diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/config/AsterixMetadataProperties.java b/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/config/AsterixMetadataProperties.java
index 9a8fba4..677fc78 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/config/AsterixMetadataProperties.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/config/AsterixMetadataProperties.java
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
     }
 
     public ClusterPartition getMetadataPartition() {
-        return accessor.getMetadataPartiton();
+        return accessor.getMetadataPartition();
     }
 
     public Map<String, String[]> getStores() {
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/config/AsterixPropertiesAccessor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/config/AsterixPropertiesAccessor.java
index 507a393..7309f0c 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/config/AsterixPropertiesAccessor.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/config/AsterixPropertiesAccessor.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  */
 package org.apache.asterix.common.config;
 
+import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -53,10 +54,12 @@
     private final List<String> nodeNames = new ArrayList<>();;
     private final Map<String, String[]> stores = new HashMap<>();;
     private final Map<String, String> coredumpConfig = new HashMap<>();
+
+    // This can be removed when asterix-configuration.xml is no longer required.
     private final Map<String, Property> asterixConfigurationParams;
     private final IApplicationConfig cfg;
     private final Map<String, String> transactionLogDirs = new HashMap<>();
-    private final Map<String, String> asterixBuildProperties;
+    private final Map<String, String> asterixBuildProperties = new HashMap<>();
     private final Map<String, ClusterPartition[]> nodePartitionsMap;
     private final SortedMap<Integer, ClusterPartition> clusterPartitions = new TreeMap<>();
 
@@ -94,6 +97,13 @@
         List<Store> configuredStores = asterixConfiguration.getStore();
         nodePartitionsMap = new HashMap<>();
         int uniquePartitionId = 0;
+        // Here we iterate through all <store> elements in asterix-configuration.xml.
+        // For each one, we create an array of ClusterPartitions and store this array
+        // in nodePartitionsMap, keyed by the node name. The array is the same length
+        // as the comma-separated <storeDirs> child element, because Managix will have
+        // arranged for that element to be populated with the full paths to each
+        // partition directory (as formed by appending the <store> subdirectory to
+        // each <iodevices> path from the user's original cluster.xml).
         for (Store store : configuredStores) {
             String trimmedStoreDirs = store.getStoreDirs().trim();
             String[] nodeStores = trimmedStoreDirs.split(",");
@@ -117,35 +127,29 @@
         for (TransactionLogDir txnLogDir : asterixConfiguration.getTransactionLogDir()) {
             transactionLogDirs.put(txnLogDir.getNcId(), txnLogDir.getTxnLogDirPath());
         }
-        Properties gitProperties = new Properties();
-        try {
-            gitProperties.load(getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("git.properties"));
-            asterixBuildProperties = new HashMap<String, String>();
-            for (final String name : gitProperties.stringPropertyNames()) {
-                asterixBuildProperties.put(name, gitProperties.getProperty(name));
-            }
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new AsterixException(e);
-        }
+        loadAsterixBuildProperties();
     }
 
     /**
      * Constructor which wraps an IApplicationConfig.
      */
-    public AsterixPropertiesAccessor(IApplicationConfig cfg) {
+    public AsterixPropertiesAccessor(IApplicationConfig cfg) throws AsterixException {
         this.cfg = cfg;
         instanceName = cfg.getString("asterix", "instance", "DEFAULT_INSTANCE");
         String mdNode = null;
         nodePartitionsMap = new HashMap<>();
         int uniquePartitionId = 0;
+
+        // Iterate through each configured NC.
         for (String section : cfg.getSections()) {
             if (!section.startsWith("nc/")) {
                 continue;
             }
             String ncId = section.substring(3);
 
+            // Here we figure out which is the metadata node. If any NCs
+            // declare "metadata.port", use that one; otherwise just use the first.
             if (mdNode == null) {
-                // Default is first node == metadata node
                 mdNode = ncId;
             }
             if (cfg.getString(section, "metadata.port") != null) {
@@ -153,27 +157,46 @@
                 mdNode = ncId;
             }
 
+            // Now we assign the coredump and txnlog directories for this node.
             // QQQ Default values? Should they be specified here? Or should there
-            // be a default.ini? They can't be inserted by TriggerNCWork except
-            // possibly for hyracks-specified values. Certainly wherever they are,
-            // they should be platform-dependent.
+            // be a default.ini? Certainly wherever they are, they should be platform-dependent.
             coredumpConfig.put(ncId, cfg.getString(section, "coredumpdir", "/var/lib/asterixdb/coredump"));
             transactionLogDirs.put(ncId, cfg.getString(section, "txnlogdir", "/var/lib/asterixdb/txn-log"));
-            String[] storeDirs = cfg.getString(section, "storagedir", "storage").trim().split(",");
-            ClusterPartition[] nodePartitions = new ClusterPartition[storeDirs.length];
+
+            // Now we create an array of ClusterPartitions for all the partitions
+            // on this NC.
+            String[] iodevices = cfg.getString(section, "iodevices", "/var/lib/asterixdb/iodevice").split(",");
+            String storageSubdir = cfg.getString(section, "storagedir", "storage");
+            String[] nodeStores = new String[iodevices.length];
+            ClusterPartition[] nodePartitions = new ClusterPartition[iodevices.length];
             for (int i = 0; i < nodePartitions.length; i++) {
+                // Construct final storage path from iodevice dir + storage subdir.
+                nodeStores[i] = iodevices[i] + File.separator + storageSubdir;
+                // Create ClusterPartition instances for this NC.
                 ClusterPartition partition = new ClusterPartition(uniquePartitionId++, ncId, i);
                 clusterPartitions.put(partition.getPartitionId(), partition);
                 nodePartitions[i] = partition;
             }
-            stores.put(ncId, storeDirs);
+            stores.put(ncId, nodeStores);
             nodePartitionsMap.put(ncId, nodePartitions);
             nodeNames.add(ncId);
         }
 
