diff --git a/builder/null/artifact_export.go b/builder/null/artifact_export.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ad7bebc15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/null/artifact_export.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package null
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+)
+
+// dummy Artifact implementation - does nothing
+type NullArtifact struct {
+}
+
+func (*NullArtifact) BuilderId() string {
+	return BuilderId
+}
+
+func (a *NullArtifact) Files() []string {
+	return []string{}
+}
+
+func (*NullArtifact) Id() string {
+	return "Null"
+}
+
+func (a *NullArtifact) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("Did not export anything. This is the null builder")
+}
+
+func (a *NullArtifact) Destroy() error {
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/builder/null/artifact_export_test.go b/builder/null/artifact_export_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e71613a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/null/artifact_export_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+package null
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestNullArtifact(t *testing.T) {
+	var _ packer.Artifact = new(NullArtifact)
+}
diff --git a/builder/null/builder.go b/builder/null/builder.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7ca1b57fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/null/builder.go
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+package null
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/common"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"log"
+	"time"
+)
+
+const BuilderId = "fnoeding.null"
+
+type Builder struct {
+	config *Config
+	runner multistep.Runner
+}
+
+func (b *Builder) Prepare(raws ...interface{}) ([]string, error) {
+	c, warnings, errs := NewConfig(raws...)
+	if errs != nil {
+		return warnings, errs
+	}
+	b.config = c
+
+	return warnings, nil
+}
+
+func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packer.Artifact, error) {
+	steps := []multistep.Step{
+		&common.StepConnectSSH{
+			SSHAddress:     SSHAddress(b.config.Host, b.config.Port),
+			SSHConfig:      SSHConfig(b.config.SSHUsername, b.config.SSHPassword, b.config.SSHPrivateKeyFile),
+			SSHWaitTimeout: 1 * time.Minute,
+		},
+		&common.StepProvision{},
+	}
+
+	// Setup the state bag and initial state for the steps
+	state := new(multistep.BasicStateBag)
+	state.Put("config", b.config)
+	state.Put("hook", hook)
+	state.Put("ui", ui)
+
+	// Run!
+	if b.config.PackerDebug {
+		b.runner = &multistep.DebugRunner{
+			Steps:   steps,
+			PauseFn: common.MultistepDebugFn(ui),
+		}
+	} else {
+		b.runner = &multistep.BasicRunner{Steps: steps}
+	}
+
+	b.runner.Run(state)
+
+	// If there was an error, return that
+	if rawErr, ok := state.GetOk("error"); ok {
+		return nil, rawErr.(error)
+	}
+
+	// No errors, must've worked
+	artifact := &NullArtifact{}
+	return artifact, nil
+}
+
+func (b *Builder) Cancel() {
+	if b.runner != nil {
+		log.Println("Cancelling the step runner...")
