diff --git a/Makefile-ostbuild.am b/Makefile-ostbuild.am
index f32a834f..42074e22 100644
--- a/Makefile-ostbuild.am
+++ b/Makefile-ostbuild.am
@@ -19,21 +19,21 @@ ostbuild: src/ostbuild/ostbuild.in Makefile
 	sed -e s,@libdir\@,$(libdir), -e s,@datarootdir\@,$(datarootdir), -e s,@PYTHON\@,$(PYTHON), $< > $@.tmp && mv $@.tmp $@
 bin_SCRIPTS += ostbuild 
 
-bin_SCRIPTS += \
-	src/ostbuild/ostbuild-nice-and-log-output \
-	$(NULL)
-
 pyostbuilddir=$(libdir)/ostbuild/pyostbuild
 pyostbuild_PYTHON =					\
-	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/__init__.py		\
-	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtins.py		\
-	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/main.py			\
-	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/ostbuildlog.py		\
-	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/subprocess_helpers.py	\
+	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/buildutil.py		\
 	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_autodiscover_meta.py	\
+	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_build.py	\
 	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_chroot_compile_one.py	\
 	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_commit_artifacts.py	\
 	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_compile_one.py	\
+	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtins.py		\
+	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/__init__.py		\
+	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/kvfile.py		\
+	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/main.py			\
+	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/ostbuildlog.py		\
+	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/ostbuildrc.py		\
+	src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/subprocess_helpers.py	\
 	$(NULL)
 
 bin_PROGRAMS += src/ostbuild/ostbuild-user-chroot
@@ -41,3 +41,5 @@ bin_PROGRAMS += src/ostbuild/ostbuild-user-chroot
 ostbuild_user_chroot_SOURCES = src/ostbuild/ostbuild-user-chroot.c
 ostbuild_user_chroot_CFLAGS = $(AM_CFLAGS)
 
