome, workingDir, log4jConfig);
+        proc.start();
+        ncProcs.add(proc);
+        return proc;
+    }
+
+    /**
      * Starts the CC, initializing the cluster. Expects that any NCs referenced
      * in the cluster configuration have already been started with addNCService().
-     * @param ccConfigFile - full path to a cluster conf file. May be null to accept all
-     *                     defaults, although this is seldom useful since there are no NCs.
-     * @throws IOException - if there are errors starting the process.
+     *
+     * @param ccConfigFile
+     *            - full path to a cluster conf file. May be null to accept all
+     *            defaults, although this is seldom useful since there are no NCs.
+     * @throws IOException
+     *             - if there are errors starting the process.
      */
     public HyracksCCProcess start(File ccConfigFile, File logFile) throws IOException {
         ccProc = new HyracksCCProcess(ccConfigFile, logFile, appHome, workingDir);
@@ -72,6 +97,22 @@
     }
 
     /**
+     * Starts the CC, initializing the cluster. Expects that any NCs referenced
+     * in the cluster configuration have already been started with addNCService().
+     *
+     * @param ccConfigFile
+     *            - full path to a cluster conf file. May be null to accept all
+     *            defaults, although this is seldom useful since there are no NCs.
+     * @throws IOException
+     *             - if there are errors starting the process.
+     */
+    public HyracksCCProcess start(File ccConfigFile, File logFile, File log4jConfig) throws IOException {
+        ccProc = new HyracksCCProcess(ccConfigFile, logFile, appHome, workingDir, log4jConfig);
+        ccProc.start();
+        return ccProc;
+    }
+
+    /**
      * Stops all processes in the cluster.
      * QQQ Someday this should probably do a graceful stop of NCs rather than
      * killing the NCService.
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/cc.conf b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/cc.conf
index 419b8ca..9c80c7d 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/cc.conf
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/cc.conf
@@ -29,3 +29,4 @@
 address = 127.0.0.1
 console.listen.port = 12345
 
+[common]
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/nc-blue.conf b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/nc-blue.conf
index 9ddf4df..6eb38dd 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/nc-blue.conf
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/nc-blue.conf
@@ -18,5 +18,3 @@
 [ncservice]
 address=127.0.0.1
 port=9091
-logdir=-
-
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/nc-red.conf b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/nc-red.conf
index f854479..286bd32 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/nc-red.conf
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceIT/nc-red.conf
@@ -18,5 +18,3 @@
 [ncservice]
 address=127.0.0.1
 port=9090
-logdir=-
-
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/pom.xml b/hyracks-fullstack/pom.xml
index 5987022..f7dc596 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/pom.xml
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/pom.xml
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
     <tag>HEAD</tag>
   </scm>
   <properties>
+    <root.dir>${basedir}</root.dir>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     <file.encoding>UTF-8</file.encoding>
     <source.jdk.version>1.8</source.jdk.version>
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@
     <sonar.jacoco.reportPath>${env.PWD}/target/jacoco-merged.exec</sonar.jacoco.reportPath>
     <source-format.goal>format</source-format.goal>
     <source-format.skip>false</source-format.skip>
+    <maven.test.skip>false</maven.test.skip>
     <skipTests>false</skipTests>
     <skip.surefire.tests>${skipTests}</skip.surefire.tests>
     <skip.testResources>${maven.test.skip}</skip.testResources>