diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.groovy
index fbbdb242d45..7779e3bbe55 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.groovy
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.gradle.test.RestIntegTestTask
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.test.RunTask
 import org.gradle.api.Project
 import org.gradle.api.Task
+import org.gradle.api.file.FileCollection
 import org.gradle.api.tasks.bundling.Zip
 
 /**
@@ -40,10 +41,16 @@ class PluginBuildPlugin extends BuildPlugin {
             String name = project.pluginProperties.extension.name
             project.jar.baseName = name
             project.bundlePlugin.baseName = name
+
             project.integTest.dependsOn(project.bundlePlugin)
-            project.integTest.clusterConfig.plugin(name, project.bundlePlugin.outputs.files)
             project.tasks.run.dependsOn(project.bundlePlugin)
-            project.tasks.run.clusterConfig.plugin(name, project.bundlePlugin.outputs.files)
+            if (project.path.startsWith(':modules:')) {
+                project.integTest.clusterConfig.module(project)
+                project.tasks.run.clusterConfig.module(project)
+            } else {
+                project.integTest.clusterConfig.plugin(name, project.bundlePlugin.outputs.files)
+                project.tasks.run.clusterConfig.plugin(name, project.bundlePlugin.outputs.files)
+            }
         }
         RestIntegTestTask.configure(project)
         RunTask.configure(project)
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterConfiguration.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterConfiguration.groovy
index d09a5faff34..8bc80da74b5 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterConfiguration.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterConfiguration.groovy
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ class ClusterConfiguration {
 
     LinkedHashMap<String, Object> plugins = new LinkedHashMap<>()
 
+    List<Project> modules = new ArrayList<>()
+
     LinkedHashMap<String, Object[]> setupCommands = new LinkedHashMap<>()
 
     @Input
@@ -93,6 +95,12 @@ class ClusterConfiguration {
         plugins.put(name, pluginProject)
     }
 
+    /** Add a module to the cluster. The project must be an esplugin and have a single zip default artifact. */
+    @Input
+    void module(Project moduleProject) {
+        modules.add(moduleProject)
+    }
+
     @Input
     void setupCommand(String name, Object... args) {
         setupCommands.put(name, args)
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
index 7372c73c6d8..f4514e4ec58 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
@@ -108,6 +108,12 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
         setup = configureExtraConfigFilesTask(taskName(task, node, 'extraConfig'), project, setup, node)
         setup = configureCopyPluginsTask(taskName(task, node, 'copyPlugins'), project, setup, node)
 
+        // install modules
+        for (Project module : node.config.modules) {
+            String actionName = pluginTaskName('install', module.name, 'Module')
+            setup = configureInstallModuleTask(taskName(task, node, actionName), project, setup, node, module)
+        }
+
         // install plugins
         for (Map.Entry<String, Object> plugin : node.config.plugins.entrySet()) {
             String actionName = pluginTaskName('install', plugin.getKey(), 'Plugin')
@@ -292,6 +298,20 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
         return copyPlugins
     }
 
+    static Task configureInstallModuleTask(String name, Project project, Task setup, NodeInfo node, Project module) {
+        if (node.config.distribution != 'integ-test-zip') {
+            throw new GradleException("Module ${module.path} cannot be installed in cluster which is not using integ-test-zip")
+        }
+        if (module.plugins.hasPlugin(PluginBuildPlugin) == false) {
+            throw new GradleException("Task ${name} cannot include module ${module.path} which is not an esplugin")
+        }
+        Copy installModule = project.tasks.create(name, Copy.class)
+        installModule.dependsOn(setup)
+        installModule.into(new File(node.homeDir, "modules/${module.name}"))
+        installModule.from({ project.zipTree(module.tasks.bundlePlugin.outputs.files.singleFile) })
+        return installModule
+    }
+
     static Task configureInstallPluginTask(String name, Project project, Task setup, NodeInfo node, Object plugin) {
         FileCollection pluginZip
         if (plugin instanceof Project) {
diff --git a/modules/build.gradle b/modules/build.gradle
index a5da7928549..41f7a8873b4 100644
--- a/modules/build.gradle
+++ b/modules/build.gradle
@@ -24,4 +24,23 @@ subprojects {
     // for local ES plugins, the name of the plugin is the same as the directory
     name project.name
   }
+
+  if (project.file('src/main/packaging').exists()) {
+    throw new InvalidModelException("Modules cannot contain packaging files") 
+  }
+  if (project.file('src/main/bin').exists()) {
+    throw new InvalidModelException("Modules cannot contain bin files") 
+  }
+  if (project.file('src/main/config').exists()) {
+    throw new InvalidModelException("Modules cannot contain config files") 
+  }
+
+  project.afterEvaluate {
+    if (esplugin.isolated == false) {
+      throw new InvalidModelException("Modules cannot disable isolation")
+    }
+    if (esplugin.jvm == false) {
+      throw new InvalidModelException("Modules must be jvm plugins")
+    }
+  }
 }