diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 92a25c830d342a4143f014ee3e85db96c0d37eb2..0c9425abab783518402e5454541ada36cde07598 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -759,7 +759,19 @@ TEST_FILES = \
 	test/data/vgreduce-removemissing-2.02.66-ok.txt \
 	test/data/vgs-missing-pvs-2.02.02.txt \
 	test/data/vgs-missing-pvs-2.02.66.txt \
-	test/import-export_unittest-helper
+	test/import-export_unittest-helper \
+	test/htools-balancing.test \
+	test/htools-basic.test \
+	test/htools-dynutil.test \
+	test/htools-excl.test \
+	test/htools-hail.test \
+	test/htools-hspace.test \
+	test/htools-invalid.test \
+	test/htools-multi-group.test \
+	test/htools-no-backend.test \
+	test/htools-rapi.test \
+	test/htools-single-group.test \
+	test/htools-text-backend.test
 
 python_tests = \
 	test/ganeti.asyncnotifier_unittest.py \
diff --git a/htools/offline-test.sh b/htools/offline-test.sh
index a80a3f87e72ae960bdc7a14da8d8b8c029a9983a..f776a5e37af432519862100c649c82af7198af6d 100755
--- a/htools/offline-test.sh
+++ b/htools/offline-test.sh
@@ -25,198 +25,67 @@ set -o pipefail
 
 . $(dirname $0)/cli-tests-defs.sh
 
-T=`mktemp -d`
+echo Running offline htools tests
+
+export T=`mktemp -d`
 trap 'rm -rf $T' EXIT
-trap 'echo FAIL' ERR
+trap 'echo FAIL to build test files' ERR
 echo Using $T as temporary dir
 
-echo Checking command line basic options
-for prog in $ALL_ROLES; do
-  $prog --version >/dev/null
-  $prog --help >/dev/null
-  ! $prog --no-such-option 2>/dev/null
-done
-echo OK
-
-echo Checking missing backend failure
-for prog in hspace hinfo hbal; do
-  ! $prog 2>/dev/null
-done
-echo OK
-
-echo Checking hail missing input file
-! hail 2>/dev/null
-echo OK
-
-echo Checking extra arguments
-for prog in hspace hbal hinfo; do
-  (! $prog unexpected-argument 2>&1 ) | \
-    grep -q "Error: this program doesn't take any arguments"
-done
-echo OK
-
-echo Checking failure on multiple backends
-(! hbal -t /dev/null -m localhost 2>&1 ) | \
-  grep -q "Error: Only one of the rapi, luxi, and data files options should be given."
-echo OK
-
-echo Checking text file loading
-hbal -t $TESTDATA_DIR/missing-resources.data 2>&1 | \
-  grep "node node2 is missing .* ram and .* disk" >/dev/null
-hbal -t $TESTDATA_DIR/common-suffix.data -v 2>&1 | \
-  grep "Stripping common suffix of '.example.com' from names" >/dev/null
-(! hbal -t $TESTDATA_DIR/invalid-node.data 2>&1 ) | \
-  grep "Unknown node '.*' for instance new-0" >/dev/null
-echo OK
-
-echo Checking hspace machine-readable mode
-hspace --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 --machine-readable \
-  --disk-template drbd -l 8 >$T/capacity
-( . $T/capacity && test "$HTS_OK" = "1" )
-echo OK
-
-echo Checking hspace simulation to hinfo to hbal
+echo -n Generating hspace simulation data for hinfo and hbal...
 # this cluster spec should be fine
-hspace --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 -S $T/simu-onegroup \
+./test/hspace --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 -S $T/simu-onegroup \
   --disk-template drbd -l 8 -v -v -v >/dev/null 2>&1
-# results in .tiered and .standard
-for suffix in standard tiered; do
-  BACKEND="-t$T/simu-onegroup.$suffix"
-  hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances $BACKEND >/dev/null 2>&1
-  hbal  -v -v -p --print-instances $BACKEND >/dev/null 2>&1
-  # hbal should not be able to balance
-  hbal $BACKEND | grep -qE "(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)"
-done
 echo OK
 
-echo Checking hinfo and hbal on multi-nodegroup
-hspace --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 \
+echo -n Generating hinfo and hbal test files for multi-group...