         metadataNodeName = mdNode;
         asterixConfigurationParams = null;
-        asterixBuildProperties = null;
+        loadAsterixBuildProperties();
+    }
+
+    private void loadAsterixBuildProperties() throws AsterixException {
+        Properties gitProperties = new Properties();
+        try {
+            gitProperties.load(getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("git.properties"));
+            for (final String name : gitProperties.stringPropertyNames()) {
+                asterixBuildProperties.put(name, gitProperties.getProperty(name));
+            }
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new AsterixException(e);
+        }
     }
 
     public String getMetadataNodeName() {
@@ -204,20 +227,6 @@
         return asterixBuildProperties;
     }
 
-    public void putCoredumpPaths(String nodeId, String coredumpPath) {
-        if (coredumpConfig.containsKey(nodeId)) {
-            throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot override value for coredump path");
-        }
-        coredumpConfig.put(nodeId, coredumpPath);
-    }
-
-    public void putTransactionLogDir(String nodeId, String txnLogDir) {
-        if (transactionLogDirs.containsKey(nodeId)) {
-            throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot override value for txnLogDir");
-        }
-        transactionLogDirs.put(nodeId, txnLogDir);
-    }
-
     public <T> T getProperty(String property, T defaultValue, IPropertyInterpreter<T> interpreter) {
         String value;
         Property p = null;
@@ -246,18 +255,11 @@
         }
     }
 
-    private static <T> void logConfigurationError(Property p, T defaultValue) {
-        if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.SEVERE)) {
-            LOGGER.severe("Invalid property value '" + p.getValue() + "' for property '" + p.getName()
-                    + "'.\n See the description: \n" + p.getDescription() + "\nDefault = " + defaultValue);
-        }
-    }
-
     public String getInstanceName() {
         return instanceName;
     }
 
