diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 9cc1cf7..b637958 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ ADD root /
 
 # Container setup
 # RUN chown cassandra:0 /etc/cassandra/cassandra.yaml && \
-#    sed -ri 's/(^authorizer:).*/\1 CassandraAuthorizer/' /etc/cassandra/cassandra.yaml && \
 #    chown -R cassandra.0 /var/lib/cassandra/ && \
     # Loosen permission bits to avoid problems running container with arbitrary UID
 #    chmod -R g+rwx /var/lib/cassandra
diff --git a/root/usr/bin/run-cassandra b/root/usr/bin/run-cassandra
index 5c2bd62..6e1ea49 100755
--- a/root/usr/bin/run-cassandra
+++ b/root/usr/bin/run-cassandra
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ save_env_config_vars
 
 if [ "$CASSANDRA_ADMIN_PASSWORD" ]; then
   create_admin_user
+  turn_authorization_on
+# so far this is not working because cassandra-env.sh file is not modifiable (sits in scripts directory)
+#  turn_on_jmx_authentication
+# the admin password is not mandatory yet, just uncomment in case of change
+#else
+#  usage "CASSANDRA_ADMIN_PASSWORD has to be set"
 fi
 
 exec cassandra -f
diff --git a/root/usr/share/container-scripts/cassandra/common.sh b/root/usr/share/container-scripts/cassandra/common.sh
index e4ddfc1..c82f063 100644
--- a/root/usr/share/container-scripts/cassandra/common.sh
+++ b/root/usr/share/container-scripts/cassandra/common.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,24 @@ CASSANDRA_CONF_FILE="cassandra.yaml"
 HOSTNAME=$(cat /proc/sys/kernel/hostname)
 #IP_ADDRESS=$(cat /etc/hosts | grep $HOSTNAME | awk '{print $1}' | head -n 1)
 
+# usage prints info about required enviromental variables
+# if $1 is passed, prints error message containing $1
+function usage() {
+  if [ $# == 1 ]; then
+    echo >&2 "error: $1"
+  fi
+
+  echo "
+You must specify the following environment variables:
+  CASSANDRA_ADMIN_PASSWORD"
+
+  echo "
+For more information see /usr/share/container-scripts/cassandra/README.md
+within the container or visit https://github.com/sclorg/cassandra-container/."
+
+  exit 1
+}
+
 # update cassandra config file (cassandra.yaml) based on the environment varibales
 # set by the user
 function save_env_config_vars() {
@@ -94,8 +112,43 @@ function create_admin_user() {
   nodetool stopdaemon 2>/dev/null
 #  echo server stopped
 
+  # optionaly create a cqlshrc file with the login information
+  # NOT SUPPORTED YET
+#  if [ ! -d "/var/lib/cassandra/.cassandra" ]; then
+#    mkdir /var/lib/cassandra/.cassandra
+#  fi
+#  cat << 'EOF' >> /var/lib/cassandra/.cassandra/cqlshrc
+#  [authentication]
+#  username = admin
+#  password = "$CASSANDRA_ADMIN_PASSWORD"
+#  EOF
+#  chmod 440 /var/lib/cassandra/.cassandra/cqlshrc
+#  echo cqlshrc file with the credentials created
+
   # hide the admin password
   unset CASSANDRA_ADMIN_PASSWORD
 #  echo password var dropped
 
 }
+
+# turn on the authorization
+function turn_authorization_on() {
+  # change the config
+  sed -ri 's/(^authorizer:).*/\1 CassandraAuthorizer/' "$CASSANDRA_CONF_DIR$CASSANDRA_CONF_FILE"
+#  echo config changed
+}
+
+# turn on the JMX authentication using Cassandra's internal authentication and authorization
+function turn_on_jmx_authentication() {
+  # disable JMX local
+  JMX_LOCAL=no
+  echo jmx_local: $JMX_LOCAL
+
+# so far this is not working because cassandra-env.sh file is not modifiable (sits in scripts directory)
+  # update the config file cassandra-env.sh
+  sed -ri 's/^(.*jmxremote\.password)/#\1/' "/usr/share/cassandra/cassandra-env.sh"
+  sed -ri 's/^#(.*config=CassandraLogin.*$)/\1/' "/usr/share/cassandra/cassandra-env.sh"
+  sed -ri 's/^#(.*auth\.login.*$)/\1/' "/usr/share/cassandra/cassandra-env.sh"
+  sed -ri 's/^#(.*AuthorizationProxy.*$)/\1/' "/usr/share/cassandra/cassandra-env.sh"
+  echo config updated
+}
diff --git a/test/common b/test/common
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..54cd9d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/common
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+#
+# Test a container image.
