diff --git a/command/apply.go b/command/apply.go
index 84d7aad041..35dcde348c 100644
--- a/command/apply.go
+++ b/command/apply.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package command
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"sort"
@@ -25,7 +24,7 @@ func (c *ApplyCommand) Run(args []string) int {
 
 	args = c.Meta.process(args)
 
-	cmdFlags := flag.NewFlagSet("apply", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	cmdFlags := c.Meta.flagSet("apply")
 	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&init, "init", false, "init")
 	cmdFlags.StringVar(&statePath, "state", DefaultStateFilename, "path")
 	cmdFlags.StringVar(&stateOutPath, "state-out", "", "path")
@@ -207,6 +206,14 @@ Options:
                          "-state". This can be used to preserve the old
                          state.
 
+  -var 'foo=bar'         Set a variable in the Terraform configuration. This
+                         flag can be set multiple times.
+
+  -var-file=foo          Set variables in the Terraform configuration from
+                         a file. If "terraform.tfvars" is present, it will be
+                         automatically loaded if this flag is not specified.
+
+
 `
 	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)
 }
diff --git a/command/apply_test.go b/command/apply_test.go
index 05a5c299e8..db1ee949a9 100644
--- a/command/apply_test.go
+++ b/command/apply_test.go
@@ -466,3 +466,41 @@ func TestApply_stateNoExist(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.OutputWriter.String())
 	}
 }
+
+func TestApply_vars(t *testing.T) {
+	statePath := testTempFile(t)
+
+	p := testProvider()
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &ApplyCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(p),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	actual := ""
+	p.DiffFn = func(
+		s *terraform.ResourceState,
+		c *terraform.ResourceConfig) (*terraform.ResourceDiff, error) {
+		if v, ok := c.Config["value"]; ok {
+			actual = v.(string)
+		}
+
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"-init",
+		"-var", "foo=bar",
+		"-state", statePath,
+		testFixturePath("apply-vars"),
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %d\n\n%s", code, ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+
+	if actual != "bar" {
+		t.Fatal("didn't work")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/command/flag_var.go b/command/flag_var.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8d54f20c4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/flag_var.go
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package command
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// FlagVar is a flag.Value implementation for parsing user variables
+// from the command-line in the format of '-var key=value'.
+type FlagVar map[string]string
+
+func (v *FlagVar) String() string {
+	return ""
+}
+
+func (v *FlagVar) Set(raw string) error {
+	idx := strings.Index(raw, "=")
+	if idx == -1 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("No '=' value in arg: %s", raw)
+	}
+
+	if *v == nil {
+		*v = make(map[string]string)
+	}
+
+	key, value := raw[0:idx], raw[idx+1:]
+	(*v)[key] = value
+	return nil
+}
+
+// FlagVarFile is a flag.Value implementation for parsing user variables
+// from the command line in the form of files. i.e. '-var-file=foo'
+type FlagVarFile map[string]string
+
+func (v *FlagVarFile) String() string {
+	return ""
+}
+
+func (v *FlagVarFile) Set(raw string) error {
+	// TODO
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/command/flag_var_test.go b/command/flag_var_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1177b325c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/flag_var_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package command
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestFlagVar_impl(t *testing.T) {
+	var _ flag.Value = new(FlagVar)
+}
+
+func TestFlagVar(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		Input  string
+		Output map[string]string
+		Error  bool
+	}{
+		{
+			"key=value",
+			map[string]string{"key": "value"},
+			false,
+		},
+
+		{
+			"key=",
+			map[string]string{"key": ""},
+			false,
+		},
+
+		{
+			"key=foo=bar",
+			map[string]string{"key": "foo=bar"},
+			false,
+		},
+
+		{
+			"key",
+			nil,
+			true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		f := new(FlagVar)
+		err := f.Set(tc.Input)
+		if (err != nil) != tc.Error {
+			t.Fatalf("bad error. Input: %#v", tc.Input)
+		}
+
+		actual := map[string]string(*f)
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(actual, tc.Output) {
+			t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", actual)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/command/meta.go b/command/meta.go
index 2d00627b85..297557e7cd 100644
--- a/command/meta.go
+++ b/command/meta.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package command
 
 import (
+	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
@@ -19,6 +20,9 @@ type Meta struct {
 	// This can be set by the command itself to provide extra hooks.
 	extraHooks []terraform.Hook
 
+	// Variables for the context (private)
+	variables map[string]string
+
 	color bool
 	oldUi cli.Ui
 }
@@ -109,9 +113,29 @@ func (m *Meta) contextOpts() *terraform.ContextOpts {
 	copy(opts.Hooks[1:], m.ContextOpts.Hooks)
 	copy(opts.Hooks[len(m.ContextOpts.Hooks)+1:], m.extraHooks)
 	println(fmt.Sprintf("%#v", opts.Hooks))
+
+	if len(m.variables) > 0 {
+		vs := make(map[string]string)
+		for k, v := range opts.Variables {
+			vs[k] = v
+		}
+		for k, v := range m.variables {
+			vs[k] = v
+		}
+		opts.Variables = vs
+	}
+
 	return &opts
 }
 
