diff --git a/vfs/test_vfs/test_vfs.go b/vfs/test_vfs/test_vfs.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cfb3a24bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vfs/test_vfs/test_vfs.go
@@ -0,0 +1,330 @@
+// Test the VFS to exhaustion, specifically looking for deadlocks
+//
+// Run on a mounted filesystem
+package main
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
+	"math"
+	"math/rand"
+	"os"
+	"path"
+	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"time"
+)
+
+var (
+	nameLength = flag.Int("name-length", 10, "Length of names to create")
+	verbose    = flag.Bool("v", false, "Set to show more info")
+	number     = flag.Int("n", 4, "Number of tests to run simultaneously")
+	iterations = flag.Int("i", 100, "Iterations of the test")
+	timeout    = flag.Duration("timeout", 10*time.Second, "Inactivity time to detect a deadlock")
+	testNumber int32
+)
+
+// Seed the random number generator
+func init() {
+	rand.Seed(time.Now().UnixNano())
+
+}
+
+// RandomString create a random string for test purposes
+func RandomString(n int) string {
+	const (
+		vowel     = "aeiou"
+		consonant = "bcdfghjklmnpqrstvwxyz"
+		digit     = "0123456789"
+	)
+	pattern := []string{consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel, consonant, digit}
+	out := make([]byte, n)
+	p := 0
+	for i := range out {
+		source := pattern[p]
+		p = (p + 1) % len(pattern)
+		out[i] = source[rand.Intn(len(source))]
+	}
+	return string(out)
+}
+
+// Test contains stats about the running test which work for files or
+// directories
+type Test struct {
+	dir     string
+	name    string
+	created bool
+	handle  *os.File
+	tests   []func()
+	isDir   bool
+	number  int32
+	prefix  string
+	timer   *time.Timer
+}
+
+// NewTest creates a new test and fills in the Tests
+func NewTest(Dir string) *Test {
+	t := &Test{
+		dir:    Dir,
+		name:   RandomString(*nameLength),
+		isDir:  rand.Intn(2) == 0,
+		number: atomic.AddInt32(&testNumber, 1),
+		timer:  time.NewTimer(*timeout),
+	}
+	width := int(math.Floor(math.Log10(float64(*number)))) + 1
+	t.prefix = fmt.Sprintf("%*d: %s: ", width, t.number, t.path())
+	if t.isDir {
+		t.tests = []func(){
+			t.list,
+			t.rename,
+			t.mkdir,
+			t.rmdir,
+		}
+	} else {
+		t.tests = []func(){
+			t.list,
+			t.rename,
+			t.open,
+			t.close,
+			t.remove,
+			t.read,
+			t.write,
+		}
+	}
+	return t
+}
+
+// kick the deadlock timeout
+func (t *Test) kick() {
+	if !t.timer.Stop() {
+		<-t.timer.C
+	}
+	t.timer.Reset(*timeout)
+}
+
+// randomTest runs a random test
+func (t *Test) randomTest() {
+	t.kick()
+	i := rand.Intn(len(t.tests))
+	t.tests[i]()
+}
+
+// logf logs things - not shown unless -v
+func (t *Test) logf(format string, a ...interface{}) {
+	if *verbose {
+		log.Printf(t.prefix+format, a...)
+	}
+}
+
+// errorf logs errors
+func (t *Test) errorf(format string, a ...interface{}) {
+	log.Printf(t.prefix+"ERROR: "+format, a...)