+bin_SCRIPTS += src/ostbuild/ostbuild-nice-and-log-output
+
diff --git a/gnomeos/3.4/glib.txt b/gnomeos/3.4/glib.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ddb33f68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnomeos/3.4/glib.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+SRC=git:git://git.gnome.org/glib
diff --git a/gnomeos/3.4/gobject-introspection.txt b/gnomeos/3.4/gobject-introspection.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..142d75ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnomeos/3.4/gobject-introspection.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+SRC=git:git://git.gnome.org/gobject-introspection
diff --git a/gnomeos/3.4/gtk-doc-stub.txt b/gnomeos/3.4/gtk-doc-stub.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..75dd7a4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnomeos/3.4/gtk-doc-stub.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+SRC=git:git://git.gnome.org/gtk-doc-stub
+COMPONENT=devel
diff --git a/gnomeos/3.4/libarchive.txt b/gnomeos/3.4/libarchive.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..99a349c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnomeos/3.4/libarchive.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+SRC=svn:http://libarchive.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/libarchive-read-only
+CONFIGURE_OPTS=--disable-bsdtar --disable-bsdcpio
diff --git a/gnomeos/3.4/libxslt.txt b/gnomeos/3.4/libxslt.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a060dfa5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnomeos/3.4/libxslt.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+SRC=git:git://git.gnome.org/libxslt
+EXTRA_OECONF = "--disable-static"
diff --git a/gnomeos/3.4/manifest.json b/gnomeos/3.4/manifest.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9f23be13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnomeos/3.4/manifest.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+  "name": "gnomeos-3.4",
+  "architectures": ["i686"],
+  "base": "yocto/gnomeos-3.4",
+
+  "components": [
+   		"gtk-doc-stub",
+   		"gobject-introspection",
+   		"glib"
+		]
+}
diff --git a/gnomeos/README b/gnomeos/README
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b0243226
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnomeos/README
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+Overview
+--------
+
+The build process is divided into two levels:
+
+1) Yocto
+2) ostbuild
+
+Yocto is used as a reliable, well-maintained bootstrapping tool.  It
+provides the basic filesystem layout as well as binaries for core
+build utilities like gcc and bash.  This gets us out of circular
+dependency problems.
+
+At the end, the Yocto build process generates two tarballs: one for a
+base "runtime", and one "devel" with all of the development tools like
+gcc.  We then import that into an OSTree branch
+e.g. "bases/gnomeos-3.4-yocto-i686-devel".
+
+Now we also assume that you have ostree installed on the host build
+system via e.g. jhbuild or RPM if doing a cross build.  The core
+ostbuild tool can then chroot into a checkout of the Yocto base, and
+start generating artifacts.
+
+Each generated artifact is committed to an OSTree branch like
+"artifacts/gnomeos-3.4-i686-devel/libxslt/master/runtime".  Then, a
+"compose" process merges together the individual filesystem trees into
+the final branches (e.g. gnomeos-3.4-i686-devel), and the process
+repeats.
+
+ostbuild details
+-------------------
+
+The simple goal of ostbuild is that it only takes as input a
+"manifest" which is basically just a list of components to build.  A
+component is a pure metadata file which includes the git repository
+URL and branch name, as well as ./configure flags (--enable-foo).
+
+There is no support for building from "tarballs" - I want the ability
+to review all of the code that goes in, and to efficiently store
+source code updates.
+
+For GNOME, tarballs are mostly pointless - it's easy enough to just
+run autogen.sh.  However there are two challenges:
+
+1) Tarballs for modules which self-build-depend may include
+   pre-generated files.  For example - flex's tarball includes a
+   generated .c file for the parser.  For these, we can either move
+   the module build to the Yocto level (thus giving a convenient way
+   to pull in host files), or possibly add the ability to
+   hardlink/copy in host binaries to ostbuild.
+
+2) Tarballs which include translations pulled from a different
+   location.  For example - bison.  For these, we basically have to
+   maintain our own git repositories.
+
+
diff --git a/gnomeos/README-testing-multiroot.md b/gnomeos/README-testing-multiroot.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 1eadf88c..00000000
--- a/gnomeos/README-testing-multiroot.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,104 +0,0 @@
-
-Experimenting with multiple roots
----------------------------------
-
-	$ mkdir gnomeos-chroot 
-	$ qemu-img create gnomeos.raw 2G
-	$ mkfs.ext2 -F gnomeos.raw
-	$ mount -o loop gnomeos.raw gnomeos-chroot
-	$ debootstrap --arch=amd64 squeeze gnomeos-chroot
-
-<http://wiki.debian.org/QEMU#Setting_up_a_testing.2BAC8-unstable_system>
-
-Follow the steps for making a disk image, downloading the business
-card CD, booting it in QEMU and running through the installer.  Note I
-used the QCOW format, since it is more efficient.  Here are the steps
-I chose:
-
-	$ qemu-img create -f qcow2 debian.qcow 2G
-	$ qemu-kvm -hda debian.qcow -cdrom debian-testing-amd64-businesscard.iso -boot d -m 512
-
-Test that the image works after installation too, before you start
-modifying things below!  Remember to remove the -cdrom and -boot
-options from the installation QEMU command.  It should just look like
-this:
-
-$ qemu-kvm -hda debian.qcow -m 512
-
-
-Modifying the image
--------------------
-
-You now have a disk image in debian.img, and the first partition
-should be ext4.
-
-The first thing I did was mount the image, and move the "read only"
-parts of the OS to a new directory "r0".
-
-	$ mkdir /mnt/debian
-	$ modprobe nbd max_part=8
-	$ qemu-nbd --connect=/dev/nbd0 debian.qcow
-	$ mount /dev/nbd0p1 /mnt/debian/
-	$ cd /mnt/debian
-	$ mkdir r0
-	$ DIRS="bin dev etc lib lib32 lib64 media mnt opt proc root run sbin selinux srv sys tmp usr"
-	$ mv $DIRS r0 
-	$ mkdir r0/{boot,var,home}
-	$ touch r0/{boot,var,home}/EMPTY
-
-Note that /boot, /home and /var are left shared; we create empty
-destination directories that will be mounted over.  Now with it still
-mounted, we need to move on to the next part - modifying the initrd.
-
-Then I started hacking on the initrd, making understand how to chroot
-to "r0".  I ended up with two patches - one to util-linux, and one to
-the "init" script in Debian's initrd.
-
-See:
-    0001-switch_root-Add-subroot-option.patch
-    0001-Add-support-for-subroot-option.patch
-
-$ git clone --depth=1 git://github.com/karelzak/util-linux.git
-$ cd util-linux
-$ patch -p1 -i ../0001-switch_root-Add-subroot-option.patch
-$ ./autogen.sh; ./configure ; make
-
-Now you have a modified "sys-utils/switch_root" binary.  Let's next
-patch the initrd and rebuild it:
-
-$ cd ..
-
-Make a backup:
-
-	$ mkdir initrd
-	$ cp /mnt/debian/boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-1-amd64{,.orig}
-
-Unpack, and patch:
-
-	$ zcat /mnt/debian/boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-1-amd64 | (cd initrd; cpio -d -i -v)
-	$ (cd initrd && patch -p1 -i ../0001-Add-support-for-subroot-option.patch)
-
-Repack:
-
-	$ (cd initrd; find | cpio -o -H newc) | gzip > /mnt/debian/boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-1-amd64.new
-	$ mv /mnt/debian/boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-1-amd64{.new,}
-
-Unmount:
-
-	$ umount /mnt/debian
-
-Running hacktree inside the system
-----------------------------------
-
-This means that after booting, every process would be in /r0 -
-including any hacktree process.  Assuming objects live in say
-/objects, we need some way for hacktree to switch things.  I think
-just chroot breakout would work.  This has the advantage the daemon
-can continue to use libraries from the active host.
-
-Note there is a self-reference here (as is present in Debian/Fedora
-etc.) - the update system would at present be shipped with the system
-itself.  Should they be independent?  That has advantages and
-disadvantages.  I think we should just try really really hard to avoid
-breaking hacktree in updates.
-
diff --git a/gnomeos/yocto/commit-yocto-build.sh b/gnomeos/yocto/commit-yocto-build.sh
index f622d36a..12a97029 100755
--- a/gnomeos/yocto/commit-yocto-build.sh
+++ b/gnomeos/yocto/commit-yocto-build.sh
@@ -26,16 +26,21 @@ BRANCH=$1
 test -n "$BRANCH" || usage
 shift
 
-ARCH=x86
+YOCTO_ARCH=x86
+MACHINE=i686
+
+BUILDROOT="gnomeos-3.4-${MACHINE}-${BRANCH}"
+BASE="bases/yocto/${BUILDROOT}"
 
 OSTREE_VER=$(cd $SCRIPT_SRCDIR && git describe)
 
 BUILDDIR=$WORKDIR/tmp-eglibc
 
 OSTREE_REPO=$WORKDIR/repo
-BUILD_TAR=$BUILDDIR/deploy/images/gnomeos-contents-$BRANCH-qemu${ARCH}.tar.gz
+BUILD_TAR=$BUILDDIR/deploy/images/gnomeos-contents-$BRANCH-qemu${YOCTO_ARCH}.tar.gz
 
 BUILD_TIME=$(date -r $BUILD_TAR)
 