+./test/hspace --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 \
   -S $T/simu-twogroups --disk-template drbd -l 8 >/dev/null 2>&1
-# results in .tiered and .standard
-for suffix in standard tiered; do
-  BACKEND="-t$T/simu-twogroups.$suffix"
-  hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances $BACKEND >/dev/null 2>&1
-  ! hbal $BACKEND >/dev/null 2>&1
-  # hbal should not be able to balance
-  ! hbal $BACKEND 2>&1 | grep -q "Found multiple node groups"
-  # but hbal should be able to balance one node group
-  hbal $BACKEND -G group-01 >/dev/null
-  # and it should not find an invalid group
-  ! hbal $BACKEND -G no-such-group >/dev/null 2>&1
-done
 echo OK
 
-echo Checking rebalancing
+echo -n Generating test files for rebalancing...
 # we generate a cluster with two node groups, one with unallocable
 # policy, then we change all nodes from this group to the allocable
 # one, and we check for rebalancing
 FROOT="$T/simu-rebal-orig"
-hspace --simu u,4,8T,64g,16 --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 \
+./test/hspace --simu u,4,8T,64g,16 --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 \
   -S $FROOT --disk-template drbd -l 8 >/dev/null 2>&1
 for suffix in standard tiered; do
   RELOC="$T/simu-rebal-merged.$suffix"
   # this relocates the nodes
   sed -re 's/^(node-.*|fake-uuid-)-02(|.*)/\1-01\2/' \
     < $FROOT.$suffix > $RELOC
-  BACKEND="-t$RELOC"
-  hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances $BACKEND >/dev/null 2>&1
-  hbal -v -v -v -p --print-instances $BACKEND -G group-01 2>/dev/null | \
-    grep -qE -v "(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)"
-  hbal $BACKEND -G group-01 -C$T/rebal-cmds.$suffix \
-    -S $T/simu-rebal.$suffix >/dev/null 2>&1
-  grep -qE "gnt-instance (failover|migrate|replace-disks)" \
-    $T/rebal-cmds.$suffix
-  hbal $BACKEND -G group-01 -C \
-    -S $T/simu-rebal.$suffix 2>/dev/null | \
-    grep -qE "gnt-instance (failover|migrate|replace-disks)"
-  # state saved by hbal should be original
-  cmp $RELOC $T/simu-rebal.$suffix.original
-  # and we can't double rebalance
-  hbal -t $T/simu-rebal.$suffix.balanced \
-    -G group-01 | \
-    grep -qE "(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)"
-
 done
+export BACKEND_BAL_STD="-t$T/simu-rebal-merged.standard"
+export BACKEND_BAL_TIER="-t$T/simu-rebal-merged.tiered"
 echo OK
 
-echo Checking utilisation-based code
-BACKEND="-t $T/simu-onegroup.standard"
-echo a > $T/dynu
-(! hbal -U <(echo a) $BACKEND  2>&1 ) | grep -q "Cannot parse line"
-(! hbal -U <(echo a b c d e f g h) $BACKEND 2>&1 ) | \
-  grep -q "Cannot parse line"
-(! hbal -U <(echo inst cpu mem dsk net) $BACKEND 2>&1 ) | \
-  grep -Eq "cannot parse string '(cpu|mem|dsk|net)'"
-# unknown instances are currently just ignored
-hbal -U <(echo no-such-inst 2 2 2 2) $BACKEND >/dev/null 2>&1
-# new-0 is the name of the first instance allocated by hspace
-hbal -U <(echo new-0 2 2 2 2) $BACKEND >/dev/null 2>&1
-echo OK
-
-echo Checking selected/excluded instances
-(! hbal $BACKEND --exclude-instances no-such-instance 2>&1 ) | \
-  grep -q "Unknown instance"
-(! hbal $BACKEND --select-instances no-such-instances 2>&1 ) | \
-  grep -q "Unknown instance"
-hbal $BACKEND --exclude-instances new-0 --select-instances new-1 >/dev/null
-echo OK
-
-echo IAllocator checks
-# test that on invalid files it can't parse the request
-(! hail /dev/null 2>&1 ) | grep -q "Invalid JSON"
-! hail <(echo '[]') >/dev/null 2>&1
-(! hail <(echo '{}') 2>&1 ) | grep -q "key 'request' not found"
-(! hail <(echo '{"request": 0}') 2>&1 ) | grep -q "key 'request'"
-! hail $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-invalid-reloc.json >/dev/null 2>&1
-
-# just test that it can read the file, print the cluster and generate
-# pre and post allocation files
-hail -v -v -v -p $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-alloc-drbd.json \
-  -S $T/hail-alloc >/dev/null 2>&1
-! cmp -s $T/hail-alloc.pre-ialloc $T/hail-alloc.post-ialloc
-hail -v -v -v -p $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-reloc-drbd.json \
-  -S $T/hail-reloc >/dev/null 2>&1
-! cmp -s $T/hail-reloc.pre-ialloc $T/hail-reloc.post-ialloc
-
-# and now start the real tests
-hail $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-alloc-drbd.json | \
-  grep -q '"success":true,.*,"result":\["node2","node1"\]'
-hail $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-reloc-drbd.json | \
-  grep -q '"success":true,.*,"result":\["node1"\]'
-
-hail $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-node-evac.json | \
-  grep -Fq '"success":true,"info":"Request successful: 0 instances failed to move and 1 were moved successfully"'
-
-hail $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-change-group.json | \
-  grep -Fq '"success":true,"info":"Request successful: 0 instances failed to move and 1 were moved successfully"'
+# For various tests
+export BACKEND_DYNU="-t $T/simu-onegroup.standard"
+export BACKEND_EXCL="-t $T/simu-onegroup.standard"
 
+echo -n Generating data files for IAllocator checks...
