diff --git a/client-provisioner/examples/provisioning_script.py b/client-provisioner/examples/provisioning_script.py
index 1cd85ef2..81c69a04 100644
--- a/client-provisioner/examples/provisioning_script.py
+++ b/client-provisioner/examples/provisioning_script.py
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def install(**kwargs):
     except:
         deb_mirror = "http://ftp.debian.org/debian"
     try:
-        deb_packages = kwargs['deb_packages']
+        deb_packages = kwargs['deb_packages'].split(',')
     except:
         deb_packages = ["linux-image-amd64", "grub-pc", "cloud-init", "python3-cffi-backend"]
 
diff --git a/client-provisioner/provisioner_lib/provisioner.py b/client-provisioner/provisioner_lib/provisioner.py
index 5fc90961..de2e6d12 100755
--- a/client-provisioner/provisioner_lib/provisioner.py
+++ b/client-provisioner/provisioner_lib/provisioner.py
@@ -26,8 +26,10 @@ import psycopg2
 import psycopg2.extras
 import os
 import re
+import time
 
 import client_lib.common as pvc_common
+import client_lib.node as pvc_node
 import client_lib.vm as pvc_vm
 import client_lib.network as pvc_network
 import client_lib.ceph as pvc_ceph
@@ -239,7 +241,7 @@ def create_template_storage(name):
     close_database(conn, cur)
     return flask.jsonify(retmsg), retcode
 
-def create_template_storage_element(name, disk_id, disk_size_gb, mountpoint=None, filesystem=None):
+def create_template_storage_element(name, pool, disk_id, disk_size_gb, mountpoint=None, filesystem=None):
     if not list_template_storage(name, is_fuzzy=False):
         retmsg = { "message": "The storage template {} does not exist".format(name) }
         retcode = 400
@@ -266,8 +268,8 @@ def create_template_storage_element(name, disk_id, disk_size_gb, mountpoint=None
         args = (name,)
         cur.execute(query, args)
         template_id = cur.fetchone()['id']
-        query = "INSERT INTO storage (storage_template, disk_id, disk_size_gb, mountpoint, filesystem) VALUES (%s, %s, %s, %s, %s);"
-        args = (template_id, disk_id, disk_size_gb, mountpoint, filesystem)
+        query = "INSERT INTO storage (storage_template, pool, disk_id, disk_size_gb, mountpoint, filesystem) VALUES (%s, %s, %s, %s, %s, %s);"
+        args = (template_id, pool, disk_id, disk_size_gb, mountpoint, filesystem)
         cur.execute(query, args)
         retmsg = { "name": name, "disk_id": disk_id }
         retcode = 200
@@ -509,17 +511,21 @@ def list_profile(limit, is_fuzzy=True):
     for profile in orig_data:
         profile_data = dict()
         profile_data['name'] = profile['name']
+        # Parse the name of each subelement
         for etype in 'system_template', 'network_template', 'storage_template', 'script':
             query = 'SELECT name from {} WHERE id = %s'.format(etype)
             args = (profile[etype],)
             cur.execute(query, args)
             name = cur.fetchone()['name']
             profile_data[etype] = name
+        # Split the arguments back into a list
+        profile_data['arguments'] = profile['arguments'].split('|')
+        # Append the new data to our actual output structure
         data.append(profile_data)
     close_database(conn, cur)
     return data
 
-def create_profile(name, system_template, network_template, storage_template, script):
+def create_profile(name, system_template, network_template, storage_template, script, arguments=[]):
     if list_profile(name, is_fuzzy=False):
         retmsg = { "message": "The profile {} already exists".format(name) }
         retcode = 400
@@ -565,10 +571,12 @@ def create_profile(name, system_template, network_template, storage_template, sc
         retcode = 400
         return flask.jsonify(retmsg), retcode
 
+    arguments_formatted = '|'.join(arguments)
+
     conn, cur = open_database(config)
     try:
-        query = "INSERT INTO profile (name, system_template, network_template, storage_template, script) VALUES (%s, %s, %s, %s, %s);"
-        args = (name, system_template_id, network_template_id, storage_template_id, script_id)
+        query = "INSERT INTO profile (name, system_template, network_template, storage_template, script, arguments) VALUES (%s, %s, %s, %s, %s, %s);"
+        args = (name, system_template_id, network_template_id, storage_template_id, script_id, arguments_formatted)
         cur.execute(query, args)
         retmsg = { "name": name }
         retcode = 200
@@ -598,9 +606,76 @@ def delete_profile(name):
     return flask.jsonify(retmsg), retcode
 
