diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ccc22abd..8f8dfb3d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 build
 *.pyc
 *.egg-info
+.tox
diff --git a/rhostest_tempest_plugin/config.py b/rhostest_tempest_plugin/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a7cade9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rhostest_tempest_plugin/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Copyright 2016
+# All Rights Reserved.
+#
+#    Licensed 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.
+
+from oslo_config import cfg
+
+whitebox_plugin_group = cfg.OptGroup(name="whitebox_plugin",
+                                     title="Whitebox config options")
+
+WhiteboxPluginGroup = [
+    cfg.StrOpt("nova_db_hostname",
+               help="Hostname or address of the nova db host."),
+    cfg.StrOpt("nova_db_username",
+               help="Username for the database connection."),
+    cfg.StrOpt("nova_db_password",
+               help="Password for the database connection."),
+    cfg.StrOpt("nova_db_database",
+               help="The database name for the nova database connection."),
+
+
+]
diff --git a/rhostest_tempest_plugin/lib/__init__.py b/rhostest_tempest_plugin/lib/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/rhostest_tempest_plugin/lib/mysql.py b/rhostest_tempest_plugin/lib/mysql.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ea66285
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rhostest_tempest_plugin/lib/mysql.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# Copyright 2016
+# All Rights Reserved.
+#
+#    Licensed 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.
+import MySQLdb
+
+from tempest import config
+
+
+CONF = config.CONF
+
+
+class Client(object):
+
+    def __init__(self, dbconf=CONF):
+        self.db_config = {
+            "username": dbconf.whitebox_plugin.nova_db_username,
+            "password": dbconf.whitebox_plugin.nova_db_password,
+            "host": dbconf.whitebox_plugin.nova_db_hostname,
+            "database": dbconf.whitebox_plugin.nova_db_database,
+        }
+
+    def connect(self):
+        return MySQLdb.connect(
+            self.db_config['host'],
+            self.db_config['username'],
+            self.db_config['password'],
+            self.db_config['database'],
+        )
+
+default_client = Client()
diff --git a/rhostest_tempest_plugin/plugin.py b/rhostest_tempest_plugin/plugin.py
index 4a7e5299..da4e7b6c 100644
--- a/rhostest_tempest_plugin/plugin.py
+++ b/rhostest_tempest_plugin/plugin.py
@@ -16,8 +16,11 @@
 
 import os
 
+from tempest import config
 from tempest.test_discover import plugins
 
+from rhostest_tempest_plugin import config as project_config
+
 
 class RHOSTempestPlugin(plugins.TempestPlugin):
     def load_tests(self):
@@ -28,7 +31,8 @@ class RHOSTempestPlugin(plugins.TempestPlugin):
         return full_test_dir, base_path
 
     def register_opts(self, conf):
-        pass
+        config.register_opt_group(conf, project_config.whitebox_plugin_group,
+                                  project_config.WhiteboxPluginGroup)
 
     def get_opt_lists(self):
         pass