diff --git a/nova/openstack/common/cliutils.py b/nova/openstack/common/cliutils.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8f4dc44dd995
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nova/openstack/common/cliutils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+# vim: tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4
+
+# Copyright 2012 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+#    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 inspect
+import string
+
+
+class MissingArgs(Exception):
+
+    def __init__(self, missing):
+        self.missing = missing
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        if len(self.missing) == 1:
+            return ("An argument is missing: %(missing)s" %
+                    dict(missing=self.missing[0]))
+        else:
+            return ("%(num)d arguments are missing: %(missing)s" %
+                    dict(num=len(self.missing),
+                         missing=string.join(self.missing, ', ')))
+
+
+def validate_args(fn, *args, **kwargs):
+    """Check that the supplied args are sufficient for calling a function.
+
+    >>> validate_args(lambda a: None)
+    Traceback (most recent call last):
+        ...
+    MissingArgs: An argument is missing: a
+    >>> validate_args(lambda a, b, c, d: None, 0, c=1)
+    Traceback (most recent call last):
+        ...
+    MissingArgs: 2 arguments are missing: b, d
+
+    :param fn: the function to check
+    :param arg: the positional arguments supplied
+    :param kwargs: the keyword arguments supplied
+    """
+    argspec = inspect.getargspec(fn)
+
+    num_defaults = len(argspec.defaults or [])
+    required_args = argspec.args[:len(argspec.args) - num_defaults]
+
+    def isbound(method):
+        return getattr(method, 'im_self', None) is not None
+
+    if isbound(fn):
+        required_args.pop(0)
+
+    missing = [arg for arg in required_args if arg not in kwargs]
+    missing = missing[len(args):]
+    if missing:
+        raise MissingArgs(missing)
diff --git a/openstack-common.conf b/openstack-common.conf
index 5f64e6ee2fda..ea33ab235ca4 100644
--- a/openstack-common.conf
+++ b/openstack-common.conf
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [DEFAULT]
 
 # The list of modules to copy from openstack-common
-modules=cfg,context,excutils,eventlet_backdoor,fileutils,gettextutils,importutils,iniparser,jsonutils,local,lockutils,log,network_utils,notifier,plugin,policy,setup,timeutils,rpc,uuidutils
+modules=cfg,cliutils,context,excutils,eventlet_backdoor,fileutils,gettextutils,importutils,iniparser,jsonutils,local,lockutils,log,network_utils,notifier,plugin,policy,setup,timeutils,rpc,uuidutils
 
 # The base module to hold the copy of openstack.common
 base=nova