diff --git a/tests/pylorax/test_sysutils.py b/tests/pylorax/test_sysutils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8b33e7a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pylorax/test_sysutils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2018 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# 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, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+import unittest
+import tempfile
+import os
+
+from pylorax.sysutils import joinpaths, touch, replace, chown_, chmod_, remove, linktree
+
+class SysUtilsTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def joinpaths_test(self):
+        self.assertEqual(joinpaths("foo", "bar", "baz"), "foo/bar/baz")
+
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tdname:
+            open(os.path.join(tdname, "real-file"), "w").write("lorax test file")
+            os.symlink(os.path.join(tdname, "real-file"), os.path.join(tdname, "link-file"))
+
+            self.assertEqual(joinpaths(tdname, "link-file", follow_symlinks=True),
+                             os.path.join(tdname, "real-file"))
+
+    def touch_test(self):
+        touch_file="/var/tmp/lorax-test-touch-file"
+        touch(touch_file)
+
+        self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(touch_file))
+        os.unlink(touch_file)
+
+    def replace_test(self):
+        f = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode="w+t", delete=False)
+        f.write("A few words to apply @AARDVARKS@ testing\n")
+        f.close()
+        replace(f.name, "@AARDVARKS@", "ant eaters")
+
+        self.assertEqual(open(f.name).readline(), "A few words to apply ant eaters testing\n")
+        os.unlink(f.name)
+
+    @unittest.skipUnless(os.geteuid() == 0, "requires root privileges")
+    def chown_test(self):
+        with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile() as f:
+            chown_(f.name, "nobody", "nobody")
+
+    def chmod_test(self):
+        with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile() as f:
+            chmod_(f.name, 0o777)
+            self.assertEqual(os.stat(f.name).st_mode, 0o100777)
+
+    def remove_test(self):
+        remove_file="/var/tmp/lorax-test-remove-file"
+        open(remove_file, "w").write("test was here")
+        remove(remove_file)
+        self.assertFalse(os.path.exists(remove_file))
+
+    def linktree_test(self):
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tdname:
+            path = os.path.join("one", "two", "three")
+            os.makedirs(os.path.join(tdname, path))
+            open(os.path.join(tdname, path, "lorax-link-test-file"), "w").write("test was here")
+
+            linktree(os.path.join(tdname, "one"), os.path.join(tdname, "copy"))
+
+            self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(os.path.join(tdname, "copy", "two", "three", "lorax-link-test-file")))