diff --git a/include/villas/node.h b/include/villas/node.h
index 04d113624..9d99ff9c4 100644
--- a/include/villas/node.h
+++ b/include/villas/node.h
@@ -65,15 +65,17 @@ struct node
 
 int node_init(struct node *n, struct node_type *vt);
 
-/** Parse a single node and add it to the global configuration.
+/** Parse settings of a node.
  *
  * @param cfg A libconfig object pointing to the node.
- * @param nodes Add new nodes to this linked list.
  * @retval 0 Success. Everything went well.
  * @retval <0 Error. Something went wrong.
  */
 int node_parse(struct node *n, config_setting_t *cfg);
 
+/** Parse settings of a node from cmdline. */
+int node_parse_cli(struct node *n, int argc, char *argv[]);
+
 /** Validate node configuration. */
 int node_check(struct node *n);
 
@@ -135,4 +137,4 @@ int node_write(struct node *n, struct sample *smps[], unsigned cnt);
  */
 int node_parse_list(struct list *list, config_setting_t *cfg, struct list *all);
 
-/** @} */
\ No newline at end of file
+/** @} */
diff --git a/include/villas/node_type.h b/include/villas/node_type.h
index 2beef8e85..b728349fb 100644
--- a/include/villas/node_type.h
+++ b/include/villas/node_type.h
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ struct node_type {
 	 */
 	int (*destroy)(struct node *n);
 
-	/** Parse node connection details.‚
+	/** Parse node connection details.
 	 *
 	 * @param n	A pointer to the node object.
 	 * @param cfg	A libconfig object pointing to the node.
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ struct node_type {
 	 * @retval <0	Error. Something went wrong.
 	 */
 	int (*parse)(struct node *n, config_setting_t *cfg);
+	
+	/** Parse node from command line arguments. */
+	int (*parse_cli)(struct node *n, int argc, char *argv[]);
 
 	/** Returns a string with a textual represenation of this node.
 	 *
diff --git a/lib/node.c b/lib/node.c
index 9770a49f0..69b57a073 100644
--- a/lib/node.c
+++ b/lib/node.c
@@ -78,6 +78,24 @@ int node_parse(struct node *n, config_setting_t *cfg)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+int node_parse_cli(struct node *n, int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+	int ret;
+
+	assert(n->_vt);
+
+	n->vectorize = 1;
+	n->name = "cli";
+
+	ret = n->_vt->parse_cli ? n->_vt->parse_cli(n, argc, argv) : 0;
+	if (ret)
+		error("Failed to parse node '%s'", node_name(n));
+
+	n->state = STATE_PARSED;
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 int node_check(struct node *n)
 {
 	assert(n->state != STATE_DESTROYED);
diff --git a/lib/nodes/signal.c b/lib/nodes/signal.c
index ec1bc2a4c..2994c5f4c 100644
--- a/lib/nodes/signal.c
+++ b/lib/nodes/signal.c
@@ -83,6 +83,69 @@ int signal_parse(struct node *n, config_setting_t *cfg)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+int signal_parse_cli(struct node *n, int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+	char *type;
+	
+	struct signal *s = n->_vd;
+
+	/* Default values */
+	s->rate = 10;
+	s->frequency = 1;
+	s->amplitude = 1;
+	s->stddev = 0.02;
+	s->type = SIGNAL_TYPE_MIXED;
+	s->rt = 1;
+	s->values = 1;
+	s->limit = -1;
+
+	/* Parse optional command line arguments */
+	char c, *endptr;
+	while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "v:r:f:l:a:D:n")) != -1) {
+		switch (c) {
+			case 'n':
+				s->rt = 0;
+				break;
+			case 'l':
+				s->limit = strtoul(optarg, &endptr, 10);
+				goto check;
+			case 'v':
+				s->values = strtoul(optarg, &endptr, 10);
+				goto check;
+			case 'r':
+				s->rate = strtof(optarg, &endptr);
+				goto check;
+			case 'f':
+				s->frequency = strtof(optarg, &endptr);
+				goto check;
+			case 'a':
+				s->amplitude = strtof(optarg, &endptr);
+				goto check;
+			case 'D':
+				s->stddev = strtof(optarg, &endptr);
+				goto check;
+			case '?':
+				break;
+		}
+
+		continue;
+
+check:		if (optarg == endptr)
+			error("Failed to parse parse option argument '-%c %s'", c, optarg);
+	}
+
+	if (argc != optind + 1)
+		return -1; 
+	
+	type = argv[optind];
+
+	s->type = signal_lookup_type(type);
+	if (s->type == -1)
+		error("Invalid signal type: %s", type);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 int signal_open(struct node *n)
 {
 	struct signal *s = n->_vd;
@@ -199,6 +262,7 @@ static struct plugin p = {
 		.vectorize = 1,
 		.size  = sizeof(struct signal),
 		.parse = signal_parse,
+		.parse_cli = signal_parse_cli,
 		.print = signal_print,
 		.start = signal_open,
 		.stop  = signal_close,