diff --git a/tempest/common/ssh.py b/tempest/common/ssh.py
index bca2f9e..9c14377 100644
--- a/tempest/common/ssh.py
+++ b/tempest/common/ssh.py
@@ -95,20 +95,6 @@
     def _is_timed_out(self, start_time):
         return (time.time() - self.timeout) > start_time
 
-    def connect_until_closed(self):
-        """Connect to the server and wait until connection is lost."""
-        try:
-            ssh = self._get_ssh_connection()
-            _transport = ssh.get_transport()
-            _start_time = time.time()
-            _timed_out = self._is_timed_out(_start_time)
-            while _transport.is_active() and not _timed_out:
-                time.sleep(5)
-                _timed_out = self._is_timed_out(_start_time)
-            ssh.close()
-        except (EOFError, paramiko.AuthenticationException, socket.error):
-            return
-
     def exec_command(self, cmd):
         """
         Execute the specified command on the server.
@@ -140,7 +126,7 @@
                 raise exceptions.TimeoutException(
                     "Command: '{0}' executed on host '{1}'.".format(
                         cmd, self.host))
-            if not ready[0]:        # If there is nothing to read.
+            if not ready[0]:  # If there is nothing to read.
                 continue
             out_chunk = err_chunk = None
             if channel.recv_ready():
diff --git a/tempest/tests/base.py b/tempest/tests/base.py
index ba83cf4..afb6a26 100644
--- a/tempest/tests/base.py
+++ b/tempest/tests/base.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import os
 
