diff --git a/tests/README.md b/tests/README.md
index b345d96c..5fea6c97 100644
--- a/tests/README.md
+++ b/tests/README.md
@@ -226,4 +226,15 @@ GPIO 15   |Secondary UART TX; DUT 0 GPIO 13, I/O exp B 6 via 4K7 Also used as HS
 GPIO 16   |I/O expander B 5 via 4K7 resistor, for deep-sleep tests
 ADC 0     |
 
+# Probing the Test Environment from Tests
 
+The `NTestEnv` module provides convenient functions for preflight checks
+and limited adaptation of test programs.
+
+## Test Configuration File
+
+Our tests expect a `testenv.conf` in SPIFFS to provide parameters to
+some tests.  This file is a JSON map with the following keys:
+
+- "DUT".  Its value is either 0 or 1 indicating which DUT is running the
+  given test.
diff --git a/tests/conf/dut0/testenv.conf b/tests/conf/dut0/testenv.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1ae71632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/conf/dut0/testenv.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  "DUT": 0
+}
diff --git a/tests/conf/dut1/testenv.conf b/tests/conf/dut1/testenv.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..84734eb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/conf/dut1/testenv.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  "DUT": 1
+}
diff --git a/tests/utils/NTestEnv.lua b/tests/utils/NTestEnv.lua
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..97a51601
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/utils/NTestEnv.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+-- A series of convenient utility functions for use with NTest on NodeMCU
+-- devices under test (DUTs).
+
+local NTE = {}
+
+-- Determine if the firmware has been built with a given module
+function NTE.hasC(m)
+  -- this isn't great, but it's what we've got
+  local mstr = node.info('build_config').modules
+  return mstr:match("^"..m..",") -- first module in the list
+      or mstr:match(","..m.."$") -- last module in the list
+      or mstr:match(","..m..",") -- somewhere else
+end
+
+-- Determine if a given Lua module is available for require-ing.
+function NTE.hasL(m)
+  for _, l in ipairs(package.loaders) do
+    if type(l(m)) == "function" then return true end
+  end
+  return false
+end
+
+-- Look up one (or more) feature keys in our configuration file,
+-- returning the associated value (or a map from keys to values).
+function NTE.getFeat(...)
+  -- Stream through our configuration file and extract the features attested
+  --
+  -- We expect the configuration file to attest features as keys in a dictionary
+  -- so that they can be efficiently probed here but also so that we can
+  -- parameterize features.
+  --
+  -- {
+  --   "feat1" : ... ,
+  --   "feat2" : ...
+  -- }
+  local reqFeats = { ... }
+  local decoder = sjson.decoder({
+    metatable = {
+      checkpath = function(_, p)
+        if #p > 1 then return true end            -- something we're keeping
+        if #p == 0 then return true end           -- root table
+        local thisFeat = p[1]
+        assert (type(thisFeat) == "string")
+        for _, v in ipairs(reqFeats) do
+          if v == thisFeat then return true end   -- requested feature
+        end
+        return false
+      end
+    }
+  })
+  local cfgf = file.open("testenv.conf", "r")
+
+  if cfgf == nil then return {} end -- no features if no config file
+
+  local cstr
+  repeat
+    cstr = cfgf:read(); decoder:write(cstr or "")
+  until (not cstr or #cstr == 0)
+  cfgf:close()
+  local givenFeats = decoder:result()
+  assert (type(givenFeats) == "table", "Malformed configuration file")
+
+  local res = {}
+  for _, v in ipairs(reqFeats) do
+    res[v] = givenFeats[v] or error("Missing required feature " .. v)
+  end
+
+  if #reqFeats == 1 then return res[reqFeats[1]] end
+  return res
+end
+
+return NTE