diff --git a/bin/cros_start_vm b/bin/cros_start_vm
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..3ecced9f69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/cros_start_vm
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Copyright (c) 2010 The Chromium OS Authors. All rights reserved.
+# Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+# found in the LICENSE file.
+#
+# Simple wrapper scipt to start a vm using the vm lib.
+
+. "$(dirname $0)/../common.sh"
+. "$(dirname $0)/../lib/cros_vm_lib.sh"
+. "$(dirname "$0")/../lib/cros_vm_constants.sh"
+
+DEFINE_string image_path "" "Full path of the VM image"
+
+set -e
+
+# Parse command line.
+FLAGS "$@" || exit 1
+eval set -- "${FLAGS_ARGV}"
+
+# Use latest if not specified.
+if [ -z "${FLAGS_image_path}" ]; then
+  LATEST_IMAGE="$(${SCRIPTS_DIR}/get_latest_image.sh)/${DEFAULT_QEMU_IMAGE}"
+  info "Using latest vm image ${LATEST_IMAGE}"
+  FLAGS_image_path=${LATEST_IMAGE}
+fi
+
+[ -e "${FLAGS_image_path}" ] || die "Image ${FLAGS_image_path} does not exist."
+
+start_kvm "${FLAGS_image_path}"
+
+echo "ssh root@${HOSTNAME} -p ${FLAGS_ssh_port} -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no"
diff --git a/lib/cros_vm_lib.sh b/lib/cros_vm_lib.sh
index 8f98926ccc..f36804d378 100644
--- a/lib/cros_vm_lib.sh
+++ b/lib/cros_vm_lib.sh
@@ -28,15 +28,15 @@ function start_kvm() {
     local pid=$(get_pid)
     # Check if the process exists.
     if ps -p ${pid} > /dev/null ; then
-      echo "Using a pre-created KVM instance specified by ${FLAGS_kvm_pid}."
+      echo "Using a pre-created KVM instance specified by ${FLAGS_kvm_pid}." >&2
     else
       # Let's be safe in case they specified a file that isn't a pid file.
-      echo "File ${KVM_PID_FILE} exists but specified pid doesn't."
+      echo "File ${KVM_PID_FILE} exists but specified pid doesn't." >&2
       exit 1
     fi
   else
     # No pid specified by PID file.  Let's create a VM instance in this case.
-    echo "Starting a KVM instance"
+    echo "Starting a KVM instance" >&2
     local nographics=""
     local usesnapshot=""
     if [ ${FLAGS_no_graphics} -eq ${FLAGS_TRUE} ]; then
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ function start_kvm() {
 function ssh_ping() {
   "$(dirname $0)"/../ssh_test.sh \
     --ssh_port=${FLAGS_ssh_port} \
-    --remote=127.0.0.1
+    --remote=127.0.0.1 >&2
 }
 
 # Tries to ssh into live image $1 times.  After first failure, a try involves
@@ -88,12 +88,12 @@ function retry_until_ssh() {
 function stop_kvm() {
   if [ "${FLAGS_persist}" -eq "${FLAGS_TRUE}" ]; then
     echo "Persist requested.  Use --ssh_port ${FLAGS_ssh_port} " \
-      "--kvm_pid ${KVM_PID_FILE} to re-connect to it."
+      "--kvm_pid ${KVM_PID_FILE} to re-connect to it." >&2
   else
     echo "Stopping the KVM instance" >&2
     local pid=$(get_pid)
     if [ -n "${pid}" ]; then
-      echo "Killing ${pid}"
+      echo "Killing ${pid}" >&2
       sudo kill ${pid}
       sudo rm "${KVM_PID_FILE}"
     else