diff --git a/tests/functional/kata-monitor/gha-run.sh b/tests/functional/kata-monitor/gha-run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..93ac3f87db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/functional/kata-monitor/gha-run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2023 Intel Corporation
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+kata_tarball_dir="${2:-kata-artifacts}"
+kata_monitor_dir="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")" 
+source "${kata_monitor_dir}/../../common.bash"
+
+function install_dependencies() {
+	info "Installing the dependencies needed for running the cri-containerd tests"
+
+	# Dependency list of projects that we can rely on the system packages
+	# - build-essential
+	#   - Theoretically we only need `make`, but doesn't hurt to install
+	#     the whole build-essential group
+	# - jq
+	declare -a system_deps=(
+		build-essential
+		jq
+	)
+
+	sudo apt-get update
+	sudo apt-get -y install "${system_deps[@]}"
+
+	ensure_yq
+
+	# Dependency list of projects that we can install them
+	# directly from their releases on GitHub:
+	# - cri-tools
+	# - containerd
+	#   - cri-container-cni release tarball already includes CNI plugins
+	cri_tools_version=$(get_from_kata_deps "externals.critools.latest")
+	declare -a github_deps
+	github_deps[0]="cri_tools:${cri_tools_version}"
+	case "${CONTAINER_ENGINE}" in
+		containerd)
+			github_deps[1]="cri_containerd:$(get_from_kata_deps "externals.containerd.${CONTAINERD_VERSION}")"
+			;;
+		crio)
+			github_deps[1]="cni_plugins:$(get_from_kata_deps "externals.cni-plugins.version")"
+			;;
+	esac
+
+	for github_dep in "${github_deps[@]}"; do
+		IFS=":" read -r -a dep <<< "${github_dep}"
+		install_${dep[0]} "${dep[1]}"
+	done
+
+	if [ "${CONTAINER_ENGINE}" = "crio" ]; then
+		install_crio ${cri_tools_version#v}
+	fi
+}
+
+function run() {
+	info "Running cri-containerd tests using ${KATA_HYPERVISOR} hypervisor"
+
+	enabling_hypervisor
+	bash -c ${kata_monitor_dir}/kata-monitor-tests.sh
+}
+
+function main() {
+	action="${1:-}"
+	case "${action}" in
+		install-dependencies) install_dependencies ;;
+		install-kata) install_kata ;;
+		run) run ;;
+		*) >&2 die "Invalid argument" ;;
+	esac
+}
+
+main "$@"
diff --git a/tests/functional/kata-monitor/kata-monitor-tests.sh b/tests/functional/kata-monitor/kata-monitor-tests.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..fe95cb867d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/functional/kata-monitor/kata-monitor-tests.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,294 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2022 Red Hat
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+# This test file will test kata-monitor for basic functionality (retrieve kata sandboxes)
+# It will assume an environment where:
+# - a CRI container manager (container engine) will be up and running
+# - crictl is installed and configured
+# - the kata-monitor binary is available on the host
+#
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+source "/etc/os-release" || source "/usr/lib/os-release"
+
+[ -n "${BASH_VERSION:-}" ] && set -o errtrace
+[ -n "${DEBUG:-}" ] && set -o xtrace
+
+readonly MONITOR_HTTP_ENDPOINT="127.0.0.1:8090"
+# we should collect few hundred metrics, let's put a reasonable minimum
+readonly MONITOR_MIN_METRICS_NUM=200
+CONTAINER_ENGINE=${CONTAINER_ENGINE:-"containerd"}
+CRICTL_RUNTIME=${CRICTL_RUNTIME:-"kata"}
+KATA_MONITOR_BIN="${KATA_MONITOR_BIN:-$(command -v kata-monitor || true)}"
+KATA_MONITOR_PID=""
+TMPATH=$(mktemp -d -t kata-monitor-test-XXXXXXXXX)
+METRICS_FILE="${TMPATH}/metrics.txt"
+MONITOR_LOG_FILE="${TMPATH}/kata-monitor.log"
+CACHE_UPD_TIMEOUT_SEC=${CACHE_UPD_TIMEOUT_SEC:-20}
+POD_ID=""
+CID=""
+RUNC_POD_ID=""
+RUNC_CID=""
+CURRENT_TASK=""
+
+FALSE=1
+TRUE=0
+
+trap error_with_msg ERR
+
+title() {
+	local step="$1"
+	echo -e "\n* STEP: $step"
+}
+
+echo_ok() {
+	local msg="$1"
+
+	echo "OK: $msg"
+}
+
+# quiet crictrl
+qcrictl() {
+	sudo crictl "$@" > /dev/null
+}
+
+# this is just an hash of current date (+ nanoseconds)
+gen_unique_id() {
+	date +%T:%N | md5sum | cut -d ' ' -f 1
+}
+
+error_with_msg() {
+	local msg=${1:-"cannot $CURRENT_TASK"}
+
+	trap - ERR
+	echo -e "\nERROR: $msg"
+	if [ -f "$MONITOR_LOG_FILE" ]; then
+		echo -e "\nkata-monitor logs:\n----------------"
+		cat "$MONITOR_LOG_FILE"
+	fi
+	echo -e "\nkata-monitor testing: FAILED!"
