diff --git a/command/init.go b/command/init.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2a9c6f45d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/init.go
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+package command
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/config"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/config/module"
+)
+
+// InitCommand is a Command implementation that takes a Terraform
+// module and clones it to the working directory.
+type InitCommand struct {
+	Meta
+}
+
+func (c *InitCommand) Run(args []string) int {
+	args = c.Meta.process(args, false)
+
+	cmdFlags := flag.NewFlagSet("init", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	cmdFlags.Usage = func() { c.Ui.Error(c.Help()) }
+	if err := cmdFlags.Parse(args); err != nil {
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	var path string
+	args = cmdFlags.Args()
+	if len(args) > 2 {
+		c.Ui.Error("The init command expects at most two arguments.\n")
+		cmdFlags.Usage()
+		return 1
+	} else if len(args) < 1 {
+		c.Ui.Error("The init command expects at least one arguments.\n")
+		cmdFlags.Usage()
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	if len(args) == 2 {
+		path = args[1]
+	} else {
+		var err error
+		path, err = os.Getwd()
+		if err != nil {
+			c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Error getting pwd: %s", err))
+		}
+	}
+
+	source := args[0]
+
+	// Get our pwd since we need it
+	pwd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf(
+			"Error reading working directory: %s", err))
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	// Verify the directory is empty
+	if empty, err := config.IsEmptyDir(path); err != nil {
+		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf(
+			"Error checking on destination path: %s", err))
+		return 1
+	} else if !empty {
+		c.Ui.Error(
+			"The destination path has Terraform configuration files. The\n" +
+				"init command can only be used on a directory without existing Terraform\n" +
+				"files.")
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	// Detect
+	source, err = module.Detect(source, pwd)
+	if err != nil {
+		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf(
+			"Error with module source: %s", err))
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	// Get it!
+	if err := module.GetCopy(path, source); err != nil {
+		c.Ui.Error(err.Error())
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	return 0
+}
+
+func (c *InitCommand) Help() string {
+	helpText := `
+Usage: terraform init [options] SOURCE [PATH]
+
+  Downloads the module given by SOURCE into the PATH. The PATH defaults
+  to the working directory. PATH must be empty of any Terraform files.
+  Any conflicting non-Terraform files will be overwritten.
+
+  The module downloaded is a copy. If you're downloading a module from
+  Git, it will not preserve the Git history, it will only copy the
+  latest files.
+
+`
+	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)
+}
+
+func (c *InitCommand) Synopsis() string {
+	return "Initializes Terraform configuration from a module"
+}
diff --git a/command/init_test.go b/command/init_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2db54b0477
--- /dev/null
+++ b/command/init_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+package command
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/mitchellh/cli"
+)
+
+func TestInit(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := tempDir(t)
+
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &InitCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		testFixturePath("init"),
+		dir,
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+
+	if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(dir, "hello.tf")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInit_cwd(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := tempDir(t)
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	// Change to the temporary directory
+	cwd, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	if err := os.Chdir(dir); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	defer os.Chdir(cwd)
+
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &InitCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		testFixturePath("init"),
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+
+	if _, err := os.Stat("hello.tf"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInit_multipleArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &InitCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{
+		"bad",
+		"bad",
+	}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.OutputWriter.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInit_noArgs(t *testing.T) {
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	c := &InitCommand{
+		Meta: Meta{
+			ContextOpts: testCtxConfig(testProvider()),
+			Ui:          ui,
+		},
+	}
+
+	args := []string{}
+	if code := c.Run(args); code != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.OutputWriter.String())
+	}
+}
diff --git a/command/test-fixtures/init/hello.tf b/command/test-fixtures/init/hello.tf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/commands.go b/commands.go
index fa9294df37..a8251e547c 100644
--- a/commands.go
+++ b/commands.go
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ func init() {
 			}, nil
 		},
 
+		"init": func() (cli.Command, error) {
+			return &command.InitCommand{
+				Meta: meta,
+			}, nil
+		},
+
 		"output": func() (cli.Command, error) {
 			return &command.OutputCommand{
 				Meta: meta,
diff --git a/config/loader.go b/config/loader.go
index 5cc27e998c..740d0ec5f6 100644
--- a/config/loader.go
+++ b/config/loader.go
@@ -42,62 +42,10 @@ func Load(path string) (*Config, error) {
 //
 // Files are loaded in lexical order.
 func LoadDir(root string) (*Config, error) {
-	var files, overrides []string
-
-	f, err := os.Open(root)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	fi, err := f.Stat()
+	files, overrides, err := dirFiles(root)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if !fi.IsDir() {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
-			"configuration path must be a directory: %s",
-			root)
-	}
-
-	err = nil
-	for err != io.EOF {
-		var fis []os.FileInfo
-		fis, err = f.Readdir(128)
-		if err != nil && err != io.EOF {
-			f.Close()
-			return nil, err
-		}
-
-		for _, fi := range fis {
-			// Ignore directories
-			if fi.IsDir() {
-				continue
-			}
-
-			// Only care about files that are valid to load
-			name := fi.Name()
-			extValue := ext(name)
-			if extValue == "" {
-				continue
-			}
-
-			// Determine if we're dealing with an override
-			nameNoExt := name[:len(name)-len(extValue)]
-			override := nameNoExt == "override" ||
-				strings.HasSuffix(nameNoExt, "_override")
-
-			path := filepath.Join(root, name)
-			if override {
-				overrides = append(overrides, path)
-			} else {
-				files = append(files, path)
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	// Close the directory, we're done with it
-	f.Close()
-
 	if len(files) == 0 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf(
 			"No Terraform configuration files found in directory: %s",
@@ -152,6 +100,21 @@ func LoadDir(root string) (*Config, error) {
 	return result, nil
 }
 
