diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 137d3134..b2138637 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -18,3 +18,5 @@ platypush/notebooks
 platypush/requests
 /http-client.env.json
 /platypush/backend/http/static/css/dist
+/tests/etc/scripts
+/tests/etc/dashboards
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 370c1d74..2397319a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ platyvdock rm device_id
 
 ## Tests
 
-To run the tests simply run `pytest` from the source root folder - no further configuration required.
+To run the tests run the `run_tests.sh` from the source root folder - no further configuration is required.
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/platypush/__init__.py b/platypush/__init__.py
index 32cfc5af..f373a93c 100644
--- a/platypush/__init__.py
+++ b/platypush/__init__.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from .utils import set_thread_name
 
 
 __author__ = 'Fabio Manganiello <info@fabiomanganiello.com>'
-__version__ = '0.13.9'
+__version__ = '0.20.0'
 
 logger = logging.getLogger('platypush')
 
@@ -186,8 +186,6 @@ class Daemon:
         finally:
             self.stop_app()
 
-        sys.exit(0)
-
 
 def main():
     """
diff --git a/platypush/backend/__init__.py b/platypush/backend/__init__.py
index bcd6e670..e7704945 100644
--- a/platypush/backend/__init__.py
+++ b/platypush/backend/__init__.py
@@ -356,7 +356,12 @@ class Backend(Thread, EventGenerator):
         Unregister the Zeroconf service configuration if available.
         """
         if self.zeroconf and self.zeroconf_info:
-            self.zeroconf.unregister_service(self.zeroconf_info)
+            try:
+                self.zeroconf.unregister_service(self.zeroconf_info)
+            except Exception as e:
+                self.logger.warning('Could not register Zeroconf service {}: {}: {}'.format(
+                    self.zeroconf_info.name, type(e).__name__, str(e)))
+
             if self.zeroconf:
                 self.zeroconf.close()
 
diff --git a/platypush/backend/http/__init__.py b/platypush/backend/http/__init__.py
index 2501075f..d3995b0c 100644
--- a/platypush/backend/http/__init__.py
+++ b/platypush/backend/http/__init__.py
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ class HttpBackend(Backend):
                 self.server_proc.kill()
                 self.server_proc.wait(timeout=10)
                 if self.server_proc.poll() is not None:
-                    self.logger.warning('HTTP server process still alive at termination')
+                    self.logger.info('HTTP server process may be still alive at termination')
                 else:
                     self.logger.info('HTTP server process terminated')
             else:
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ class HttpBackend(Backend):
                 if self.server_proc.is_alive():
                     self.server_proc.kill()
                 if self.server_proc.is_alive():
-                    self.logger.warning('HTTP server process still alive at termination')
+                    self.logger.info('HTTP server process may be still alive at termination')
                 else:
                     self.logger.info('HTTP server process terminated')
 
diff --git a/platypush/message/request/__init__.py b/platypush/message/request/__init__.py
index 6737e0ea..4aa2fb0a 100644
--- a/platypush/message/request/__init__.py
+++ b/platypush/message/request/__init__.py
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class Request(Message):
 
         proc_config = procedures[proc_name]
         if is_functional_procedure(proc_config):
-            kwargs.update(**self.args)
+            kwargs = {**self.args, **kwargs}
             if 'n_tries' in kwargs:
                 del kwargs['n_tries']
 
