diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 6bfaebef..2139f9f5 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -8,10 +8,9 @@ git:
   depth: 1
 install: true
 before_script:
-- curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golangci/golangci-lint/master/install.sh | sh -s -- -b ${GOPATH}/bin v1.20.0
-- go get github.com/mitchellh/gox@v1.0.1
+- make ci-setup
 script:
-- make fmt check build-cross
+- make ci-tests ci-dist
 deploy:
   provider: releases
   skip_cleanup: true
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 87b4589c..07d8716c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -4,4 +4,10 @@ COPY . .
 RUN make build && bin/k3d --version
 
 FROM docker:19.03-dind
+
+# TODO: we could create a different stage for e2e tests
+RUN apk add bash curl sudo
+RUN curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/`curl -s https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/stable.txt`/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl && \
+    chmod +x ./kubectl && \
+    mv ./kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
 COPY --from=builder /app/bin/k3d /bin/k3d
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 84cf5c1b..570c0052 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -32,10 +32,12 @@ GOFLAGS   :=
 BINDIR    := $(CURDIR)/bin
 BINARIES  := k3d
 
+K3D_IMAGE_TAG := $(GIT_TAG)
 
 # Go Package required
 PKG_GOX := github.com/mitchellh/gox@v1.0.1
 PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION := 1.22.2
+PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_SCRIPT := https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golangci/golangci-lint/master/install.sh
 PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT := github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@v${PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION}
 
 # configuration adjustments for golangci-lint
@@ -62,12 +64,16 @@ LINT_DIRS := $(DIRS) $(foreach dir,$(REC_DIRS),$(dir)/...)
 all: clean fmt check build
 
 build:
-	CGO_ENABLED=0 $(GO) build -i $(GOFLAGS) -tags '$(TAGS)' -ldflags '$(LDFLAGS)' -o '$(BINDIR)/$(BINARIES)'
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 $(GO) build $(GOFLAGS) -tags '$(TAGS)' -ldflags '$(LDFLAGS)' -o '$(BINDIR)/$(BINARIES)'
 
 build-cross: LDFLAGS += -extldflags "-static"
 build-cross:
 	CGO_ENABLED=0 gox -parallel=3 -output="_dist/$(BINARIES)-{{.OS}}-{{.Arch}}" -osarch='$(TARGETS)' $(GOFLAGS) $(if $(TAGS),-tags '$(TAGS)',) -ldflags '$(LDFLAGS)'
 
+build-dockerfile: Dockerfile
+	@echo "Building Docker image k3d:$(K3D_IMAGE_TAG)"
+	docker build -t k3d:$(K3D_IMAGE_TAG) .
+
 clean:
 	@rm -rf $(BINDIR) _dist/
 
@@ -79,6 +85,19 @@ extra-clean: clean
 fmt:
 	@gofmt -s -l -w $(GO_SRC)
 