 #
-# Job functions
+# VM provisioning helper functions
 #
-def create_vm(vm_name, profile_name):
-    pass
 
+#
+# Main VM provisioning function - executed by the Celery worker
+#
+def create_vm(self, vm_name, vm_profile):
+    # Runtime imports
+    import time
+    import importlib
+
+    # Phase 1 - setup
+    #  * Get the profile elements
+    #  * Get the details from these elements
+    #  * Assemble a VM configuration dictionary
+    self.update_state(state='RUNNING', meta={'current': 1, 'total': 10, 'status': 'Collecting configuration'})
+    time.sleep(5)
+
+    zk_conn = pvc_common.startZKConnection(config['coordinators'])
+    print(pvc_node.get_list(zk_conn, None))
+    pvc_common.stopZKConnection(zk_conn)
+
+    # Phase 2 - verification
+    #  * Ensure that at least one node has enough free RAM to hold the VM (becomes main host)
+    #  * Ensure that all networks are valid
+    #  * Ensure that there is enough disk space in the Ceph cluster for the disks
+    # This is the "safe fail" step when an invalid configuration will be caught
+    self.update_state(state='RUNNING', meta={'current': 2, 'total': 10, 'status': 'Verifying configuration against cluster'})
+    time.sleep(5)
+
+    # Phase 3 - disk creation
+    #  * Create each Ceph storage volume for the disks
+    self.update_state(state='RUNNING', meta={'current': 3, 'total': 10, 'status': 'Creating storage volumes'})
+    time.sleep(5)
+
+    # Phase 4 - disk mapping
+    #  * Map each volume to the local host in order
+    #  * Format each volume with any specified filesystems
+    #  * If any mountpoints are specified, create a temporary mount directory
+    #  * Mount any volumes to their respective mountpoints
+    self.update_state(state='RUNNING', meta={'current': 4, 'total': 10, 'status': 'Mapping, formatting, and mounting storage volumes locally'})
+    time.sleep(5)
+
+    # Phase 5 - provisioning script preparation
+    #  * Import the provisioning script as a library with importlib
+    #  * Ensure the required function(s) are present
+    self.update_state(state='RUNNING', meta={'current': 5, 'total': 10, 'status': 'Preparing provisioning script'})
+    time.sleep(5)
+
+    # Phase 6 - provisioning script execution
+    #  * Execute the provisioning script main function ("install") passing any custom arguments
+    self.update_state(state='RUNNING', meta={'current': 6, 'total': 10, 'status': 'Executing provisioning script'})
+    time.sleep(5)
+
+    # Phase 7 - install cleanup
+    #  * Unmount any mounted volumes
+    #  * Remove any temporary directories
+    self.update_state(state='RUNNING', meta={'current': 7, 'total': 10, 'status': 'Cleaning up local mounts and directories'})
+    time.sleep(5)
+
+    # Phase 8 - configuration creation
+    #  * Create the libvirt XML configuration
+    self.update_state(state='RUNNING', meta={'current': 8, 'total': 10, 'status': 'Preparing Libvirt XML configuration'})
+    time.sleep(5)
+
+    # Phase 9 - definition
+    #  * Create the VM in the PVC cluster
+    #  * Start the VM in the PVC cluster
+    self.update_state(state='RUNNING', meta={'current': 9, 'total': 10, 'status': 'Defining and starting VM on the cluster'})
+    time.sleep(5)
+
+    return {"status": "VM '{}' with profile '{}' has been provisioned and started successfully".format(vm_name, vm_profile), "current": 10, "total": 10}
 
diff --git a/client-provisioner/pvc-provisioner.py b/client-provisioner/pvc-provisioner.py
index 086e6543..2889e3fa 100755
--- a/client-provisioner/pvc-provisioner.py
+++ b/client-provisioner/pvc-provisioner.py
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ import uu
 
 import gevent.pywsgi
 
+import celery as Celery
+
 import provisioner_lib.provisioner as pvcprovisioner
 
 # Parse the configuration file
@@ -51,6 +53,7 @@ try:
     # Create the config object
     config = {
         'debug': o_config['pvc']['debug'],
+        'coordinators': o_config['pvc']['coordinators'],
         'listen_address': o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['listen_address'],
         'listen_port': int(o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['listen_port']),
         'auth_enabled': o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['authentication']['enabled'],
@@ -63,7 +66,10 @@ try:
         'database_port': int(o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['database']['port']),
         'database_name': o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['database']['name'],
         'database_user': o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['database']['user'],
-        'database_password': o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['database']['pass']
+        'database_password': o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['database']['pass'],
+        'queue_host': o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['queue']['host'],
+        'queue_port': o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['queue']['port'],
+        'queue_path': o_config['pvc']['provisioner']['queue']['path'],
     }
 
     # Set the config object in the pvcapi namespace
@@ -82,6 +88,8 @@ except Exception as e:
     exit(1)
 
 api = flask.Flask(__name__)
+api.config['CELERY_BROKER_URL'] = 'redis://{}:{}{}'.format(config['queue_host'], config['queue_port'], config['queue_path'])
+api.config['CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND'] = 'redis://{}:{}{}'.format(config['queue_host'], config['queue_port'], config['queue_path'])
 
 if config['debug']:
     api.config['DEBUG'] = True
@@ -89,6 +97,17 @@ if config['debug']:
 if config['auth_enabled']:
     api.config["SECRET_KEY"] = config['auth_secret_key']
 
+print(api.name)
+celery = Celery.Celery(api.name, broker=api.config['CELERY_BROKER_URL'])
+celery.conf.update(api.config)
+
+#
+# Job functions
+#
+@celery.task(bind=True)
+def create_vm(self, vm_name, profile_name):
+    return pvcprovisioner.create_vm(self, vm_name, profile_name)
+
 # Authentication decorator function
 def authenticator(function):
     def authenticate(*args, **kwargs):
@@ -561,6 +580,10 @@ def api_template_storage_disk_root(template):
             * type: Disk identifier in 'sdX' or 'vdX' format, unique within template
             * optional: false
             * requires: N/A
+        ?pool: The storage pool in which to store the disk.
+            * type: Storage Pool name
+            * optional: false
+            * requires: N/A
         ?disk_size: The disk size in GB.
             * type: integer, Gigabytes (GB)
             * optional: false
@@ -591,6 +614,11 @@ def api_template_storage_disk_root(template):
         else:
             return flask.jsonify({"message": "A disk ID in sdX/vdX format must be specified."}), 400
 
+        if 'pool' in flask.request.values:
+            pool = flask.request.values['pool']
+        else:
+            return flask.jsonify({"message": "A pool name must be specified."}), 400
+
         if 'disk_size' in flask.request.values:
             disk_size = flask.request.values['disk_size']
         else:
@@ -606,7 +634,7 @@ def api_template_storage_disk_root(template):
         else:
             mountpoint = None
            
-        return pvcprovisioner.create_template_storage_element(template, disk_id, disk_size, filesystem, mountpoint)
+        return pvcprovisioner.create_template_storage_element(template, pool, disk_id, disk_size, filesystem, mountpoint)
 
     if flask.request.method == 'DELETE':
         if 'disk_id' in flask.request.values:
@@ -625,6 +653,10 @@ def api_template_storage_disk_element(template, disk_id):
     GET: Show details of disk <disk_id> storage template <template>.
 
     POST: Add new storage VNI <vni> to storage template <template>.
+        ?pool: The storage pool in which to store the disk.
+            * type: Storage Pool name
+            * optional: false
+            * requires: N/A
         ?disk_size: The disk size in GB.
             * type: integer, Gigabytes (GB)
             * optional: false
@@ -650,6 +682,11 @@ def api_template_storage_disk_element(template, disk_id):
         return flask.jsonify({"message": "Found no disk with ID {} in storage template {}".format(disk_id, template)}), 404
 
     if flask.request.method == 'POST':
+        if 'pool' in flask.request.values:
+            pool = flask.request.values['pool']
+        else:
+            return flask.jsonify({"message": "A pool name must be specified."}), 400
+
         if 'disk_size' in flask.request.values:
             disk_size = flask.request.values['disk_size']
         else:
@@ -665,7 +702,7 @@ def api_template_storage_disk_element(template, disk_id):
         else:
             mountpoint = None
            
-        return pvcprovisioner.create_template_storage_element(template, disk_id, disk_size, mountpoint, filesystem)
+        return pvcprovisioner.create_template_storage_element(template, pool, disk_id, disk_size, mountpoint, filesystem)
 
     if flask.request.method == 'DELETE':
         return pvcprovisioner.delete_template_storage_element(template, disk_id)
@@ -787,6 +824,10 @@ def api_profile_root():
             * type: text
             * optional: false
             * requires: N/A
+        ?arg: An arbitrary key=value argument for use by the provisioning script.
+            * type: key-value pair, multiple
+            * optional: true
+            * requires: N/A
     """
     if flask.request.method == 'GET':
         # Get name limit
@@ -828,7 +869,12 @@ def api_profile_root():
         else:
             return flask.jsonify({"message": "A script must be specified."}), 400
 
-        return pvcprovisioner.create_profile(name, system_template, network_template, storage_template, script)
+        if 'arg' in flask.request.values:
+            arguments = flask.request.values.getlist('arg')
+        else:
+            arguments = None
+
+        return pvcprovisioner.create_profile(name, system_template, network_template, storage_template, script, arguments)
 
 @api.route('/api/v1/profile/<profile>', methods=['GET', 'POST', 'DELETE'])
 @authenticator
@@ -901,32 +947,96 @@ def api_create_root():
     /create - Create new VM on the cluster.
 
     POST: Create new VM.
+        ?name: The name of the VM.
+            * type: text
+            * optional: false
+            * requires: N/A
+        ?profile: The profile name of the VM.
+            * type: text
+            * optional: flase
+            * requires: N/A
     """
-    pass
+    if 'name' in flask.request.values:
+        name = flask.request.values['name']
+    else:
+        return flask.jsonify({"message": "A VM name must be specified."}), 400
 
+    if 'profile' in flask.request.values:
+        profile = flask.request.values['profile']
+    else:
+        return flask.jsonify({"message": "A VM profile must be specified."}), 400
 
+    print("starting task")
+    task = create_vm.delay(name, profile)
+    print(task.id)
+
+    return flask.jsonify({"task_id": task.id}), 202, {'Location': flask.url_for('api_status_root', task_id=task.id)}
+
+@api.route('/api/v1/status/<task_id>', methods=['GET'])
+@authenticator
+def api_status_root(task_id):
+    """
+    /status - Report on VM creation status.
+
+    GET: Get status of the VM provisioning.
+        ?task: The task ID returned from the '/create' endpoint.
+            * type: text
+            * optional: flase
+            * requires: N/A
+    """
+    task = create_vm.AsyncResult(task_id)
+    if task.state == 'PENDING':
+        # job did not start yet
+        response = {
+            'state': task.state,
+            'current': 0,
+            'total': 1,
+            'status': 'Pending...'
+        }
+    elif task.state != 'FAILURE':
+        # job is still running
+        response = {
+            'state': task.state,
+            'current': task.info.get('current', 0),
+            'total': task.info.get('total', 1),
+            'status': task.info.get('status', '')
+        }
+        if 'result' in task.info:
+            response['result'] = task.info['result']
+    else:
+        # something went wrong in the background job
+        response = {
+            'state': task.state,
+            'current': 1,
+            'total': 1,
+            'status': str(task.info),  # this is the exception raised
+        }
+    return flask.jsonify(response)
 
 #
 # Entrypoint
 #
-if config['debug']:
-    # Run in Flask standard mode
-    api.run(config['listen_address'], config['listen_port'])
-else:
-    if config['ssl_enabled']:
-        # Run the WSGI server with SSL
-        http_server = gevent.pywsgi.WSGIServer(
-            (config['listen_address'], config['listen_port']),
-            api,
-            keyfile=config['ssl_key_file'],
-            certfile=config['ssl_cert_file']
-        )
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    if config['debug']:
+        # Run in Flask standard mode
+        api.run(config['listen_address'], config['listen_port'])
     else:
-        # Run the ?WSGI server without SSL
-        http_server = gevent.pywsgi.WSGIServer(
-            (config['listen_address'], config['listen_port']),
-            api
-        )
+        if config['ssl_enabled']:
+            # Run the WSGI server with SSL
+            http_server = gevent.pywsgi.WSGIServer(
+                (config['listen_address'], config['listen_port']),
+                api,
+                keyfile=config['ssl_key_file'],
+                certfile=config['ssl_cert_file']
+            )
+        else:
+            # Run the ?WSGI server without SSL
+            http_server = gevent.pywsgi.WSGIServer(
+                (config['listen_address'], config['listen_port']),
+                api
+            )
+    
+        print('Starting PyWSGI server at {}:{} with SSL={}, Authentication={}'.format(config['listen_address'], config['listen_port'], config['ssl_enabled'], config['auth_enabled']))
+        http_server.serve_forever()
+    
 
-    print('Starting PyWSGI server at {}:{} with SSL={}, Authentication={}'.format(config['listen_address'], config['listen_port'], config['ssl_enabled'], config['auth_enabled']))
-    http_server.serve_forever()
diff --git a/client-provisioner/pvc-provisioner.sample.yaml b/client-provisioner/pvc-provisioner.sample.yaml
index d546b05a..62527112 100644
--- a/client-provisioner/pvc-provisioner.sample.yaml
+++ b/client-provisioner/pvc-provisioner.sample.yaml
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@
 pvc:
     # debug: Enable/disable API debug mode
     debug: True
+    # coordinators: The list of cluster coordinator hostnames
+    coordinators:
+      - hv1
+      - hv2
+      - hv3
     # provisioner: Configuration of the Provisioner API listener
     provisioner:
         # listen_address: IP address(es) to listen on; use 0.0.0.0 for all interfaces
@@ -43,9 +48,9 @@ pvc:
             key_file: ""
         # database: Backend database configuration
         database:
-            # host: PostgreSQL hostname, invariably 'localhost
+            # host: PostgreSQL hostname, usually 'localhost'
             host: 10.100.0.252
-            # port: PostgreSQL port, invariably 'localhost'
+            # port: PostgreSQL port, invariably '5432'
             port: 5432
             # name: PostgreSQL database name, invariably 'pvcprov'
             name: pvcprov
@@ -53,3 +58,11 @@ pvc:
             user: pvcprov
             # pass: PostgreSQL user password, randomly generated
             pass: pvcprov
+        # queue: Celery backend queue using the PVC Zookeeper cluster
+        queue:
+            # host: Redis hostname, usually 'localhost'
+            host: localhost
+            # port: Redis port, invariably '6279'
+            port: 6379
+            # path: Redis queue path, invariably '/0'
+            path: /0
diff --git a/client-provisioner/schema.sql b/client-provisioner/schema.sql
index 2f7edde4..d316f71f 100644
--- a/client-provisioner/schema.sql
+++ b/client-provisioner/schema.sql
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ create table system_template (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE,
 create table network_template (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE, mac_template TEXT);
 create table network (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, network_template INT REFERENCES network_template(id), vni INT NOT NULL);
 create table storage_template (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE);
-create table storage (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, storage_template INT REFERENCES storage_template(id), disk_id TEXT NOT NULL, disk_size_gb INT NOT NULL, mountpoint TEXT, filesystem TEXT);
+create table storage (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, storage_template INT REFERENCES storage_template(id), pool TEXT NOT NULL, disk_id TEXT NOT NULL, disk_size_gb INT NOT NULL, mountpoint TEXT, filesystem TEXT);
 create table script (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE, script TEXT NOT NULL);
-create table profile (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE, system_template INT REFERENCES system_template(id), network_template INT REFERENCES network_template(id), storage_template INT REFERENCES storage_template(id), script INT REFERENCES script(id));
+create table profile (id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE, system_template INT REFERENCES system_template(id), network_template INT REFERENCES network_template(id), storage_template INT REFERENCES storage_template(id), script INT REFERENCES script(id), arguments text);
 grant all privileges on database pvcprov to pvcprov;
 grant all privileges on all tables in schema public to pvcprov;
 grant all privileges on all sequences in schema public to pvcprov;