diff --git a/ctdb/common/path_tool.c b/ctdb/common/path_tool.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..339066b582e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ctdb/common/path_tool.c
@@ -0,0 +1,332 @@
+/*
+   path tool
+
+   Copyright (C) Amitay Isaacs  2018
+
+   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+   along with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#include "replace.h"
+
+#include <talloc.h>
+
+#include "lib/util/debug.h"
+
+#include "common/logging.h"
+#include "common/cmdline.h"
+#include "common/path.h"
+#include "common/path_tool.h"
+
+struct path_tool_context {
+	struct cmdline_context *cmdline;
+};
+
+static int path_tool_config(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+			    int argc,
+			    const char **argv,
+			    void *private_data)
+{
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx = talloc_get_type_abort(
+		private_data, struct path_tool_context);
+
+	if (argc != 0) {
+		cmdline_usage(ctx->cmdline, "config");
+		return EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	printf("%s\n", path_config(mem_ctx));
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int path_tool_pidfile(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+			     int argc,
+			     const char **argv,
+			     void *private_data)
+{
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx = talloc_get_type_abort(
+		private_data, struct path_tool_context);
+	char *p;
+
+	if (argc != 1) {
+		cmdline_usage(ctx->cmdline, "pidfile");
+		return EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	p = path_pidfile(mem_ctx, argv[0]);
+	if (p == NULL) {
+		D_ERR("Memory allocation error\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	printf("%s\n", p);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int path_tool_socket(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+			     int argc,
+			     const char **argv,
+			     void *private_data)
+{
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx = talloc_get_type_abort(
+		private_data, struct path_tool_context);
+	char *p;
+
+	if (argc != 1) {
+		cmdline_usage(ctx->cmdline, "socket");
+		return EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	p = path_socket(mem_ctx, argv[0]);
+	if (p == NULL) {
+		D_ERR("Memory allocation error\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	printf("%s\n", p);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int path_tool_etcdir(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+			    int argc,
+			    const char **argv,
+			    void *private_data)
+{
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx = talloc_get_type_abort(
+		private_data, struct path_tool_context);
+
+	if (argc != 0) {
+		cmdline_usage(ctx->cmdline, "etcdir");
+		return EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	printf("%s\n", path_etcdir());
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int path_tool_etcdir_append(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+				   int argc,
+				   const char **argv,
+				   void *private_data)
+{
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx = talloc_get_type_abort(
+		private_data, struct path_tool_context);
+	char *p;
+
+	if (argc != 1) {
+		cmdline_usage(ctx->cmdline, "etcdir append");
+		return EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	p = path_etcdir_append(mem_ctx, argv[0]);
+	if (p == NULL) {
+		D_ERR("Memory allocation error\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	printf("%s\n", p);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int path_tool_rundir(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+			    int argc,
+			    const char **argv,
+			    void *private_data)
+{
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx = talloc_get_type_abort(
+		private_data, struct path_tool_context);
+
+	if (argc != 0) {
+		cmdline_usage(ctx->cmdline, "rundir");
+		return EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	printf("%s\n", path_rundir());
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int path_tool_rundir_append(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+				   int argc,
+				   const char **argv,
+				   void *private_data)
+{
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx = talloc_get_type_abort(
+		private_data, struct path_tool_context);
+	char *p;
+
+	if (argc != 1) {
+		cmdline_usage(ctx->cmdline, "rundir append");
+		return EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	p = path_rundir_append(mem_ctx, argv[0]);
+	if (p == NULL) {
+		D_ERR("Memory allocation error\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	printf("%s\n", p);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int path_tool_vardir(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+			    int argc,
+			    const char **argv,
+			    void *private_data)
+{
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx = talloc_get_type_abort(
+		private_data, struct path_tool_context);
+
+	if (argc != 0) {
+		cmdline_usage(ctx->cmdline, "vardir");
+		return EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	printf("%s\n", path_vardir());
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int path_tool_vardir_append(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+				   int argc,
+				   const char **argv,
+				   void *private_data)
+{
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx = talloc_get_type_abort(
+		private_data, struct path_tool_context);
+	char *p;
+
+	if (argc != 1) {
+		cmdline_usage(ctx->cmdline, "vardir append");
+		return EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	p = path_vardir_append(mem_ctx, argv[0]);
+	if (p == NULL) {
+		D_ERR("Memory allocation error\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	printf("%s\n", p);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+struct cmdline_command path_commands[] = {
+	{ "config", path_tool_config,
+	  "Get path of CTDB config file", NULL },
+	{ "pidfile", path_tool_pidfile,
+	  "Get path of CTDB daemon pidfile", "<daemon>" },
+	{ "socket", path_tool_socket,
+	  "Get path of CTDB daemon socket", "<daemon>" },
+	{ "etcdir append", path_tool_etcdir_append,
+	  "Get path relative to CTDB ETCDIR", "<path>" },
+	{ "etcdir", path_tool_etcdir,
+	  "Get path of CTDB ETCDIR", NULL },
+	{ "rundir append", path_tool_rundir_append,
+	  "Get path relative to CTDB RUNDIR", "<path>" },
+	{ "rundir", path_tool_rundir,
+	  "Get path of CTDB RUNDIR", NULL },
+	{ "vardir append", path_tool_vardir_append,
+	  "Get path relative to CTDB VARDIR", "<path>" },
+	{ "vardir", path_tool_vardir,
+	  "Get path of CTDB VARDIR", NULL },
+	CMDLINE_TABLEEND
+};
+
+int path_tool_init(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+		   const char *prog,
+		   struct poptOption *options,
+		   int argc,
+		   const char **argv,
+		   bool parse_options,
+		   struct path_tool_context **result)
+{
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx;
+	int ret;
+
+	ctx = talloc_zero(mem_ctx, struct path_tool_context);
+	if (ctx == NULL) {
+		D_ERR("Memory allocation error\n");
+		return ENOMEM;
+	}
+
+	ret = cmdline_init(ctx, prog, options, path_commands, &ctx->cmdline);
+	if (ret != 0) {
+		D_ERR("Failed to initialize cmdline, ret=%d\n", ret);
+		talloc_free(ctx);
+		return ret;
+	}
+
+	ret = cmdline_parse(ctx->cmdline, argc, argv, parse_options);
+	if (ret != 0) {
+		cmdline_usage(ctx->cmdline, NULL);
+		talloc_free(ctx);
+		return ret;
+	}
+
+	*result = ctx;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int path_tool_run(struct path_tool_context *ctx, int *result)
+{
+	return cmdline_run(ctx->cmdline, ctx, result);
+}
+
+#ifdef CTDB_PATH_TOOL
+
+int main(int argc, const char **argv)
+{
+	TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx;
+	struct path_tool_context *ctx;
+	int ret, result;
+
+	mem_ctx = talloc_new(NULL);
+	if (mem_ctx == NULL) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Memory allocation error\n");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
+	ret = path_tool_init(mem_ctx,
+			     "ctdb-path",
+			     NULL,
+			     argc,
+			     argv,
+			     true,
+			     &ctx);
+	if (ret != 0) {
+		talloc_free(mem_ctx);
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
+	setup_logging("ctdb-path", DEBUG_STDERR);
+	DEBUGLEVEL = DEBUG_ERR;
+
+	ret = path_tool_run(ctx, &result);
+	if (ret != 0) {
+		result = 1;
+	}
+
+	talloc_free(mem_ctx);
+	exit(result);
+}
+
+#endif /* CTDB_PATH_TOOL */
diff --git a/ctdb/common/path_tool.h b/ctdb/common/path_tool.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bc6ea6224ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ctdb/common/path_tool.h
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/*
+   path tool
+
+   Copyright (C) Amitay Isaacs  2018
+
+   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+   along with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#ifndef __CTDB_PATH_TOOL__
+#define __CTDB_PATH_TOOL__
+
+#include <talloc.h>
+#include <popt.h>
+
+struct path_tool_context;
+
+int path_tool_init(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
+		   const char *prog,
+		   struct poptOption *options,
+		   int argc,
+		   const char **argv,
+		   bool parse_options,
+		   struct path_tool_context **result);
+
+int path_tool_run(struct path_tool_context *ctx, int *result);
+
+#endif /* __CTDB_PATH_TOOL__ */
diff --git a/ctdb/tests/cunit/path_tests_001.sh b/ctdb/tests/cunit/path_tests_001.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..9637e6cea11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ctdb/tests/cunit/path_tests_001.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+. "${TEST_SCRIPTS_DIR}/unit.sh"
+
+PATH="$PATH:$CTDB_SCRIPTS_TOOLS_HELPER_DIR"
+
+setup_ctdb_base "${TEST_VAR_DIR}" "cunit"
+
+ok <<EOF
+$CTDB_BASE/ctdb.conf
+EOF
+unit_test ctdb-path config
+
+ok <<EOF
+$CTDB_BASE/run/foobar.pid
+EOF
+unit_test ctdb-path pidfile foobar
+
+ok <<EOF
+$CTDB_BASE/run/foobar.socket
+EOF
+unit_test ctdb-path socket foobar
+
+ok <<EOF
+$CTDB_BASE
+EOF
+unit_test ctdb-path etcdir
+
+ok <<EOF
+$CTDB_BASE/run
+EOF
+unit_test ctdb-path rundir
+
+ok <<EOF
+$CTDB_BASE/var
+EOF
+unit_test ctdb-path vardir
+
+ok <<EOF
+$CTDB_BASE/foobar
+EOF
+unit_test ctdb-path etcdir append foobar
+
+ok <<EOF
+$CTDB_BASE/run/foobar
+EOF
+unit_test ctdb-path rundir append foobar
+
+ok <<EOF
+$CTDB_BASE/var/foobar
+EOF
+unit_test ctdb-path vardir append foobar
diff --git a/ctdb/wscript b/ctdb/wscript
index e8aafe1970a..797420b4c7e 100644
--- a/ctdb/wscript
+++ b/ctdb/wscript
@@ -454,6 +454,12 @@ def build(bld):
                         includes='include',
                         deps='ctdb-protocol-util replace talloc tevent')
 
+    bld.SAMBA_BINARY('ctdb-path',
+                     source='common/path_tool.c',
+                     cflags='-DCTDB_PATH_TOOL',
+                     deps='''ctdb-util samba-util talloc replace popt''',
+                     install_path='${CTDB_HELPER_BINDIR}')
+
     bld.SAMBA_BINARY('ctdbd',
                      source='server/ctdbd.c ' +
                                bld.SUBDIR('server',