+e2e: build
+	EXE='$(BINDIR)/$(BINARIES)' ./tests/runner.sh
+
+e2e-dind: build-dockerfile
+	@echo "Running e2e tests in k3d:$(K3D_IMAGE_TAG)"
+	docker run -ti --rm \
+		-v `pwd`/tests:/tests \
+		-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
+		-e EXE="/bin/k3d" \
+		-e CI="true" \
+		k3d:$(K3D_IMAGE_TAG) \
+		/bin/bash /tests/runner.sh
+
 # check-fmt returns an error code if any source code contains format error.
 check-fmt:
 	@test -z $(shell gofmt -s -l $(GO_SRC) | tee /dev/stderr) || echo "[WARN] Fix formatting issues with 'make fmt'"
@@ -98,15 +117,31 @@ ifndef HAS_GOX
 	($(GO) get $(PKG_GOX))
 endif
 ifndef HAS_GOLANGCI
-	(curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golangci/golangci-lint/master/install.sh| sh -s -- -b ${GOPATH}/bin v${PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION})
+	(curl -sfL $(PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_SCRIPT) | sh -s -- -b ${GOPATH}/bin v${PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION})
 endif
 ifdef HAS_GOLANGCI
 ifeq ($(HAS_GOLANGCI_VERSION),)
 ifdef INTERACTIVE
 	@echo "Warning: Your installed version of golangci-lint (interactive: ${INTERACTIVE}) differs from what we'd like to use. Switch to v${PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION}? [Y/n]"
-	@read line; if [ $$line == "y" ]; then (curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golangci/golangci-lint/master/install.sh| sh -s -- -b ${GOPATH}/bin v${PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION}); fi
+	@read line; if [ $$line == "y" ]; then (curl -sfL $(PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_SCRIPT) | sh -s -- -b ${GOPATH}/bin v${PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION}); fi
 else
 	@echo "Warning: you're not using the same version of golangci-lint as us (v${PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION})"
 endif
 endif
 endif
+
+ci-setup:
+	@echo "Installing Go tools..."
+	curl -sfL $(PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_SCRIPT) | sh -s -- -b ${GOPATH}/bin v$(PKG_GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION)
+	go get $(PKG_GOX)
+
+	@echo "Installing kubectl..."
+	curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/`curl -s https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/stable.txt`/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
+	chmod +x ./kubectl
+	sudo mv ./kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
+
+ci-tests: fmt check e2e
+
+ci-dist: build-cross
+
+ci-tests-dind: fmt check e2e-dind
diff --git a/tests/01-basic.sh b/tests/01-basic.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..c296b064
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/01-basic.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+CURR_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
+[ -d "$CURR_DIR" ] || { echo "FATAL: no current dir (maybe running in zsh?)";  exit 1; }
+
+# shellcheck source=./common.sh
+source "$CURR_DIR/common.sh"
+
+#########################################################################################
+
+info "Creating two clusters..."
+$EXE create --wait 60 --name "c1" --api-port 6443 || failed "could not create cluster c1"
+$EXE create --wait 60 --name "c2" --api-port 6444 || failed "could not create cluster c2"
+
+info "Checking we have access to both clusters..."
+check_k3d_clusters "c1" "c2" || failed "error checking cluster"
+
+info "Deleting clusters..."
+$EXE delete --name "c1" || failed "could not delete the cluster c1"
+$EXE delete --name "c2" || failed "could not delete the cluster c2"
+
+exit 0
+
+
diff --git a/tests/common.sh b/tests/common.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fc726144
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/common.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+RED='\033[1;31m'
+GRN='\033[1;32m'
+YEL='\033[1;33m'
+BLU='\033[1;34m'
+WHT='\033[1;37m'
+MGT='\033[1;95m'
+CYA='\033[1;96m'
+END='\033[0m'
+BLOCK='\033[1;37m'
+
+PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH
+export PATH
+
+log() { >&2 printf "${BLOCK}>>>${END} $1\n"; }
+
+info() { log "${BLU}$1${END}"; }
+highlight() { log "${MGT}$1${END}"; }
+
+bye() {
+  log "${BLU}$1... exiting${END}"
+  exit 0
+}
+
+warn() { log "${RED}!!! WARNING !!! $1 ${END}"; }
+
+abort() {
+  log "${RED}FATAL: $1${END}"
+  exit 1
+}
+
+command_exists() {
+    command -v $1 >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
+failed() {
+  if [ -z "$1" ] ; then
+    log "${RED}failed!!!${END}"
+  else
+    log "${RED}$1${END}"
+  fi
+  abort "test failed"
+}
+
+passed() {
+  if [ -z "$1" ] ; then
+    log "${GRN}done!${END}"
+  else
+    log "${GRN}$1${END}"
+  fi
+}
+
+# checks that a URL is available, with an optional error message
+check_url() {
+  command_exists curl || abort "curl is not installed"
+  curl -L --silent -k --output /dev/null --fail "$1"
+}
+
+check_k3d_clusters() {
+  for c in "c1" "c2" ; do
+    kc=$($EXE get-kubeconfig --name "$c")
+    if kubectl --kubeconfig=$kc cluster-info ; then
+      passed "cluster $c is reachable"
+    else
+      warn "could not obtain cluster info for $c with kubeconfig=$kc. Contents:\n$(cat $kc)"
+      return 1
+    fi
+  done
+  return 0
+}
diff --git a/tests/runner.sh b/tests/runner.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..52e8fe4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/runner.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+CURR_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
+[ -d "$CURR_DIR" ] || { echo "FATAL: no current dir (maybe running in zsh?)";  exit 1; }
+
+# shellcheck source=./common.sh
+source "$CURR_DIR/common.sh"
+
+#########################################################################################
+
+[ -n "$EXE" ] || abort "no EXE provided"
+
+info "Starting e2e tests..."
+
+for i in $CURR_DIR/[0-9]*.sh ; do
+  base=$(basename $i .sh)
+  highlight "***** Running $base *****"
+  $i || abort "test $base failed"
+done
+
+exit 0
+