+#
+# Always use sourced from a specific container testfile 
+#
+# reguires definition of CID_FILE_DIR
+# CID_FILE_DIR=$(mktemp --suffix=<container>_test_cidfiles -d)
+
+# may be redefined in the specific container testfile
+EXPECTED_EXIT_CODE=0
+
+function cleanup() {
+  for cid_file in $CID_FILE_DIR/* ; do
+    CONTAINER=$(cat $cid_file)
+
+    : "Stopping and removing container $CONTAINER..."
+    docker stop $CONTAINER
+    exit_status=$(docker inspect -f '{{.State.ExitCode}}' $CONTAINER)
+    if [ "$exit_status" != "$EXPECTED_EXIT_CODE" ]; then
+      : "Dumping logs for $CONTAINER"
+      docker logs $CONTAINER
+    fi
+    docker rm $CONTAINER
+    rm $cid_file
+  done
+  rmdir $CID_FILE_DIR
+  : "Done."
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT SIGINT
+
+function get_cid() {
+  local name="$1" ; shift || return 1
+  echo $(cat "$CID_FILE_DIR/$name")
+}
+
+function get_container_ip() {
+  local id="$1" ; shift
+  docker inspect --format='{{.NetworkSettings.IPAddress}}' $(get_cid "$id")
+}
+
+function wait_for_cid() {
+  local max_attempts=10
+  local sleep_time=1
+  local attempt=1
+  local result=1
+  while [ $attempt -le $max_attempts ]; do
+    [ -f $cid_file ] && [ -s $cid_file ] && break
+    : "Waiting for container start..."
+    attempt=$(( $attempt + 1 ))
+    sleep $sleep_time
+  done
+}
+
+# Make sure the invocation of docker run fails.
+function assert_container_creation_fails() {
+
+  # Time the docker run command. It should fail. If it doesn't fail,
+  # container will keep running so we kill it with SIGKILL to make sure
+  # timeout returns a non-zero value.
+  set +e
+  timeout -s SIGTERM --preserve-status 10s docker run --rm "$@" $IMAGE_NAME
+  ret=$?
+  set -e
+
+  # Timeout will exit with a high number.
+  if [ $ret -gt 128 ]; then
+    return 1
+  fi
+}
+
+# to pass some arguments you need to specify CONTAINER_ARGS variable
+function create_container() {
+  cid_file="$CID_FILE_DIR/$1" ; shift
+  # create container with a cidfile in a directory for cleanup
+  docker run ${CONTAINER_ARGS:-} --cidfile="$cid_file" -d $IMAGE_NAME "$@"
+  : "Created container $(cat $cid_file)"
+  wait_for_cid
+}
+
+function run_doc_test() {
+  local tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+  local f
+  : "  Testing documentation in the container image"
+  # Extract the help files from the container
+  for f in help.1 ; do
+    docker run --rm ${IMAGE_NAME} /bin/bash -c "cat /${f}" >${tmpdir}/$(basename ${f})
+    # Check whether the files include some important information
+    for term in $@ ; do
+      if ! cat ${tmpdir}/$(basename ${f}) | grep -F -q -e "${term}" ; then
+        echo "ERROR: File /${f} does not include '${term}'."
+        return 1
+      fi
+    done
+  done
+  # Check whether the files use the correct format
+  if ! file ${tmpdir}/help.1 | grep -q roff ; then
+    echo "ERROR: /help.1 is not in troff or groff format"
+    return 1
+  fi
+  : "  Success!"