-ostree --repo=${OSTREE_REPO} commit --skip-if-unchanged -s "Build from OSTree ${OSTREE_VER}" -b "gnomeos-yocto-$ARCH-$BRANCH" --tree=tar=${BUILD_TAR}
-ostree --repo=${OSTREE_REPO} diff "gnomeos-yocto-$ARCH-$BRANCH"^ "gnomeos-yocto-$ARCH-$BRANCH"
+ostree --repo=${OSTREE_REPO} commit --skip-if-unchanged -s "Build from OSTree ${OSTREE_VER}" -b "${BASE}" --tree=tar=${BUILD_TAR}
+ostree --repo=${OSTREE_REPO} diff "${BASE}"^ "${BASE}" || true
+cp ${OSTREE_REPO}/refs/heads/${BASE} ${OSTREE_REPO}/refs/heads/${BUILDROOT}
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/ostbuild-fetch b/src/ostbuild/ostbuild-fetch
deleted file mode 100755
index 2c3f8575..00000000
--- a/src/ostbuild/ostbuild-fetch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python
-#
-# Copyright 2011 Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>
-# Licensed under the new-BSD license (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php)
-
-import os,sys,subprocess,tempfile,re
-
-for 
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/buildutil.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/buildutil.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..26bea32a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/buildutil.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2011 Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>
+#
+# This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+# version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This library 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
+# Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this library; if not, write to the
+# Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+# Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+
+import re
+
+ARTIFACT_RE = re.compile(r'^artifact-([^,]+),([^,]+),([^,]+),([^,]+),(.+)-((?:runtime)|(?:devel))\.tar\.gz$')
+
+def parse_artifact_name(artifact_basename):
+    match = ARTIFACT_RE.match(artifact_basename)
+    if match is None:
+        raise ValueError("Invalid artifact basename %s" % (artifact_basename))
+    return {'buildroot': match.group(1),
+            'buildroot_version': match.group(2),
+            'name': match.group(3),
+            'branch': match.group(4),
+            'version': match.group(5),
+            'type': match.group(6)}
+
+def branch_name_for_artifact(a):
+    return 'artifacts/%s/%s/%s/%s' % (a['buildroot'],
+                                      a['name'],
+                                      a['branch'],
+                                      a['type'])
+
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_autodiscover_meta.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_autodiscover_meta.py
index 68080248..3d7ec8f8 100755
--- a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_autodiscover_meta.py
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_autodiscover_meta.py
@@ -72,10 +72,7 @@ class OstbuildAutodiscoverMeta(builtins.Builtin):
         
     def _discover_version_from_git(self):
         if os.path.isdir('.git'):
-            try:
-                version = subprocess.check_output(['git', 'describe'])
-            except subprocess.CalledProcessError, e:
-                version = subprocess.check_output(['git', 'rev-parse', 'HEAD'])
+            version = subprocess.check_output(['git', 'describe', '--long', '--abbrev=42', '--always'])
             return version.strip()
         return None
         
