diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fd412777..fcefbc50 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -59,3 +59,4 @@ target/
 # subiquity installer images
 installer/*.img
 logs/*
+venv
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 42ad483b..8a90b46a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 # Makefile for subiquity
 #
 PYTHONSRC=subiquity
+PYTHONPATH=$(shell pwd):$(shell pwd)/probert:$PYTHONPATH
+VENVPATH=$(shell pwd)/venv
+VENVACTIVATE=$(VENVPATH)/bin/activate
+TOPDIR=$(shell pwd)
 STREAM=daily
 RELEASE=wily
 ARCH=amd64
@@ -10,8 +14,18 @@ INSTALLER_RESOURCES += $(shell find installer/resources -type f)
 .PHONY: run clean
 
 
-ui-view:
-	(PYTHONPATH=$(shell pwd):$(shell pwd)/probert bin/$(PYTHONSRC))
+setup-virtualenv:
+	@if [ ! -d $(VENVPATH) ]; then virtualenv venv; fi
+	(/bin/bash -c "source $(VENVACTIVATE)")
+
+install-requirements: setup-virtualenv
+	@pip install -rrequirements.txt -q
+
+upgrade-pip: setup-virtualenv
+	@pip install --upgrade pip
+
+ui-view: install-requirements
+	(PYTHONPATH=$(PYTHONPATH) bin/$(PYTHONSRC))
 
 lint:
 	echo "Running flake8 lint tests..."
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..50334a99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+urwid==1.3.0
+pyudev==0.16.1
+netifaces==0.10.4
+nose-cov
+nose
+flake8
diff --git a/test/.gitkeep b/tests/.gitkeep
similarity index 100%
rename from test/.gitkeep
rename to tests/.gitkeep