diff --git a/run_tests.sh b/run_tests.sh
index 99b41cfc..b11b41a9 100755
--- a/run_tests.sh
+++ b/run_tests.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ do
     if [[ $test_ret != 0 ]]; then
         tests_ret=$test_ret
         echo "-------------" >&2
-        echo "Test FAILED: $testcase" >&2
+        echo "FAILED: $testcase" >&2
         echo "-------------" >&2
     fi
 done
diff --git a/tests/__init__.py b/tests/__init__.py
index e69de29b..8f0db9c1 100644
--- a/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+import abc
+import logging
+import os
+import requests
+import sys
+import time
+import unittest
+from threading import Thread
+from typing import Optional
+
+logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, stream=sys.stdout)
+test_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
+conf_dir = os.path.join(test_dir, 'etc')
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath(os.path.join(test_dir, '..')))
+
+from platypush import Daemon, Config, Response
+from platypush.message import Message
+from platypush.utils import set_timeout, clear_timeout
+
+
+class TimeoutException(RuntimeError):
+    def __init__(self, msg):
+        self.msg = msg
+
+
+class BaseTest(unittest.TestCase, abc.ABC):
+    """
+    Base class for Platypush tests.
+    """
+
+    app_start_timeout = 5
+    request_timeout = 10
+    config_file = None
+    db_file = None
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.app: Optional[Daemon] = None
+
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        self.start_daemon()
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        try:
+            self.stop_daemon()
+        finally:
+            if self.db_file and os.path.isfile(self.db_file):
+                logging.info('Removing temporary db file {}'.format(self.db_file))
+                os.unlink(self.db_file)
+
+    def start_daemon(self):
+        logging.info('Starting platypush service')
+        self.app = Daemon(config_file=self.config_file)
+        Thread(target=lambda: self.app.run()).start()
+        logging.info('Sleeping {} seconds while waiting for the daemon to start up'.format(self.app_start_timeout))
+        time.sleep(self.app_start_timeout)
+
+    def stop_daemon(self):
+        if self.app:
+            logging.info('Stopping platypush service')
+            self.app.stop_app()
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def parse_response(response):
+        response = Message.build(response.json())
+        assert isinstance(response, Response), 'Expected Response type, got {}'.format(response.__class__.__name__)
+        return response
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def on_timeout(msg):
+        def _f(): raise TimeoutException(msg)
+        return _f
+
+
+class BaseHttpTest(BaseTest, abc.ABC):
+    """
+    Base class for Platypush HTTP tests.
+    """
+
+    base_url = None
+    test_user = 'platypush'
+    test_pass = 'test'
+
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        Config.init(self.config_file)
+        backends = Config.get_backends()
+        self.assertTrue('http' in backends, 'Missing HTTP server configuration')
+        self.base_url = 'http://localhost:{port}'.format(port=backends['http']['port'])
+        self.db_file = Config.get('main.db')['engine'][len('sqlite:///'):]
+        super().setUp()
+
+    def register_user(self, username: Optional[str] = None, password: Optional[str] = None):
+        if not username:
+            username = self.test_user
+            password = self.test_pass
+
+        set_timeout(seconds=self.request_timeout, on_timeout=self.on_timeout('User registration response timed out'))
+        response = requests.post('{base_url}/register?redirect={base_url}/'.format(base_url=self.base_url), data={
+            'username': username,
+            'password': password,
+            'confirm_password': password,
+        })
+
+        clear_timeout()
+        return response
+
+    def send_request(self, action: str, timeout: Optional[float] = None, args: Optional[dict] = None,
+                     parse_response: bool = True, authenticate: bool = True, **kwargs):
+        if not timeout:
+            timeout = self.request_timeout
+        if not args:
+            args = {}
+
+        auth = (self.test_user, self.test_pass) if authenticate else kwargs.pop('auth', ())
+        set_timeout(seconds=timeout, on_timeout=self.on_timeout('Receiver response timed out'))
+        response = requests.post(
+            '{}/execute'.format(self.base_url),
+            auth=auth,
+            json={
+                'type': 'request',
+                'action': action,
+                'args': args,
+            }, **kwargs
+        )
+
+        clear_timeout()
+
+        if parse_response:
+            response = self.parse_response(response)
+        return response
+
+    def assertEqual(self, first, second, msg=..., expected=None, actual=None) -> None:
+        if expected is not None and actual is not None:
+            if not msg:
+                msg = ''
+            msg += '\n\tExpected: {expected}\n\tActual: {actual}'.format(expected=expected, actual=actual)
+
+        super().assertEqual(first, second, msg)
diff --git a/tests/context.py b/tests/context.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 1e3236b4..00000000
--- a/tests/context.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-import os
-import sys
-
-from platypush.config import Config
-
-testdir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath(os.path.join(testdir, '..')))
-config_file = os.path.join(testdir, 'etc', 'config.yaml')
-
-Config.init(config_file)
-
-
-class TimeoutException(RuntimeError):
-    def __init__(self, msg):
-        self.msg = msg
-
-
-# vim:sw=4:ts=4:et:
diff --git a/tests/etc/config.yaml b/tests/etc/test_http_config.yaml
similarity index 67%
rename from tests/etc/config.yaml
rename to tests/etc/test_http_config.yaml
index 0c508e71..2075624e 100644
--- a/tests/etc/config.yaml
+++ b/tests/etc/test_http_config.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 main.db:
-    engine: sqlite:////tmp/platypush-tests.db
+    engine: sqlite:////tmp/platypush-test-http.db
 