-    public ClusterPartition getMetadataPartiton() {
+    public ClusterPartition getMetadataPartition() {
         // metadata partition is always the first partition on the metadata node
         return nodePartitionsMap.get(metadataNodeName)[0];
     }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-server/pom.xml b/asterixdb/asterix-server/pom.xml
index 812fd59..92fde73 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-server/pom.xml
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-server/pom.xml
@@ -125,6 +125,24 @@
         </executions>
       </plugin>
       <plugin>
+        <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>1.6</version>
+        <executions>
+          <execution>
+            <id>process-test-classes</id>
+            <phase>package</phase>
+            <configuration>
+              <target>
+                <chmod file="target/appassembler/bin/*" perm="755" />
+              </target>
+            </configuration>
+            <goals>
+              <goal>run</goal>
+            </goals>
+          </execution>
+        </executions>
+      </plugin>
+      <plugin>
         <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
         <version>2.2-beta-5</version>
         <executions>
@@ -181,11 +199,37 @@
       <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>
+      <artifactId>hyracks-server</artifactId>
+      <type>jar</type>
+      <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
+    <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.asterix</groupId>
       <artifactId>asterix-app</artifactId>
       <version>0.8.9-SNAPSHOT</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.apache.asterix</groupId>
+      <artifactId>asterix-app</artifactId>
+      <version>0.8.9-SNAPSHOT</version>
+      <type>test-jar</type>
+      <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.apache.asterix</groupId>
+      <artifactId>asterix-common</artifactId>
+      <version>0.8.9-SNAPSHOT</version>
+      <type>test-jar</type>
+      <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.apache.asterix</groupId>
+      <artifactId>asterix-test-framework</artifactId>
+      <version>0.8.9-SNAPSHOT</version>
+      <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
+    <dependency>
       <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo.appassembler</groupId>
       <artifactId>appassembler-booter</artifactId>
       <version>1.3.1</version>
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/java/org/apache/asterix/server/test/NCServiceExecutionIT.java b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/java/org/apache/asterix/server/test/NCServiceExecutionIT.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c179103
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/java/org/apache/asterix/server/test/NCServiceExecutionIT.java
@@ -0,0 +1,186 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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.
+ */
+package org.apache.asterix.server.test;
+
+import org.apache.asterix.test.aql.TestExecutor;
+import org.apache.asterix.test.runtime.HDFSCluster;
+import org.apache.asterix.testframework.context.TestCaseContext;
+import org.apache.asterix.testframework.xml.TestGroup;
+import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
+import org.apache.hyracks.server.process.HyracksVirtualCluster;
+import org.junit.AfterClass;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.FixMethodOrder;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.runners.MethodSorters;
+import org.junit.runners.Parameterized;
+import org.junit.runners.Parameterized.Parameters;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+
+@FixMethodOrder(MethodSorters.NAME_ASCENDING)
+@RunWith(Parameterized.class)
+public class NCServiceExecutionIT {
+
+    // Important paths and files for this test.
+
+    // The "target" subdirectory of asterix-server. All outputs go here.
+    private static final String TARGET_DIR = StringUtils
+            .join(new String[] { System.getProperty("basedir"), "target" }, File.separator);
+
+    // Directory where the NCs create and store all data, as configured by
+    // src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/cc.conf.
+    private static final String INSTANCE_DIR = StringUtils
+            .join(new String[] { TARGET_DIR, "tmp" }, File.separator);
+
+    // The log directory, where all CC, NCService, and NC logs are written. CC and
+    // NCService logs are configured on the HyracksVirtualCluster below. NC logs
+    // are configured in src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/ncservice*.conf.
+    private static final String LOG_DIR = StringUtils
+            .join(new String[] { TARGET_DIR, "failsafe-reports" }, File.separator);
+
+    // Directory where *.conf files are located.
+    private static final String CONF_DIR = StringUtils
+            .join(new String[] { TARGET_DIR, "test-classes", "NCServiceExecutionIT" },
+                    File.separator);
+
+    // The app.home specified for HyracksVirtualCluster. The NCService expects
+    // to find the NC startup script in ${app.home}/bin.
+    private static final String APP_HOME = StringUtils
+            .join(new String[] { TARGET_DIR, "appassembler" }, File.separator);
+
+    // Path to the asterix-app directory. This is used as the current working
+    // directory for the CC and NCService processes, which allows relative file
+    // paths in "load" statements in test queries to find the right data. It is
+    // also used for HDFSCluster.
+    private static final String ASTERIX_APP_DIR = StringUtils
+            .join(new String[] { System.getProperty("basedir"), "..", "asterix-app" },
+                    File.separator);
+
+    // Path to the actual AQL test files, which we borrow from asterix-app. This is
+    // passed to TestExecutor.
+    protected static final String TESTS_DIR = StringUtils
+            .join(new String[] { ASTERIX_APP_DIR, "src", "test", "resources", "runtimets" },
+                    File.separator);
+
+    // Path that actual results are written to. We create and clean this directory
+    // here, and also pass it to TestExecutor which writes the test output there.
+    private static final String ACTUAL_RESULTS_DIR = StringUtils
+            .join(new String[] { TARGET_DIR, "ittest" }, File.separator);
+
+    private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(NCServiceExecutionIT.class.getName());
+
+    private final TestCaseContext tcCtx;
+    private static final TestExecutor testExecutor = new TestExecutor();
+    private static HyracksVirtualCluster cluster;
+
+    @BeforeClass
+    public static void setUp() throws Exception {
+        // Create actual-results output directory.
+        File outDir = new File(ACTUAL_RESULTS_DIR);
+        outDir.mkdirs();
+
+        // Remove any instance data from previous runs.
+        File instanceDir = new File(INSTANCE_DIR);
+        if (instanceDir.isDirectory()) {
+            FileUtils.deleteDirectory(instanceDir);
+        }
+
+        // HDFSCluster requires the input directory to end with a file separator.
+        HDFSCluster.getInstance().setup(ASTERIX_APP_DIR + File.separator);
+
+        cluster = new HyracksVirtualCluster(new File(APP_HOME), new File(ASTERIX_APP_DIR));
+        cluster.addNC(
+                new File(CONF_DIR, "ncservice1.conf"),
+                new File(LOG_DIR, "ncservice1.log")
+        );
+        cluster.addNC(
+                new File(CONF_DIR, "ncservice2.conf"),
+                new File(LOG_DIR, "ncservice2.log")
+        );
+
+        try {
+            Thread.sleep(2000);
+        }
+        catch (InterruptedException ignored) {
+        }
+
+        // Start CC
+        cluster.start(
+                new File(CONF_DIR, "cc.conf"),
+                new File(LOG_DIR, "cc.log")
+        );
+
+        LOGGER.info("Sleeping while cluster comes online...");
+        try {
+            Thread.sleep(6000);
+        }
+        catch (InterruptedException ignored) {
+        }
+    }
+
+    @AfterClass
+    public static void tearDown() throws Exception {
+        File outdir = new File(ACTUAL_RESULTS_DIR);
+        File[] files = outdir.listFiles();
+        if (files == null || files.length == 0) {
+            outdir.delete();
+        }
+        cluster.stop();
+        HDFSCluster.getInstance().cleanup();
+    }
+
+    @Parameters
+    public static Collection<Object[]> tests() throws Exception {
+        Collection<Object[]> testArgs = new ArrayList<Object[]>();
+        TestCaseContext.Builder b = new TestCaseContext.Builder();
+        for (TestCaseContext ctx : b.build(new File(TESTS_DIR))) {
+            if (!skip(ctx)) {
+                testArgs.add(new Object[]{ctx});
+            }
+        }
+        return testArgs;
+    }
+
+    private static boolean skip(TestCaseContext tcCtx) {
+        // For now we skip feeds tests and external-library tests.
+        for (TestGroup group : tcCtx.getTestGroups()) {
+            if (group.getName().startsWith("external-") || group.getName().equals("feeds")) {
+                LOGGER.info("Skipping test: " + tcCtx.toString());
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
+
+    public NCServiceExecutionIT(TestCaseContext ctx) {
+        this.tcCtx = ctx;
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void test() throws Exception {
+        testExecutor.executeTest(ACTUAL_RESULTS_DIR, tcCtx, null, false);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/cc.conf b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/cc.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4c76e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/cc.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+[nc/asterix_nc1]
+txnlogdir=../asterix-server/target/tmp/asterix_nc1/txnlog
+coredumpdir=../asterix-server/target/tmp/asterix_nc1/coredump
+iodevices=../asterix-server/target/tmp/asterix_nc1/iodevice1,../asterix-server/target/tmp/asterix_nc1/iodevice2
+
+[nc/asterix_nc2]
+port=9091
+txnlogdir=../asterix-server/target/tmp/asterix_nc2/txnlog
+coredumpdir=../asterix-server/target/tmp/asterix_nc2/coredump
+iodevices=../asterix-server/target/tmp/asterix_nc2/iodevice1,../asterix-server/target/tmp/asterix_nc2/iodevice2
+
+[nc]
+address=127.0.0.1
+command=asterixnc
+app.class=org.apache.asterix.hyracks.bootstrap.NCApplicationEntryPoint
+jvm.args=-Xmx4096m -Dnode.Resolver="org.apache.asterix.external.util.IdentitiyResolverFactory"
+storagedir=test_storage
+
+[cc]
+cluster.address = 127.0.0.1
+app.class=org.apache.asterix.hyracks.bootstrap.CCApplicationEntryPoint
+
+[asterix]
+storage.memorycomponent.globalbudget = 1073741824
+
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/ncservice1.conf b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/ncservice1.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa44fa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/ncservice1.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[ncservice]
+logdir=../asterix-server/target/failsafe-reports
+
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/ncservice2.conf b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/ncservice2.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53d8d9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/test/resources/NCServiceExecutionIT/ncservice2.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[ncservice]
+logdir=../asterix-server/target/failsafe-reports
+port=9091
+
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/ClusterControllerService.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/ClusterControllerService.java
index 2aa3f37..4cddef1 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/ClusterControllerService.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/ClusterControllerService.java
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@
                 continue;
             }
             String ncid = section.substring(3);
-            String address = ini.get(section, "address");
+            String address = IniUtils.getString(ini, section, "address", null);
             int port = IniUtils.getInt(ini, section, "port", 9090);
             if (address == null) {
                 address = InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress().getHostAddress();
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/work/TriggerNCWork.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/work/TriggerNCWork.java
index ee79d38..7d2ff25 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/work/TriggerNCWork.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/work/TriggerNCWork.java
@@ -87,37 +87,15 @@
     }
 
