diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 8dd76465c8b1f31907132487c8f8e943ac0cbadf..78707baecbb6d72d0893180247fad841b9831b68 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ gcc-debug:
       - compiled/share/
       - build/examples/
       - build/tests/
+      - build/plugins/adhoc_services.d/*.sh
       - build/src/scord/scord
       - build/src/scord-ctl/scord-ctl
 
diff --git a/examples/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
index 59580175e29b834eab47ba9dbe76264468d90994..5959af25fad05ef32bf53e112f0dff73c4185da0 100644
--- a/examples/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ if(SCORD_BUILD_TESTS)
   file(MAKE_DIRECTORY ${TEST_DIRECTORY})
 
   configure_file(scord.conf.in scord.conf)
+  configure_file(scord-ctl.conf.in scord-ctl.conf)
 
   set(SCORD_ADDRESS_STRING
     ${SCORD_TRANSPORT_PROTOCOL}://${SCORD_BIND_ADDRESS}:${SCORD_BIND_PORT})
@@ -57,8 +58,11 @@ if(SCORD_BUILD_TESTS)
 
   add_test(start_scord_ctl
     ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts/runner.sh start scord-ctl.pid
-    ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/src/scord-ctl/scord-ctl -l ${SCORD_CTL_ADDRESS_STRING} -o ${TEST_DIRECTORY}/scord_ctl.log
-    )
+        ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/src/scord-ctl/scord-ctl
+            -c ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/scord-ctl.conf
+            -l ${SCORD_CTL_ADDRESS_STRING}
+            -o ${TEST_DIRECTORY}/scord_ctl.log
+  )
 
   set_tests_properties(start_scord_ctl
     PROPERTIES FIXTURES_SETUP scord_ctl)
diff --git a/examples/scord-ctl.conf.in b/examples/scord-ctl.conf.in
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..58ba161613c2c98ac2311648a8babf31865c1452
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/scord-ctl.conf.in
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+## vim: set filetype=yaml:
+
+# Configuration of the `scord-ctl` service
+config:
+  # Specific configurations for supported adhoc storage systems
+  adhoc_storage:
+    gekkofs:
+      # The default working directory for adhoc instances of this type
+      working_directory: /tmp/gekkofs
+      startup:
+        # Specific environment variables that should be set for the adhoc
+        # instance. These will be merged with the environment variables
+        # already set by Slurm.
+        environment:
+          VAR0: value0
+          VAR1: value1
+        # The command that `scord-ctl` will use to start an adhoc instance of
+        # this type. The following variables are supported that will be
+        # automatically replaced by scord-ctl if found between curly braces:
+        #  * ADHOC_NODES: A comma separated list of valid job hostnames that
+        #    can be used to start the adhoc instance.
+        #  * ADHOC_DIRECTORY: A unique working directory for each specific
+        #    adhoc instance. This directory will be created by scord-ctl under
+        #    `working_directory` and automatically removed after the adhoc
+        #    instance has been shut down.
+        #  * ADHOC_ID: - A unique ID for the adhoc instance.
+        command: @CMAKE_BINARY_DIR@/plugins/adhoc_services.d/gekkofs.sh
+                    start
+                    --hosts {ADHOC_NODES}
+                    --workdir {ADHOC_DIRECTORY}
+                    --datadir {ADHOC_DIRECTORY}/data
+                    --mountdir {ADHOC_DIRECTORY}/mnt
+      shutdown:
+        environment:
+        command: @CMAKE_BINARY_DIR@/plugins/adhoc_services.d/gekkofs.sh
+                    stop
+                    --workdir {ADHOC_DIRECTORY}
+
+
+# default storage tiers made available to applications
+storage:
+  lustre:
+    type: "pfs"
+    mountpoint: "/mnt/lustre"
+
+  tmp:
+    type: "tmpfs"
+    mountpoint: "/tmp"
diff --git a/plugins/adhoc_services.d/CMakeLists.txt b/plugins/adhoc_services.d/CMakeLists.txt
index 915a03b706e597277d5e7ad9f3c454845d302853..143a7e9d65eee259c61fa66d0593b2e0a84a19ba 100644
--- a/plugins/adhoc_services.d/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/plugins/adhoc_services.d/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -24,6 +24,15 @@
 
 list(APPEND ADHOC_SCRIPTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/gekkofs.sh")
 
+# copy adhoc scripts to the build directory so that they can be used  by tests
+foreach (ADHOC_SCRIPT ${ADHOC_SCRIPTS})
+  get_filename_component(ADHOC_SCRIPT_NAME ${ADHOC_SCRIPT} NAME)
+  configure_file(${ADHOC_SCRIPT} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${ADHOC_SCRIPT_NAME} @ONLY
+    FILE_PERMISSIONS OWNER_READ OWNER_WRITE OWNER_EXECUTE
+                     GROUP_READ GROUP_EXECUTE
+                     WORLD_READ WORLD_EXECUTE)
+endforeach()
+
 # install adhoc scripts to `<datadir>/scord/adhoc_services.d/`
 # (normally /usr/share/scord/adhoc_services.d/)
 get_filename_component(INSTALL_DESTINATION ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR} NAME)