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_build.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_build.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..fa13f83d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_build.py
@@ -0,0 +1,262 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2011 Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>
+#
+# This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+# version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This library 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
+# Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this library; if not, write to the
+# Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+# Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+
+import os,sys,subprocess,tempfile,re,shutil
+import argparse
+import json
+
+from . import builtins
+from .ostbuildlog import log, fatal
+from .subprocess_helpers import run_sync, run_sync_get_output
+from . import ostbuildrc
+from . import buildutil
+from . import kvfile
+
+class BuildOptions(object):
+    pass
+
+class OstbuildBuild(builtins.Builtin):
+    name = "build"
+    short_description = "Rebuild all artifacts from the given manifest"
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        builtins.Builtin.__init__(self)
+
+    def _ensure_vcs_mirror(self, name, keytype, uri, branch):
+        assert keytype == 'git'
+        mirror = os.path.join(self.srcdir, name)
+        tmp_mirror = mirror + '.tmp'
+        if os.path.isdir(tmp_mirror):
+            shutil.rmtree(tmp_mirror)
+        if not os.path.isdir(mirror):
+            run_sync(['git', 'clone', '--mirror', uri, tmp_mirror])
+            os.rename(tmp_mirror, mirror)
+        return mirror
+
+    def _get_vcs_checkout(self, name, keytype, mirrordir, branch):
+        checkoutdir = os.path.join(self.srcdir, '_checkouts')
+        if not os.path.isdir(checkoutdir):
+            os.makedirs(checkoutdir)
+        dest = os.path.join(checkoutdir, name)
+        tmp_dest = dest + '.tmp'
+        if os.path.isdir(dest):
+            shutil.rmtree(dest)
+        if os.path.isdir(tmp_dest):
+            shutil.rmtree(tmp_dest)
+        subprocess.check_call(['git', 'clone', '--depth=1', '-q', mirrordir, tmp_dest])
+        subprocess.check_call(['git', 'checkout', '-q', branch], cwd=tmp_dest)
+        subprocess.check_call(['git', 'submodule', 'update', '--init'], cwd=tmp_dest)
+        os.rename(tmp_dest, dest)
+        return dest
+
+    def _get_vcs_version_from_checkout(self, name):
+        vcsdir = os.path.join(self.srcdir, name)
+        return subprocess.check_output(['git', 'rev-parse', 'HEAD'], cwd=vcsdir)
+
+    def _parse_src_key(self, srckey):
+        idx = srckey.find(':')
+        if idx < 0:
+            raise ValueError("Invalid SRC uri=%s" % (srckey, ))
+        keytype = srckey[:idx]
+        if keytype not in ('git'):
+            raise ValueError("Unsupported SRC uri=%s" % (srckey, ))
+        uri = srckey[idx+1:]
+        idx = uri.rfind('#')
+        if idx < 0:
+            branch = "master"
+        else:
+            branch = uri[idx+1:]
+            uri = uri[0:idx]
+        return (keytype, uri, branch)
+
+    def _parse_artifact_vcs_version(self, ver):
+        idx = ver.rfind('-')
+        if idx > 0:
+            vcs_ver = ver[idx+1:]
+        else:
+            vcs_ver = ver
+        if not vcs_ver.startswith('g'):
+            raise ValueError("Invalid artifact version '%s'" % (ver, ))
+        return vcs_ver[1:]
+
+    def _get_ostbuild_chroot_args(self, architecture):
+        current_machine = os.uname()[4]
+        if current_machine != architecture:
+            args = ['setarch', architecture]
+        else:
+            args = []
+        args.extend(['ostbuild', 'chroot-compile-one',
+                     '--repo=' + self.repo])
+        return args
+
+    def _launch_debug_shell(self, architecture, buildroot, cwd=None):
+        args = self._get_ostbuild_chroot_args(architecture)
+        args.extend(['--buildroot=' + buildroot,
+                     '--workdir=' + self.workdir,
+                     '--debug-shell'])
+        run_sync(args, cwd=cwd, fatal_on_error=False, keep_stdin=True)
+        fatal("Exiting after debug shell")
+
+    def _build_one_component(self, name, architecture, meta):
+        (keytype, uri, branch) = self._parse_src_key(meta['SRC'])
+        component_vcs_mirror = self._ensure_vcs_mirror(name, keytype, uri, branch)
+        component_src = self._get_vcs_checkout(name, keytype, component_vcs_mirror, branch)
+        buildroot = '%s-%s-devel' % (self.manifest['name'], architecture)
+        branchname = 'artifacts/%s/%s/%s' % (buildroot, name, branch)
+        current_buildroot_version = run_sync_get_output(['ostree', '--repo=' + self.repo,
+                                                         'rev-parse', buildroot])
+        current_buildroot_version = current_buildroot_version.strip()
+        previous_commit_version = run_sync_get_output(['ostree', '--repo=' + self.repo,
+                                                       'rev-parse', branchname],
+                                                      stderr=open('/dev/null', 'w'),
+                                                      none_on_error=True)
+        if previous_commit_version is not None:
+            log("Previous build of '%s' is %s" % (branchname, previous_commit_version))
+            previous_artifact_version = run_sync_get_output(['ostree', '--repo=' + self.repo,
+                                                             'show', '--print-metadata-key=ostbuild-artifact-version', previous_commit_version])
+            previous_artifact_version = previous_artifact_version.strip()
+            previous_buildroot_version = run_sync_get_output(['ostree', '--repo=' + self.repo,
+                                                              'show', '--print-metadata-key=ostbuild-buildroot-version', previous_commit_version])
+            previous_buildroot_version = previous_buildroot_version.strip()
+            
+            previous_vcs_version = self._parse_artifact_vcs_version(previous_artifact_version)
+            current_vcs_version = self._get_vcs_version_from_checkout(name)
+            vcs_version_matches = False
+            if previous_vcs_version == current_vcs_version:
+                vcs_version_matches = True
+                log("VCS version is unchanged from '%s'" % (previous_vcs_version, ))
+            else:
+                log("VCS version is now '%s', was '%s'" % (current_vcs_version, previous_vcs_version))
+            buildroot_version_matches = False
+            if vcs_version_matches:    
+                buildroot_version_matches = (current_buildroot_version == previous_buildroot_version)
+                if buildroot_version_matches:
+                    log("Already have build '%s' of src commit '%s' for '%s' in buildroot '%s'" % (previous_commit_version, previous_vcs_version, branchname, buildroot))
+                    return
+                else:
+                    log("Buildroot is now '%s'" % (current_buildroot_version, ))
+        else:
+            log("No previous build for '%s' found" % (branchname, ))
+        
+        component_resultdir = os.path.join(self.workdir, name, 'results')
+        if os.path.isdir(component_resultdir):
+            shutil.rmtree(component_resultdir)
+        os.makedirs(component_resultdir)
+
+        chroot_args = self._get_ostbuild_chroot_args(architecture)
+        chroot_args.extend(['--buildroot=' + buildroot,
+                            '--workdir=' + self.workdir,
+                            '--resultdir=' + component_resultdir])
+        if self.buildopts.shell_on_failure:
+            ecode = run_sync(chroot_args, cwd=component_src, fatal_on_error=False)
+            if ecode != 0:
+                self._launch_debug_shell(architecture, buildroot, cwd=component_src)
+        else:
+            run_sync(chroot_args, cwd=component_src, fatal_on_error=True)
+        artifact_files = []
+        for name in os.listdir(component_resultdir):
+            if name.startswith('artifact-'):
+                log("Generated artifact file: %s" % (name, ))
+                artifact_files.append(os.path.join(component_resultdir, name))
+        assert len(artifact_files) >= 1 and len(artifact_files) <= 2
+        run_sync(['ostbuild', 'commit-artifacts',
+                  '--repo=' + self.repo] + artifact_files)
+        artifacts = []
+        for filename in artifact_files:
+            parsed = buildutil.parse_artifact_name(os.path.basename(filename))
+            artifacts.append(parsed)
+        def _sort_artifact(a, b):
+            if a['type'] == b['type']:
+                return 0
+            elif a['type'] == 'runtime':
+                return -1
+            return 1
+        artifacts.sort(_sort_artifact)
+        return artifacts
+
+    def _compose(self, suffix, artifacts):
+        compose_contents = ['bases/' + self.manifest['base'] + '-' + suffix]
+        compose_contents.extend(artifacts)
+        child_args = ['ostree', '--repo=' + self.repo, 'compose',
+                      '-b', self.manifest['name'] + '-' + suffix, '-s', 'Compose']
+        child_args.extend(compose_contents)
+        run_sync(child_args)
+    
+    def execute(self, argv):
+        parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=self.short_description)
+        parser.add_argument('--manifest', required=True)
+        parser.add_argument('--start-at')
+        parser.add_argument('--shell-on-failure', action='store_true')
+        parser.add_argument('--debug-shell', action='store_true')
+
+        args = parser.parse_args(argv)
+        
+        self.parse_config()
+
+        self.buildopts = BuildOptions()
+        self.buildopts.shell_on_failure = args.shell_on_failure
+
+        self.manifest = json.load(open(args.manifest))
+
+        if args.debug_shell:
+            debug_shell_arch = self.manifest['architectures'][0]
+            debug_shell_buildroot = '%s-%s-devel' % (self.manifest['name'], debug_shell_arch)
+            self._launch_debug_shell(debug_shell_arch, debug_shell_buildroot)
+
+        dirname = os.path.dirname(args.manifest)
+        components = self.manifest['components']
+        runtime_components = []
+        devel_components = []
+        runtime_artifacts = []
+        devel_artifacts = []
+        if args.start_at:
+            start_at_index = -1 
+            for i,component_name in enumerate(components):
+                if component_name == args.start_at:
+                    start_at_index = i
+                    break
+            if start_at_index == -1:
+                fatal("Unknown component '%s' for --start-at" % (args.start_at, ))
+        else:
+            start_at_index = 0
+            
+        for component_name in components[start_at_index:]:
+            for architecture in self.manifest['architectures']:
+                path = os.path.join(dirname, component_name + '.txt')
+                f = open(path)
+                component_meta = kvfile.parse(f)
+    
+                artifact_branches = self._build_one_component(component_name, architecture, component_meta)
+    
+                target_component = component_meta.get('COMPONENT')
+                if target_component == 'devel':
+                    devel_components.append(component_name)
+                else:
+                    runtime_components.append(component_name)
+                    for branch in artifact_branches:
+                        if branch['type'] == 'runtime':
+                            runtime_artifacts.append(branch)
+                devel_artifacts.extend(artifact_branches)
+
+                f.close()
+
+                devel_branches = map(buildutil.branch_name_for_artifact, devel_artifacts)
+                self._compose(architecture + '-devel', devel_branches)
+                runtime_branches = map(buildutil.branch_name_for_artifact, runtime_artifacts)
+                self._compose(architecture + '-runtime', runtime_branches)
+        
+builtins.register(OstbuildBuild)
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_chroot_compile_one.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_chroot_compile_one.py
index 9414fad7..37b15ac0 100755
--- a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_chroot_compile_one.py
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_chroot_compile_one.py
@@ -39,13 +39,13 @@ class OstbuildChrootCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
     short_description = "Build artifacts from the current source directory in a chroot"
 
