diff --git a/tests/vty/vty_transcript_test.c b/tests/vty/vty_transcript_test.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..50131ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/vty/vty_transcript_test.c
@@ -0,0 +1,230 @@
+/* Test implementation for VTY transcript testing. */
+/*
+ * (C) 2019 by sysmocom s.f.m.c. GmbH <info@sysmocom.de>
+ *
+ * All Rights Reserved
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
+ *
+ * Author: Neels Hofmeyr <nhofmeyr@sysmocom.de>
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ * with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ */
+
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+#include <getopt.h>
+#include <signal.h>
+#include <limits.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include <osmocom/core/application.h>
+
+#include <osmocom/vty/command.h>
+#include <osmocom/vty/misc.h>
+#include <osmocom/vty/telnet_interface.h>
+
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+#include "config.h"
+
+void *root_ctx = NULL;
+
+static void print_help()
+{
+	printf( "options:\n"
+		"  -h	--help		this text\n"
+		"  -d	--debug MASK	Enable debugging (e.g. -d DRSL:DOML:DLAPDM)\n"
+		"  -D	--daemonize	For the process into a background daemon\n"
+		"  -c	--config-file	Specify the filename of the config file\n"
+		"  -s	--disable-color	Don't use colors in stderr log output\n"
+		"  -T	--timestamp	Prefix every log line with a timestamp\n"
+		"  -V	--version	Print version information and exit\n"
+		"  -e	--log-level	Set a global log-level\n"
+		);
+}
+
+static struct {
+	const char *config_file;
+	int daemonize;
+} cmdline_config = {};
+
+static void handle_options(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	while (1) {
+		int option_idx = 0, c;
+		static const struct option long_options[] = {
+			{ "help", 0, 0, 'h' },
+			{ "debug", 1, 0, 'd' },
+			{ "daemonize", 0, 0, 'D' },
+			{ "config-file", 1, 0, 'c' },
+			{ "disable-color", 0, 0, 's' },
+			{ "timestamp", 0, 0, 'T' },
+			{ "version", 0, 0, 'V' },
+			{ "log-level", 1, 0, 'e' },
+			{}
+		};
+
+		c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "hc:d:Dc:sTVe:",
+				long_options, &option_idx);
+		if (c == -1)
+			break;
+
+		switch (c) {
+		case 'h':
+			print_help();
+			exit(0);
+		case 's':
+			log_set_use_color(osmo_stderr_target, 0);
+			break;
+		case 'd':
+			log_parse_category_mask(osmo_stderr_target, optarg);
+			break;
+		case 'D':
+			cmdline_config.daemonize = 1;
+			break;
+		case 'c':
+			cmdline_config.config_file = optarg;
+			break;
+		case 'T':
+			log_set_print_timestamp(osmo_stderr_target, 1);
+			break;
+		case 'e':
+			log_set_log_level(osmo_stderr_target, atoi(optarg));
+			break;
+		case 'V':
+			print_version(1);
+			exit(0);
+			break;
+		default:
+			/* catch unknown options *as well as* missing arguments. */
+			fprintf(stderr, "Error in command line options. Exiting.\n");
+			exit(-1);
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+static int quit = 0;
+
+static void signal_handler(int signal)
+{
+	fprintf(stdout, "signal %u received\n", signal);
+
+	switch (signal) {
+	case SIGINT:
+	case SIGTERM:
+		quit++;
+		break;
+	case SIGABRT:
+		osmo_generate_backtrace();
+		/* in case of abort, we want to obtain a talloc report
+		 * and then return to the caller, who will abort the process */
+	case SIGUSR1:
+		talloc_report(tall_vty_ctx, stderr);
+		talloc_report_full(root_ctx, stderr);
+		break;
+	case SIGUSR2:
+		talloc_report_full(tall_vty_ctx, stderr);
+		break;
+	default:
+		break;
+	}
+}
+
+static struct vty_app_info vty_info = {
+	.name		= "vty_transcript_test",
+	.version	= PACKAGE_VERSION,
+};
+
+static const struct log_info_cat default_categories[] = {};
+
+const struct log_info log_info = {
+	.cat = default_categories,
+	.num_cat = ARRAY_SIZE(default_categories),
+};
+
+DEFUN(multi0, multi0_cmd,
+      "multi0 (one|two|three)",
+      "multi0 test command\n" "1\n2\n3\n")
+{
+	vty_out(vty, "ok argc=%d%s%s%s", argc, argc ? " " : "", argc ? argv[0] : "", VTY_NEWLINE);
+	return CMD_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+DEFUN(multi1, multi1_cmd,
+      "multi1 ([one]|[two]|[three])",
+      "multi1 test command\n" "1\n2\n3\n")
+{
+	vty_out(vty, "ok argc=%d%s%s%s", argc, argc ? " " : "", argc ? argv[0] : "", VTY_NEWLINE);
+	return CMD_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+static void init_vty_cmds()
+{
+	install_element_ve(&multi0_cmd);
+	install_element_ve(&multi1_cmd);
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	int rc;
+
+	root_ctx = talloc_named_const(NULL, 0, "vty_transcript_test");
+
+	vty_info.tall_ctx = root_ctx;
+	vty_init(&vty_info);
+	osmo_talloc_vty_add_cmds();
+	init_vty_cmds();
+
+	osmo_init_logging2(root_ctx, &log_info);
+
+	handle_options(argc, argv);
+
+	if (cmdline_config.config_file) {
+		rc = vty_read_config_file(cmdline_config.config_file, NULL);
+		if (rc < 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "Failed to parse the config file: '%s'\n", cmdline_config.config_file);
+			return 1;
+		}
+	}
+
+	rc = telnet_init_dynif(root_ctx, NULL, vty_get_bind_addr(), 42042);
+	if (rc < 0)
+		return 2;
+
+	signal(SIGINT, &signal_handler);
+	signal(SIGTERM, &signal_handler);
+	signal(SIGABRT, &signal_handler);
+	signal(SIGUSR1, &signal_handler);
+	signal(SIGUSR2, &signal_handler);
+	osmo_init_ignore_signals();
+
+	if (cmdline_config.daemonize) {
+		rc = osmo_daemonize();
+		if (rc < 0) {
+			perror("Error during daemonize");
+			return 6;
+		}
+	}
+
+	while (!quit) {
+		log_reset_context();
+		osmo_select_main(0);
+	}
+
+	talloc_free(root_ctx);
+	talloc_free(tall_vty_ctx);
+
+	return 0;
+}