diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d7c8567..b8cdf0e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -182,6 +182,8 @@ test-visitor: test-visitor.o qfloat.o qint.o qdict.o qstring.o qlist.o qbool.o $
 test-qmp-commands.o: $(addprefix $(qapi-dir)/, test-qapi-types.c test-qapi-types.h test-qapi-visit.c test-qapi-visit.h test-qmp-marshal.c test-qmp-commands.h) $(qapi-obj-y)
 test-qmp-commands: test-qmp-commands.o qfloat.o qint.o qdict.o qstring.o qlist.o qbool.o $(qapi-obj-y) error.o osdep.o qemu-malloc.o $(oslib-obj-y) qjson.o json-streamer.o json-lexer.o json-parser.o qerror.o qemu-error.o qemu-tool.o $(qapi-dir)/test-qapi-visit.o $(qapi-dir)/test-qapi-types.o $(qapi-dir)/test-qmp-marshal.o module.o
 
+QGALIB=qga/guest-agent-command-state.o
+
 QEMULIBS=libhw32 libhw64 libuser libdis libdis-user
 
 clean:
@@ -190,7 +192,7 @@ clean:
 	rm -f qemu-options.def
 	rm -f *.o *.d *.a *.lo $(TOOLS) TAGS cscope.* *.pod *~ */*~
 	rm -Rf .libs
-	rm -f slirp/*.o slirp/*.d audio/*.o audio/*.d block/*.o block/*.d net/*.o net/*.d fsdev/*.o fsdev/*.d ui/*.o ui/*.d qapi/*.o qapi/*.d
+	rm -f slirp/*.o slirp/*.d audio/*.o audio/*.d block/*.o block/*.d net/*.o net/*.d fsdev/*.o fsdev/*.d ui/*.o ui/*.d qapi/*.o qapi/*.d qga/*.o qga/*.d
 	rm -f qemu-img-cmds.h
 	rm -f trace.c trace.h trace.c-timestamp trace.h-timestamp
 	rm -f trace-dtrace.dtrace trace-dtrace.dtrace-timestamp
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index ad1e1e1..796f706 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -3487,6 +3487,7 @@ DIRS="$DIRS pc-bios/spapr-rtas"
 DIRS="$DIRS roms/seabios roms/vgabios"
 DIRS="$DIRS fsdev ui"
 DIRS="$DIRS qapi"
+DIRS="$DIRS qga"
 FILES="Makefile tests/Makefile"
 FILES="$FILES tests/cris/Makefile tests/cris/.gdbinit"
 FILES="$FILES pc-bios/optionrom/Makefile pc-bios/keymaps"
diff --git a/qga/guest-agent-command-state.c b/qga/guest-agent-command-state.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc6e0bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qga/guest-agent-command-state.c
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU Guest Agent command state interfaces
+ *
+ * Copyright IBM Corp. 2011
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  Michael Roth      <mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ */
+#include <glib.h>
+#include "qga/guest-agent-core.h"
+
+struct GACommandState {
+    GSList *groups;
+};
+
+typedef struct GACommandGroup {
+    void (*init)(void);
+    void (*cleanup)(void);
+} GACommandGroup;
+
+/* handle init/cleanup for stateful guest commands */
+
+void ga_command_state_add(GACommandState *cs,
+                          void (*init)(void),
+                          void (*cleanup)(void))
+{
+    GACommandGroup *cg = qemu_mallocz(sizeof(GACommandGroup));
+    cg->init = init;
+    cg->cleanup = cleanup;
+    cs->groups = g_slist_append(cs->groups, cg);
+}
+
+static void ga_command_group_init(gpointer opaque, gpointer unused)
+{
+    GACommandGroup *cg = opaque;
+
+    g_assert(cg);
+    if (cg->init) {
+        cg->init();
+    }
+}
+
+void ga_command_state_init_all(GACommandState *cs)
+{
+    g_assert(cs);
+    g_slist_foreach(cs->groups, ga_command_group_init, NULL);
+}
+
+static void ga_command_group_cleanup(gpointer opaque, gpointer unused)
+{
+    GACommandGroup *cg = opaque;
+
+    g_assert(cg);
+    if (cg->cleanup) {
+        cg->cleanup();
+    }
+}
+
+void ga_command_state_cleanup_all(GACommandState *cs)
+{
+    g_assert(cs);
+    g_slist_foreach(cs->groups, ga_command_group_cleanup, NULL);
+}
+
+GACommandState *ga_command_state_new(void)
+{
+    GACommandState *cs = qemu_mallocz(sizeof(GACommandState));
+    cs->groups = NULL;
+    return cs;
+}
diff --git a/qga/guest-agent-core.h b/qga/guest-agent-core.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..688f120
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qga/guest-agent-core.h
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU Guest Agent core declarations
+ *
+ * Copyright IBM Corp. 2011
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  Adam Litke        <aglitke@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+ *  Michael Roth      <mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ */
+#include "qapi/qmp-core.h"
+#include "qemu-common.h"
+
+#define QGA_VERSION "1.0"
+
+typedef struct GACommandState GACommandState;
+
+void ga_command_state_add(GACommandState *cs,
+                          void (*init)(void),
+                          void (*cleanup)(void));
+void ga_command_state_init_all(GACommandState *cs);
+void ga_command_state_cleanup_all(GACommandState *cs);
+GACommandState *ga_command_state_new(void);