+	cleanup
+	exit 1
+}
+
+cleanup() {
+	stop_workload
+	stop_workload "$RUNC_CID" "$RUNC_POD_ID"
+
+	[ -n "$KATA_MONITOR_PID" ] \
+		&& [ -d "/proc/$KATA_MONITOR_PID" ] \
+		&& kill -9 "$KATA_MONITOR_PID"
+
+	rm -rf "$TMPATH"
+}
+
+create_sandbox_json() {
+	local uid_name_suffix="$(gen_unique_id)"
+	local sbfile="$TMPATH/sandbox-$uid_name_suffix.json"
+
+	cat <<EOF >$sbfile
+{
+	"metadata": {
+		"name": "nginx-$uid_name_suffix",
+		"namespace": "default",
+		"uid": "nginx-container-uid",
+		"attempt": 1
+	},
+	"logDirectory": "/tmp",
+	"linux": {
+	}
+}
+EOF
+	echo "$sbfile"
+}
+
+create_container_json() {
+	local uid_name_suffix="$(gen_unique_id)"
+	local cntfile="$TMPATH/container-$uid_name_suffix.json"
+
+	cat <<EOF >$cntfile
+{
+	"metadata": {
+		"name": "busybox",
+		"namespace": "default",
+		"uid": "busybox-container-uid"
+	},
+	"image":{
+		"image": "busybox"
+	},
+	"command": [
+		"top"
+	],
+	"log_path":"busybox.log",
+	"linux": {
+	}
+}
+EOF
+	echo "$cntfile"
+}
+
+start_workload() {
+	local runtime=${1:-}
+	local args=""
+	local sbfile=""
+	local cntfile=""
+
+	[ -n "$runtime" ] && args="-r $runtime"
+
+	sbfile="$(create_sandbox_json)"
+	cntfile="$(create_container_json)"
+
+	POD_ID=$(sudo crictl runp $args $sbfile)
+	CID=$(sudo crictl create $POD_ID $cntfile $sbfile)
+	qcrictl start $CID
+}
+
+stop_workload() {
+	local cid="${1:-$CID}"
+	local pod_id="${2:-$POD_ID}"
+	local check
+
+	[ -z "$pod_id" ] && return
+	check=$(sudo crictl pods -q -id $pod_id)
+	[ -z "$check" ] && return
+
+	qcrictl stop $cid
+	qcrictl rm $cid
+
+	qcrictl stopp $pod_id
+	qcrictl rmp $pod_id
+}
+
+is_sandbox_there() {
+	local podid=${1}
+	local sbs s
+
+	sbs=$(sudo curl -s ${MONITOR_HTTP_ENDPOINT}/sandboxes)
+	if [ -n "$sbs" ]; then
+		for s in $sbs; do
+			if [ "$s" = "$podid" ]; then
+				return $TRUE
+				break
+			fi
+		done
+	fi
+	return $FALSE
+}
+
+is_sandbox_there_iterate() {
+	local podid=${1}
+
+	for i in $(seq 1 $CACHE_UPD_TIMEOUT_SEC); do
+		is_sandbox_there "$podid" && return $TRUE
+		echo -n "."
