diff --git a/.ci/setup.sh b/.ci/setup.sh
index ca66fc1033..c52b2e602c 100755
--- a/.ci/setup.sh
+++ b/.ci/setup.sh
@@ -14,12 +14,14 @@ bash "${cidir}/static-checks.sh"
 source /etc/os-release
 
 if [ "$ID" == fedora ];then
-	sudo -E dnf -y install automake bats yamllint coreutils
+	sudo -E dnf -y install automake bats yamllint coreutils moreutils
+elif [ "$ID" == centos ];then
+	sudo -E dnf -y install automake bats yamllint coreutils moreutils
 elif [ "$ID" == ubuntu ];then
 	#bats isn't available for Ubuntu trusty, need for travis
 	sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:duggan/bats
 	sudo apt-get -qq update
-	sudo apt-get install -y -qq automake bats qemu-utils python-pip coreutils
+	sudo apt-get install -y -qq automake bats qemu-utils python-pip coreutils moreutils
 	sudo pip install yamllint
 else 
 	echo "Linux distribution not supported"
diff --git a/tests/image_creation.bats b/tests/image_creation.bats
index 91025fc8bf..94ca2ecdcd 100644
--- a/tests/image_creation.bats
+++ b/tests/image_creation.bats
@@ -9,17 +9,89 @@ readonly image_builder_sh="$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/../image-builder/image_builder.sh"
 readonly initrd_builder_sh="$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/../initrd-builder/initrd_builder.sh"
 readonly tmp_dir=$(mktemp -t -d osbuilder-test.XXXXXXX)
 readonly tmp_rootfs="${tmp_dir}/rootfs-osbuilder"
+readonly images_dir="${tmp_dir}/images"
 readonly osbuilder_file="/var/lib/osbuilder/osbuilder.yaml"
+readonly docker_image="busybox"
+readonly docker_config_file="/etc/systemd/system/docker.service.d/kata-containers.conf"
+readonly tests_repo="github.com/kata-containers/tests"
+readonly tests_repo_dir="$BATS_TEST_DIRNAME/../../tests"
+readonly mgr="${tests_repo_dir}/cmd/kata-manager/kata-manager.sh"
+readonly RUNTIME=${RUNTIME:-kata-runtime}
+
+# "docker build" does not work with a VM-based runtime
+readonly docker_build_runtime="runc"
+
+info()
+{
+	s="$*"
+	echo -e "INFO: $s\n" >&2
+}
+
+set_runtime()
+{
+	local name="$1"
+
+	# Travis doesn't support VT-x
+	[ -n "$TRAVIS" ] && return
+
+	sudo -E sed -i "s/--default-runtime=[^ ][^ ]*/--default-runtime=${name}/g" \
+		"${docker_config_file}"
+	sudo -E systemctl daemon-reload
+	sudo -E systemctl restart docker
+}
 
 setup()
 {
+	mkdir -p "${images_dir}"
+
 	export USE_DOCKER=true
+
+	# Travis doesn't support VT-x
+	[ -n "$TRAVIS" ] && return
+
+	[ ! -d "${tests_repo_dir}" ] && git clone "https://${tests_repo}" "${tests_repo_dir}"
+
+	chronic $mgr install-packages
+	chronic $mgr enable-debug
+
+	# Ensure "docker build" works
+	set_runtime "${docker_build_runtime}"
 }
 
-teardown(){
-	# Rootfs is own by root change it to remove it
-	sudo rm -rf "${tmp_rootfs}"
-	rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+teardown()
+{
+	if [ "$BATS_ERROR_STATUS" -eq 0 ]
+	then
+		# Rootfs and images are owned by root
+		sudo -E rm -rf "${tmp_rootfs}"
+		sudo -E rm -rf "${images_dir}"
+
+		rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+
+		return
+	fi
+
+	# The test failed so dump what we can
+
+	info "AGENT_INIT: '${AGENT_INIT}'"
+
+	info "images:"
+	sudo -E ls -l "${images_dir}" >&2
+
+	info "rootfs:"
+	sudo -E ls -l "${tmp_rootfs}" >&2
+
+	info "local runtime config:"
+	cat /etc/kata-containers/configuration.toml >&2
+
+	info "main runtime config:"
+	cat /usr/share/defaults/kata-containers/configuration.toml >&2
+
+	info "collect script output:"
+	sudo -E kata-collect-data.sh >&2
+
+	info "processes:"
+	sudo -E ps -efwww | egrep "docker|kata" >&2
 }
 
 build_rootfs()
@@ -30,11 +102,15 @@ build_rootfs()
 	local full="${rootfs}${osbuilder_file}"
 
 	# clean up from any previous runs
-	[ -d "${rootfs}" ] && sudo rm -rf "${rootfs}"
+	[ -d "${rootfs}" ] && sudo -E rm -rf "${rootfs}"
 
 	sudo -E ${rootfs_sh} -r "${rootfs}" "${distro}"
 
 	yamllint "${full}"
+
+	info "built rootfs for distro '$distro' at '$rootfs'"
+	info "osbuilder metadata file:"
+	cat "${full}" >&2
 }
 
 build_image()
@@ -43,6 +119,9 @@ build_image()
 	local rootfs="$2"
 
 	sudo -E ${image_builder_sh} -o "${file}" "${rootfs}"
+
+	info "built image file '$file' for rootfs '$rootfs':"
+	sudo -E ls -l "$file" >&2
 }
 
 build_initrd()
@@ -51,49 +130,153 @@ build_initrd()
 	local rootfs="$2"
 
 	sudo -E ${initrd_builder_sh} -o "${file}" "${rootfs}"
+
+	info "built initrd file '$file' for rootfs '$rootfs':"
+	sudo -E ls -l "$file" >&2
 }
 