+}
+
+function run_all_tests() {
+  for test_case in $TEST_LIST; do
+    : "Running test $test_case"
+    $test_case
+  done;
+}
+
diff --git a/test/run b/test/run
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..0067ce5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/run
@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Test the Cassandra image.
+#
+# IMAGE_NAME specifies the name of the candidate image used for testing.
+# The image has to be available before this script is executed.
+#
+
+set -exo nounset
+shopt -s nullglob
+
+IMAGE_NAME=${IMAGE_NAME-mycass}
+
+source test/common
+
+TEST_LIST="\
+run_container_creation_tests
+run_configuration_tests
+run_general_tests
+run_mount_config_test"
+# the change password tests does not work or make sense in cassandra
+#run_change_password_test
+# the doc test is not working yet
+#run_doc_test CASSANDRA_ADMIN_PASSWORD volume 9042"
+
+test $# -eq 1 -a "${1-}" == --list && echo "$TEST_LIST" && exit 0
+test -n "${IMAGE_NAME-}" || false 'make sure $IMAGE_NAME is defined'
+
+CID_FILE_DIR=$(mktemp --suffix=cassandra_test_cidfiles -d)
+
+# used in cleanup function
+EXPECTED_EXIT_CODE=143
+
+function cqlsh_cmd() {
+  docker run --rm "$IMAGE_NAME" cqlsh "$@"
+}
+
+function remove_container() {
+  local name="$1" ; shift
+  CONTAINER=$(get_cid ${name})
+  : "Stopping and removing container $CONTAINER..."
+  docker exec $CONTAINER nodetool stopdaemon || [ "$?" == "137" ]
+  while [ "$(docker inspect -f '{{.State.Running}}' $CONTAINER)" == "true" ] ; do
+    sleep 2
+  done
+  exit_status=$(docker inspect -f '{{.State.ExitCode}}' $CONTAINER)
+  if [ "$exit_status" != "0" ]; then
+    : "Dumping logs for $CONTAINER"
+    docker logs $CONTAINER | tail
+  fi
+  docker rm $CONTAINER
+  rm $CID_FILE_DIR/$name
+  : "Removed."
+}
+
+function test_config_option() {
+  local setting=$1 ; shift
+  local value=$1 ; shift
+  local name="configuration_${setting}"
+  
+  CONTAINER_ARGS="
+-e CASSANDRA_${setting^^}=${value}
+"
+  create_container $name
+
+  test_connection $name
+
+  # If nothing is found, grep returns 1 and test fails.
+  docker exec $(get_cid ${name}) bash -c "cat /etc/cassandra/cassandra.yaml | grep -q ${setting}:\ ${value}"
+  
+  remove_container $name
+}
+
+function test_connection() {
+  local name="$1" ; shift
+  local ip=$(get_container_ip $name)
+  : "  Testing cqlsh connection to $ip..."
+  local max_attempts=20
+  local sleep_time=2
+  local i
+  for i in $(seq $max_attempts); do
+    : "    Trying to connect..."
+    if cqlsh_cmd "$ip" "$@" <<< 'exit'; then
+      : "  Success!"
+      return 0
+    fi
+    sleep $sleep_time
+  done
+  echo "ERROR: Giving up, failed to connect."
+  return 1
+}
+
+function test_general() {
+  : "  Testing general usage ('$1')"
+  local name=$1 ; shift
+
+  create_container $name
+
+  test_connection $name
+
+  test_cqlsh $name
+
+  remove_container $name
+}
+
+function test_cqlsh() {
+  local name="$1" ; shift
+  local ip=$(get_container_ip $name)
+  : "  Testing basic cqlsh commands"
+  cqlsh_cmd "$ip" <<< 'CREATE KEYSPACE cycling WITH REPLICATION = { 'class' : 'SimpleStrategy', 'replication_factor' : 1 };'
+  cqlsh_cmd "$ip" <<< 'CREATE TABLE cycling.cyclist_name ( id UUID, fname text, lname text, PRIMARY KEY (id));'
+  cqlsh_cmd "$ip" <<< 'INSERT INTO cycling.cyclist_name (id, fname, lname) VALUES (7562c0f3-2f6c-41da-b276-88abac471eaf, 'john', 'smith');'
+  cqlsh_cmd "$ip" <<< 'INSERT INTO cycling.cyclist_name (id, fname, lname) VALUES (e69be414-f7eb-4e5a-b635-446ee5849810, 'john', 'doe');'
+  cqlsh_cmd "$ip" <<< 'INSERT INTO cycling.cyclist_name (id, fname, lname) VALUES (d4aa012a-8d71-4189-bcc8-24a858b713b6, 'john', 'smith');'
+  cqlsh_cmd "$ip" <<< 'SELECT * FROM cycling.cyclist_name WHERE lname = 'smith' ALLOW FILTERING;'
+  cqlsh_cmd "$ip" <<< 'DROP TABLE cycling.cyclist_name;'
+  cqlsh_cmd "$ip" <<< 'DROP KEYSPACE cycling;'
+  : "  Success!"
