diff --git a/unit_tests/utilities/test_zaza_utilities_openstack.py b/unit_tests/utilities/test_zaza_utilities_openstack.py
index 1ced14b..9aa3cde 100644
--- a/unit_tests/utilities/test_zaza_utilities_openstack.py
+++ b/unit_tests/utilities/test_zaza_utilities_openstack.py
@@ -696,6 +696,31 @@ class TestOpenStackUtils(ut_utils.BaseTestCase):
             password='reallyhardpassord',
             username='bob')
 
+    def test_ssh_command(self):
+        paramiko_mock = mock.MagicMock()
+        self.patch_object(openstack_utils.paramiko, 'SSHClient',
+                          return_value=paramiko_mock)
+        self.patch_object(openstack_utils.paramiko, 'AutoAddPolicy',
+                          return_value='some_policy')
+        stdout = io.StringIO("myvm")
+
+        paramiko_mock.exec_command.return_value = ('stdin', stdout, 'stderr')
+
+        def verifier(_stdin, stdout, _stderr):
+            self.assertEqual('myvm', stdout.readlines()[0].strip())
+
+        openstack_utils.ssh_command(
+            'bob',
+            '10.0.0.10',
+            'myvm',
+            'uname -n',
+            password='reallyhardpassord',
+            verify=verifier)
+        paramiko_mock.connect.assert_called_once_with(
+            '10.0.0.10',
+            password='reallyhardpassord',
+            username='bob')
+
     def test_ssh_test_wrong_server(self):
         paramiko_mock = mock.MagicMock()
         self.patch_object(openstack_utils.paramiko, 'SSHClient',
diff --git a/zaza/openstack/utilities/openstack.py b/zaza/openstack/utilities/openstack.py
index 9b2e617..0b41a65 100644
--- a/zaza/openstack/utilities/openstack.py
+++ b/zaza/openstack/utilities/openstack.py
@@ -1921,6 +1921,48 @@ def ssh_test(username, ip, vm_name, password=None, privkey=None):
     :type privkey: str
     :raises: exceptions.SSHFailed
     """
+    def verify(stdin, stdout, stderr):
+        return_string = stdout.readlines()[0].strip()
+
+        if return_string == vm_name:
+            logging.info('SSH to %s(%s) succesfull' % (vm_name, ip))
+        else:
+            logging.info('SSH to %s(%s) failed (%s != %s)' % (vm_name, ip,
+                                                              return_string,
+                                                              vm_name))
+            raise exceptions.SSHFailed()
+
+    ssh_command(username, ip, vm_name, 'uname -n',
+                password=password, privkey=privkey, verify=verify)
+
+
+def ssh_command(username,
+                ip,
+                vm_name,
+                command,
+                password=None,
+                privkey=None,
+                verify=None):
+    """SSH to given ip using supplied credentials.
+
+    :param username: Username to connect with
+    :type username: str
+    :param ip: IP address to ssh to.
+    :type ip: str
+    :param vm_name: Name of VM.
+    :type vm_name: str
+    :param command: What command to run on the remote host
+    :type command: str
+    :param password: Password to authenticate with. If supplied it is used
+                     rather than privkey.
+    :type password: str
+    :param privkey: Private key to authenticate with. If a password is
+                    supplied it is used rather than the private key.
+    :type privkey: str
+    :param verify: A callable to verify the command output with
+    :type verify: callable
+    :raises: exceptions.SSHFailed
+    """
     logging.info('Attempting to ssh to %s(%s)' % (vm_name, ip))
     ssh = paramiko.SSHClient()
     ssh.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
@@ -1929,16 +1971,15 @@ def ssh_test(username, ip, vm_name, password=None, privkey=None):
     else:
         key = paramiko.RSAKey.from_private_key(io.StringIO(privkey))
         ssh.connect(ip, username=username, password='', pkey=key)
-    stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command('uname -n')
-    return_string = stdout.readlines()[0].strip()
-    ssh.close()
-    if return_string == vm_name:
-        logging.info('SSH to %s(%s) succesfull' % (vm_name, ip))
-    else:
-        logging.info('SSH to %s(%s) failed (%s != %s)' % (vm_name, ip,
-                                                          return_string,
-                                                          vm_name))
-        raise exceptions.SSHFailed()
+    logging.info("Running {} on {}".format(command, vm_name))
+    stdin, stdout, stderr = ssh.exec_command(command)
+    if verify and callable(verify):
+        try:
+            verify(stdin, stdout, stderr)
+        except Exception as e:
+            raise(e)
+        finally:
+            ssh.close()
 
 
 @tenacity.retry(wait=tenacity.wait_exponential(multiplier=0.01),