diff --git a/be/BUILD b/be/BUILD
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3a83c48b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/be/BUILD
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+# Copyright 2023 The Enola <https://enola.dev> Authors
+#
+# 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
+#
+#     https://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.
+
+load("@rules_java//java:defs.bzl", "java_binary", "java_test")
+
+java_binary(
+    name = "be",
+    srcs = glob(["src/main/java/**/*.java"]),
+    main_class = "dev.enola.be.Be",
+    deps = [
+        "//common/exec",
+        "//common/exec:exec_proto_java_library",
+    ],
+)
+
+[java_test(
+    name = name[:-len(".java")],
+    size = "small",
+    srcs = glob(["src/test/java/**/*.java"]),
+    resources = glob(["src/test/resources/**/*"]),
+    deps = [
+        ":be",
+        "//common/common",
+        "//common/exec",
+        "//common/exec:exec_proto_java_library",
+        "@maven//:com_google_guava_guava",
+        "@maven//:com_google_truth_truth",
+        "@maven//:junit_junit",
+        "@maven//:org_slf4j_slf4j_jdk14",
+    ],
+) for name in glob([
+    "src/test/java/**/*Test.java",
+])]
diff --git a/be/src/main/java/dev/enola/be/Be.java b/be/src/main/java/dev/enola/be/Be.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6bb876f89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/be/src/main/java/dev/enola/be/Be.java
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package dev.enola.be;
+
+import dev.enola.common.exec.ExecRequest;
+
+public class Be {
+    public static void main(String[] args) {
+        ExecRequest.newBuilder();
+        System.out.println("Hi!");
+        // System.exit(cli(args).execute());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/be/src/test/java/dev/enola/be/BeTest.java b/be/src/test/java/dev/enola/be/BeTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..83369b051
--- /dev/null
+++ b/be/src/test/java/dev/enola/be/BeTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package dev.enola.be;
+
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class BeTest {
+    @Test
+    public void testBe() throws IOException {
+        Be.main(new String[] { "--", "echo", "hello, ", "world", ">hi.txt" });
+        assertThat(Files.readString(Path.of("hi.txt"))).isEqualTo("hello, world");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/common/exec/BUILD b/common/exec/BUILD
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3d0b9346f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/exec/BUILD
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+# Copyright 2023 The Enola <https://enola.dev> Authors
+#
+# 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
+#
+#     https://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.
+
+load("@rules_java//java:defs.bzl", "java_library", "java_proto_library", "java_test")
+load("@rules_proto//proto:defs.bzl", "proto_library")
+
+proto_library(
+    name = "exec_proto",
+    srcs = ["src/main/proto/exec.proto"],
+    deps = [
+        "@com_google_protobuf//:any_proto",
+    ],
+)
+
+java_proto_library(
+    name = "exec_proto_java_library",
+    visibility = [
+        "//be:__pkg__",
+    ],
+    deps = [
+        "exec_proto",
+    ],
+)
+
+java_library(
+    name = "exec",
+    srcs = glob(["src/main/java/**/*.java"]),
+    visibility = [
+        "//be:__pkg__",
+    ],
+    deps = [
+        ":exec_proto_java_library",
+        "//common/common",
+        "@maven//:com_google_errorprone_error_prone_annotations",
+        "@maven//:com_google_guava_guava",
+        "@maven//:com_google_protobuf_protobuf_java",
+        "@maven//:com_google_protobuf_protobuf_java_util",
+    ],
+)
+
+[java_test(
+    name = name[:-len(".java")],
+    size = "small",
+    srcs = glob(["src/test/java/**/*.java"]),
+    resources = glob(["src/test/resources/**/*"]),
+    deps = [
+        "//common/common",
+        "@maven//:com_google_guava_guava",
+        "@maven//:com_google_protobuf_protobuf_java",
+        "@maven//:com_google_truth_truth",
+        "@maven//:junit_junit",
+    ],
+) for name in glob([
+    "src/test/java/**/*Test.java",
+])]
diff --git a/common/exec/src/main/java/dev/enola/common/exec/Exec.java b/common/exec/src/main/java/dev/enola/common/exec/Exec.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..006e26a23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/exec/src/main/java/dev/enola/common/exec/Exec.java
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+package dev.enola.common.exec;
+
+public class Exec {
+
+}
diff --git a/common/exec/src/main/proto/exec.proto b/common/exec/src/main/proto/exec.proto
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2bf2d4d72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/exec/src/main/proto/exec.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+//
+// Copyright 2023 The Enola <https://enola.dev> Authors
+//
+// 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
+//
+//     https://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.
+
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package dev.enola.exec;
+
+option java_string_check_utf8 = true;
+option java_package = "dev.enola.common.exec";
+option java_multiple_files = true;
+
+message ExecRequestResponse {
+  ExecRequest request = 1;
+  ExecResponse response = 2;
+}
+
+message ExecRequest {
+  // Shell under which to run. Defaults to "/usr/bin/env bash -c" if unset. Set to empty to run "directly" (without an intermediate Shell).
+  string shell = 1;
+  string cmd = 2;
+  repeated string args = 3;
+  string cwd = 4;
+  repeated EnvironmentVariable environment_variable = 5;
+}
+
+message ExecResponse {
+  int32 exit_code = 1;
+  string stdout = 2;
+  string stderr = 3;
+}
+
+message EnvironmentVariable {
+  string name = 1;
+  string value = 2;
+}
diff --git a/common/exec/src/test/java/dev/enola/common/exec/ExecTest.java b/common/exec/src/test/java/dev/enola/common/exec/ExecTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cb24dde86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/exec/src/test/java/dev/enola/common/exec/ExecTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+package dev.enola.common.exec;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class ExecTest {
+
+    // TODO Remove this again? The test coverage for common.exec is really in be/src/test/java/dev/enola/be/BeTest.java!
+
+    @Test
+    public void testExec() {
+
+    }
+}