diff --git a/pkg/test/vars.go b/pkg/test/vars.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f4036d50fd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/test/vars.go
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+// Copyright 2018-2021 CERN
+//
+// 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.
+//
+// In applying this license, CERN does not waive the privileges and immunities
+// granted to it by virtue of its status as an Intergovernmental Organization
+// or submit itself to any jurisdiction.
+
+package test
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"errors"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"path"
+)
+
+const (
+	// Pattern used for tmp folder creation
+	TmpDirPattern = "tmp-reva-"
+)
+
+// TestFile struct represents a test file,
+// with a certain content. Its name is defined in TestDir
+type TestFile struct {
+	Content string
+}
+
+// TestDir struct represents a test dir, where each
+// key is the resource (TestDir or TestFile) name
+type TestDir map[string]interface{}
+
+// CleanerFunc is a function to call after creating a TestDir
+type CleanerFunc func()
+
+// TmpDir creates a dir in the system temp folder that has
+// TmpDirPattern as prefix
+func TmpDir() (string, CleanerFunc, error) {
+	name, err := ioutil.TempDir("", TmpDirPattern)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", nil, err
+	}
+
+	c := func() {
+		os.RemoveAll(name)
+	}
+
+	return name, c, nil
+}
+
+// NewTestDir creates the TestDir structure in a local temporary folder
+func NewTestDir(src TestDir) (tmpdir string, cleanup CleanerFunc, err error) {
+	tmpdir, cleanup, err = TmpDir()
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	err = newTestDirFileRecursive(tmpdir, src)
+	return
+}
+
+// NewFile creates a new file given the path and the content
+func NewFile(path, content string) error {
+	file, err := os.Create(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	_, err = file.Write([]byte(content))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func newTestDirFileRecursive(p string, res interface{}) error {
+	switch r := res.(type) {
+	case TestDir:
+		err := os.MkdirAll(p, 0755)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		for name, content := range r {
+			newPath := path.Join(p, name)
+			err := newTestDirFileRecursive(newPath, content)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	case TestFile:
+		return NewFile(p, r.Content)
+	default:
+		return errors.New("type not supported")
+	}
+}
+
+// checks if the two files have the same content
+func fileEquals(file1, file2 string) bool {
+	c1, _ := os.ReadFile(file1)
+	c2, _ := os.ReadFile(file2)
+	return bytes.Equal(c1, c2)
+}
+
+// DirEquals recursively verifies that the content of two dir is the same.
+// Two files are equals if the name and the content is equal, while two folders
+// are equal if the name is equal and the content is recursively equal.
+func DirEquals(dir1, dir2 string) bool {
+
+	l1, _ := os.ReadDir(dir1)
+	l2, _ := os.ReadDir(dir2)
+
+	if len(l1) != len(l2) {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	// here l1 and l2 have the same length
+	for i := range l1 {
+		r1, r2 := l1[i], l2[i]
+		if r1.Name() != r2.Name() {
+			return false
+		}
+
+		path1, path2 := path.Join(dir1, r1.Name()), path.Join(dir2, r2.Name())
+
+		if r1.Type().IsDir() && r2.Type().IsDir() {
+			if !DirEquals(path1, path2) {
+				return false
+			}
+		} else if r1.Type().IsRegular() && r2.Type().IsRegular() {
+			if !fileEquals(path1, path2) {
+				return false
+			}
+		} else {
+			return false
+		}
+
+	}
+	return true
+}