     /**
-     * Utility routine to copy all keys from a named section in Ini a
-     * to a named section in Ini b. We need to do this the hard way
-     * because Ini4j reacts inscrutably when attempting to copy
-     * Ini.Sections directly from one Ini to another.
-     */
-    private void copyIniSection(Ini a, String asect, Ini b, String bsect) {
-        Ini.Section source = a.get(asect);
-        for (String key : source.keySet()) {
-            b.put(bsect, key, source.get(key));
-        }
-    }
-    /**
      * Given an Ini object, serialize it to String with some enhancements.
      * @param ccini
      */
     String serializeIni(Ini ccini) throws IOException {
-        Ini ini = new Ini();
-
-        // First copy the global [nc] section to a new section named for
-        // *this* NC, so that those values serve as defaults.
-        String ncsection = "nc/" + ncId;
-        copyIniSection(ccini, "nc", ini, ncsection);
-        // Now copy all sections to their same name in the derived config.
-        for (String section : ccini.keySet()) {
-            copyIniSection(ccini, section, ini, section);
-        }
+        StringWriter iniString = new StringWriter();
+        ccini.store(iniString);
         // Finally insert *this* NC's name into localnc section - this is a fixed
         // entry point so that NCs can determine where all their config is.
-        ini.put("localnc", "id", ncId);
-        StringWriter iniString = new StringWriter();
-        ini.store(iniString);
+        iniString.append("\n[localnc]\nid=" + ncId + "\n");
         if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.FINE)) {
             LOGGER.fine("Returning Ini file:\n" + iniString.toString());
         }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/application/IniApplicationConfig.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/application/IniApplicationConfig.java
index 3a8a2de..22fe318 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/application/IniApplicationConfig.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/application/IniApplicationConfig.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.control.common.application;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.application.IApplicationConfig;
+import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.controllers.IniUtils;
 import org.ini4j.Ini;
 
 import java.util.Set;
@@ -37,39 +38,34 @@
         }
     }
 
-    private <T> T getIniValue(String section, String key, T default_value, Class<T> clazz) {
-        T value = ini.get(section, key, clazz);
-        return (value != null) ? value : default_value;
-    }
-
     @Override
     public String getString(String section, String key) {
-        return getIniValue(section, key, null, String.class);
+        return IniUtils.getString(ini, section, key, null);
     }
 
     @Override
     public String getString(String section, String key, String defaultValue) {
-        return getIniValue(section, key, defaultValue, String.class);
+        return IniUtils.getString(ini, section, key, defaultValue);
     }
 
     @Override
     public int getInt(String section, String key) {
-        return getIniValue(section, key, 0, Integer.class);
+        return IniUtils.getInt(ini, section, key, 0);
     }
 
     @Override
     public int getInt(String section, String key, int defaultValue) {
-        return getIniValue(section, key, defaultValue, Integer.class);
+        return IniUtils.getInt(ini, section, key, defaultValue);
     }
 
     @Override
     public long getLong(String section, String key) {
-        return getIniValue(section, key, (long) 0, Long.class);
+        return IniUtils.getLong(ini, section, key, (long) 0);
     }
 