 for evac_mode in primary-only secondary-only all; do
   sed -e 's/"evac_mode": "all"/"evac_mode": "'${evac_mode}'"/' \
     < $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-node-evac.json \
     > $T/hail-node-evac.json.$evac_mode
-  hail $T/hail-node-evac.json.$evac_mode | \
-    grep -q '"success":true,"info":"Request successful: 0 instances failed to move and 1 were moved successfully"'
 done
-
-# check that hail can use the simu and text backends
-hail --simu p,8,8T,16g,16 $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-alloc-drbd.json | \
-  grep -q '"success":true,'
-hail -t $T/simu-rebal-merged.standard $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-alloc-drbd.json | \
-  grep -q '"success":true,'
 echo OK
 
-echo Checking file-based RAPI
+echo -n Checking file-based RAPI...
 mkdir -p $T/hscan
-URL="file://$TESTDATA_DIR/rapi"
-hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances -m $URL >/dev/null 2>&1
-hbal -v -v -p --print-instances -m $URL >/dev/null 2>&1
-hscan -d $T/hscan/ -p -v -v $URL >/dev/null 2>&1
+export RAPI_URL="file://$TESTDATA_DIR/rapi"
+./test/hscan -d $T/hscan/ -p -v -v $RAPI_URL >/dev/null 2>&1
 # check that we file parsing is correct, i.e. hscan saves correct text
-# files, and is idempotent (rapi+text == rapi)
-HS="$(ls $T/hscan/*.data|head -n1)"
-hinfo -p --print-instances -m $URL > $T/hscan/direct.hinfo 2>&1
-hinfo -p --print-instances -t $HS  > $T/hscan/fromtext.hinfo 2>&1
-cmp -s $T/hscan/direct.hinfo $T/hscan/fromtext.hinfo
+# files, and is idempotent (rapi+text == rapi); more is tested in
+# shelltest later
+RAPI_TXT="$(ls $T/hscan/*.data|head -n1)"
+./test/hinfo -p --print-instances -m $RAPI_URL > $T/hscan/direct.hinfo 2>&1
+./test/hinfo -p --print-instances -t $RAPI_TXT > $T/hscan/fromtext.hinfo 2>&1
 echo OK
 
+echo Running shelltest...