     def execute(self, argv):
-        parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Build a module in a given root")
+        parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=self.short_description)
         parser.add_argument('--workdir')
-        parser.add_argument('--repo')
+        parser.add_argument('--repo', required=True)
         parser.add_argument('--resultdir')
-        parser.add_argument('--branch')
+        parser.add_argument('--buildroot', required=True)
         parser.add_argument('--meta')
-        parser.add_argument('--debug-shell', type=bool)
+        parser.add_argument('--debug-shell', action='store_true')
         
         args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ class OstbuildChrootCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
         
         workdir_is_tmp = (args.workdir is None)
         if workdir_is_tmp:
-            workdir = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='ostree-chroot-compile-')
+            workdir = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='ostbuild-chroot-compile-')
         else:
             workdir = args.workdir
             
@@ -79,10 +79,10 @@ class OstbuildChrootCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
             shutil.rmtree(child_tmpdir)
         os.mkdir(child_tmpdir)
         
-        rev = subprocess.check_output(['ostree', '--repo=' + args.repo, 'rev-parse', args.branch])
+        rev = subprocess.check_output(['ostree', '--repo=' + args.repo, 'rev-parse', args.buildroot])
         rev=rev.strip()
         
-        metadata['BUILDROOT'] = args.branch
+        metadata['BUILDROOT'] = args.buildroot
         metadata['BUILDROOT_VERSION'] = rev
         
         rootdir = os.path.join(workdir, 'root-' + rev)
@@ -130,14 +130,14 @@ class OstbuildChrootCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
                       '--mount-proc', '/proc', 
                       '--mount-bind', '/dev', '/dev',
                       '--mount-bind', child_tmpdir, '/tmp',
-                      '--mount-bind', os.getcwd(), chroot_sourcedir,
-                      '--mount-bind', args.resultdir, '/ostbuild/results',
-                      rootdir,
-                      '/bin/sh']
+                      '--mount-bind', os.getcwd(), chroot_sourcedir]
+        if args.resultdir:
+            child_args.extend(['--mount-bind', args.resultdir, '/ostbuild/results'])
+        child_args.extend([rootdir, '/bin/sh'])
         if not args.debug_shell:
-            child_args += ['-c',
-                     'cd "%s" && ostbuild-compile-one-impl OSTBUILD_RESULTDIR=/ostbuild/results OSTBUILD_META=_ostbuild-meta' % (chroot_sourcedir, )
-                     ]
+            child_args.extend(['-c',
+                               'cd "%s" && ostbuild compile-one --ostbuild-resultdir=/ostbuild/results --ostbuild-meta=_ostbuild-meta' % (chroot_sourcedir, )
+                               ])
         run_sync(child_args, env=BUILD_ENV)
         
         if workdir_is_tmp:
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_commit_artifacts.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_commit_artifacts.py
index af78e71d..6f6f63ca 100644
--- a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_commit_artifacts.py
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_commit_artifacts.py
@@ -26,13 +26,13 @@ import argparse
 from . import builtins
 from .ostbuildlog import log, fatal
 from .subprocess_helpers import run_sync
+from . import buildutil
 
 class OstbuildCommitArtifacts(builtins.Builtin):
     name = "commit-artifacts"
     short_description = "Commit artifacts to their corresponding repository branches"
 
     def execute(self, argv):
-        artifact_re = re.compile(r'^artifact-([^,]+),([^,]+),([^,]+),([^,]+),([^.]+)\.tar\.gz$')
 
         parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(self.short_description)
         parser.add_argument('--repo')
@@ -45,21 +45,14 @@ class OstbuildCommitArtifacts(builtins.Builtin):
 
         for arg in args.artifacts:
             basename = os.path.basename(arg)
-            match = artifact_re.match(basename)
-            if match is None:
-                fatal("Invalid artifact name: %s" % (arg, ))
-            buildroot = match.group(1)
-            buildroot_version = match.group(2)
-            name = match.group(3)
-            branch = match.group(4)
-            version = match.group(5)
+            parsed = buildutil.parse_artifact_name(basename)
     
