diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cefa9ac44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+prepare:
+	go get -d -v -t ./...
+	docker-compose up -d --no-recreate
+
+test: prepare
+	go test -short ./...
+
+update:
+	go get -u -v -d -t ./...
+
+.PHONY: test
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c59ded712..3294cc34b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -179,3 +179,16 @@ func init() {
 }
 ```
 
+## Testing
+
+As Telegraf collects metrics from several third-party services it becomes a difficult task to mock each service as
+some of them have complicated protocols which would take some time to replicate. 
+
+To overcome this situation we've decided to use docker containers to provide a fast and reproducible environment
+to test those services which require it. For other situations (i.e: https://github.com/influxdb/telegraf/blob/master/plugins/redis/redis_test.go ) a simple mock will suffice. 
+
+To execute Telegraf tests follow this simple steps:
+
+- Install docker compose following [these](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/) instructions
+- execute `make test`
+
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f2c1b2b54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+mysql:
+    image: mysql
+    ports:
+        - "3306:3306"
+    environment:
+        MYSQL_ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD: yes
+
+memcached:
+    image: memcached
+    ports:
+        - "11211:11211"
+
+postgres:
+    image: postgres
+    ports:
+        - "5432:5432"
diff --git a/plugins/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer_integration_test.go b/plugins/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer_integration_test.go
index 1541cb127..2a82a2374 100644
--- a/plugins/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer_integration_test.go
+++ b/plugins/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer_integration_test.go
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestReadsMetricsFromKafka(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("Skipping integration test in short mode")
+	}
 	var zkPeers, brokerPeers []string
 
 	if len(os.Getenv("ZOOKEEPER_PEERS")) == 0 {
diff --git a/plugins/memcached/memcached_test.go b/plugins/memcached/memcached_test.go
index 08e696fb7..522fc7bc7 100644
--- a/plugins/memcached/memcached_test.go
+++ b/plugins/memcached/memcached_test.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestMemcachedGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 	m := &Memcached{
-		Servers: []string{"localhost"},
+		Servers: []string{testutil.GetLocalHost()},
 	}
 
 	var acc testutil.Accumulator
diff --git a/plugins/mysql/mysql_test.go b/plugins/mysql/mysql_test.go
index 76cb28b0d..e29e2e12e 100644
--- a/plugins/mysql/mysql_test.go
+++ b/plugins/mysql/mysql_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package mysql
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -11,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestMysqlGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 	m := &Mysql{
-		Servers: []string{""},
+		Servers: []string{fmt.Sprintf("root@tcp(%s:3306)/", testutil.GetLocalHost())},
 	}
 
 	var acc testutil.Accumulator
@@ -53,7 +54,9 @@ func TestMysqlGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestMysqlDefaultsToLocal(t *testing.T) {
-	m := &Mysql{}
+	m := &Mysql{
+		Servers: []string{fmt.Sprintf("root@tcp(%s:3306)/", testutil.GetLocalHost())},
+	}
 
 	var acc testutil.Accumulator
 
diff --git a/plugins/postgresql/postgresql_test.go b/plugins/postgresql/postgresql_test.go
index 91776d619..f9fb2b98e 100644
--- a/plugins/postgresql/postgresql_test.go
+++ b/plugins/postgresql/postgresql_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package postgresql
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/influxdb/telegraf/testutil"
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ func TestPostgresqlGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 	p := &Postgresql{
 		Servers: []*Server{
 			{
-				Address:   "sslmode=disable",
+				Address:   fmt.Sprintf("host=%s user=postgres sslmode=disable", testutil.GetLocalHost()),
 				Databases: []string{"postgres"},
 			},
 		},
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ func TestPostgresqlTagsMetricsWithDatabaseName(t *testing.T) {
 	p := &Postgresql{
 		Servers: []*Server{
 			{
-				Address:   "sslmode=disable",
+				Address:   fmt.Sprintf("host=%s user=postgres sslmode=disable", testutil.GetLocalHost()),
 				Databases: []string{"postgres"},
 			},
 		},
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ func TestPostgresqlDefaultsToAllDatabases(t *testing.T) {
 	p := &Postgresql{
 		Servers: []*Server{
 			{
-				Address: "sslmode=disable",
+				Address: fmt.Sprintf("host=%s user=postgres sslmode=disable", testutil.GetLocalHost()),
 			},
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/plugins/redis/redis_test.go b/plugins/redis/redis_test.go
index 94c52f01b..3e9915393 100644
--- a/plugins/redis/redis_test.go
+++ b/plugins/redis/redis_test.go
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ func TestRedisGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, c := range checkInt {
-		assert.NoError(t, acc.ValidateValue(c.name, c.value))
+		assert.True(t, acc.CheckValue(c.name, c.value))
 	}
 
 	checkFloat := []struct {
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ func TestRedisGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, c := range checkFloat {
-		assert.NoError(t, acc.ValidateValue(c.name, c.value))
+		assert.True(t, acc.CheckValue(c.name, c.value))
 	}
 }
 
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ func TestRedisCanPullStatsFromMultipleServers(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, c := range checkInt {
-		assert.NoError(t, acc.ValidateValue(c.name, c.value))
+		assert.True(t, acc.CheckValue(c.name, c.value))
 	}
 
 	checkFloat := []struct {
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ func TestRedisCanPullStatsFromMultipleServers(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, c := range checkFloat {
-		assert.NoError(t, acc.ValidateValue(c.name, c.value))
+		assert.True(t, acc.CheckValue(c.name, c.value))
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/testutil/testutil.go b/testutil/testutil.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..71c3ce0c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testutil/testutil.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package testutil
+
+import "os"
+
+var localhost = "localhost"
+
+func GetLocalHost() string {
+	if dockerHostVar := os.Getenv("DOCKER_HOST"); dockerHostVar != "" {
+		return dockerHostVar
+	}
+	return localhost
+}
diff --git a/testutil/testutil_test.go b/testutil/testutil_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..39f548c0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testutil/testutil_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package testutil
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestDockerHost(t *testing.T) {
+
+	os.Unsetenv("DOCKER_HOST")
+
+	host := GetLocalHost()
+
+	if host != localhost {
+		t.Fatalf("Host should be localhost when DOCKER_HOST is not set. Current value [%s]", host)
+	}
+
+	os.Setenv("DOCKER_HOST", "1.1.1.1")
+
+	host = GetLocalHost()
+
+	if host != "1.1.1.1" {
+		t.Fatalf("Host should take DOCKER_HOST value when set. Current value is [%s] and DOCKER_HOST is [%s]", host, os.Getenv("DOCKER_HOST"))
+	}
+
+}