+
+shelltest $SHELLTESTARGS test/ -- --hide-successes
+
 echo All OK
diff --git a/test/htools-balancing.test b/test/htools-balancing.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..37e9e832d5d4b750b0d5ba72471f7532c9715dc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-balancing.test
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+### std tests
+
+# test basic parsing
+./test/hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances $BACKEND_BAL_STD
+>>>= 0
+./test/hbal -v -v -v -p --print-instances $BACKEND_BAL_STD -G group-01
+>>> !/(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)/
+>>>2 !/(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)/
+>>>= 0
+
+# test command output
+./test/hbal $BACKEND_BAL_STD -G group-01 -C -S $T/simu-rebal.standard
+>>> /gnt-instance (failover|migrate|replace-disks)/
+>>>= 0
+
+# test saving commands
+./test/hbal $BACKEND_BAL_STD -G group-01 -C$T/rebal-cmds.standard
+>>>= 0
+# and now check the file (depends on previous test)
+cat $T/rebal-cmds.standard
+>>> /gnt-instance (failover|migrate|replace-disks)/
+>>>= 0
+
+# state saved before rebalancing should be identical; depends on the
+# previous test
+diff -u $T/simu-rebal-merged.standard $T/simu-rebal.standard.original
+>>>
+>>>= 0
+
+# no double rebalance; depends on previous test
+./test/hbal -t $T/simu-rebal.standard.balanced -G group-01
+>>> /(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)/
+>>>= 0
+
+### now tiered tests
+
+# test basic parsing
+./test/hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances $BACKEND_BAL_TIER
+>>>= 0
+./test/hbal -v -v -v -p --print-instances $BACKEND_BAL_TIER -G group-01
+>>> !/(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)/
+>>>2 !/(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)/
+>>>= 0
+
+# test command output
+./test/hbal $BACKEND_BAL_TIER -G group-01 -C -S $T/simu-rebal.tiered
+>>> /gnt-instance (failover|migrate|replace-disks)/
+>>>= 0
+
+# test saving commands
+./test/hbal $BACKEND_BAL_TIER -G group-01 -C$T/rebal-cmds.tiered
+>>>= 0
+# and now check the file (depends on previous test)
+cat $T/rebal-cmds.tiered
+>>> /gnt-instance (failover|migrate|replace-disks)/
+>>>= 0
+
+# state saved before rebalancing should be identical; depends on the
+# previous test
+diff -u $T/simu-rebal-merged.tiered $T/simu-rebal.tiered.original
+>>>
+>>>= 0
+
+# no double rebalance; depends on previous test
+./test/hbal -t $T/simu-rebal.tiered.balanced -G group-01
+>>> /(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)/
+>>>= 0
diff --git a/test/htools-basic.test b/test/htools-basic.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..39a8807ebef73755a78723741531fe1aa924afec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-basic.test
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# help/version tests
+./test/hail --version
+>>>= 0
+./test/hail --help
+>>>= 0
+./test/hbal --version
+>>>= 0
+./test/hbal --help
+>>>= 0
+./test/hspace --version
+>>>= 0
+./test/hspace --help
+>>>= 0
+./test/hscan --version
+>>>= 0
+./test/hscan --help
+>>>= 0
+./test/hinfo --version
+>>>= 0
+./test/hinfo --help
+>>>= 0
diff --git a/test/htools-dynutil.test b/test/htools-dynutil.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..64b0c169c50ba32cf995c18ebbea2906c4f6c388
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-dynutil.test
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+echo a > $T/dynu; ./test/hbal -U $T/dynu $BACKEND_DYNU
+>>>2 /Cannot parse line/
+>>>= !0
+
+echo a b c d e f g h > $T/dynu; ./test/hbal -U $T/dynu $BACKEND_DYNU
+>>>2 /Cannot parse line/
+>>>= !0
+
+echo inst cpu mem dsk net >$T/dynu; ./test/hbal -U $T/dynu $BACKEND_DYNU
+>>>2 /cannot parse string '(cpu|mem|dsk|net)'/
+>>>= !0
+
+# unknown instances are currently just ignored
+echo no-such-inst 2 2 2 2 > $T/dynu; ./test/hbal -U $T/dynu $BACKEND_DYNU
+>>>= 0
+
+# new-0 is the name of the first instance allocated by hspace
+echo new-0 2 2 2 2 > $T/dynu; ./test/hbal -U $T/dynu $BACKEND_DYNU
+>>>= 0
diff --git a/test/htools-excl.test b/test/htools-excl.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6d973776d17bf6cfe85232c27c336738a6a0bc3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-excl.test
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+./test/hbal $BACKEND_EXCL --exclude-instances no-such-instance
+>>>2 /Unknown instance/
+>>>= !0
+
+./test/hbal $BACKEND_EXCL --select-instances no-such-instances
+>>>2 /Unknown instance/
+>>>= !0
+
+./test/hbal $BACKEND_EXCL --exclude-instances new-0 --select-instances new-1
+>>>= 0