-            branch_name = 'artifacts/%s/%s/%s' % (buildroot, name, branch)
+            branch_name = buildutil.branch_name_for_artifact(parsed)
 
             run_sync(['ostree', '--repo=' + args.repo,
-                      'commit', '-b', branch_name, '-s', 'Build ' + version,
-                     '--add-metadata-string=ostree-buildroot-version=' + buildroot_version,
-                     '--add-metadata-string=ostree-artifact-version=' + version,
+                      'commit', '-b', branch_name, '-s', 'Build ' + parsed['version'],
+                     '--add-metadata-string=ostbuild-buildroot-version=' + parsed['buildroot_version'],
+                     '--add-metadata-string=ostbuild-artifact-version=' + parsed['version'],
                      '--skip-if-unchanged', '--tar-autocreate-parents', '--tree=tar=' + arg])
                      
 builtins.register(OstbuildCommitArtifacts)
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_compile_one.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_compile_one.py
index edcae1c7..43067065 100755
--- a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_compile_one.py
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtin_compile_one.py
@@ -36,43 +36,12 @@ _BLACKLIST_REGEXPS = map(re.compile,
 _DEVEL_REGEXPS = map(re.compile,
                      [r'/usr/include/',
                       r'/usr/share/pkgconfig/',
+                      r'/usr/share/aclocal/',
                       r'/(?:usr/)lib(?:|(?:32)|(?:64))/pkgconfig/.*\.pc$',
                       r'/(?:usr/)lib(?:|(?:32)|(?:64))/[^/]+\.so$'
+                      r'/(?:usr/)lib(?:|(?:32)|(?:64))/[^/]+\.a$'
                       ])
 
-class BuildSystemScanner(object):
-    @classmethod
-    def _find_file(cls, names):
-        for name in names:
-            if os.path.exists(name):
-                return name
-        return None
-
-    @classmethod
-    def get_configure_source_script(cls):
-        return cls._find_file(('./configure.ac', './configure.in'))
-
-    @classmethod
-    def get_configure_script(cls):
-        return cls._find_file(('./configure', ))
-
-    @classmethod
-    def get_bootstrap_script(cls):
-        return cls._find_file(('./autogen.sh', ))
-
-    @classmethod
-    def get_silent_rules(cls):
-        src = cls.get_configure_source_script()
-        if not src:
-            return False
-        f = open(src)
-        for line in f:
-            if line.find('AM_SILENT_RULES') >= 0:
-                f.close()
-                return True
-        f.close()
-        return False
-
 class OstbuildCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
     name = "compile-one"
     short_description = "Build artifacts from the current source directory"
@@ -81,25 +50,12 @@ class OstbuildCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
         builtins.Builtin.__init__(self)
         self.tempfiles = []
 
-    def _search_file(self, filename, pattern):
-        f = open(filename)
-        for line in f:
-            if line.startswith(pattern):
-                f.close()
-                return line
-        f.close()
-        return None
-
-    def _find_buildapi_makevariable(self, name, builddir='.'):
-        var = '.%s:' % (name, )
-        line = None
-        path = os.path.join(builddir, 'Makefile.in')
-        if os.path.exists(path):
-            line = self._search_file(path, var)
-        path = os.path.join(builddir, 'Makefile')
-        if not line and os.path.exists(path):
-            line = self._search_file(path, var)
-        return line is not None
+    def _has_buildapi_configure_variable(self, name):
+        var = '#buildapi-variable-%s' % (name, )
+        for line in open('configure'):
+            if line.find(var) >= 0:
+                return True
+        return False
 
     def execute(self, args):
         self.default_buildapi_jobs = ['-j', '%d' % (cpu_count() * 2, )]
@@ -134,9 +90,9 @@ class OstbuildCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
 
         for arg in args:
             if arg.startswith('--ostbuild-resultdir='):
-                self.ostbuild_resultdir=arg[len('ostbuild-resultdir='):]
-            elif arg.startswith('ostbuild-meta='):
-                self.ostbuild_meta=arg[len('ostbuild-meta='):]
+                self.ostbuild_resultdir=arg[len('--ostbuild-resultdir='):]
+            elif arg.startswith('--ostbuild-meta='):
+                self.ostbuild_meta=arg[len('--ostbuild-meta='):]
             elif arg.startswith('--'):
                 self.configargs.append(arg)
             else:
@@ -145,10 +101,10 @@ class OstbuildCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
         self.metadata = {}
 
         if self.ostbuild_meta is None:
-            output = subprocess.check_output(['ostbuild-autodiscover-meta'])
+            output = subprocess.check_output(['ostbuild', 'autodiscover-meta'])
             ostbuild_meta_f = StringIO(output)
         else:
-            ostbuild_meta_f = open(ostbuild_meta)
+            ostbuild_meta_f = open(self.ostbuild_meta)
 
         for line in ostbuild_meta_f:
             (k,v) = line.split('=', 1)
@@ -160,46 +116,33 @@ class OstbuildCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
             if k not in self.metadata:
                 fatal('Missing required key "%s" in metadata' % (k, ))
 
-        self.phase_bootstrap()
+        autogen_script = None
+        if not os.path.exists('configure'):
+            log("No 'configure' script found, looking for autogen/bootstrap")
+            for name in ['autogen', 'autogen.sh', 'bootstrap']:
+                if os.path.exists(name):
+                    log("Using bootstrap script '%s'" % (name, ))
+                    autogen_script = name
+            if autogen_script is None:
+                fatal("No configure or autogen script detected; unknown buildsystem")
 
-    def phase_bootstrap(self):
-        have_configure = BuildSystemScanner.get_configure_script() 
-        have_configure_source = BuildSystemScanner.get_configure_source_script()
-        if not (have_configure or have_configure_source):
-            fatal("No configure or bootstrap script detected; unknown buildsystem")
-            return
-    
-        need_v1 = BuildSystemScanner.get_silent_rules()
-        if need_v1:
-            log("Detected AM_SILENT_RULES, adding --disable-silent-rules to configure")
-            self.configargs.append('--disable-silent-rules')
-    
-        if have_configure:
-            self.phase_configure()
+        if autogen_script is not None:
+            env = dict(os.environ)
+            env['NOCONFIGURE'] = '1'
+            run_sync(['./' + autogen_script], env=env)
         else:
-            bootstrap = BuildSystemScanner.get_bootstrap_script()
-            if bootstrap:
-                log("Detected bootstrap script: %s, using it" % (bootstrap, ))
-                args = [bootstrap]
-                # Add NOCONFIGURE; GNOME style scripts use this
-                env = dict(os.environ)
-                env['NOCONFIGURE'] = '1'
-                run_sync(args, env=env)
-            else:
-                log("No bootstrap script found; using generic autoreconf")
-                run_sync(['autoreconf', '-f', '-i'])
-            self.phase_configure()
+            log("Using existing 'configure' script")
     