     @Override
     public long getLong(String section, String key, long defaultValue) {
-        return getIniValue(section, key, defaultValue, Long.class);
+        return IniUtils.getLong(ini, section, key, defaultValue);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/CCConfig.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/CCConfig.java
index a04d750..64bd7d1 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/CCConfig.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/CCConfig.java
@@ -152,47 +152,4 @@
     public IApplicationConfig getAppConfig() {
         return new IniApplicationConfig(ini);
     }
-
-    public void toCommandLine(List<String> cList) {
-        cList.add("-client-net-ip-address");
-        cList.add(clientNetIpAddress);
-        cList.add("-client-net-port");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(clientNetPort));
-        cList.add("-cluster-net-ip-address");
-        cList.add(clusterNetIpAddress);
-        cList.add("-cluster-net-port");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(clusterNetPort));
-        cList.add("-http-port");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(httpPort));
-        cList.add("-heartbeat-period");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(heartbeatPeriod));
-        cList.add("-max-heartbeat-lapse-periods");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(maxHeartbeatLapsePeriods));
-        cList.add("-profile-dump-period");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(profileDumpPeriod));
-        cList.add("-default-max-job-attempts");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(defaultMaxJobAttempts));
-        cList.add("-job-history-size");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(jobHistorySize));
-        cList.add("-result-time-to-live");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(resultTTL));
-        cList.add("-result-sweep-threshold");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(resultSweepThreshold));
-        cList.add("-cc-root");
-        cList.add(ccRoot);
-        if (clusterTopologyDefinition != null) {
-            cList.add("-cluster-topology");
-            cList.add(clusterTopologyDefinition.getAbsolutePath());
-        }
-        if (appCCMainClass != null) {
-            cList.add("-app-cc-main-class");
-            cList.add(appCCMainClass);
-        }
-        if (appArgs != null && !appArgs.isEmpty()) {
-            cList.add("--");
-            for (String appArg : appArgs) {
-                cList.add(appArg);
-            }
-        }
-    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/IniUtils.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/IniUtils.java
index 9a5c9a0..538bb0b 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/IniUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/IniUtils.java
@@ -26,21 +26,39 @@
 
 /**
  * Some utility functions for reading Ini4j objects with default values.
+ * For all getXxx() methods: if the 'section' contains a slash, and the 'key'
+ * is not found in that section, we will search for the key in the section named
+ * by stripping the leaf of the section name (final slash and anything following).
+ * eg. getInt(ini, "nc/red", "dir", null) will first look for the key "dir" in
+ * the section "nc/red", but if it is not found, will look in the section "nc".
  */
 public class IniUtils {
+    private static <T> T getIniValue(Ini ini, String section, String key, T default_value, Class<T> clazz) {
+        T value;
+        while (true) {
+            value = ini.get(section, key, clazz);
+            if (value == null) {
+                int idx = section.lastIndexOf('/');
+                if (idx > -1) {
+                    section = section.substring(0, idx);
+                    continue;
+                }
+            }
+            break;
+        }
+        return (value != null) ? value : default_value;
+    }
+
     public static String getString(Ini ini, String section, String key, String defaultValue) {
-        String value = ini.get(section, key, String.class);
-        return (value != null) ? value : defaultValue;
+        return getIniValue(ini, section, key, defaultValue, String.class);
     }
 
     public static int getInt(Ini ini, String section, String key, int defaultValue) {
-        Integer value = ini.get(section, key, Integer.class);
-        return (value != null) ? value : defaultValue;
+        return getIniValue(ini, section, key, defaultValue, Integer.class);
     }
 
     public static long getLong(Ini ini, String section, String key, long defaultValue) {
-        Long value = ini.get(section, key, Long.class);
-        return (value != null) ? value : defaultValue;
+        return getIniValue(ini, section, key, defaultValue, Long.class);
     }
 
     public static Ini loadINIFile(String configFile) throws IOException {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/NCConfig.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/NCConfig.java
index b408083..d08df60 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/NCConfig.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/NCConfig.java
@@ -191,66 +191,6 @@
         return new IniApplicationConfig(ini);
     }
 
-    public void toCommandLine(List<String> cList) {
-        cList.add("-cc-host");
-        cList.add(ccHost);
-        cList.add("-cc-port");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(ccPort));
-        cList.add("-cluster-net-ip-address");
-        cList.add(clusterNetIPAddress);
-        cList.add("-cluster-net-port");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(clusterNetPort));
-        cList.add("-cluster-net-public-ip-address");
-        cList.add(clusterNetPublicIPAddress);
-        cList.add("-cluster-net-public-port");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(clusterNetPublicPort));
-        cList.add("-node-id");
-        cList.add(nodeId);
-        cList.add("-data-ip-address");
-        cList.add(dataIPAddress);
-        cList.add("-data-port");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(dataPort));
-        cList.add("-data-public-ip-address");
-        cList.add(dataPublicIPAddress);
-        cList.add("-data-public-port");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(dataPublicPort));
-        cList.add("-result-ip-address");
-        cList.add(resultIPAddress);
-        cList.add("-result-port");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(resultPort));
-        cList.add("-result-public-ip-address");
-        cList.add(resultPublicIPAddress);
-        cList.add("-result-public-port");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(resultPublicPort));
-        cList.add("-retries");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(retries));
-        cList.add("-iodevices");
-        cList.add(ioDevices);
-        cList.add("-net-thread-count");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(nNetThreads));
-        cList.add("-net-buffer-count");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(nNetBuffers));
-        cList.add("-max-memory");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(maxMemory));
-        cList.add("-result-time-to-live");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(resultTTL));
-        cList.add("-result-sweep-threshold");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(resultSweepThreshold));
-        cList.add("-result-manager-memory");
-        cList.add(String.valueOf(resultManagerMemory));
-
-        if (appNCMainClass != null) {
-            cList.add("-app-nc-main-class");
-            cList.add(appNCMainClass);
-        }
-        if (appArgs != null && !appArgs.isEmpty()) {
-            cList.add("--");
-            for (String appArg : appArgs) {
-                cList.add(appArg);
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
     public void toMap(Map<String, String> configuration) {
         configuration.put("cc-host", ccHost);
         configuration.put("cc-port", (String.valueOf(ccPort)));
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-nc-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/service/NCService.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-nc-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/service/NCService.java
index e3fe959..4102b4c 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-nc-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/service/NCService.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-nc-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/service/NCService.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 package org.apache.hyracks.control.nc.service;
 
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.SystemUtils;
+import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.controllers.IniUtils;
 import org.ini4j.Ini;
 import org.kohsuke.args4j.CmdLineParser;
 