+		sleep 1
+		continue
+	done
+
+	return $FALSE
+}
+
+is_sandbox_missing_iterate() {
+	local podid=${1}
+
+	for i in $(seq 1 $CACHE_UPD_TIMEOUT_SEC); do
+		is_sandbox_there "$podid" || return $TRUE
+		echo -n "."
+		sleep 1
+		continue
+	done
+
+	return $FALSE
+}
+
+main() {
+	local args=""
+
+	###########################
+	title "pre-checks"
+
+	CURRENT_TASK="connect to the container engine"
+	qcrictl pods
+	echo_ok "$CURRENT_TASK"
+
+	###########################
+	title "pull the image to be used"
+	sudo crictl pull busybox
+
+	###########################
+	title "create workloads"
+
+	CURRENT_TASK="start workload (runc)"
+	start_workload
+	RUNC_POD_ID="$POD_ID"
+	RUNC_CID="$CID"
+	echo_ok "$CURRENT_TASK - POD ID:$POD_ID, CID:$CID"
+
+	CURRENT_TASK="start workload ($CRICTL_RUNTIME)"
+	start_workload "$CRICTL_RUNTIME"
+	echo_ok "$CURRENT_TASK - POD ID:$POD_ID, CID:$CID"
+
+	###########################
+	title "start kata-monitor"
+
+	[ ! -x "$KATA_MONITOR_BIN" ] && error_with_msg "kata-monitor binary not found"
+
+	[ "$CONTAINER_ENGINE" = "crio" ] && args="--runtime-endpoint /run/crio/crio.sock"
+
+	CURRENT_TASK="start kata-monitor"
+	sudo $KATA_MONITOR_BIN $args --log-level trace > "$MONITOR_LOG_FILE" 2>&1 &
+	KATA_MONITOR_PID="$!"
+	echo_ok "$CURRENT_TASK ($KATA_MONITOR_PID)"
+
+	###########################
+	title "kata-monitor cache update checks"
+
+	CURRENT_TASK="retrieve $POD_ID in kata-monitor cache"
+	is_sandbox_there_iterate "$POD_ID" || error_with_msg
+	echo_ok "$CURRENT_TASK"
+
+	CURRENT_TASK="look for runc pod $RUNC_POD_ID in kata-monitor cache"
+	is_sandbox_there_iterate "$RUNC_POD_ID" && error_with_msg "cache: got runc pod $RUNC_POD_ID"
+	echo_ok "runc pod $RUNC_POD_ID skipped from kata-monitor cache"
+
+	###########################
+	title "kata-monitor metrics retrieval"
+
+	CURRENT_TASK="retrieve metrics from kata-monitor"
+	curl -s ${MONITOR_HTTP_ENDPOINT}/metrics > "$METRICS_FILE"
+	echo_ok "$CURRENT_TASK"
+
+	CURRENT_TASK="retrieve metrics for pod $POD_ID"
+	METRICS_COUNT=$(grep -c "$POD_ID" "$METRICS_FILE")
+	[ ${METRICS_COUNT} -lt ${MONITOR_MIN_METRICS_NUM} ] \
+		&& error_with_msg "got too few metrics (#${METRICS_COUNT})"
+	echo_ok "$CURRENT_TASK - found #${METRICS_COUNT} metrics"
+
+	###########################
+	title "remove kata workload"
+
+	CURRENT_TASK="stop workload ($CRICTL_RUNTIME)"
+	stop_workload
+	echo_ok "$CURRENT_TASK"
+
+	###########################
+	title "kata-monitor cache update checks (removal)"
+
+	CURRENT_TASK="verify removal of $POD_ID from kata-monitor cache"
+	is_sandbox_missing_iterate "$POD_ID" || error_with_msg "pod $POD_ID was not removed"
+	echo_ok "$CURRENT_TASK"
+
+	###########################
+	CURRENT_TASK="cleanup"
+	cleanup
+
+	echo -e "\nkata-monitor testing: PASSED!\n"
+}
+
+main "@"