-    def phase_configure(self):
         use_builddir = True
-        doesnot_support_builddir = self._find_buildapi_makevariable('buildapi-no-builddir')
+        doesnot_support_builddir = self._has_buildapi_configure_variable('no-builddir')
         if doesnot_support_builddir:
-            log("Found .buildapi-no-builddir; copying source tree to _build")
-            shutil.rmtree('_build')
-            os.mkdir('_build')
+            log("Found no-builddir Build API variable; copying source tree to _build")
+            if os.path.isdir('_build'):
+                shutil.rmtree('_build')
             shutil.copytree('.', '_build', symlinks=True,
                             ignore=shutil.ignore_patterns('_build'))
             use_builddir = False
+            builddir = '.'
     
         if use_builddir:
             builddir = '_build'
@@ -207,26 +150,20 @@ class OstbuildCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
             if not os.path.isdir(builddir):
                 os.mkdir(builddir)
     
-        configstatus = 'config.status'
-        if not os.path.exists(configstatus):
-            if use_builddir:
-                args = ['../configure']
-            else:
-                args = ['./configure']
-            args.extend(self.configargs)
-            if use_builddir:
-                run_sync(args, cwd=builddir)
-            else:
-                run_sync(args)
+        if use_builddir:
+            args = ['../configure']
         else:
-            log("Found %s, skipping configure" % (configstatus, ))
-        self.phase_build(builddir=builddir)
-    
-    build_status = False
-    
-    def phase_build(self, builddir=None):
-        if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(builddir, 'Makefile')):
+            args = ['./configure']
+        args.extend(self.configargs)
+        if use_builddir:
+            run_sync(args, cwd=builddir)
+        else:
+            run_sync(args)
+
+        makefile_path = os.path.join(builddir, 'Makefile')
+        if not os.path.exists(makefile_path):
             fatal("No Makefile found")
+
         args = list(self.makeargs)
         user_specified_jobs = False
         for arg in args:
@@ -234,35 +171,18 @@ class OstbuildCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
                 user_specified_jobs = True
     
         if not user_specified_jobs:
-            notparallel = self._find_buildapi_makevariable('NOTPARALLEL', builddir=builddir)
-            if not notparallel:
+            has_notparallel = False
+            for line in open(makefile_path):
+                if line.startswith('.NOTPARALLEL'):
+                    has_notparallel = True
+                    log("Found .NOTPARALLEL")
+
+            if not has_notparallel:
                 log("Didn't find NOTPARALLEL, using parallel make by default")
                 args.extend(self.default_buildapi_jobs)
     
         run_sync(args, cwd=builddir)
-    
-        self.phase_make_artifacts(builddir=builddir)
-    
-    def make_artifact(self, name, from_files, tempdir=None, resultdir=None):
-        targz_name = name + '.tar.gz'
-        (fd,filelist_temp)=tempfile.mkstemp(prefix='ostree-filelist-%s' % (name, ))
-        os.close(fd)
-        self.tempfiles.append(filelist_temp)
-        f = open(filelist_temp, 'w')
-        for filename in from_files:
-            assert ('\n' not in filename)
-            f.write(filename)
-            f.write('\n')
-        f.close()
-        if resultdir:
-            result_path = os.path.join(resultdir, targz_name)
-        else:
-            result_path = targz_name
-        args = ['tar', '-c', '-z', '-C', tempdir, '-f', result_path, '-T', filelist_temp]
-        run_sync(args)
-        log("created: %s" % (os.path.abspath (result_path), ))
-    
-    def phase_make_artifacts(self, builddir=None):
+
         name = self.metadata['NAME']
         assert ',' not in name
         branch = self.metadata['BRANCH']
@@ -280,7 +200,7 @@ class OstbuildCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
     
         artifact_prefix='artifact-%s,%s,%s,%s,%s' % (root_name, root_version, name, branch, version)
 
-        tempdir = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='ostree-build-%s-' % (name,))
+        tempdir = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='ostbuild-%s-' % (name,))
         self.tempfiles.append(tempdir)
         args = ['make', 'install', 'DESTDIR=' + tempdir]
         run_sync(args, cwd=builddir)
@@ -318,9 +238,6 @@ class OstbuildCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
             self.make_artifact(artifact_prefix + '-devel', devel_files, tempdir=tempdir, resultdir=self.ostbuild_resultdir)
         self.make_artifact(artifact_prefix + '-runtime', runtime_files, tempdir=tempdir, resultdir=self.ostbuild_resultdir)
 
-        self.phase_complete()
-
-    def phase_complete(self):
         for tmpname in self.tempfiles:
             assert os.path.isabs(tmpname)
             if os.path.isdir(tmpname):
@@ -331,5 +248,24 @@ class OstbuildCompileOne(builtins.Builtin):
                     pass
                 except OSError, e:
                     pass
-
+    
+    def make_artifact(self, name, from_files, tempdir=None, resultdir=None):
+        targz_name = name + '.tar.gz'
+        (fd,filelist_temp)=tempfile.mkstemp(prefix='ostbuild-filelist-%s' % (name, ))
+        os.close(fd)
+        self.tempfiles.append(filelist_temp)
+        f = open(filelist_temp, 'w')
+        for filename in from_files:
+            assert ('\n' not in filename)
+            f.write(filename)
+            f.write('\n')
+        f.close()
+        if resultdir:
+            result_path = os.path.join(resultdir, targz_name)
+        else:
+            result_path = targz_name
+        args = ['tar', '-c', '-z', '-C', tempdir, '-f', result_path, '-T', filelist_temp]
+        run_sync(args)
+        log("created: %s" % (os.path.abspath (result_path), ))
+    
 builtins.register(OstbuildCompileOne)
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtins.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtins.py
index a398b6aa..b997c07e 100755
--- a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtins.py
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/builtins.py
@@ -21,12 +21,24 @@ import os
 import sys
 import argparse
 