@@ -71,23 +72,13 @@
 
     private static final String MAGIC_COOKIE = "hyncmagic";
 
-    private static String getStringINIOpt(Ini ini, String section, String key, String default_value) {
-        String value = ini.get(section, key, String.class);
-        return (value != null) ? value : default_value;
-    }
-
-    private static int getIntINIOpt(Ini ini, String section, String key, int default_value) {
-        Integer value = ini.get(section, key, Integer.class);
-        return (value != null) ? value : default_value;
-    }
-
     private static List<String> buildCommand() throws IOException {
         List<String> cList = new ArrayList<String>();
 
         // Find the command to run. For now, we allow overriding the name, but
         // still assume it's located in the bin/ directory of the deployment.
         // Even this is likely more configurability than we need.
-        String command = getStringINIOpt(ini, nodeSection, "command", "hyracksnc");
+        String command = IniUtils.getString(ini, nodeSection, "command", "hyracksnc");
         // app.home is specified by the Maven appassembler plugin. If it isn't set,
         // fall back to user's home dir. Again this is likely more flexibility
         // than we need.
@@ -110,10 +101,16 @@
 
     private static void configEnvironment(Map<String,String> env) {
         if (env.containsKey("JAVA_OPTS")) {
+            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                LOGGER.info("Keeping JAVA_OPTS from environment");
+            }
             return;
         }
-        String jvmargs = getStringINIOpt(ini, nodeSection, "jvm.args", "-Xmx1536m");
+        String jvmargs = IniUtils.getString(ini, nodeSection, "jvm.args", "-Xmx1536m");
         env.put("JAVA_OPTS", jvmargs);
+        if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+            LOGGER.info("Setting JAVA_OPTS to " + jvmargs);
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -146,6 +143,8 @@
                     // If the directory IS there, all is well
                 }
                 File logfile = new File(config.logdir, "nc-" + ncId + ".log");
+                // Don't care if this succeeds or fails:
+                logfile.delete();
                 pb.redirectOutput(ProcessBuilder.Redirect.appendTo(logfile));
                 if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
                     LOGGER.info("Logging to " + logfile.getCanonicalPath());
@@ -192,7 +191,7 @@
             }
             String iniString = ois.readUTF();
             ini = new Ini(new StringReader(iniString));
-            ncId = getStringINIOpt(ini, "localnc", "id", "");
+            ncId = IniUtils.getString(ini, "localnc", "id", "");
             nodeSection = "nc/" + ncId;
             return launchNCProcess();
         } catch (Exception e) {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/pom.xml b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/pom.xml
index 3bda1d3..52958f8 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/pom.xml
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/pom.xml
@@ -86,10 +86,6 @@
                   <mainClass>org.apache.hyracks.control.nc.service.NCService</mainClass>
                   <name>hyracksncservice</name>
                 </program>
-                <program>
-                  <mainClass>org.apache.hyracks.server.drivers.VirtualClusterDriver</mainClass>
-                  <name>hyracks-virtual-cluster</name>
-                </program>
               </programs>
               <repositoryLayout>flat</repositoryLayout>
               <repositoryName>lib</repositoryName>
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/drivers/VirtualClusterDriver.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/drivers/VirtualClusterDriver.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 41c14a7..0000000
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/drivers/VirtualClusterDriver.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,82 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
- * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
- * distributed with this work for additional information
- * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
- * to you 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.
- */
-package org.apache.hyracks.server.drivers;
-
-import org.kohsuke.args4j.CmdLineParser;
-import org.kohsuke.args4j.Option;
-
-import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.controllers.CCConfig;
-import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.controllers.NCConfig;
-import org.apache.hyracks.server.process.HyracksCCProcess;
-import org.apache.hyracks.server.process.HyracksNCProcess;
-
-public class VirtualClusterDriver {
-    private static class Options {
-        @Option(name = "-n", required = false, usage = "Number of node controllers (default: 2)")
-        public int n = 2;
-
-        @Option(name = "-cc-client-net-port", required = false, usage = "CC Port (default: 1098)")
-        public int ccClientNetPort = 1098;
-
-        @Option(name = "-cc-cluster-net-port", required = false, usage = "CC Port (default: 1099)")
-        public int ccClusterNetPort = 1099;
-
-        @Option(name = "-cc-http-port", required = false, usage = "CC Port (default: 16001)")
-        public int ccHttpPort = 16001;
-    }
-
-    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
-        Options options = new Options();
-        CmdLineParser cp = new CmdLineParser(options);
-        try {
-            cp.parseArgument(args);
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-            System.err.println(e.getMessage());
-            cp.printUsage(System.err);
-            return;
-        }
-
-        CCConfig ccConfig = new CCConfig();
-        ccConfig.clusterNetIpAddress = "127.0.0.1";
-        ccConfig.clusterNetPort = options.ccClusterNetPort;
-        ccConfig.clientNetIpAddress = "127.0.0.1";
-        ccConfig.clientNetPort = options.ccClientNetPort;
-        ccConfig.httpPort = options.ccHttpPort;
-        HyracksCCProcess ccp = new HyracksCCProcess(ccConfig);
-        ccp.start();
-
-        Thread.sleep(5000);
-
-        HyracksNCProcess ncps[] = new HyracksNCProcess[options.n];
-        for (int i = 0; i < options.n; ++i) {
-            NCConfig ncConfig = new NCConfig();
-            ncConfig.ccHost = "127.0.0.1";
-            ncConfig.ccPort = options.ccClusterNetPort;
-            ncConfig.clusterNetIPAddress = "127.0.0.1";
-            ncConfig.nodeId = "nc" + i;
-            ncConfig.dataIPAddress = "127.0.0.1";
-            ncps[i] = new HyracksNCProcess(ncConfig);
-            ncps[i].start();
-        }
-
-        while (true) {
-            Thread.sleep(10000);
-        }
-    }
-}
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java
index d0d8d63..4a70120 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java
@@ -18,25 +18,28 @@
  */
 package org.apache.hyracks.server.process;
 