 backend.http:
     port: 8123
diff --git a/tests/etc/test_procedure_config.yaml b/tests/etc/test_procedure_config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..89ba703b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/etc/test_procedure_config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+main.db:
+  engine: sqlite:////tmp/platypush-test-procedure.db
+
+backend.http:
+  port: 8124
+  disable_websocket: True
+
+procedure.write_file:
+  - action: file.write
+    args:
+      file: ${file}
+      content: ${content}
+
+event.hook.OnCustomEvent:
+  if:
+    type: platypush.message.event.custom.CustomEvent
+    subtype: platypush_test_procedure_from_event
+  then:
+    - action: procedure.write_file
+      args:
+        file: ${file}
+        content: ${content}
diff --git a/tests/test_event_parse.py b/tests/test_event_parse.py
index 7806c244..3f321e9b 100644
--- a/tests/test_event_parse.py
+++ b/tests/test_event_parse.py
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-import logging
 import unittest
 
-from .context import config_file
 from platypush.event.hook import EventCondition
 from platypush.message.event.ping import PingEvent
 
+from . import BaseTest
 
-class TestEventParse(unittest.TestCase):
+
+class TestEventParse(BaseTest):
     def setUp(self):
         self.condition = EventCondition.build({
             'type': 'platypush.message.event.ping.PingEvent',
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ class TestEventParse(unittest.TestCase):
         })
 
     def test_event_parse(self):
-        logging.info('Starting test on configuration file: {}'.format(config_file))
         message = "GARBAGE GARBAGE this is the answer: 42"
         event = PingEvent(message=message)
         result = event.matches_condition(self.condition)
diff --git a/tests/test_http.py b/tests/test_http.py
index a3fce822..8c8c0c46 100644
--- a/tests/test_http.py
+++ b/tests/test_http.py
@@ -1,53 +1,29 @@
 import os
-
-from .context import config_file, TimeoutException
-
-import logging
-import requests
-import sys
-import time
 import unittest
 
-from threading import Thread, Event
-
-from platypush import Daemon
-from platypush.config import Config
-from platypush.message import Message
-from platypush.message.response import Response
-from platypush.utils import set_timeout, clear_timeout
+from . import BaseHttpTest, conf_dir
 
 
-class TestHttp(unittest.TestCase):
-    """ Tests the full flow of a request/response on the HTTP backend.
-        Runs a remote command over HTTP via shell.exec plugin and gets the output """
+class TestHttp(BaseHttpTest):
+    """
+    Tests the full flow of a request/response on the HTTP backend.
+    Runs a remote command over HTTP via shell.exec plugin and gets the output.
+    """
 
-    timeout = 10
-    sleep_secs = 5
-    db_file = '/tmp/platypush-tests.db'
-    test_user = 'platypush'
-    test_pass = 'test'
-    base_url = 'http://localhost:8123'
-    expected_registration_redirect = '{base_url}/register?redirect={base_url}/execute'.format(base_url=base_url)
-    expected_login_redirect = '{base_url}/login?redirect={base_url}/execute'.format(base_url=base_url)
+    config_file = os.path.join(conf_dir, 'test_http_config.yaml')
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
-        self.app = None
-        self._app_started = Event()
-
-    def setUp(self):
-        logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, stream=sys.stdout)
-        backends = Config.get_backends()
-        self.assertTrue('http' in backends, 'Missing HTTP server configuration')
-
-        self.start_daemon()
-        logging.info('Sleeping {} seconds while waiting for the daemon to start up'.format(self.sleep_secs))
-        time.sleep(self.sleep_secs)
+        super(TestHttp, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def test_http_flow(self):
         # An /execute request performed before any user is registered should redirect to the registration page.
-        response = self.send_request()
-        self.assertEqual(self.expected_registration_redirect, response.url,
+        expected_registration_redirect = '{base_url}/register?redirect={base_url}/execute'.format(
+            base_url=self.base_url)
+        expected_login_redirect = '{base_url}/login?redirect={base_url}/execute'.format(
+            base_url=self.base_url)
+
+        response = self.send_request(authenticate=False, parse_response=False)
+        self.assertEqual(expected_registration_redirect, response.url,
                          'No users registered, but the application did not redirect us to the registration page')
 
         # Emulate a first user registration through form and get the session_token.
@@ -58,69 +34,20 @@ class TestHttp(unittest.TestCase):
                          'The registration form did not redirect to the main panel')
 