-# Create an image and/or initrd for the specified distribution.
+create_container()
+{
+	out=$(mktemp)
+
+	local file="/proc/version"
+
+	# Create a container using the runtime under test which displays a
+	# file that is expected to exist.
+	docker run --rm -i --runtime "${RUNTIME}" "$docker_image" cat "${file}" > "$out"
+
+	info "contents of docker image ${docker_image} container file '${file}':"
+	cat "${out}" >&2
+
+	[ -s "$out" ]
+	rm -f "$out"
+}
+
+install_image_create_container()
+{
+	local file="$1"
+
+	# Travis doesn't support VT-x
+	[ -n "$TRAVIS" ] && return
+
+	chronic $mgr reset-config
+	chronic $mgr configure-image "$file"
+	create_container
+}
+
+install_initrd_create_container()
+{
+	local file="$1"
+
+	# Travis doesn't support VT-x
+	[ -n "$TRAVIS" ] && return
+
+	chronic $mgr reset-config
+	chronic $mgr configure-initrd "$file"
+	create_container
+}
+
+handle_options()
+{
+	local distro="$1"
+	local type="$2"
+	local options="$3"
+
+	local opt
+	local rootfs
+
+	for opt in $options
+	do
+		# Set the crucial variable to determine if the agent will be
+		# PID 1 in the image or initrd.
+		case "$opt" in
+			init) export AGENT_INIT="yes";;
+			*) export AGENT_INIT="no";;
+		esac
+
+		rootfs="${tmp_rootfs}/${distro}-agent-init-${AGENT_INIT}"
+
+		build_rootfs "${distro}" "${rootfs}"
+
+		if [ "$type" = "image" ]
+		then
+			# Images need systemd
+			[ "$opt" = "init" ] && continue
+
+			local image_path="${images_dir}/${type}-${distro}-agent-init-${AGENT_INIT}.img"
+
+			build_image "${image_path}" "${rootfs}"
+			install_image_create_container "${image_path}"
+		elif [ "$type" = "initrd" ]
+		then
+			local initrd_path="${images_dir}/${type}-${distro}-agent-init-${AGENT_INIT}.img"
+
+			build_initrd "${initrd_path}" "${rootfs}"
+			install_initrd_create_container "${initrd_path}"
+		else
+			die "invalid type: '$type' for distro $distro option $opt"
+		fi
+	done
+}
+
+# Create an image and/or initrd for the specified distribution,
+# then test each by configuring the runtime and creating a container.
+#
+# The second and third parameters take the form of a space separated list of
+# values which represent whether the agent should be the init daemon in the
+# image/initrd. "init" means the agent should be configured to be the init
+# daemon and "service" means it should run as a systemd service.
+#
+# The list value should be set to "no" if the image/initrd should not
+# be built+tested.
 #
 # Parameters:
 #
 # 1: distro name.
-# 2: set to "yes" to build an image for the distro.
-# 3: set to "yes" to build an initrd for the distro.
-create_images()
+# 2: image options.
+# 3: initrd options.
+create_and_run()
 {
-	distro="$1"
-	image="$2"
-	initrd="$3"
+	local distro="$1"
+	local image_options="$2"
+	local initrd_options="$3"
 
 	[ -n "$distro" ]
-	build_rootfs "${distro}" "${tmp_rootfs}"
 
-	[ "$image" = "yes" ] && build_image "${tmp_dir}/image.img" "${tmp_rootfs}"
-	[ "$initrd" = "yes" ] && build_initrd "${tmp_dir}/initrd-image.img" "${tmp_rootfs}"
+	local opt
+
+	if [ "$image_options" != "no" ]
+	then
+		handle_options "$distro" "image" "$image_options"
+	fi
+
+	if [ "$initrd_options" != "no" ]
+	then
+		handle_options "$distro" "initrd" "$initrd_options"
+	fi
 }
 
-@test "Can create fedora image" {
-	create_images fedora yes yes
+@test "Can create and run fedora image" {
+	create_and_run fedora "service" "no"
 }
 
-@test "Can create clearlinux image" {
-	create_images run clearlinux yes yes
+@test "Can create and run clearlinux image" {
+	create_and_run clearlinux "service" "no"
 }
 
-@test "Can create centos image" {
-	create_images centos yes yes
+@test "Can create and run centos image" {
+	create_and_run centos "service" "no"
 }
 
-@test "Can create euleros image" {
+@test "Can create and run euleros image" {
 	if [ "$TRAVIS" = true ]
 	then
 		skip "travis timeout, see: https://github.com/kata-containers/osbuilder/issues/46"
 	fi
 
-	create_images euleros yes yes
+	create_and_run euleros "service" "no"
 }
 
-@test "Can create alpine image" {
-	create_images alpine no yes
+@test "Can create and run alpine image" {
+	create_and_run alpine "no" "init"
 }