+import org.apache.hyracks.control.cc.CCDriver;
+
+import java.io.File;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.control.cc.CCDriver;
-import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.controllers.CCConfig;
-
 public class HyracksCCProcess extends HyracksServerProcess {
-    private CCConfig config;
 
-    public HyracksCCProcess(CCConfig config) {
-        this.config = config;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    protected void addCmdLineArgs(List<String> cList) {
-        config.toCommandLine(cList);
+    public HyracksCCProcess(File configFile, File logFile, File appHome, File workingDir) {
+        this.configFile = configFile;
+        this.logFile = logFile;
+        this.appHome = appHome;
+        this.workingDir = workingDir;
     }
 
     @Override
     protected String getMainClassName() {
         return CCDriver.class.getName();
     }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void addJvmArgs(List<String> cList) {
+        // CC needs more than default memory
+        cList.add("-Xmx1024m");
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksNCProcess.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksNCProcess.java
index c4517e6..8bc1694 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksNCProcess.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksNCProcess.java
@@ -18,25 +18,28 @@
  */
 package org.apache.hyracks.server.process;
 
+import org.apache.hyracks.control.nc.service.NCService;
+
+import java.io.File;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.controllers.NCConfig;
-import org.apache.hyracks.control.nc.NCDriver;
-
 public class HyracksNCProcess extends HyracksServerProcess {
-    private NCConfig config;
 
-    public HyracksNCProcess(NCConfig config) {
-        this.config = config;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    protected void addCmdLineArgs(List<String> cList) {
-        config.toCommandLine(cList);
+    public HyracksNCProcess(File configFile, File logFile, File appHome, File workingDir) {
+        this.configFile = configFile;
+        this.logFile = logFile;
+        this.appHome = appHome;
+        this.workingDir = workingDir;
     }
 
     @Override
     protected String getMainClassName() {
-        return NCDriver.class.getName();
+        return NCService.class.getName();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void addJvmArgs(List<String> cList) {
+        // NCService needs little memory
+        cList.add("-Xmx128m");
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java
index 9dec0ec..13cb445 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java
@@ -29,53 +29,69 @@
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
-public abstract class HyracksServerProcess {
+abstract class HyracksServerProcess {
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(HyracksServerProcess.class.getName());
 
     protected Process process;
+    protected File configFile = null;
+    protected File logFile = null;
+    protected File appHome = null;
+    protected File workingDir = null;
 
     public void start() throws IOException {
         String[] cmd = buildCommand();
         if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
             LOGGER.info("Starting command: " + Arrays.toString(cmd));
         }
-        process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd, null, null);
-        dump(process.getInputStream());
-        dump(process.getErrorStream());
+
+        ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder(cmd);
+        pb.redirectErrorStream(true);
+        if (logFile != null) {
+            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                LOGGER.info("Logging to: " + logFile.getCanonicalPath());
+            }
+            logFile.getParentFile().mkdirs();
+            logFile.delete();
+            pb.redirectOutput(ProcessBuilder.Redirect.appendTo(logFile));
+        } else {
+            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                LOGGER.info("Logfile not set, subprocess will output to stdout");
+            }
+        }
+        pb.directory(workingDir);
+        process = pb.start();
     }
 
-    private void dump(InputStream input) {
-        final int streamBufferSize = 1000;
-        final Reader in = new InputStreamReader(input);
-        new Thread(new Runnable() {
-            public void run() {
-                try {
-                    char[] chars = new char[streamBufferSize];
-                    int c;
-                    while ((c = in.read(chars)) != -1) {
-                        if (c > 0) {
-                            System.out.print(String.valueOf(chars, 0, c));
-                        }
-                    }
-                } catch (IOException e) {
-                }
-            }
-        }).start();
+    public void stop() {
+        process.destroy();
+        try {
+            process.waitFor();
+        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+            Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+        }
     }
 
     private String[] buildCommand() {
         List<String> cList = new ArrayList<String>();
         cList.add(getJavaCommand());
-        cList.add("-Dbasedir=" + System.getProperty("basedir"));
-        cList.add("-Djava.rmi.server.hostname=127.0.0.1");
+        addJvmArgs(cList);
+        cList.add("-Dapp.home=" + appHome.getAbsolutePath());
         cList.add("-classpath");
         cList.add(getClasspath());
         cList.add(getMainClassName());
+        if (configFile != null) {
+            cList.add("-config-file");
+            cList.add(configFile.getAbsolutePath());
+        }
         addCmdLineArgs(cList);
         return cList.toArray(new String[cList.size()]);
     }
 
-    protected abstract void addCmdLineArgs(List<String> cList);
+    protected void addJvmArgs(List<String> cList) {
+    }
+
+    protected void addCmdLineArgs(List<String> cList) {
+    }
 
     protected abstract String getMainClassName();
 
