diff --git a/test/sharness/lib/iptb-lib.sh b/test/sharness/lib/iptb-lib.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3ba09e791
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/sharness/lib/iptb-lib.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# iptb test framework 
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2014, 2016 Jeromy Johnson, Christian Couder
+# MIT Licensed; see the LICENSE file in this repository.
+
+export IPTB_ROOT="$(pwd)/.iptb"
+
+ipfsi() {
+	dir="$1"
+	shift
+	IPFS_PATH="$IPTB_ROOT/$dir" ipfs "$@"
+}
+
+check_has_connection() {
+	node="$1"
+	ipfsi "$node" swarm peers >"swarm_peers_$node" &&
+	grep "ipfs" "swarm_peers_$node" >/dev/null
+}
+
+startup_cluster() {
+	num_nodes="$1"
+	bound=$(expr $num_nodes - 1)
+
+	test_expect_success "start up nodes" '
+		iptb start
+	'
+
+	test_expect_success "connect nodes to eachother" '
+		iptb connect [1-$bound] 0
+	'
+
+	for i in $(test_seq 1 $bound)
+	do
+		test_expect_success "node $i is connected" '
+			check_has_connection "$i" ||
+			test_fsh cat "swarm_peers_$i"
+		'
+	done
+}
diff --git a/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh b/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh
index ec28d6d77..9d2f40544 100644
--- a/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/lib/test-lib.sh
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ fi
 # source our generic test lib
 . ../../ipfs-test-lib.sh
 
+# source iptb lib
+. ../lib/iptb-lib.sh
+
 test_cmp_repeat_10_sec() {
 	for i in $(test_seq 1 100)
 	do
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0101-iptb-name.sh b/test/sharness/t0101-iptb-name.sh
index f5534aa29..3dbea47da 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0101-iptb-name.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0101-iptb-name.sh
@@ -8,46 +8,12 @@ test_description="Test ipfs repo operations"
 
 . lib/test-lib.sh
 
-export IPTB_ROOT="`pwd`/.iptb"
-
 num_nodes=4
 
-ipfsi() {
-	dir="$1"
-	shift
-	IPFS_PATH="$IPTB_ROOT/$dir" ipfs $@
-}
-
 test_expect_success "set up an iptb cluster" '
 	iptb init -n $num_nodes -p 0 -f --bootstrap=none
 '
 
-check_has_connection() {
-	node=$1
-	ipfsi $node swarm peers | grep ipfs > /dev/null
-}
-
-startup_cluster() {
-	bound=`expr $num_nodes - 1`
-	test_expect_success "start up nodes" '
-		iptb start
-	'
-
-	test_expect_success "connect nodes to eachother" '
-		iptb connect [1-$bound] 0
-	'
-
-	test_expect_success "nodes are connected" '
-		for i in `seq $bound`
-		do
-			if ! check_has_connection $i; then
-				echo "oh shit guys"
-				return 1
-			fi
-		done
-	'
-}
-
 startup_cluster $num_nodes
 
 test_expect_success "add an obect on one node" '
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0121-bootstrap-iptb.sh b/test/sharness/t0121-bootstrap-iptb.sh
index abf2be049..290ebe879 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0121-bootstrap-iptb.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0121-bootstrap-iptb.sh
@@ -17,19 +17,6 @@ test_expect_success "disable mdns" '
 
 test_launch_ipfs_daemon
 
-export IPTB_ROOT="`pwd`/.iptb"
-
-ipfsi() {
-	dir="$1"
-	shift
-	IPFS_PATH="$IPTB_ROOT/$dir" ipfs $@
-}
-
-check_has_connection() {
-	node=$1
-	ipfsi $node swarm peers | grep ipfs > /dev/null
-}
-
 test_expect_success "setup iptb nodes" '
 	iptb init -n 5 -f --bootstrap=none --port=0
 '
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0130-multinode.sh b/test/sharness/t0130-multinode.sh
index fa9b9d91c..6024d3b0e 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0130-multinode.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0130-multinode.sh
@@ -8,37 +8,6 @@ test_description="Test multiple ipfs nodes"
 
 . lib/test-lib.sh
 
-export IPTB_ROOT="`pwd`/.iptb"
-
-ipfsi() {
-	dir="$1"
-	shift
-	IPFS_PATH="$IPTB_ROOT/$dir" ipfs $@
-}
-
-check_has_connection() {
-	node=$1
-	ipfsi $node swarm peers | grep ipfs > /dev/null
-}
-
-startup_cluster() {
-	test_expect_success "start up nodes" '
-		iptb start
-	'
-
-	test_expect_success "connect nodes to eachother" '
-		iptb connect [1-4] 0
-	'
-
-	test_expect_success "nodes are connected" '
-		check_has_connection 0 &&
-		check_has_connection 1 &&
-		check_has_connection 2 &&
-		check_has_connection 3 &&
-		check_has_connection 4
-	'
-}
-
 check_file_fetch() {
 	node=$1
 	fhash=$2
@@ -54,7 +23,7 @@ check_file_fetch() {
 }
 
 run_basic_test() {
-	startup_cluster 
+	startup_cluster 5
 
 	test_expect_success "add a file on node1" '
 		random 1000000 > filea &&
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0240-republisher.sh b/test/sharness/t0240-republisher.sh
index 71764ae96..54e26cf07 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0240-republisher.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0240-republisher.sh
@@ -8,15 +8,8 @@ test_description="Test ipfs repo operations"
 
 . lib/test-lib.sh
 
-export IPTB_ROOT="`pwd`/.iptb"
 export DEBUG=true
 
-ipfsi() {
-	dir="$1"
-	shift
-	IPFS_PATH="$IPTB_ROOT/$dir" ipfs "$@"
-}
-
 setup_iptb() {
 	test_expect_success "iptb init" '
 		iptb init -n4 --bootstrap none --port 0