+// flags adds the meta flags to the given FlagSet.
+func (m *Meta) flagSet(n string) *flag.FlagSet {
+	f := flag.NewFlagSet(n, flag.ContinueOnError)
+	f.Var((*FlagVar)(&m.variables), "var", "variables")
+	f.Var((*FlagVarFile)(&m.variables), "var-file", "variable file")
+	return f
+}
+
 // process will process the meta-parameters out of the arguments. This
 // will potentially modify the args in-place. It will return the resulting
 // slice.
diff --git a/command/plan.go b/command/plan.go
index 7808c3879c..5404098162 100644
--- a/command/plan.go
+++ b/command/plan.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package command
 
 import (
-	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
@@ -22,7 +21,7 @@ func (c *PlanCommand) Run(args []string) int {
 
 	args = c.Meta.process(args)
 
-	cmdFlags := flag.NewFlagSet("plan", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	cmdFlags := c.Meta.flagSet("plan")
 	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&destroy, "destroy", false, "destroy")
 	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&refresh, "refresh", true, "refresh")
 	cmdFlags.StringVar(&outPath, "out", "", "path")
@@ -145,6 +144,13 @@ Options:
                       up Terraform-managed resources. By default it will
                       use the state "terraform.tfstate" if it exists.
 
+  -var 'foo=bar'      Set a variable in the Terraform configuration. This
+                      flag can be set multiple times.
+
+  -var-file=foo       Set variables in the Terraform configuration from
+                      a file. If "terraform.tfvars" is present, it will be
+                      automatically loaded if this flag is not specified.
+
 `
 	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)
 }
diff --git a/command/plan_test.go b/command/plan_test.go
index 473f68a0ce..5a5778736c 100644
--- a/command/plan_test.go
+++ b/command/plan_test.go
@@ -281,3 +281,37 @@ func TestPlan_stateDefault(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", p.DiffState)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestPlan_vars(t *testing.T) {
+	p := testProvider()
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &PlanCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(p),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	actual := ""
+	p.DiffFn = func(
+		s *terraform.ResourceState,
+		c *terraform.ResourceConfig) (*terraform.ResourceDiff, error) {
+		if v, ok := c.Config["value"]; ok {
+			actual = v.(string)
+		}
+
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"-var", "foo=bar",
+		testFixturePath("plan-vars"),
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %d\n\n%s", code, ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+
+	if actual != "bar" {
+		t.Fatal("didn't work")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/command/refresh.go b/command/refresh.go
index 39b27530ac..574964f75d 100644
--- a/command/refresh.go
+++ b/command/refresh.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package command
 
 import (
-	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
@@ -21,7 +20,7 @@ func (c *RefreshCommand) Run(args []string) int {
 
 	args = c.Meta.process(args)
 
-	cmdFlags := flag.NewFlagSet("refresh", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	cmdFlags := c.Meta.flagSet("refresh")
 	cmdFlags.StringVar(&statePath, "state", DefaultStateFilename, "path")
 	cmdFlags.StringVar(&stateOutPath, "state-out", "", "path")
 	cmdFlags.Usage = func() { c.Ui.Error(c.Help()) }
@@ -128,6 +127,13 @@ Options:
   -state-out=path     Path to write updated state file. By default, the
                       "-state" path will be used.
 
+  -var 'foo=bar'      Set a variable in the Terraform configuration. This
+                      flag can be set multiple times.
+
+  -var-file=foo       Set variables in the Terraform configuration from
+                      a file. If "terraform.tfvars" is present, it will be
+                      automatically loaded if this flag is not specified.
+
 `
 	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)
 }
diff --git a/command/refresh_test.go b/command/refresh_test.go
index 7acf39e5fe..0f583cfef8 100644
--- a/command/refresh_test.go
+++ b/command/refresh_test.go
@@ -296,3 +296,40 @@ func TestRefresh_outPath(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", actual)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestRefresh_var(t *testing.T) {
+	state := &terraform.State{
+		Resources: map[string]*terraform.ResourceState{
+			"test_instance.foo": &terraform.ResourceState{
+				ID:   "bar",
+				Type: "test_instance",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	statePath := testStateFile(t, state)
+
+	p := testProvider()
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &RefreshCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(p),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"-var", "foo=bar",
+		"-state", statePath,
+		testFixturePath("refresh-var"),
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %d\n\n%s", code, ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+
+	if !p.ConfigureCalled {
+		t.Fatal("configure should be called")
+	}
+	if p.ConfigureConfig.Config["value"].(string) != "bar" {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", p.ConfigureConfig.Config)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/command/test-fixtures/apply-vars/main.tf b/command/test-fixtures/apply-vars/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6c1541d3a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/test-fixtures/apply-vars/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+variable "foo" {}
+
+resource "test_instance" "foo" {
+    value = "${var.foo}"
+}
diff --git a/command/test-fixtures/plan-vars/main.tf b/command/test-fixtures/plan-vars/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6c1541d3a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/test-fixtures/plan-vars/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+variable "foo" {}
+
+resource "test_instance" "foo" {
+    value = "${var.foo}"
+}
diff --git a/command/test-fixtures/refresh-var/main.tf b/command/test-fixtures/refresh-var/main.tf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..daabae5cc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/test-fixtures/refresh-var/main.tf
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+variable "foo" {}
+
+provider "test" {
+    value = "${var.foo}"
+}
+
+resource "test_instance" "foo" {}