diff --git a/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/root.go b/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/root.go
index 2f09596d755..4424872b0d3 100644
--- a/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/root.go
+++ b/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/root.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ func NewRootCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.AddCommand(NewNewCmd())
 	cmd.AddCommand(NewBuildCmd())
 	cmd.AddCommand(NewGenerateCmd())
+	cmd.AddCommand(NewUpCmd())
 
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/up.go b/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/up.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fd36bc1fda2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/commands/operator-sdk/cmd/up.go
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package cmd
+
+import "github.com/spf13/cobra"
+
+var (
+	kubeConfig string
+)
+
+func NewUpCmd() *cobra.Command {
+	upCmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "up [Flags]",
+		Short: "Launches the operator locally",
+		Long: `The operator-sdk up command launches the operator on the local machine 
+by building the operator binary with the ability to access a 
+kubernetes cluster using a Kubernete config file.
+`,
+		Run: upFunc,
+	}
+
+	upCmd.Flags().StringVar(&kubeConfig, "kubeconfig", "~/.kube/config", "The file path to kubernetes configuration file.")
+
+	return upCmd
+}
+
+func upFunc(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+}