+}
+
+function run_container_creation_tests() {
+
+# there are no invalid combinations of variables in cassandra yet
+#  : "  Testing invalid combinations of variables"
+#  assert_container_creation_fails
+#  : "  Success!"
+
+  : "  Testing invalid values of variables"
+  assert_container_creation_fails -e CASSANDRA_CLUSTER_NAME=cool cluster
+  : "  Success!"
+}
+
+function run_configuration_tests() {
+  : "  Testing image configuration settings"
+  test_config_option num_tokens 256
+  # not allowing to have a space character in the cluster name
+  test_config_option cluster_name cool_cluster
+  : "  Success!"
+}
+
+function run_general_tests() {
+  CONTAINER_ARGS= test_general no_admin
+  # Test with arbitrary uid for the container
+  # the permissions are not set for arbitrary user to run the container
+  #CONTAINER_ARGS="-u 12345" run_tests no_admin_altuid
+}
+
+function run_mount_config_test() {
+  local name="mount_config"
+  : "  Testing config file mount"
+  local tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+  chmod a+rwx $tmpdir
+  config_file=${tmpdir}/cassandra.yaml
+  echo 'cluster_name: cool_cluster
+commitlog_sync: periodic
+commitlog_sync_period_in_ms: 10000
+partitioner: org.apache.cassandra.dht.Murmur3Partitioner
+endpoint_snitch: SimpleSnitch
+start_native_transport: true
+seed_provider:
+    - class_name: org.apache.cassandra.locator.SimpleSeedProvider
+      parameters:
+          - seeds: "172.17.0.2"' > $config_file
+  chmod a+r ${config_file}
+  CONTAINER_ARGS="
+-v ${config_file}:/etc/cassandra/cassandra.yaml:Z
+"
+  create_container $name
+  # need this to wait for the container to start up
+  test_connection $name
+  : "  Testing if mounted config file works"
+  docker exec $(get_cid ${name}) nodetool describecluster | grep -q Name:\ cool_cluster
+  rm -r $tmpdir
+  : "  Success!"
+}
+
+function run_change_password_test() {
+  local name="change_password"
+  local admin_password='adminPassword'
+  local volume_dir
+  volume_dir=`mktemp -d --tmpdir cassandra-testdata.XXXXX`
+  chmod a+rwx ${volume_dir}
+  CONTAINER_ARGS="
+-e CASSANDRA_ADMIN_PASSWORD=${admin_password}
+-v ${volume_dir}:/var/lib/cassandra/data:Z
+"
+  create_container $name
+  # need this to wait for the container to start up
+  test_connection $name -u admin -p ${admin_password}
+
+  echo "  Changing passwords"
+  docker stop $(get_cid ${name})
+  CONTAINER_ARGS="
+-e CASSANDRA_ADMIN_PASSWORD=NEW_${admin_password}
+-v ${volume_dir}:/var/lib/cassandra/data:Z
+"
+  create_container "${name}_NEW"
+  # need this to wait for the container to start up
+  test_connection "${name}_NEW" -u admin -p NEW_${admin_password}
+  # need to remove volume_dir with sudo because of permissions of files written
+  # by the Docker container
+  sudo rm -rf ${volume_dir}
+  echo "  Success!"
+}
+
+# Run the chosen tests
+TEST_LIST=${@:-$TEST_LIST} run_all_tests