         # After a first user has been registered any unauthenticated call to /execute should redirect to /login.
-        response = self.send_request()
-        self.assertEqual(self.expected_login_redirect, response.url,
+        response = self.send_request(authenticate=False, parse_response=False)
+        self.assertEqual(expected_login_redirect, response.url,
                          'An unauthenticated request after user registration should result in a login redirect')
 
         # A request authenticated with user/pass should succeed.
-        response = self.parse_response(self.send_request(auth=(self.test_user, self.test_pass)))
-        self.assertEqual(response.__class__, Response, 'The request did not return a proper Response object')
+        response = self.send_request(authenticate=True)
         self.assertEqual(response.output.strip(), 'ping', 'The request did not return the expected output')
 
         # A request with the wrong user/pass should fail.
-        response = self.send_request(auth=('wrong', 'wrong'))
-        self.assertEqual(self.expected_login_redirect, response.url, 'A request with wrong credentials should fail')
-
-    def start_daemon(self):
-        self.app = Daemon(config_file=config_file)
-        Thread(target=lambda: self.app.run()).start()
-
-    def stop_daemon(self):
-        if self.app:
-            self.app.stop_app()
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def on_timeout(msg):
-        def _f(): raise TimeoutException(msg)
-
-        return _f
+        response = self.send_request(authenticate=False, auth=('wrong', 'wrong'), parse_response=False)
+        self.assertEqual(expected_login_redirect, response.url, 'A request with wrong credentials should fail')
 
     def send_request(self, **kwargs):
-        set_timeout(seconds=self.timeout, on_timeout=self.on_timeout('Receiver response timed out'))
-        response = requests.post(
-            '{}/execute'.format(self.base_url),
-            json={
-                'type': 'request',
-                'target': Config.get('device_id'),
-                'action': 'shell.exec',
-                'args': {'cmd': 'echo ping'}
-            }, **kwargs
-        )
-
-        clear_timeout()
-        return response
-
-    def register_user(self):
-        set_timeout(seconds=self.timeout, on_timeout=self.on_timeout('User registration response timed out'))
-        response = requests.post('{base_url}/register?redirect={base_url}/'.format(base_url=self.base_url), data={
-            'username': self.test_user,
-            'password': self.test_pass,
-            'confirm_password': self.test_pass,
-        })
-
-        clear_timeout()
-        return response
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def parse_response(response):
-        return Message.build(response.json())
-
-    def tearDown(self):
-        try:
-            self.stop_daemon()
-        finally:
-            if os.path.isfile(self.db_file):
-                os.unlink(self.db_file)
+        return super().send_request('shell.exec', args={'cmd': 'echo ping'}, **kwargs)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/tests/test_procedure.py b/tests/test_procedure.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..29de6f5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_procedure.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import os
+import tempfile
+import time
+import unittest
+
+from platypush.message.event.custom import CustomEvent
+from . import BaseHttpTest, conf_dir
+
+
+class TestProcedure(BaseHttpTest):
+    """
+    Test the execution of configured procedures.
+    """
+
+    config_file = os.path.join(conf_dir, 'test_procedure_config.yaml')
+
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        super().setUp()
+        self.register_user()
+        self.tmp_file = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(prefix='platypush-test-procedure-', suffix='.txt', delete=False)
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        if os.path.isfile(self.tmp_file.name):
+            os.unlink(self.tmp_file.name)
+        super().tearDown()
+
+    def check_file_content(self, expected_content: str):
+        self.assertTrue(os.path.isfile(self.tmp_file.name), 'The expected output file was not created')
+        with open(self.tmp_file.name, 'r') as f:
+            content = f.read()
+
+        self.assertEqual(content, expected_content, 'The output file did not contain the expected text',
+                         expected=expected_content, actual=content)
+
+    def test_procedure_call(self):
+        output_text = 'Procedure test'
+        self.send_request(
+            action='procedure.write_file',
+            args={
+                'file': self.tmp_file.name,
+                'content': output_text,
+            })
+
+        self.check_file_content(expected_content=output_text)
+
+    def test_procedure_from_event(self):
+        output_text = 'Procedure from event test'
+        event_type = 'platypush_test_procedure_from_event'
+        self.app.bus.post(CustomEvent(subtype=event_type, file=self.tmp_file.name, content=output_text))
+        time.sleep(3)
+        self.check_file_content(output_text)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()
+
+
+# vim:sw=4:ts=4:et: