diff --git a/tests/testthat.R b/tests/testthat.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51942bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat.R
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+library(testthat)
+library(AzureDSVM)
+
+test_check("AzureDSVM")
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diff --git a/tests/testthat/helper.R b/tests/testthat/helper.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d87622
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/helper.R
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# helper functions - these are the same as used in AzureSMR package.
+
+skip_if_missing_config <- function(f){
+  if(!file.exists(f)) {
+    msg <- paste("To run tests, add a file ~/.azuresmr/settings.json containing AzureML keys.",
+                 "See ?workspace for help",
+                 sep = "\n")
+    message(msg)
+    testthat::skip("settings.json file is missing")
+  }
+}
+
+skip_if_offline <- function(){
+  u <- tryCatch(url("https://mran.microsoft.com"),
+                error = function(e)e)
+  if(inherits(u, "error")){
+    u <- url("http://mran.microsoft.com")
+  }
+  on.exit(close(u))
+  z <- tryCatch(suppressWarnings(readLines(u, n = 1, warn = FALSE)),
+                error = function(e)e)
+  if(inherits(z, "error")){
+    testthat::skip("Offline. Skipping test.")
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-1-deployment.R b/tests/testthat/test-1-deployment.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b24dfc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-1-deployment.R
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+# test deployment of DSVM.
+
+if(interactive()) library("testthat")
+
+library(AzureSMR)
+
+settingsfile <- getOption("AzureSMR.config")
+config <- read.AzureSMR.config()
+
+context("DSVM deployment")
+
+asc <- createAzureContext()
+
+with(config,
+     setAzureContext(asc, tenantID=tenantID, clientID=clientID, authKey=authKey)
+)
+azureAuthenticate(asc)
+
+timestamp <- format(Sys.time(), format="%y%m%d%H%M")
+
+resourceGroup_name <- paste0("AzureDSVMtest_", timestamp)
+location           <- "southeastasia"
+dsvm_name          <- paste0("azuredsvm", timestamp)
+dsvm_size          <- "Standard_D4_v2"
+dsvm_os            <- "CentOS"
+dsvm_password      <- "AzureDSVM_test123"
+dsvm_username      <- "dsvmuser"
+
+# create a new resource group.
+
+context(" - create a new resource group")
+
+test_that("Can create resource group", {
+  skip_if_missing_config(settingsfile)
+  
+  res <- azureCreateResourceGroup(asc, 
+                                  location=location, 
+                                  resourceGroup=resourceGroup_name)
+  expect_equal(res, TRUE)
+  
+  AzureSMR:::wait_for_azure(
+    resourceGroup_name %in% azureListRG(asc)$resourceGroup
+  )
+  expect_true(resourceGroup_name %in% azureListRG(asc)$resourceGroup)
+})
+
+context(" - Deploy a DSVM")
+
+test_that("Deploy a DSVM with custom specifications", {
+  skip_if_missing_config(settingsfile)
+  
+  res <- deployDSVM(asc, 
+                    resource.group=resourceGroup_name,
+                    location=location,
+                    hostname=dsvm_name,
+                    username=dsvm_username,
+                    size=dsvm_size,
+                    os=dsvm_os,
+                    authen="Password",
+                    pubkey="",
+                    password=dsvm_password,
+                    mode="Sync")
+  
+  expect_equal(object=res, expected=paste(dsvm_name, location, "cloudapp.azure.com", sep="."))
+})
+
+context(" - delete resource group")
+test_that("Can delete resource group", {
+  skip_if_missing_config(settingsfile)
+  
+  expect_message({
+    res <- azureDeleteResourceGroup(asc, resourceGroup = resourceGroup_name)
+  }, "Delete Request Submitted"
+  )
+})
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