 import fixtures
+import mock
 import testtools
 
 from tempest.openstack.common.fixture import moxstubout
@@ -38,3 +39,22 @@
         mox_fixture = self.useFixture(moxstubout.MoxStubout())
         self.mox = mox_fixture.mox
         self.stubs = mox_fixture.stubs
+
+    def patch(self, target, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Returns a started `mock.patch` object for the supplied target.
+
+        The caller may then call the returned patcher to create a mock object.
+
+        The caller does not need to call stop() on the returned
+        patcher object, as this method automatically adds a cleanup
+        to the test class to stop the patcher.
+
+        :param target: String module.class or module.object expression to patch
+        :param **kwargs: Passed as-is to `mock.patch`. See mock documentation
+                         for details.
+        """
+        p = mock.patch(target, **kwargs)
+        m = p.start()
+        self.addCleanup(p.stop)
+        return m
diff --git a/tempest/tests/test_ssh.py b/tempest/tests/test_ssh.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..09bb588
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/tests/test_ssh.py
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+# vim: tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4
+
+# Copyright 2014 OpenStack Foundation
+#
+#    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 contextlib
+import socket
+
+import mock
+import testtools
+
+from tempest.common import ssh
+from tempest import exceptions
+from tempest.tests import base
+
+
+class TestSshClient(base.TestCase):
+
+    def test_pkey_calls_paramiko_RSAKey(self):
+        with contextlib.nested(
+            mock.patch('paramiko.RSAKey.from_private_key'),
+            mock.patch('cStringIO.StringIO')) as (rsa_mock, cs_mock):
+            cs_mock.return_value = mock.sentinel.csio
+            pkey = 'mykey'
+            ssh.Client('localhost', 'root', pkey=pkey)
+            rsa_mock.assert_called_once_with(mock.sentinel.csio)
+            cs_mock.assert_called_once_with('mykey')
+            rsa_mock.reset_mock()
+            cs_mock.rest_mock()
+            pkey = mock.sentinel.pkey
+            # Shouldn't call out to load a file from RSAKey, since
+            # a sentinel isn't a basestring...
+            ssh.Client('localhost', 'root', pkey=pkey)
+            rsa_mock.assert_not_called()
+            cs_mock.assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_get_ssh_connection(self):
+        c_mock = self.patch('paramiko.SSHClient')
+        aa_mock = self.patch('paramiko.AutoAddPolicy')
+        s_mock = self.patch('time.sleep')
+        t_mock = self.patch('time.time')
+
+        aa_mock.return_value = mock.sentinel.aa
+
+        def reset_mocks():
+            aa_mock.reset_mock()
+            c_mock.reset_mock()
+            s_mock.reset_mock()
+            t_mock.reset_mock()
+
+        # Test normal case for successful connection on first try
+        client_mock = mock.MagicMock()
+        c_mock.return_value = client_mock
+        client_mock.connect.return_value = True
+
+        client = ssh.Client('localhost', 'root', timeout=2)
+        client._get_ssh_connection(sleep=1)
+
+        aa_mock.assert_called_once_with()
+        client_mock.set_missing_host_key_policy.assert_called_once_with(
+            mock.sentinel.aa)
+        expected_connect = [mock.call(
+            'localhost',
+            username='root',
+            pkey=None,
+            key_filename=None,
+            look_for_keys=False,
+            timeout=10.0,
+            password=None
+        )]
+        self.assertEqual(expected_connect, client_mock.connect.mock_calls)
+        s_mock.assert_not_called()
+        t_mock.assert_called_once_with()
+
+        reset_mocks()
+
+        # Test case when connection fails on first two tries and
+        # succeeds on third try (this validates retry logic)
+        client_mock.connect.side_effect = [socket.error, socket.error, True]
+        t_mock.side_effect = [
+            1000,  # Start time
+            1001,  # Sleep loop 1
+            1002   # Sleep loop 2
+        ]
+
+        client._get_ssh_connection(sleep=1)
+
+        expected_sleeps = [
+            mock.call(1),
+            mock.call(1.01)
+        ]
+        self.assertEqual(expected_sleeps, s_mock.mock_calls)
+
+        reset_mocks()
+
+        # Test case when connection fails on first three tries and
+        # exceeds the timeout, so expect to raise a Timeout exception
+        client_mock.connect.side_effect = [
+            socket.error,
+            socket.error,
+            socket.error
+        ]
+        t_mock.side_effect = [
+            1000,  # Start time
+            1001,  # Sleep loop 1
+            1002,  # Sleep loop 2
+            1003,  # Sleep loop 3
+            1004  # LOG.error() calls time.time()
+        ]
+
+        with testtools.ExpectedException(exceptions.SSHTimeout):
+            client._get_ssh_connection()
+
+    def test_exec_command(self):
+        gsc_mock = self.patch('tempest.common.ssh.Client._get_ssh_connection')
+        ito_mock = self.patch('tempest.common.ssh.Client._is_timed_out')
+        select_mock = self.patch('select.poll')
+
+        client_mock = mock.MagicMock()
+        tran_mock = mock.MagicMock()
+        chan_mock = mock.MagicMock()
+        poll_mock = mock.MagicMock()
+
+        def reset_mocks():
+            gsc_mock.reset_mock()
+            ito_mock.reset_mock()
+            select_mock.reset_mock()
+            poll_mock.reset_mock()
+            client_mock.reset_mock()
+            tran_mock.reset_mock()
+            chan_mock.reset_mock()
+
+        select_mock.return_value = poll_mock
+        gsc_mock.return_value = client_mock
+        ito_mock.return_value = True
+        client_mock.get_transport.return_value = tran_mock
+        tran_mock.open_session.return_value = chan_mock
+        poll_mock.poll.side_effect = [
+            [0, 0, 0]
+        ]
+
+        # Test for a timeout condition immediately raised
+        client = ssh.Client('localhost', 'root', timeout=2)
+        with testtools.ExpectedException(exceptions.TimeoutException):
+            client.exec_command("test")
+
+        chan_mock.fileno.assert_called_once_with()
+        chan_mock.exec_command.assert_called_once_with("test")
+        chan_mock.shutdown_write.assert_called_once_with()
+
+        SELECT_POLLIN = 1
+        poll_mock.register.assert_called_once_with(chan_mock, SELECT_POLLIN)
+        poll_mock.poll.assert_called_once_with(10)
+
+        # Test for proper reading of STDOUT and STDERROR and closing
+        # of all file descriptors.
+
+        reset_mocks()
+
+        select_mock.return_value = poll_mock
+        gsc_mock.return_value = client_mock
+        ito_mock.return_value = False
+        client_mock.get_transport.return_value = tran_mock
+        tran_mock.open_session.return_value = chan_mock
+        poll_mock.poll.side_effect = [
+            [1, 0, 0]
+        ]
+        closed_prop = mock.PropertyMock(return_value=True)
+        type(chan_mock).closed = closed_prop
+        chan_mock.recv_exit_status.return_value = 0
+        chan_mock.recv.return_value = ''
+        chan_mock.recv_stderr.return_value = ''
+
+        client = ssh.Client('localhost', 'root', timeout=2)
+        client.exec_command("test")
+
+        chan_mock.fileno.assert_called_once_with()
+        chan_mock.exec_command.assert_called_once_with("test")
+        chan_mock.shutdown_write.assert_called_once_with()
+
+        SELECT_POLLIN = 1
+        poll_mock.register.assert_called_once_with(chan_mock, SELECT_POLLIN)
+        poll_mock.poll.assert_called_once_with(10)
+        chan_mock.recv_ready.assert_called_once_with()
+        chan_mock.recv.assert_called_once_with(1024)
+        chan_mock.recv_stderr_ready.assert_called_once_with()
+        chan_mock.recv_stderr.assert_called_once_with(1024)
+        chan_mock.recv_exit_status.assert_called_once_with()
+        closed_prop.assert_called_once_with()