diff --git a/test/htools-hail.test b/test/htools-hail.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a0bddf1a8b3b22ff50e4cc202a496f2da54a9ed3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-hail.test
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+# test that on invalid files it can't parse the request
+./test/hail /dev/null
+>>>2 /Invalid JSON/
+>>>= !0
+
+# another invalid example
+echo '[]' | ./test/hail -
+>>>2 /Unable to read JSObject/
+>>>= !0
+
+# empty dict
+echo '{}' | ./test/hail -
+>>>2 /key 'request' not found/
+>>>= !0
+
+echo '{"request": 0}' | ./test/hail -
+>>>2 /key 'request'/
+>>>= !0
+
+./test/hail $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-invalid-reloc.json
+>>>2 /key 'name': Unable to read String/
+>>>= !0
+
+# and now start the real tests
+./test/hail $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-alloc-drbd.json
+>>> /"success":true,.*,"result":\["node2","node1"\]/
+>>>= 0
+
+./test/hail $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-reloc-drbd.json
+>>> /"success":true,.*,"result":\["node1"\]/
+>>>= 0
+
+./test/hail $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-node-evac.json
+>>> /"success":true,"info":"Request successful: 0 instances failed to move and 1 were moved successfully"/
+>>>= 0
+
+./test/hail $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-change-group.json
+>>> /"success":true,"info":"Request successful: 0 instances failed to move and 1 were moved successfully"/
+>>>= 0
+
+# check that hail can use the simu backend
+./test/hail --simu p,8,8T,16g,16 $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-alloc-drbd.json
+>>> /"success":true,/
+>>>= 0
+
+# check that hail can use the text backend
+./test/hail -t $T/simu-rebal-merged.standard $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-alloc-drbd.json
+>>> /"success":true,/
+>>>= 0
+
+# check that hail can use the simu backend
+./test/hail -t $T/simu-rebal-merged.standard $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-alloc-drbd.json
+>>> /"success":true,/
+>>>= 0
+
+# check that hail pre/post saved state differs after allocation
+./test/hail -v -v -v -p $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-alloc-drbd.json -S $T/hail-alloc >/dev/null 2>&1 && ! diff -q $T/hail-alloc.pre-ialloc $T/hail-alloc.post-ialloc
+>>> /Files .* and .* differ/
+>>>= 0
+
+# check that hail pre/post saved state differs after relocation
+./test/hail -v -v -v -p $TESTDATA_DIR/hail-reloc-drbd.json -S $T/hail-reloc >/dev/null 2>&1 && ! diff -q $T/hail-reloc.pre-ialloc $T/hail-reloc.post-ialloc
+>>> /Files .* and .* differ/
+>>>= 0
+
+# evac tests
+./test/hail $T/hail-node-evac.json.primary-only
+>>> /"success":true,"info":"Request successful: 0 instances failed to move and 1 were moved successfully"/
+>>>= 0
+
+./test/hail $T/hail-node-evac.json.secondary-only
+>>> /"success":true,"info":"Request successful: 0 instances failed to move and 1 were moved successfully"/
+>>>= 0
+
+./test/hail $T/hail-node-evac.json.all
+>>> /"success":true,"info":"Request successful: 0 instances failed to move and 1 were moved successfully"/
+>>>= 0
diff --git a/test/htools-hspace.test b/test/htools-hspace.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6c93d3712d937851317f135ff8e2eb38f7627f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-hspace.test
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# test that hspace machine readable output looks correct
+./test/hspace --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 --machine-readable --disk-template drbd -l 8
+>>> /^HTS_OK=1/
+>>>= 0
+
+# test again via a file and shell parsing
+./test/hspace --simu p,4,8T,64g,16 --machine-readable --disk-template drbd -l 8 > $T/capacity && sh -c ". $T/capacity && test x\$HTS_OK = x1"
+>>>= 0
diff --git a/test/htools-invalid.test b/test/htools-invalid.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1d57cce6b17ae634cd2975f7f6c95ce325379e5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-invalid.test
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# invalid option test
+./test/hail --no-such-option
+>>>= 2
+
+# invalid option test
+./test/hbal --no-such-option
+>>>= 2
+
+# invalid option test
+./test/hspace --no-such-option
+>>>= 2
+
+# invalid option test
+./test/hscan --no-such-option
+>>>= 2
+
+# invalid option test
+./test/hinfo --no-such-option
+>>>= 2
+
+# extra arguments
+./test/hspace unexpected-argument
+>>>2
+Error: this program doesn't take any arguments.
+>>>=1
+
+./test/hbal unexpected-argument
+>>>2
+Error: this program doesn't take any arguments.
+>>>=1
+
+./test/hinfo unexpected-argument
+>>>2
+Error: this program doesn't take any arguments.
