diff --git a/cmd/cmd.js b/cmd/cmd.js
index 97a3ff66c..53ba06f1b 100644
--- a/cmd/cmd.js
+++ b/cmd/cmd.js
@@ -207,13 +207,14 @@ class Cmd {
   test() {
     program
       .command('test [file]')
+      .option('-n , --node [node]', __('Node to connect to (default: vm)'))
       .option('-d , --gasDetails', __('When set, will print the gas cost for each contract deploy'))
       .option('--locale [locale]', __('language to use (default: en)'))
       .option('--loglevel [loglevel]', __('level of logging to display') + ' ["error", "warn", "info", "debug", "trace"]', /^(error|warn|info|debug|trace)$/i, 'warn')
       .description(__('run tests'))
       .action(function (file, options) {
         i18n.setOrDetectLocale(options.locale);
-        embark.runTests({file, loglevel: options.loglevel, gasDetails: options.gasDetails});
+        embark.runTests({file, loglevel: options.loglevel, gasDetails: options.gasDetails, node: options.node});
       });
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/core/engine.js b/lib/core/engine.js
index 1c64466e1..cdccb309a 100644
--- a/lib/core/engine.js
+++ b/lib/core/engine.js
@@ -212,7 +212,8 @@ class Engine {
   web3Service(options) {
     this.registerModule('blockchain_process', {
       locale: this.locale,
-      isDev: this.isDev
+      isDev: this.isDev,
+      ipc: this.ipc
     });
 
     this.registerModule('blockchain_connector', {
diff --git a/lib/modules/blockchain_process/index.js b/lib/modules/blockchain_process/index.js
index dd7de6775..66fafe469 100644
--- a/lib/modules/blockchain_process/index.js
+++ b/lib/modules/blockchain_process/index.js
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ class BlockchainModule {
     this.embark = embark;
     this.locale = options.locale;
     this.isDev = options.isDev;
+    this.ipc = options.ipc;
 
     this.registerBlockchainProcess();
   }
@@ -25,6 +26,11 @@ class BlockchainModule {
         self.startBlockchainNode(cb);
       });
     });
+
+    if (!this.ipc.isServer()) return;
+    self.ipc.on('blockchain:node', (_message, cb) => {
+      cb(null, utils.buildUrlFromConfig(self.contractsConfig.deployment));
+    });
   }
 
   assertNodeConnection(noLogs, cb) {
@@ -47,7 +53,7 @@ class BlockchainModule {
         if (!self.contractsConfig || !self.contractsConfig.deployment || !self.contractsConfig.deployment.host) {
           return next();
         }
-        const {host, port, type, protocol}  = self.contractsConfig.deployment;
+        const {host, port, type, protocol} = self.contractsConfig.deployment;
         utils.pingEndpoint(host, port, type, protocol, self.blockchainConfig.wsOrigins.split(',')[0], next);
       }
     ], function (err) {
diff --git a/lib/modules/solidity/solcW.js b/lib/modules/solidity/solcW.js
index 8c3260ca2..355508e33 100644
--- a/lib/modules/solidity/solcW.js
+++ b/lib/modules/solidity/solcW.js
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ class SolcW {
       return self.load_compiler_internally(done);
     }
 
+    if (self.ipc.connected) {
+      self.compilerLoaded = true;
+      return done();
+    }
     self.ipc.connect((err) => {
       if (err) {
         return self.load_compiler_internally(done);
diff --git a/lib/pipeline/pipeline.js b/lib/pipeline/pipeline.js
index b1b818cce..76f69e427 100644
--- a/lib/pipeline/pipeline.js
+++ b/lib/pipeline/pipeline.js
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ class Pipeline {
 
                 ], function (err, contentFile) {
                   if (err) {
-                    self.logger.error(err);
+                    self.logger.error(err.message || err);
                     return fileCb(err);
                   }
 
diff --git a/lib/tests/run_tests.js b/lib/tests/run_tests.js
index a4e9d258a..97af4f24f 100644
--- a/lib/tests/run_tests.js
+++ b/lib/tests/run_tests.js
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ module.exports = {
       },
       function setupGlobalNamespace(files, next) {
         // TODO put default config
-        const test = new Test({loglevel});
+        const test = new Test({loglevel, node: options.node});
         global.embark = test;
         global.assert = assert;
         global.config = test.config.bind(test);
diff --git a/lib/tests/test.js b/lib/tests/test.js
index 64cd218d9..2bc7e133b 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test.js
+++ b/lib/tests/test.js
@@ -58,10 +58,15 @@ class Test {
       });
     }
 
