diff --git a/deps/rabbitmq_cli/lib/set_parameter_command.ex b/deps/rabbitmq_cli/lib/set_parameter_command.ex
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f89dcba2bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deps/rabbitmq_cli/lib/set_parameter_command.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+## The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License
+## Version 1.1 (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.mozilla.org/MPL/
+##
+## Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
+## basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
+## the License for the specific language governing rights and
+## limitations under the License.
+##
+## The Original Code is RabbitMQ.
+##
+## The Initial Developer of the Original Code is GoPivotal, Inc.
+## Copyright (c) 2007-2016 Pivotal Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+
+
+defmodule SetParameterCommand do
+
+  def set_parameter([], _) do
+    HelpCommand.help
+    {:bad_argument, []}
+  end
+
+  def set_parameter([_|_] = args, _) when length(args) != 3 do
+    HelpCommand.help
+    {:bad_argument, args}
+  end
+
+  def set_parameter([component_name, name, value], %{node: node_name, param: vhost}) do
+    node_name
+    |> Helpers.parse_node
+    |> :rabbit_misc.rpc_call(
+      :rabbit_runtime_parameters,
+      :parse_set,
+      [vhost, component_name, name, value, :none]
+    )
+  end
+
+  def set_parameter([_, _, _] = args, %{node: _} = opts) do
+    default_opts = Map.merge(opts, %{param: "/"})
+    set_parameter(args, default_opts)
+  end
+
+  def usage, do: "set_parameter [-p <vhost>] <component_name> <name> <value>"
+end
diff --git a/deps/rabbitmq_cli/test/set_parameter_command_test.exs b/deps/rabbitmq_cli/test/set_parameter_command_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fa05ae99c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deps/rabbitmq_cli/test/set_parameter_command_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+## The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License
+## Version 1.1 (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.mozilla.org/MPL/
+##
+## Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
+## basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
+## the License for the specific language governing rights and
+## limitations under the License.
+##
+## The Original Code is RabbitMQ.
+##
+## The Initial Developer of the Original Code is GoPivotal, Inc.
+## Copyright (c) 2007-2016 Pivotal Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+
+
+defmodule SetParameterCommandTest do
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: false
+  import TestHelper
+  import ExUnit.CaptureIO
+
+  @vhost "test1"
+  @user "guest"
+  @root   "/"
+  @component_name "federation-upstream"
+  @key "reconnect-delay"
+  @value "{\"uri\":\"amqp://\"}"
+
+  setup_all do
+    :net_kernel.start([:rabbitmqctl, :shortnames])
+    :net_kernel.connect_node(get_rabbit_hostname)
+
+    add_vhost @vhost
+
+    on_exit([], fn ->
+      delete_vhost @vhost
+      :erlang.disconnect_node(get_rabbit_hostname)
+      :net_kernel.stop()
+    end)
+
+    :ok
+  end
+
+  setup context do
+
+    on_exit(context, fn ->
+      clear_parameter context[:vhost], context[:component_name], context[:key]
+    end)
+
+    {
+      :ok,
+      opts: %{
+        node: get_rabbit_hostname
+      }
+    }
+  end
+
+  test "wrong number of arguments leads to usage and bad_arg" do
+    assert capture_io(fn ->
+      SetParameterCommand.set_parameter([], %{})
+    end) =~ ~r/Usage:\n/
+
+    capture_io(fn ->
+      assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter([], %{}) == {:bad_argument, []}
+    end)
+
+    assert capture_io(fn ->
+      SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(["insufficient"], %{})
+    end) =~ ~r/Usage:\n/
+
+    capture_io(fn ->
+      assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(["insufficient"], %{}) == {:bad_argument, ["insufficient"]}
+    end)
+
+    assert capture_io(fn ->
+      SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(["not", "enough"], %{})
+    end) =~ ~r/Usage:\n/
+
+    capture_io(fn ->
+      assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(["not", "enough"], %{}) == {:bad_argument, ["not", "enough"]}
+    end)
+
+    assert capture_io(fn ->
+      SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(["this", "is", "way", "too", "many"], %{})