+}
+
+// list test
+func (t *Test) list() {
+	t.logf("list")
+	fis, err := ioutil.ReadDir(t.dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.errorf("%s: failed to read directory: %v", t.dir, err)
+		return
+	}
+	if t.created && len(fis) == 0 {
+		t.errorf("%s: expecting entries in directory, got none", t.dir)
+		return
+	}
+	found := false
+	for _, fi := range fis {
+		if fi.Name() == t.name {
+			found = true
+		}
+	}
+	if t.created {
+		if !found {
+			t.errorf("%s: expecting to find %q in directory, got none", t.dir, t.name)
+			return
+		}
+	} else {
+		if found {
+			t.errorf("%s: not expecting to find %q in directory, got none", t.dir, t.name)
+			return
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// path returns the current path to the item
+func (t *Test) path() string {
+	return path.Join(t.dir, t.name)
+}
+
+// rename test
+func (t *Test) rename() {
+	if !t.created {
+		return
+	}
+	t.logf("rename")
+	NewName := RandomString(*nameLength)
+	newPath := path.Join(t.dir, NewName)
+	err := os.Rename(t.path(), newPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.errorf("failed to rename to %q: %v", newPath, err)
+		return
+	}
+	t.name = NewName
+}
+
+// close test
+func (t *Test) close() {
+	if t.handle == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	t.logf("close")
+	err := t.handle.Close()
+	t.handle = nil
+	if err != nil {
+		t.errorf("failed to close: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+}
+
+// open test
+func (t *Test) open() {
+	t.close()
+	t.logf("open")
+	handle, err := os.OpenFile(t.path(), os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE, 0666)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.errorf("failed to open: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+	t.handle = handle
+	t.created = true
+}
+
+// read test
+func (t *Test) read() {
+	if t.handle == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	t.logf("read")
+	bytes := make([]byte, 10)
+	_, err := t.handle.Read(bytes)
+	if err != nil && err != io.EOF {
+		t.errorf("failed to read: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+}
+
+// write test
+func (t *Test) write() {
+	if t.handle == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	t.logf("write")
+	bytes := make([]byte, 10)
+	_, err := t.handle.Write(bytes)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.errorf("failed to write: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+}
+
+// remove test
+func (t *Test) remove() {
+	if !t.created {
+		return
+	}
+	t.logf("remove")
+	err := os.Remove(t.path())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.errorf("failed to remove: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+	t.created = false
+}
+
+// mkdir test
+func (t *Test) mkdir() {
+	if t.created {
+		return
+	}
+	t.logf("mkdir")
+	err := os.Mkdir(t.path(), 0777)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.errorf("failed to mkdir %q", t.path())
+		return
+	}
+	t.created = true
+}
+
+// rmdir test
+func (t *Test) rmdir() {
+	if !t.created {
+		return
+	}
+	t.logf("rmdir")
+	err := os.Remove(t.path())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.errorf("failed to rmdir %q", t.path())
+		return
+	}
+	t.created = false
+}
+
+// Tidy removes any stray files and stops the deadlock timer
+func (t *Test) Tidy() {
+	t.timer.Stop()
+	if !t.isDir {
+		t.close()
+		t.remove()
+	} else {
+		t.rmdir()
+	}
+	t.logf("finished")
+}
+
+// RandomTests runs random tests with deadlock detection
+func (t *Test) RandomTests(iterations int, quit chan struct{}) {
+	var finished = make(chan struct{})
+	go func() {
+		for i := 0; i < iterations; i++ {
+			t.randomTest()
+		}
+		close(finished)
+	}()
+	select {
+	case <-finished:
+	case <-quit:
+		quit <- struct{}{}
+	case <-t.timer.C:
+		t.errorf("deadlock detected")
+		quit <- struct{}{}
+	}
+}
+
+func main() {
+	flag.Parse()
+	args := flag.Args()
+	if len(args) != 1 {
+		log.Fatalf("%s: Syntax [opts] <directory>", os.Args[0])
+	}
+	dir := args[0]
+	_ = os.MkdirAll(dir, 0777)
+
+	var (
+		wg   sync.WaitGroup
+		quit = make(chan struct{}, *iterations)
+	)
+	for i := 0; i < *number; i++ {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			t := NewTest(dir)
+			defer t.Tidy()
+			t.RandomTests(*iterations, quit)
+		}()
+	}
+	wg.Wait()
+}