-    if (this.simOptions.host) {
-      let {host, port, type, protocol, accounts} = this.simOptions;
+    if (this.simOptions.host || this.options.node) {
+      let options = this.simOptions;
+      if (this.options.node) {
+        options = utils.deconstructUrl(this.options.node);
+      }
+
+      let {host, port, type, protocol, accounts} = options;
       if (!protocol) {
-        protocol = (this.simOptions.type === "rpc") ? 'http' : 'ws';
+        protocol = (options.type === "rpc") ? 'http' : 'ws';
       }
       const endpoint = `${protocol}://${host}:${port}`;
       const providerOptions = {
@@ -134,6 +139,22 @@ class Test {
     this.initDeployServices();
     this.engine.startService("codeGenerator");
 
+    if (this.options.node === 'embark') {
+      return this.engine.ipc.connect((err) => {
+        if (err) {
+          this.engine.logger.error(err.message || err);
+          this.engine.logger.error("Could not connect to Embark's IPC. Is embark running?");
+          process.exit(1);
+        }
+        this.engine.ipc.request('blockchain:node', {}, (err, node) => {
+          if (err) {
+            return this.engine.logger.error(err.message || err);
+          }
+          this.options.node = node;
+          callback();
+        });
+      });
+    }
     callback();
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/tests/test_logger.js b/lib/tests/test_logger.js
index 9d9fe39fb..165d20b38 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test_logger.js
+++ b/lib/tests/test_logger.js
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ class TestLogger {
     if (!(this.shouldLog('error'))) {
       return;
     }
-    console.error(txt);
     this.logFunction(txt.red);
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/utils/utils.js b/lib/utils/utils.js
index 92facc19d..21b2ec2e5 100644
--- a/lib/utils/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils/utils.js
@@ -340,13 +340,18 @@ function normalizeInput(input) {
  *  The URL host, required.
  * @param {string} port
  *  The URL port, default to empty string.
+ * @param {string} [type]
+ *  Type of connection
  * @returns {string} the constructued URL, with defaults
  */
-function buildUrl(protocol, host, port) {
+function buildUrl(protocol, host, port, type) {
   if (!host) throw new Error('utils.buildUrl: parameter \'host\' is required');
   if (port) port = ':' + port;
   else port = '';
-  return `${protocol || 'http'}://${host}${port}`;
+  if (!protocol) {
+    protocol = type === 'ws' ? 'ws' : 'http';
+  }
+  return `${protocol}://${host}${port}`;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -361,7 +366,17 @@ function buildUrl(protocol, host, port) {
 function buildUrlFromConfig(configObj) {
   if (!configObj) throw new Error('[utils.buildUrlFromConfig]: config object must cannot be null');
   if (!configObj.host) throw new Error('[utils.buildUrlFromConfig]: object must contain a \'host\' property');
-  return this.buildUrl(configObj.protocol, canonicalHost(configObj.host), configObj.port);
+  return this.buildUrl(configObj.protocol, canonicalHost(configObj.host), configObj.port, configObj.type);
+}
+
+function deconstructUrl(endpoint) {
+  const matches = endpoint.match(/(ws|https?):\/\/([a-zA-Z0-9_.-]*):?([0-9]*)?/);
+  return {
+    protocol: matches[1],
+    host: matches[2],
+    port: matches[3],
+    type: matches[1] === 'ws' ? 'ws' : 'rpc'
+  };
 }
 
 function getWeiBalanceFromString(balanceString, web3){
@@ -482,6 +497,7 @@ module.exports = {
   normalizeInput,
   buildUrl,
   buildUrlFromConfig,
+  deconstructUrl,
   getWeiBalanceFromString,
   getHexBalanceFromString,
   compact,