+>>>=1
diff --git a/test/htools-multi-group.test b/test/htools-multi-group.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b39dd8e897a28f5fec543dcf9c6f3ddd48af3bae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-multi-group.test
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# standard multi-group tests
+./test/hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances -t$T/simu-twogroups.standard
+>>>= 0
+./test/hbal -t$T/simu-twogroups.standard
+>>>= !0
+
+# hbal should not be able to balance
+./test/hbal -t$T/simu-twogroups.standard
+>>>2 /Found multiple node groups/
+>>>= !0
+
+# but hbal should be able to balance one node group
+./test/hbal -t$T/simu-twogroups.standard -G group-01
+>>>= 0
+# and it should not find an invalid group
+./test/hbal -t$T/simu-twogroups.standard -G no-such-group
+>>>= !0
+
+# tiered allocs multi-group tests
+./test/hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances -t$T/simu-twogroups.tiered
+>>>= 0
+./test/hbal -t$T/simu-twogroups.tiered
+>>>= !0
+
+# hbal should not be able to balance
+./test/hbal -t$T/simu-twogroups.tiered
+>>>2 /Found multiple node groups/
+>>>= !0
+
+# but hbal should be able to balance one node group
+./test/hbal -t$T/simu-twogroups.tiered -G group-01
+>>>= 0
+# and it should not find an invalid group
+./test/hbal -t$T/simu-twogroups.tiered -G no-such-group
+>>>= !0
diff --git a/test/htools-no-backend.test b/test/htools-no-backend.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ab678dc06bc3108df543f0ba72187cbfcb675ecf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-no-backend.test
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# hail no input file
+./test/hail
+>>>= 1
+
+# hbal no backend
+./test/hbal
+>>>= 1
+
+# hspace no backend
+./test/hspace
+>>>= 1
+
+# hinfo no backend
+./test/hinfo
+>>>= 1
+
+# hbal multiple backends
+./test/hbal -t /dev/null -m localhost
+>>>2
+Error: Only one of the rapi, luxi, and data files options should be given.
+>>>= 1
diff --git a/test/htools-rapi.test b/test/htools-rapi.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6e6f8040c11f13dcad033975e611dfafe5585f31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-rapi.test
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# test loading data via RAPI
+./test/hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances -m $RAPI_URL
+>>>= 0
+
+./test/hbal -v -v -p --print-instances -m $RAPI_URL
+>>>= 0
+
+# this compares generated files from hscan
+diff -u $T/hscan/direct.hinfo $T/hscan/fromtext.hinfo
+>>>
+>>>= 0
diff --git a/test/htools-single-group.test b/test/htools-single-group.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c77db81c0dd8ebdd9293c1a9dd8956d418a8bea4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-single-group.test
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# standard single-group tests
+./test/hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances -t$T/simu-onegroup.standard
+>>>= 0
+
+./test/hbal  -v -v -p --print-instances -t$T/simu-onegroup.standard
+>>>= 0
+
+# hbal should not be able to balance
+./test/hbal -t$T/simu-onegroup.standard
+>>> /(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)/
+>>>= 0
+
+
+# tiered single-group tests
+./test/hinfo -v -v -p --print-instances -t$T/simu-onegroup.tiered
+>>>= 0
+
+./test/hbal  -v -v -p --print-instances -t$T/simu-onegroup.tiered
+>>>= 0
+
+# hbal should not be able to balance
+./test/hbal -t$T/simu-onegroup.tiered
+>>> /(Nothing to do, exiting|No solution found)/
+>>>= 0
diff --git a/test/htools-text-backend.test b/test/htools-text-backend.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b45e8bfb70b3075749b9c5c9a1664bb4472840cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/htools-text-backend.test
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# missing resources test
+./test/hbal -t $TESTDATA_DIR/missing-resources.data
+>>>2 /node node2 is missing .* ram and .* disk/
+>>>= 0
+./test/hinfo -t $TESTDATA_DIR/missing-resources.data
+>>>2 /node node2 is missing .* ram and .* disk/
+>>>= 0
+
+
+# common suffix test
+./test/hbal -t $TESTDATA_DIR/common-suffix.data -v -v
+>>>/Stripping common suffix of '\.example\.com' from names/
+>>>= 0
+./test/hinfo -t $TESTDATA_DIR/common-suffix.data -v -v
+>>>/Stripping common suffix of '\.example\.com' from names/
+>>>= 0
+
+
+# invalid node test
+./test/hbal -t $TESTDATA_DIR/invalid-node.data
+>>>2 /Unknown node '.*' for instance new-0/
+>>>= !0
+
+./test/hspace -t $TESTDATA_DIR/invalid-node.data
+>>>2 /Unknown node '.*' for instance new-0/
+>>>= !0
+
+./test/hinfo -t $TESTDATA_DIR/invalid-node.data
+>>>2 /Unknown node '.*' for instance new-0/
+>>>= !0