+    end) =~ ~r/Usage:\n/
+
+    capture_io(fn ->
+      assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(["this", "is", "way", "too", "many"], %{}) == {:bad_argument, ["this", "is", "way", "too", "many"],}
+    end)
+  end
+
+  @tag component_name: @component_name, key: @key, value: @value, vhost: @vhost
+  test "a well-formed, host-specific command returns okay", context do
+    vhost_opts = Map.merge(context[:opts], %{param: context[:vhost]})
+    assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(
+      [context[:component_name], context[:key], context[:value]],
+      vhost_opts
+    ) == :ok
+
+    parameters = List.first(list_parameters(context[:vhost]))
+    assert parameters[:value] == context[:value]
+    assert parameters[:vhost] == context[:vhost]
+    assert parameters[:component] == context[:component_name]
+    assert parameters[:name] == context[:key]
+  end
+
+  test "An invalid rabbitmq node throws a badrpc" do
+    target = :jake@thedog
+    :net_kernel.connect_node(target)
+    opts = %{node: target}
+
+    assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter([@component_name, @key, @value], opts) == {:badrpc, :nodedown}
+  end
+
+  @tag component_name: @component_name, key: @key, value: @value, vhost: @root
+  test "a well-formed command with no vhost runs against the default", context do
+    assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(
+      [context[:component_name], context[:key], context[:value]],
+      context[:opts]
+    ) == :ok
+
+    parameters = List.first(list_parameters(context[:vhost]))
+    assert parameters[:value] == context[:value]
+    assert parameters[:vhost] == context[:vhost]
+    assert parameters[:component] == context[:component_name]
+    assert parameters[:name] == context[:key]
+  end
+
+  @tag component_name: "bad-component-name", key: @key, value: @value, vhost: @root
+  test "an invalid component_name returns a validation failed error", context do
+    assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(
+      [context[:component_name], context[:key], context[:value]],
+      context[:opts]
+    ) == {:error_string, 'Validation failed\n\ncomponent #{context[:component_name]} not found\n'}
+
+    assert list_parameters(context[:vhost]) == []
+  end
+
+  @tag component_name: @component_name, key: @key, value: @value, vhost: "bad-vhost"
+  test "an invalid vhost returns a no-such-vhost error", context do
+    vhost_opts = Map.merge(context[:opts], %{param: context[:vhost]})
+    assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(
+      [context[:component_name], context[:key], context[:value]],
+      vhost_opts
+    ) == {:error, {:no_such_vhost, context[:vhost]}}
+  end
+
+  @tag component_name: @component_name, key: @key, value: "bad-value", vhost: @root
+  test "an invalid value returns a JSON decoding error", context do
+    assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(
+      [context[:component_name], context[:key], context[:value]],
+      context[:opts]
+    ) == {:error_string, 'JSON decoding error'}
+
+    assert list_parameters(context[:vhost]) == []
+  end
+
+  @tag component_name: @component_name, key: @key, value: "{}", vhost: @root
+  test "an empty JSON object value returns a key \"uri\" not found error", context do
+    assert SetParameterCommand.set_parameter(
+      [context[:component_name], context[:key], context[:value]],
+      context[:opts]
+    ) == {:error_string, 'Validation failed\n\nKey "uri" not found in reconnect-delay\n'}
+
+    assert list_parameters(context[:vhost]) == []
+  end
+end
diff --git a/deps/rabbitmq_cli/test/test_helper.exs b/deps/rabbitmq_cli/test/test_helper.exs
index 8afa068e6f..7f799e4275 100644
--- a/deps/rabbitmq_cli/test/test_helper.exs
+++ b/deps/rabbitmq_cli/test/test_helper.exs
@@ -65,6 +65,14 @@ defmodule TestHelper do
     :rpc.call(get_rabbit_hostname, :rabbit_access_control,:check_user_pass_login, [name, password])
   end
 
+  def clear_parameter(vhost, component_name, key) do
+    :rpc.call(get_rabbit_hostname, :rabbit_runtime_parameters, :clear, [vhost, component_name, key])
+  end
+
+  def list_parameters(vhost) do
+    :rpc.call(get_rabbit_hostname, :rabbit_runtime_parameters, :list_formatted, [vhost])
+  end
+
   def set_permissions(user, vhost, [conf, write, read]) do
     :rpc.call(get_rabbit_hostname, :rabbit_auth_backend_internal, :set_permissions, [user, vhost, conf, write, read])
   end