+from . import ostbuildrc
+from .ostbuildlog import log, fatal
+
 _all_builtins = {}
 
 class Builtin(object):
     name = None
     short_description = None
 
+    def parse_config(self):
+        self.repo = ostbuildrc.get_key('repo')
+        self.srcdir = ostbuildrc.get_key('srcdir')
+        if not os.path.isdir(self.srcdir):
+            fatal("Specified srcdir '%s' is not a directory" % (self.srcdir, ))
+        self.workdir = ostbuildrc.get_key('workdir')
+        if not os.path.isdir(self.workdir):
+            fatal("Specified workdir '%s' is not a directory", (self.workdir, ))
+
     def execute(self, args):
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/kvfile.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/kvfile.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..075d4b09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/kvfile.py
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2011 Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>
+#
+# This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+# version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This library 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
+# Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this library; if not, write to the
+# Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+# Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+
+def parse(stream):
+    ret = {}
+    for line in stream:
+        (k,v) = line.split('=', 1)
+        ret[k.strip()] = v.strip()
+    return ret
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/main.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/main.py
index b30a6d60..eb9a659d 100755
--- a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/main.py
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/main.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import argparse
 
 from . import builtins
 from . import builtin_autodiscover_meta
+from . import builtin_build
 from . import builtin_chroot_compile_one
 from . import builtin_commit_artifacts
 from . import builtin_compile_one
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/ostbuildrc.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/ostbuildrc.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..413f7f1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/ostbuildrc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2011 Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>
+#
+# This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+# version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This library 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
+# Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this library; if not, write to the
+# Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+# Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+
+import os,sys,ConfigParser
+
+_config = None
+
+def get():
+    global _config
+    if _config is None:
+        configpath = os.path.expanduser('~/.config/ostbuild.cfg')
+        parser = ConfigParser.RawConfigParser()
+        parser.read([configpath])
+
+        _config = {}
+        for (k, v) in parser.items('global'):
+            _config[k.strip()] = v.strip()
+    return _config
+
+def get_key(name, provided_args=None):
+    config = get()
+    if provided_args:
+        v = provided_args.get(name)
+        if v is not None:
+            return v
+    return config[name]
+                                        
diff --git a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/subprocess_helpers.py b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/subprocess_helpers.py
index 9d2476aa..5b1557f0 100755
--- a/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/subprocess_helpers.py
+++ b/src/ostbuild/pyostbuild/subprocess_helpers.py
@@ -23,9 +23,7 @@ import subprocess
 
 from .ostbuildlog import log, fatal
 
-def run_sync(args, cwd=None, env=None):
-    log("running: %r" % (args,))
-    f = open('/dev/null', 'r')
+def _get_env_for_cwd(cwd=None, env=None):
     # This dance is necessary because we want to keep the PWD
     # environment variable up to date.  Not doing so is a recipie
     # for triggering edge conditions in pwd lookup.
@@ -40,12 +38,57 @@ def run_sync(args, cwd=None, env=None):
             env_copy['PWD'] = cwd
     else:
         env_copy = env
-    proc = subprocess.Popen(args, stdin=f, stdout=sys.stdout, stderr=sys.stderr,
+    return env_copy
+
+def run_sync_get_output(args, cwd=None, env=None, stderr=None, none_on_error=False):
+    log("running: %s" % (subprocess.list2cmdline(args),))
+    env_copy = _get_env_for_cwd(cwd, env)
+    f = open('/dev/null', 'r')
+    if stderr is None:
+        stderr_target = sys.stderr
+    else:
+        stderr_target = stderr
+    proc = subprocess.Popen(args, stdin=f, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=stderr_target,
                             close_fds=True, cwd=cwd, env=env_copy)
     f.close()
+    output = proc.communicate()[0].strip()
+    if proc.returncode != 0 and not none_on_error:
+        logfn = fatal
+    else:
+        logfn = log
+    logfn("pid %d exited with code %d, %d bytes of output" % (proc.pid, proc.returncode, len(output)))
+    if proc.returncode == 0:
+        return output
+    return None
+
+def run_sync(args, cwd=None, env=None, fatal_on_error=True, keep_stdin=False):
+    log("running: %s" % (subprocess.list2cmdline(args),))
+    # This dance is necessary because we want to keep the PWD
+    # environment variable up to date.  Not doing so is a recipie
+    # for triggering edge conditions in pwd lookup.
+    if (cwd is not None) and (env is None or ('PWD' in env)):
+        if env is None:
+            env_copy = os.environ.copy()
+        else:
+            env_copy = env.copy()
+        if ('PWD' in env_copy) and (not cwd.startswith('/')):
+            env_copy['PWD'] = os.path.join(env_copy['PWD'], cwd)
+        else:
+            env_copy['PWD'] = cwd
+    else:
+        env_copy = env
+    if keep_stdin:
+        target_stdin = sys.stdin
+    else:
+        target_stdin = open('/dev/null', 'r')
+    proc = subprocess.Popen(args, stdin=target_stdin, stdout=sys.stdout, stderr=sys.stderr,
+                            close_fds=True, cwd=cwd, env=env_copy)
+    if not keep_stdin:
+        target_stdin.close()
     returncode = proc.wait()
-    if returncode != 0:
+    if fatal_on_error and returncode != 0:
         logfn = fatal
     else:
         logfn = log
     logfn("pid %d exited with code %d" % (proc.pid, returncode))
+    return returncode