@@ -83,7 +99,7 @@
         return System.getProperty("java.class.path");
     }
 
-    protected final String getJavaCommand() {
+    private final String getJavaCommand() {
         return System.getProperty("java.home") + File.separator + "bin" + File.separator + "java";
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksVirtualCluster.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksVirtualCluster.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f08bb43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/process/HyracksVirtualCluster.java
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hyracks.server.process;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * Starts a local hyracks-based cluster (NC and CC child processes).
+ */
+public class HyracksVirtualCluster {
+    private final File appHome;
+    private final File workingDir;
+    private List<HyracksNCProcess> ncProcs = new ArrayList<>(3);
+    private HyracksCCProcess ccProc = null;
+
+    /**
+     * 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.
+     */
+    public HyracksVirtualCluster(File appHome, File workingDir) {
+        this.appHome = appHome;
+        this.workingDir = workingDir;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * 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 void addNC(File configFile, File logFile) throws IOException {
+        HyracksNCProcess proc = new HyracksNCProcess(configFile, logFile, appHome, workingDir);
+        proc.start();
+        ncProcs.add(proc);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Starts the CC, initializing the cluster. Expects that any NCs referenced
+     * in the cluster configuration have already been started with addNC().
+     * @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 void start(File ccConfigFile, File logFile) throws IOException {
+        ccProc = new HyracksCCProcess(ccConfigFile, logFile, appHome, workingDir);
+        ccProc.start();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Stops all processes in the cluster.
+     * QQQ Someday this should probably do a graceful stop of NCs rather than
+     * killing the NCService.
+     */
+    public void stop() {
+        ccProc.stop();
+        for (HyracksNCProcess proc : ncProcs) {
+            proc.stop();
+        }
+    }
+}
+
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/test/NCServiceIT.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/test/NCServiceIT.java
index bd99c8c..9a231a0 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/test/NCServiceIT.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/server/test/NCServiceIT.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpStatus;
 import org.apache.commons.httpclient.methods.GetMethod;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
+import org.apache.hyracks.server.process.HyracksVirtualCluster;
 import org.json.JSONArray;
 import org.json.JSONObject;
 import org.junit.AfterClass;
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.InetAddress;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -38,23 +40,29 @@
 public class NCServiceIT {
 
     private static final String TARGET_DIR = StringUtils
-            .join(new String[]{System.getProperty("basedir"), "target"}, File.separator);
+            .join(new String[] { System.getProperty("basedir"), "target" }, File.separator);
     private static final String LOG_DIR = StringUtils
-            .join(new String[]{TARGET_DIR, "surefire-reports"}, File.separator);
+            .join(new String[] { TARGET_DIR, "failsafe-reports" }, File.separator);
     private static final String RESOURCE_DIR = StringUtils
-            .join(new String[]{TARGET_DIR, "test-classes", "NCServiceIT"}, File.separator);
-    private static final String APP_DIR = StringUtils
-            .join(new String[]{TARGET_DIR, "appassembler", "bin"}, File.separator);
+            .join(new String[] { TARGET_DIR, "test-classes", "NCServiceIT" }, File.separator);
+    private static final String APP_HOME = StringUtils
+            .join(new String[] { TARGET_DIR, "appassembler" }, File.separator);
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(NCServiceIT.class.getName());
-    private static List<Process> procs = new ArrayList<>();
+
+    private static HyracksVirtualCluster cluster = null;
 
     @BeforeClass
     public static void setUp() throws Exception {
-        // Start two NC Services - don't read their output as they don't terminate
-        procs.add(invoke("nc-red.log", APP_DIR + File.separator + "hyracksncservice",
-                "-config-file", RESOURCE_DIR + File.separator + "nc-red.conf"));
-        procs.add(invoke("nc-blue.log", APP_DIR + File.separator + "hyracksncservice",
-                "-config-file", RESOURCE_DIR + File.separator + "nc-blue.conf"));
+        cluster = new HyracksVirtualCluster(new File(APP_HOME), null);
+        cluster.addNC(
+                new File(RESOURCE_DIR, "nc-red.conf"),
+                new File(LOG_DIR, "nc-red.log")
+        );
+        cluster.addNC(
+                new File(RESOURCE_DIR, "nc-blue.conf"),
+                new File(LOG_DIR, "nc-blue.log")
+        );
+
         try {
             Thread.sleep(2000);
         }
@@ -62,8 +70,11 @@
         }
 
         // Start CC
-        procs.add(invoke("cc.log", APP_DIR + File.separator + "hyrackscc",
-                "-config-file", RESOURCE_DIR + File.separator + "cc.conf"));
+        cluster.start(
+                new File(RESOURCE_DIR, "cc.conf"),
+                new File(LOG_DIR, "cc.log")
+        );
+
         try {
             Thread.sleep(10000);
         }
@@ -72,11 +83,8 @@
     }
 
     @AfterClass
-    public static void tearDown() throws Exception {
-        for (Process p : procs) {
-            p.destroy();
-            p.waitFor();
-        }
+    public static void tearDown() throws IOException {
+        cluster.stop();
     }
 
     private static String getHttp(String url) throws Exception {
@@ -97,18 +105,6 @@
         }
     }
 
-    private static Process invoke(String logfile, String... args) throws Exception {
-        ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder(args);
-        pb.redirectErrorStream(true);
-        File logDir = new File(LOG_DIR);
-        logDir.mkdirs();
-        File log = new File(logDir, logfile);
-        log.delete();
-        pb.redirectOutput(ProcessBuilder.Redirect.appendTo(log));
-        Process p = pb.start();
-        return p;
-    }
-
     @Test
     public void IsNodelistCorrect() throws Exception {
         // Ping the nodelist HTTP API
@@ -138,5 +134,4 @@
             tearDown();
         }
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/logging.properties b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/logging.properties
index c888bb1..e9f84796 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/logging.properties
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-server/src/test/resources/logging.properties
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@
 # Note that the ConsoleHandler also has a separate level
 # setting to limit messages printed to the console.
 
-.level= WARNING
-# .level= INFO
+# .level= WARNING
+.level= INFO
 # .level= FINE
 # .level = FINEST