+		b.runner.Cancel()
+	}
+}
diff --git a/builder/null/builder_test.go b/builder/null/builder_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3749b2f68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/null/builder_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+package null
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestBuilder_implBuilder(t *testing.T) {
+	var _ packer.Builder = new(Builder)
+}
diff --git a/builder/null/config.go b/builder/null/config.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94f3b21e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/null/config.go
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+package null
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/common"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+)
+
+type Config struct {
+	common.PackerConfig `mapstructure:",squash"`
+
+	Host              string `mapstructure:"host"`
+	Port              int    `mapstructure:"port"`
+	SSHUsername       string `mapstructure:"ssh_username"`
+	SSHPassword       string `mapstructure:"ssh_password"`
+	SSHPrivateKeyFile string `mapstructure:"ssh_private_key_file"`
+
+	tpl *packer.ConfigTemplate
+}
+
+func NewConfig(raws ...interface{}) (*Config, []string, error) {
+	c := new(Config)
+	md, err := common.DecodeConfig(c, raws...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
+	c.tpl, err = packer.NewConfigTemplate()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
+	c.tpl.UserVars = c.PackerUserVars
+
+	// Defaults
+	if c.Port == 0 {
+		c.Port = 22
+	}
+	// (none so far)
+
+	errs := common.CheckUnusedConfig(md)
+
+	if c.Host == "" {
+		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+			fmt.Errorf("host must be specified"))
+	}
+
+	if c.SSHUsername == "" {
+		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+			fmt.Errorf("ssh_username must be specified"))
+	}
+
+	if c.SSHPassword == "" && c.SSHPrivateKeyFile == "" {
+		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+			fmt.Errorf("one of ssh_password and ssh_private_key_file must be specified"))
+	}
+
+	if c.SSHPassword != "" && c.SSHPrivateKeyFile != "" {
+		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs,
+			fmt.Errorf("only one of ssh_password and ssh_private_key_file must be specified"))
+	}
+
+	if errs != nil && len(errs.Errors) > 0 {
+		return nil, nil, errs
+	}
+
+	return c, nil, nil
+}
diff --git a/builder/null/config_test.go b/builder/null/config_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dd574de35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/null/config_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+package null
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func testConfig() map[string]interface{} {
+	return map[string]interface{}{
+		"host":         "foo",
+		"ssh_username": "bar",
+		"ssh_password": "baz",
+	}
+}
+
+func testConfigStruct(t *testing.T) *Config {
+	c, warns, errs := NewConfig(testConfig())
+	if len(warns) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", len(warns))
+	}
+	if errs != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", errs)
+	}
+
+	return c
+}
+
+func testConfigErr(t *testing.T, warns []string, err error) {
+	if len(warns) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", warns)
+	}
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("should error")
+	}
+}
+
+func testConfigOk(t *testing.T, warns []string, err error) {
+	if len(warns) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", warns)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestConfigPrepare_port(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := testConfig()
+
+	// default port should be 22
+	delete(raw, "port")
+	c, warns, errs := NewConfig(raw)
+	if c.Port != 22 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: port should default to 22, not %d", c.Port)
+	}
+	testConfigOk(t, warns, errs)
+}
+
+func TestConfigPrepare_host(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := testConfig()
+
+	// No host
+	delete(raw, "host")
+	_, warns, errs := NewConfig(raw)
+	testConfigErr(t, warns, errs)
+
+	// Good host
+	raw["host"] = "good"
+	_, warns, errs = NewConfig(raw)
+	testConfigOk(t, warns, errs)
+}
+
+func TestConfigPrepare_sshUsername(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := testConfig()
+
+	// No ssh_username
+	delete(raw, "ssh_username")
+	_, warns, errs := NewConfig(raw)
+	testConfigErr(t, warns, errs)
+
+	// Good ssh_username
+	raw["ssh_username"] = "good"
+	_, warns, errs = NewConfig(raw)
+	testConfigOk(t, warns, errs)
+}
+
+func TestConfigPrepare_sshCredential(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := testConfig()
+
+	// no ssh_password and no ssh_private_key_file
+	delete(raw, "ssh_password")
+	delete(raw, "ssh_private_key_file")
+	_, warns, errs := NewConfig(raw)
+	testConfigErr(t, warns, errs)
+
+	// only ssh_password
+	raw["ssh_password"] = "good"
+	_, warns, errs = NewConfig(raw)
+	testConfigOk(t, warns, errs)
+
+	// only ssh_private_key_file
+	raw["ssh_private_key_file"] = "good"
+	delete(raw, "ssh_password")
+	_, warns, errs = NewConfig(raw)
+	testConfigOk(t, warns, errs)
+
+	// both ssh_password and ssh_private_key_file set
+	raw["ssh_password"] = "bad"
+	_, warns, errs = NewConfig(raw)
+	testConfigErr(t, warns, errs)
+}
diff --git a/builder/null/ssh.go b/builder/null/ssh.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..97546a219
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/null/ssh.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package null
+
+import (
+	gossh "code.google.com/p/go.crypto/ssh"
+	"fmt"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/communicator/ssh"
+	"io/ioutil"
+)
+
+// SSHAddress returns a function that can be given to the SSH communicator
+// for determining the SSH address
+func SSHAddress(host string, port int) func(multistep.StateBag) (string, error) {
+	return func(state multistep.StateBag) (string, error) {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", host, port), nil
+	}
+}
+
+// SSHConfig returns a function that can be used for the SSH communicator
+// config for connecting to the specified host via SSH
+// private_key_file has precedence over password!
