diff --git a/test/integration/api.bats b/test/integration/api.bats
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c9f787bdce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/api.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bats
+
+load helpers
+
+function teardown() {
+	stop_manager
+	stop_docker
+}
+
+@test "docker info should return the number of nodes" {
+	start_docker 3
+	start_manager
+	run docker_swarm info
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	[ "${lines[1]}"="Nodes: 3" ]
+}
diff --git a/test/integration/helpers.bash b/test/integration/helpers.bash
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1cdb160b75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/helpers.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Root directory of the repository.
+SWARM_ROOT=${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/../..
+
+# Docker image and version to use for integration tests.
+DOCKER_IMAGE=${DOCKER_IMAGE:-aluzzardi/docker}
+DOCKER_VERSION=${DOCKER_VERSION:-1.5}
+
+# Host on which the manager will listen to (random port between 6000 and 7000).
+SWARM_HOST=127.0.0.1:$(( ( RANDOM % 1000 )  + 6000 ))
+
+# Use a random base port (for engines) between 5000 and 6000.
+BASE_PORT=$(( ( RANDOM % 1000 )  + 5000 ))
+
+# Join an array with a given separator.
+function join() {
+	local IFS="$1"
+	shift
+	echo "$*"
+}
+
+# Run the swarm binary.
+function swarm() {
+	${SWARM_ROOT}/swarm "$@"
+}
+
+# Waits until the given docker engine API becomes reachable.
+function wait_until_reachable() {
+	local attempts=0
+	until docker -H $1 info &> /dev/null || [ $attempts -ge 10 ]; do
+		echo "Attempt to connect to ${HOSTS[$i]} failed for the $((++attempts)) time" >&2
+		sleep 0.5
+	done
+}
+
+# Start the swarm manager in background.
+function start_manager() {
+	${SWARM_ROOT}/swarm manage -H $SWARM_HOST "$@" `join , ${HOSTS[@]}` &
+	SWARM_PID=$!
+	wait_until_reachable $SWARM_HOST
+}
+
+# Stops the manager.
+function stop_manager() {
+	kill $SWARM_PID
+}
+
+# Run the docker CLI against swarm.
+function docker_swarm() {
+	docker -H $SWARM_HOST "$@"
+}
+
+# Start N docker engines.
+function start_docker() {
+	local current=${#DOCKER_CONTAINERS[@]}
+	local instances="$1"
+	shift
+	local i
+
+	# Start the engines.
+	for ((i=current; i < (current + instances); i++)); do
+		local port=$(($BASE_PORT + $i))
+		HOSTS[$i]=127.0.0.1:$port
+		DOCKER_CONTAINERS[$i]=$(docker run -d --name node-$i -h node-$i --privileged -p 127.0.0.1:$port:$port -it ${DOCKER_IMAGE}:${DOCKER_VERSION} docker -d -H 0.0.0.0:$port "$@")
+	done
+
+	# Wait for the engines to be reachable.
+	for ((i=current; i < (current + instances); i++)); do
+		wait_until_reachable ${HOSTS[$i]}
+	done
+}
+
+# Stop all engines.
+function stop_docker() {
+	for id in ${DOCKER_CONTAINERS[@]}; do
+		echo "Stopping $id"
+		docker rm -f -v $id > /dev/null;
+	done
+}
diff --git a/test/integration/manage-non-available-node.bats b/test/integration/manage-non-available-node.bats
deleted file mode 100644
index 39d5fd36a2..0000000000
--- a/test/integration/manage-non-available-node.bats
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bats
-
-load vars
-
-@test "managing non-available node should be timed out" {
-
-	#
-	# timeout does not accept a bash function, so hard-coded path is required
-	#
-	run timeout 15s $GOBIN/swarm manage -H 127.0.0.1:2375 nodes://8.8.8.8:2375
-
-	[ "$status" -ne 0 ]
-	[[ ${lines[0]} =~ "Listening for HTTP" ]]
-	[[ ${lines[1]} =~ "ConnectEx tcp: i/o timeout" ]]
-}
diff --git a/test/integration/vars.bash b/test/integration/vars.bash
deleted file mode 100644
index 1f8d41a269..0000000000
--- a/test/integration/vars.bash
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-function swarm() {
-	$GOBIN/swarm $@
-}
diff --git a/test/integration/version-and-gitcommit.bats b/test/integration/version-and-gitcommit.bats
index a8187af6f0..aa4cba3789 100644
--- a/test/integration/version-and-gitcommit.bats
+++ b/test/integration/version-and-gitcommit.bats
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bats
-
-load vars
-
-@test "version string should contain a proper number with git commit" {
-	run swarm -v
-
-	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
-	[[ ${lines[0]} =~ version\ [0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\ \([0-9a-f]{7}\)$ ]]
-}
+#!/usr/bin/env bats
+
+load helpers
+
+@test "version string should contain a proper number with git commit" {
+	run swarm -v
+
+	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+	[[ ${lines[0]} =~ version\ [0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+ ]]
+}