diff --git a/auditbeat/tests/system/test_base.py b/auditbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
index 8a15d004df9..8dfa64f8ac3 100644
--- a/auditbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
+++ b/auditbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 from auditbeat import *
 from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
 from beat.beat import INTEGRATION_TESTS
+from beat import common_tests
 
 
-class Test(BaseTest):
+class Test(BaseTest, common_tests.TestExportsMixin):
     def test_start_stop(self):
         """
         Auditbeat starts and stops without error.
diff --git a/filebeat/tests/system/test_base.py b/filebeat/tests/system/test_base.py
index 80394e0a34e..2b73a0165a7 100644
--- a/filebeat/tests/system/test_base.py
+++ b/filebeat/tests/system/test_base.py
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@
 from filebeat import BaseTest
 from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
 from beat.beat import INTEGRATION_TESTS
+from beat import common_tests
 
 
-class Test(BaseTest):
+class Test(BaseTest, common_tests.TestExportsMixin):
 
     def test_base(self):
         """
diff --git a/heartbeat/tests/system/test_base.py b/heartbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
index 683ffde212a..47bf97f2561 100644
--- a/heartbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
+++ b/heartbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@
 from heartbeat import BaseTest
 from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
 from beat.beat import INTEGRATION_TESTS
+from beat import common_tests
 import nose.tools
 
 
-class Test(BaseTest):
+class Test(BaseTest, common_tests.TestExportsMixin):
 
     def test_base(self):
         """
diff --git a/journalbeat/tests/system/test_base.py b/journalbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
index a94d4a7473c..c3898dfdbc9 100644
--- a/journalbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
+++ b/journalbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 import time
 import yaml
 from shutil import copyfile
+from beat import common_tests
 
 
-class Test(BaseTest):
+class Test(BaseTest, common_tests.TestExportsMixin):
 
     @unittest.skipUnless(sys.platform.startswith("linux"), "Journald only on Linux")
     def test_start_with_local_journal(self):
diff --git a/libbeat/tests/system/beat/common_tests.py b/libbeat/tests/system/beat/common_tests.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ed390c44df5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libbeat/tests/system/beat/common_tests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+import json
+import unittest
+import yaml
+
+from beat.beat import INTEGRATION_TESTS
+
+
+class TestExportsMixin:
+
+    def run_export_cmd(self, cmd, extra=[]):
+        """
+        Runs the given export command and returns the output as a string.
+        Raises an exception if the command fails.
+        :param cmd: the export command
+        :param extra: Extra arguments (optional)
+        :return: The output as a string.
+        """
+        self.render_config_template()
+
+        args = ["export", cmd]
+        if len(extra) != 0:
+            args += extra
+        exit_code = self.run_beat(extra_args=args, logging_args=[])
+        assert exit_code == 0
+        output = self.get_log()
+        trailer = "\nPASS\n"
+        pos = output.rfind(trailer)
+        if pos == -1:
+            raise Exception("didn't return expected trailer:{} got:{}".format(
+                trailer.__repr__(),                                                   output[-100:].__repr__()))
+        return output[:pos]
+
+    @unittest.skipUnless(INTEGRATION_TESTS, "integration test")
+    def test_export_ilm_policy(self):
+        """
+        Test that the ilm-policy can be exported with `export ilm-policy`
+        """
+        output = self.run_export_cmd("ilm-policy")
+        js = json.loads(output)
+        assert "policy" in js
+
+    @unittest.skipUnless(INTEGRATION_TESTS, "integration test")
+    def test_export_template(self):
+        """
+        Test that the template can be exported with `export template`
+        """
+        output = self.run_export_cmd("template")
+        js = json.loads(output)
+        assert "index_patterns" in js and "mappings" in js
+
+    @unittest.skipUnless(INTEGRATION_TESTS, "integration test")
+    def test_export_index_pattern(self):
+        """
+        Test that the index-pattern can be exported with `export index-pattern`
+        """
+        output = self.run_export_cmd("index-pattern")
+        js = json.loads(output)
+        assert "objects" in js
+
+    @unittest.skipUnless(INTEGRATION_TESTS, "integration test")
+    def test_export_config(self):
+        """
+        Test that the config can be exported with `export config`
+        """
+        output = self.run_export_cmd("config")
+        yml = yaml.load(output)
+        assert isinstance(yml, dict)
diff --git a/libbeat/tests/system/test_base.py b/libbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
index 10fe859bf1e..330b831041a 100644
--- a/libbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
+++ b/libbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from base import BaseTest
+from beat import common_tests
 
 import json
 import os
@@ -9,7 +10,7 @@
 import unittest
 
 
-class Test(BaseTest):
+class Test(BaseTest, common_tests.TestExportsMixin):
 
     def test_base(self):
         """
diff --git a/metricbeat/tests/system/test_base.py b/metricbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
index 4f680d29172..7df5152ccd6 100644
--- a/metricbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
+++ b/metricbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 from metricbeat import BaseTest
 from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
 from beat.beat import INTEGRATION_TESTS
+from beat import common_tests
 
 
-class Test(BaseTest):
+class Test(BaseTest, common_tests.TestExportsMixin):
 
     COMPOSE_SERVICES = ['elasticsearch', 'kibana']
 
diff --git a/packetbeat/tests/system/test_base.py b/packetbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..959d36b3911
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packetbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import os
+import sys
+from packetbeat import BaseTest
+
+sys.path.append(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '../../../libbeat/tests/system')))
+
+from beat import common_tests
+
+
+class Test(BaseTest, common_tests.TestExportsMixin):
+    pass
diff --git a/winlogbeat/tests/system/test_config.py b/winlogbeat/tests/system/test_config.py
index 16862bf44f9..18df0594fca 100644
--- a/winlogbeat/tests/system/test_config.py
+++ b/winlogbeat/tests/system/test_config.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import sys
 import unittest
 from winlogbeat import BaseTest
+from beat import common_tests
 
 """
 Contains tests for config parsing.
@@ -10,7 +11,7 @@
 
 
 @unittest.skipUnless(sys.platform.startswith("win"), "requires Windows")
-class Test(BaseTest):
+class Test(BaseTest, common_tests.TestExportsMixin):
 
     def test_valid_config(self):
         """
diff --git a/x-pack/functionbeat/tests/system/test_base.py b/x-pack/functionbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
index b351ed63340..895d23d4c3e 100644
--- a/x-pack/functionbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
+++ b/x-pack/functionbeat/tests/system/test_base.py
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@
 import json
 import os
 import unittest
+from beat import common_tests
 
 
-class Test(BaseTest):
+class Test(BaseTest, common_tests.TestExportsMixin):
     @unittest.skip("temporarily disabled")
     def test_base(self):
         """