diff --git a/barbican/cmd/status.py b/barbican/cmd/status.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..daab75589
--- /dev/null
+++ b/barbican/cmd/status.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2018 NEC, Corp.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+from oslo_config import cfg
+from oslo_upgradecheck import upgradecheck
+
+from barbican.i18n import _
+
+
+class Checks(upgradecheck.UpgradeCommands):
+
+    """Upgrade checks for the barbican-status upgrade check command
+
+    Upgrade checks should be added as separate methods in this class
+    and added to _upgrade_checks tuple.
+    """
+
+    def _check_placeholder(self):
+        # This is just a placeholder for upgrade checks, it should be
+        # removed when the actual checks are added
+        return upgradecheck.Result(upgradecheck.Code.SUCCESS)
+
+    # The format of the check functions is to return an
+    # oslo_upgradecheck.upgradecheck.Result
+    # object with the appropriate
+    # oslo_upgradecheck.upgradecheck.Code and details set.
+    # If the check hits warnings or failures then those should be stored
+    # in the returned Result's "details" attribute. The
+    # summary will be rolled up at the end of the check() method.
+    _upgrade_checks = (
+        # In the future there should be some real checks added here
+        (_('Placeholder'), _check_placeholder),
+    )
+
+
+def main():
+    return upgradecheck.main(
+        cfg.CONF, project='barbican', upgrade_command=Checks())
diff --git a/barbican/tests/cmd/test-status.py b/barbican/tests/cmd/test-status.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..37bf3bd76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/barbican/tests/cmd/test-status.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2018 NEC, Corp.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+from oslo_upgradecheck.upgradecheck import Code
+
+from barbican.cmd import status
+from barbican.tests import utils
+
+
+class TestUpgradeChecks(utils.BaseTestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        super(TestUpgradeChecks, self).setUp()
+        self.cmd = status.Checks()
+
+    def test__check_placeholder(self):
+        check_result = self.cmd._check_placeholder()
+        self.assertEqual(
+            Code.SUCCESS, check_result.code)
diff --git a/doc/source/cli/barbican-status.rst b/doc/source/cli/barbican-status.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c818fbef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/source/cli/barbican-status.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+===============
+barbican-status
+===============
+
+Synopsis
+========
+
+::
+
+  barbican-status <category> <command> [<args>]
+
+Description
+===========
+
+:program:`barbican-status` is a tool that provides routines for checking the
+status of a Barbican deployment.
+
+Options
+=======
+
+The standard pattern for executing a :program:`barbican-status` command is::
+
+    barbican-status <category> <command> [<args>]
+
+Run without arguments to see a list of available command categories::
+
+    barbican-status
+
+Categories are:
+
+* ``upgrade``
+
+Detailed descriptions are below.
+
+You can also run with a category argument such as ``upgrade`` to see a list of
+all commands in that category::
+
+    barbican-status upgrade
+
+These sections describe the available categories and arguments for
+:program:`barbican-status`.
+
+Upgrade
+~~~~~~~
+
+.. _barbican-status-checks:
+
+``barbican-status upgrade check``
+  Performs a release-specific readiness check before restarting services with
+  new code. This command expects to have complete configuration and access
+  to databases and services.
+
+  **Return Codes**
+
+  .. list-table::
+     :widths: 20 80
+     :header-rows: 1
+
+     * - Return code
+       - Description
+     * - 0
+       - All upgrade readiness checks passed successfully and there is nothing
+         to do.
+     * - 1
+       - At least one check encountered an issue and requires further
+         investigation. This is considered a warning but the upgrade may be OK.
+     * - 2
+       - There was an upgrade status check failure that needs to be
+         investigated. This should be considered something that stops an
+         upgrade.
+     * - 255
+       - An unexpected error occurred.
+
+  **History of Checks**
+
+  **8.0.0 (Stein)**
+
+  * Placeholder to be filled in with checks as they are added in Stein.
diff --git a/doc/source/cli/index.rst b/doc/source/cli/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fe8ae2251
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/source/cli/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+CLI Reference
+=============
+
+.. toctree::
+   :maxdepth: 1
+
+   barbican-status
diff --git a/doc/source/index.rst b/doc/source/index.rst
index 194870aab..e812a5069 100644
--- a/doc/source/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/index.rst
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ such as Symmetric Keys, Asymmetric Keys, Certificates and raw binary data.
    :maxdepth: 2
 
    admin/index
+   cli/index
    install/index
    configuration/index
    contributor/index
diff --git a/lower-constraints.txt b/lower-constraints.txt
index 51a568a2b..67418c1c7 100644
--- a/lower-constraints.txt
+++ b/lower-constraints.txt
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ oslo.middleware==3.31.0
 oslo.policy==1.30.0
 oslo.serialization==2.18.0
 oslo.service==1.24.0
+oslo.upgradecheck==0.1.1
 oslo.utils==3.33.0
 oslo.versionedobjects==1.31.2
 oslotest==3.2.0
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/barbican-status-upgrade-check-framework-9df56289b1d91ba4.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/barbican-status-upgrade-check-framework-9df56289b1d91ba4.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5325dfa62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/barbican-status-upgrade-check-framework-9df56289b1d91ba4.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+prelude: >
+    Added new tool ``barbican-status upgrade check``.
+features:
+  - |
+    New framework for ``barbican-status upgrade check`` command is added.
+    This framework allows adding various checks which can be run before a
+    Barbican upgrade to ensure if the upgrade can be performed safely.
+upgrade:
+  - |
+    Operator can now use new CLI tool ``barbican-status upgrade check``
+    to check if Barbican deployment can be safely upgraded from
+    N-1 to N release.
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 86ded330a..8aae045f6 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ oslo.log>=3.36.0 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.policy>=1.30.0 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.serialization!=2.19.1,>=2.18.0 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.service!=1.28.1,>=1.24.0 # Apache-2.0
+oslo.upgradecheck>=0.1.1 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.utils>=3.33.0 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.versionedobjects>=1.31.2 # Apache-2.0
 Paste>=2.0.2 # MIT
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 7217b9874..6906a5e73 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ console_scripts =
     pkcs11-kek-rewrap = barbican.cmd.pkcs11_kek_rewrap:main
     pkcs11-key-generation = barbican.cmd.pkcs11_key_generation:main
     barbican-retry = barbican.cmd.retry_scheduler:main
+    barbican-status = barbican.cmd.status:main
 
 wsgi_scripts =
     barbican-wsgi-api = barbican.api.app:get_api_wsgi_script