diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index d98de89..44a040c 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBOSMOCORE, libosmocore >= 0.11.0)
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBOSMOVTY, libosmovty >= 0.11.0)
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBOSMOCTRL, libosmoctrl >= 0.11.0)
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBOSMOGSM, libosmogsm >= 0.11.0)
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBOSMONETIF, libosmo-netif >= 0.4.0)
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBMNL, libmnl)
 dnl FIXME: bump to 1.10.0 once it's available on build slaves and remove workaround from osysmon_ping.c
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBOPING, liboping >= 1.9.0)
diff --git a/contrib/jenkins.sh b/contrib/jenkins.sh
index dc2f734..01b5c35 100755
--- a/contrib/jenkins.sh
+++ b/contrib/jenkins.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ verify_value_string_arrays_are_terminated.py $(find . -name "*.[hc]")
 
 export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$inst/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH"
 export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$inst/lib"
+export PATH="$inst/bin:$PATH"
+
+osmo-build-dep.sh libosmo-netif "" '--disable-doxygen'
 
 set +x
 echo
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index d0d6a22..e38b70e 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ AM_CFLAGS = \
 	-Wall \
 	$(LIBOSMOCORE_CFLAGS) \
 	$(LIBOSMOGSM_CFLAGS) \
+	$(LIBOSMONETIF_CFLAGS) \
 	$(NULL)
 
 AM_LDFLAGS = \
@@ -21,8 +22,8 @@ bin_PROGRAMS = \
 	$(NULL)
 
 noinst_LTLIBRARIES = libintern.la
-libintern_la_SOURCES = simple_ctrl.c
-libintern_la_LIBADD = $(LIBOSMOCORE_LIBS) $(LIBOSMOGSM_LIBS)
+libintern_la_SOURCES = simple_ctrl.c client.c
+libintern_la_LIBADD = $(LIBOSMOCORE_LIBS) $(LIBOSMOGSM_LIBS) $(LIBOSMONETIF_LIBS)
 
 osmo_sysmon_CFLAGS = $(LIBMNL_CFLAGS) $(LIBOSMOVTY_CFLAGS) $(LIBOPING_CFLAGS) $(AM_CFLAGS)
 
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ osmo_sysmon_SOURCES = \
 
 noinst_HEADERS = \
 	osysmon.h \
+	client.h \
 	simple_ctrl.h \
 	value_node.h \
 	$(NULL)
diff --git a/src/client.c b/src/client.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..25db885
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/client.c
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/* Generic client structure and related helpers */
+
+/* (C) 2018 by Harald Welte <laforge@gnumonks.org>
+ * (C) 2019 by sysmocom - s.f.m.c. GmbH.
+ * All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
+ *
+ *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ *  Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston,
+ *  MA  02110-1301, USA.
+ */
+
+#include <stdbool.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <talloc.h>
+
+#include <osmocom/core/utils.h>
+#include <osmocom/netif/stream.h>
+
+#include "client.h"
+
+#define MATCH(a, b) (strcmp(a, b) != 0) ? false : true
+
+bool match_config(const struct host_cfg *cfg, const char *match, enum match_kind k)
+{
+	bool m_name = MATCH(match, cfg->name), m_host = MATCH(match, cfg->remote_host);
+
+	switch (k) {
+	case MATCH_NAME:
+		return m_name;
+	case MATCH_HOST:
+		return m_host;
+	case MATCH_EITHER:
+		return m_name | m_host;
+	case MATCH_BOTH:
+		return m_name & m_host;
+	default:
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	return false;
+}
+
+struct host_cfg *make_config(void *ctx, const char *name, const char *host, uint16_t port)
+{
+	struct host_cfg *cfg = talloc_zero(ctx, struct host_cfg);
+	if (!cfg)
+		return NULL;
+
+	cfg->name = talloc_strdup(cfg, name);
+	cfg->remote_host = talloc_strdup(cfg, host);
+	cfg->remote_port = port;
+
+	return cfg;
+}
+
+void update_name(struct host_cfg *cfg, const char *new_name)
+{
+	osmo_talloc_replace_string(cfg, (char **)&cfg->name, new_name);
+}
+
+void update_host(struct host_cfg *cfg, const char *new_host)
+{
+	osmo_talloc_replace_string(cfg, (char **)&cfg->remote_host, new_host);
+}
+
+char *get_authority(void *ctx, const struct host_cfg *cfg)
+{
+	if (!cfg->remote_host)
+		return NULL;
+
+	return talloc_asprintf(ctx, "%s:%u", cfg->remote_host, cfg->remote_port);
+}
+
+struct osmo_stream_cli *make_tcp_client(struct host_cfg *cfg)
+{
+	struct osmo_stream_cli *cl = osmo_stream_cli_create(cfg);
+	if (cl) {
+		osmo_stream_cli_set_addr(cl, cfg->remote_host);
+		osmo_stream_cli_set_port(cl, cfg->remote_port);
+	}
+
+	return cl;
+}
diff --git a/src/client.h b/src/client.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e69fef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/client.h
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
+
+enum match_kind {
+	MATCH_NAME,
+	MATCH_HOST,
+	MATCH_BOTH,
+	MATCH_EITHER,
+};
+
+/* a client config */
+struct host_cfg {
+	/* name of this client */
+	const char *name;
+	/* remote host/IP */
+	const char *remote_host;
+	/* remote port */
+	uint16_t remote_port;
+};
+
+struct host_cfg *make_config(void *ctx, const char *name, const char *host, uint16_t port);
+bool match_config(const struct host_cfg *cfg, const char *match, enum match_kind k);
+
+void update_name(struct host_cfg *cfg, const char *new_name);
+void update_host(struct host_cfg *cfg, const char *new_host);
+
+struct osmo_stream_cli *make_tcp_client(struct host_cfg *cfg);
+char *get_authority(void *ctx, const struct host_cfg *cfg);