diff --git a/bin/ansible b/bin/ansible
index b069103d556..268ad37f6e4 100755
--- a/bin/ansible
+++ b/bin/ansible
@@ -46,38 +46,13 @@ class Cli(object):
 
     def parse(self):
         ''' create an options parser for bin/ansible '''
-
-        parser = OptionParser(usage = 'ansible <host-pattern> [options]')
+        
+        parser = utils.base_parser(constants=C, runas_opts=True, async_opts=True,
+            output_opts=True, usage='ansible <host-pattern> [options]')
         parser.add_option('-a', '--args', dest='module_args',
             help="module arguments", default=C.DEFAULT_MODULE_ARGS)
-        parser.add_option('-B', '--background', dest='seconds', type='int', default=0,
-            help='run asynchronously, failing after X seconds')
-        parser.add_option('-D','--debug', default=False, action="store_true",
-            help='enable standard error debugging of modules.')
-        parser.add_option('-f','--forks', dest='forks', default=C.DEFAULT_FORKS, type='int',
-            help='number of parallel processes to use')
-        parser.add_option('-i', '--inventory-file', dest='inventory',
-           help='inventory host file', default=C.DEFAULT_HOST_LIST)
-        parser.add_option('-k', '--ask-pass', default=False, action='store_true',
-            help='ask for SSH password')
-        parser.add_option('-M', '--module-path', dest='module_path',
-           help="path to module library", default=C.DEFAULT_MODULE_PATH)
         parser.add_option('-m', '--module-name', dest='module_name',
             help="module name to execute", default=C.DEFAULT_MODULE_NAME)
-        parser.add_option('-o', '--one-line', dest='one_line', action='store_true',
-            help='condense output')
-        parser.add_option('-P', '--poll', default=C.DEFAULT_POLL_INTERVAL, type='int',
-            dest='poll_interval', help='set the poll interval if using -B')
-        parser.add_option("-s", "--sudo", default=False, action="store_true",
-            dest='sudo', help="run operations with sudo (nopasswd)")
-        parser.add_option('-t', '--tree', dest='tree', default=None,
-            help='log output to this directory')
-        parser.add_option('-T', '--timeout', default=C.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT, type='int',
-            dest='timeout', help='set the SSH timeout in seconds')
-        parser.add_option('-u', '--user', default=C.DEFAULT_REMOTE_USER,
-            dest='remote_user', help='connect as this user')
-        parser.add_option('-p', '--port', default=C.DEFAULT_REMOTE_PORT, type='int',
-            dest='remote_port', help='set the remote ssh port')
 
         options, args = parser.parse_args()
         self.callbacks.options = options        
diff --git a/bin/ansible-playbook b/bin/ansible-playbook
index 5e764324952..836b11578e4 100755
--- a/bin/ansible-playbook
+++ b/bin/ansible-playbook
@@ -26,31 +26,18 @@ import ansible.playbook
 import ansible.constants as C
 from ansible import errors
 from ansible import callbacks
+from ansible import utils
 
 def main(args):
     ''' run ansible-playbook operations '''
 
     # create parser for CLI options
-    parser = OptionParser()
-    parser.usage = "ans-playbook playbook.yml ..."
-    parser.add_option('-D','--debug', default=False, action="store_true",
-        help='enable standard error debugging of modules.')
-    parser.add_option('-f','--forks', dest='forks', default=C.DEFAULT_FORKS, type='int',
-        help='set the number of forks to start up')
-    parser.add_option("-i", "--inventory-file", dest="inventory",
-        help="inventory host file", default=C.DEFAULT_HOST_LIST)
+    usage = "ans-playbook playbook.yml"
+    parser = utils.base_parser(constants=C, usage=usage)
     parser.add_option('-e', '--extra-vars', dest='extra_vars',
         help='arguments to pass to the inventory script')
-    parser.add_option("-k", "--ask-pass", default=False, action="store_true",
-        help="ask for SSH password")
-    parser.add_option("-M", "--module-path", dest="module_path",
-        help="path to module library", default=C.DEFAULT_MODULE_PATH)
     parser.add_option('-O', '--override-hosts', dest="override_hosts", default=None,
         help="run playbook against these hosts regardless of inventory settings")
-    parser.add_option('-p', '--port', default=C.DEFAULT_REMOTE_PORT, type='int',
-        dest='remote_port', help='set the remote ssh port')
-    parser.add_option('-T', '--timeout', default=C.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT, type='int',
-        dest='timeout', help="set the SSH timeout in seconds")
 
     options, args = parser.parse_args(args)
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils.py b/lib/ansible/utils.py
index e061d6d0f20..ca0b88c5aa2 100755
--- a/lib/ansible/utils.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils.py
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ import shlex
 import re
 import jinja2
 import yaml
+from optparse import OptionParser
+
 
 try:
     import json
@@ -30,6 +32,8 @@ except ImportError:
     import simplejson as json
 
 from ansible import errors
+import ansible.constants as C
+
 
 ###############################################################
 # UTILITY FUNCTIONS FOR COMMAND LINE TOOLS
@@ -270,3 +274,41 @@ def parse_kv(args):
             options[k]=v
     return options
 
+def base_parser(constants=C, usage="", output_opts=False, runas_opts=False, async_opts=False):
+    ''' create an options parser for any ansible script '''
+
+    parser = OptionParser(usage)
+    parser.add_option('-D','--debug', default=False, action="store_true",
+        help='enable standard error debugging of modules.')
+    parser.add_option('-f','--forks', dest='forks', default=constants.DEFAULT_FORKS, type='int',
+        help='number of parallel processes to use')
+    parser.add_option('-i', '--inventory-file', dest='inventory',
+       help='inventory host file', default=constants.DEFAULT_HOST_LIST)
+    parser.add_option('-k', '--ask-pass', default=False, action='store_true',
+        help='ask for SSH password')
+    parser.add_option('-M', '--module-path', dest='module_path',
+       help="path to module library", default=constants.DEFAULT_MODULE_PATH)
+    parser.add_option('-T', '--timeout', default=constants.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT, type='int',
+        dest='timeout', help='set the SSH timeout in seconds')
+    parser.add_option('-p', '--port', default=constants.DEFAULT_REMOTE_PORT, type='int',
+        dest='remote_port', help='set the remote ssh port')
+
+    if output_opts:
+        parser.add_option('-o', '--one-line', dest='one_line', action='store_true',
+            help='condense output')
+        parser.add_option('-t', '--tree', dest='tree', default=None,
+            help='log output to this directory')
+
+    if runas_opts:
+        parser.add_option("-s", "--sudo", default=False, action="store_true",
+            dest='sudo', help="run operations with sudo (nopasswd)")
+        parser.add_option('-u', '--user', default=constants.DEFAULT_REMOTE_USER,
+            dest='remote_user', help='connect as this user')
+    
+    if async_opts:
+        parser.add_option('-P', '--poll', default=constants.DEFAULT_POLL_INTERVAL, type='int',
+            dest='poll_interval', help='set the poll interval if using -B')
+        parser.add_option('-B', '--background', dest='seconds', type='int', default=0,
+            help='run asynchronously, failing after X seconds')
+
+    return parser