diff --git a/common/include/villas/tool.hpp b/common/include/villas/tool.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..266d7ba13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/include/villas/tool.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/** Common entry point for all villas command line tools.
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @author Steffen Vogel <stvogel@eonerc.rwth-aachen.de>
+ * @copyright 2014-2019, Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC
+ * @license GNU General Public License (version 3)
+ *
+ * VILLASnode
+ *
+ * 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 3 of the License, or
+ * 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/>.
+ *********************************************************************************/
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <villas/log.hpp>
+#include <villas/colors.hpp>
+#include <villas/config.h>
+#include <villas/exceptions.hpp>
+#include <villas/utils.hpp>
+
+namespace villas {
+
+class Tool {
+
+protected:
+	Logger logger;
+
+	int argc;
+	char **argv;
+
+	std::string name;
+
+	static Tool *current_tool;
+
+	static void staticHandler(int signal, siginfo_t *sinfo, void *ctx);
+
+	virtual void handler(int, siginfo_t *, void *)
+	{ }
+
+	static void printCopyright();
+	static void printVersion();
+
+public:
+	Tool(int ac, char *av[], const std::string &name);
+
+	virtual int main()
+	{
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	virtual void usage()
+	{ }
+
+	virtual void parse()
+	{ }
+
+	int run();
+};
+
+} // namespace villas
diff --git a/common/lib/CMakeLists.txt b/common/lib/CMakeLists.txt
index 8ebe261a9..1d875435b 100644
--- a/common/lib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/common/lib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ add_library(villas-common SHARED
 	terminal.cpp
 	version.cpp
 	common.cpp
+	tool.cpp
 )
 
 execute_process( 
diff --git a/common/lib/tool.cpp b/common/lib/tool.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..93fde9d7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/lib/tool.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+
+/** Common entry point for all villas command line tools.
+ *
+ * @author Steffen Vogel <stvogel@eonerc.rwth-aachen.de>
+ * @copyright 2014-2019, Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC
+ * @license GNU General Public License (version 3)
+ *
+ * VILLASnode
+ *
+ * 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 3 of the License, or
+ * 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/>.
+ *********************************************************************************/
+
+#include <iostream>
+
+#include <villas/tool.hpp>
+
+using namespace villas;
+
+void Tool::staticHandler(int signal, siginfo_t *sinfo, void *ctx)
+{
+	if (current_tool)
+		current_tool->handler(signal, sinfo, ctx);
+}
+
+void Tool::printCopyright()
+{
+	std::cout << PROJECT_NAME " " << CLR_BLU(PROJECT_BUILD_ID)
+		<< " (built on " CLR_MAG(__DATE__) " " CLR_MAG(__TIME__) ")" << std::endl
+		<< " Copyright 2014-2017, Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC" << std::endl
+		<< " Steffen Vogel <StVogel@eonerc.rwth-aachen.de>" << std::endl;
+}
+
+void Tool::printVersion()
+{
+	std::cout << PROJECT_BUILD_ID << std::endl;
+}
+
+Tool::Tool(int ac, char *av[], const std::string &nme) :
+	argc(ac),
+	argv(av),
+	name(nme)
+{
+	current_tool = this;
+
+	logger = logging.get(name);
+}
+
+int Tool::run()
+{
+	try {
+		int ret;
+
+		logger->info("This is VILLASnode {} (built on {}, {})",
+			CLR_BLD(CLR_YEL(PROJECT_BUILD_ID)),
+			CLR_BLD(CLR_MAG(__DATE__)), CLR_BLD(CLR_MAG(__TIME__)));
+
+		ret = utils::signals_init(staticHandler);
+		if (ret)
+			throw RuntimeError("Failed to initialize signal subsystem");
+
+		/* Parse command line arguments */
+		parse();
+
+		/* Run tool */
+		ret = main();
+
+		logger->info(CLR_GRN("Goodbye!"));
+
+		return ret;
+	}
+	catch (std::runtime_error &e) {
+		logger->error("{}", e.what());
+
+		return -1;
+	}
+}
+
+Tool *Tool::current_tool = nullptr;