+func SSHConfig(username string, password string, privateKeyFile string) func(multistep.StateBag) (*gossh.ClientConfig, error) {
+	return func(state multistep.StateBag) (*gossh.ClientConfig, error) {
+
+		if privateKeyFile != "" {
+			// key based auth
+
+			bytes, err := ioutil.ReadFile(privateKeyFile)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error setting up SSH config: %s", err)
+			}
+			privateKey := string(bytes)
+
+			keyring := new(ssh.SimpleKeychain)
+			if err := keyring.AddPEMKey(privateKey); err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error setting up SSH config: %s", err)
+			}
+
+			return &gossh.ClientConfig{
+				User: username,
+				Auth: []gossh.ClientAuth{
+					gossh.ClientAuthKeyring(keyring),
+				},
+			}, nil
+		} else {
+			// password based auth
+
+			return &gossh.ClientConfig{
+				User: username,
+				Auth: []gossh.ClientAuth{
+					gossh.ClientAuthPassword(ssh.Password(password)),
+					gossh.ClientAuthKeyboardInteractive(ssh.PasswordKeyboardInteractive(password)),
+				},
+			}, nil
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 1597032d2..1a58a0862 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ const defaultConfig = `
 		"virtualbox-iso": "packer-builder-virtualbox-iso",
 		"virtualbox-ovf": "packer-builder-virtualbox-ovf",
 		"vmware-iso": "packer-builder-vmware-iso",
-		"vmware-vmx": "packer-builder-vmware-vmx"
+		"vmware-vmx": "packer-builder-vmware-vmx",
+		"null": "packer-builder-null"
 	},
 
 	"commands": {
diff --git a/plugin/builder-null/main.go b/plugin/builder-null/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e50c6fe40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugin/builder-null/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/builder/null"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer/plugin"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	server, err := plugin.Server()
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	server.RegisterBuilder(new(null.Builder))
+	server.Serve()
+}
diff --git a/plugin/builder-null/main_test.go b/plugin/builder-null/main_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..06ab7d0f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugin/builder-null/main_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+package main
diff --git a/website/source/docs/builders/null.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/builders/null.html.markdown
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c1c6c1ebc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/website/source/docs/builders/null.html.markdown
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+---
+layout: "docs"
+---
+
+# Null Builder
+
+Type: `null`
+
+The null builder is not really a builder, it just setups a SSH connection
+and runs the provisioners. It can be used to debug provisioners without
+incurring high wait times. It does not create any kind of image or artifact.
+
+## Basic Example
+
+Below is a fully functioning example. It doesn't do anything useful, since
+no provisioners are defined, but it will connect to the specified host via ssh.
+
+<pre class="prettyprint">
+{
+  "type":     "null",
+  "host":     "127.0.0.1",
+  "username": "foo",
+  "password": "bar"
+}
+</pre>
+
+## Configuration Reference
+
+Configuration options are organized below into two categories: required and
+optional. Within each category, the available options are alphabetized and
+described.
+
+Required:
+
+* `host` (string) - The hostname or IP address to connect to.
+
+* `ssh_password` (string) - The password to be used for the ssh connection.
+  Cannot be combined with ssh_private_key_file.
+
+* `ssh_private_key_file` (string) - The filename of the ssh private key to be
+  used for the ssh connection. E.g. /home/user/.ssh/identity_rsa.
+
+* `ssh_username` (string) - The username to be used for the ssh connection.
+
+Optional:
+
+* `port` (int) - port to connect to, defaults to 22.
+