+// IsEmptyDir returns true if the directory given has no Terraform
+// configuration files.
+func IsEmptyDir(root string) (bool, error) {
+	if _, err := os.Stat(root); err != nil && os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return true, nil
+	}
+
+	fs, os, err := dirFiles(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	return len(fs) == 0 && len(os) == 0, nil
+}
+
 // Ext returns the Terraform configuration extension of the given
 // path, or a blank string if it is an invalid function.
 func ext(path string) string {
@@ -163,3 +126,59 @@ func ext(path string) string {
 		return ""
 	}
 }
+
+func dirFiles(dir string) ([]string, []string, error) {
+	f, err := os.Open(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	defer f.Close()
+
+	fi, err := f.Stat()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	if !fi.IsDir() {
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf(
+			"configuration path must be a directory: %s",
+			dir)
+	}
+
+	var files, overrides []string
+	err = nil
+	for err != io.EOF {
+		var fis []os.FileInfo
+		fis, err = f.Readdir(128)
+		if err != nil && err != io.EOF {
+			return nil, nil, err
+		}
+
+		for _, fi := range fis {
+			// Ignore directories
+			if fi.IsDir() {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			// Only care about files that are valid to load
+			name := fi.Name()
+			extValue := ext(name)
+			if extValue == "" {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			// Determine if we're dealing with an override
+			nameNoExt := name[:len(name)-len(extValue)]
+			override := nameNoExt == "override" ||
+				strings.HasSuffix(nameNoExt, "_override")
+
+			path := filepath.Join(dir, name)
+			if override {
+				overrides = append(overrides, path)
+			} else {
+				files = append(files, path)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return files, overrides, nil
+}
diff --git a/config/loader_test.go b/config/loader_test.go
index f95235d66e..70dba0a166 100644
--- a/config/loader_test.go
+++ b/config/loader_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,36 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 )
 
+func TestIsEmptyDir(t *testing.T) {
+	val, err := IsEmptyDir(fixtureDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	if val {
+		t.Fatal("should not be empty")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIsEmptyDir_noExist(t *testing.T) {
+	val, err := IsEmptyDir(filepath.Join(fixtureDir, "nopenopenope"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	if !val {
+		t.Fatal("should be empty")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIsEmptyDir_noConfigs(t *testing.T) {
+	val, err := IsEmptyDir(filepath.Join(fixtureDir, "dir-empty"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+	if !val {
+		t.Fatal("should be empty")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestLoad_badType(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err := Load(filepath.Join(fixtureDir, "bad_type.tf.nope"))
 	if err == nil {
diff --git a/config/module/copy_dir.go b/config/module/copy_dir.go
index 6d4cb82017..981bba1ba7 100644
--- a/config/module/copy_dir.go
+++ b/config/module/copy_dir.go
@@ -4,17 +4,32 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 // copyDir copies the src directory contents into dst. Both directories
 // should already exist.
 func copyDir(dst, src string) error {
+	src, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(src)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	walkFn := func(path string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		if path == src {
+			return nil
+		}
+
+		basePath := filepath.Base(path)
+		if strings.HasPrefix(basePath, ".") {
+			// Skip any dot files
+			return nil
+		}
 
-		dstPath := filepath.Join(dst, filepath.Base(path))
+		dstPath := filepath.Join(dst, basePath)
 
 		// If we have a directory, make that subdirectory, then continue
 		// the walk.
diff --git a/config/module/detect.go b/config/module/detect.go
index 99b2af0a73..bdf54f9f80 100644
--- a/config/module/detect.go
+++ b/config/module/detect.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package module
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/url"
+	"path/filepath"
 )
 
 // Detector defines the interface that an invalid URL or a URL with a blank
@@ -34,6 +35,9 @@ func init() {
 func Detect(src string, pwd string) (string, error) {
 	getForce, getSrc := getForcedGetter(src)
 
+	// Separate out the subdir if there is one, we don't pass that to detect
+	getSrc, subDir := getDirSubdir(getSrc)
+
 	u, err := url.Parse(getSrc)
 	if err == nil && u.Scheme != "" {
 		// Valid URL
@@ -51,6 +55,25 @@ func Detect(src string, pwd string) (string, error) {
 
 		var detectForce string
 		detectForce, result = getForcedGetter(result)
+		result, detectSubdir := getDirSubdir(result)
+
+		// If we have a subdir from the detection, then prepend it to our
+		// requested subdir.
+		if detectSubdir != "" {
+			if subDir != "" {
+				subDir = filepath.Join(detectSubdir, subDir)
+			} else {
+				subDir = detectSubdir
+			}
+		}
+		if subDir != "" {
+			u, err := url.Parse(result)
+			if err != nil {
+				return "", fmt.Errorf("Error parsing URL: %s", err)
+			}
+			u.Path += "//" + subDir
+			result = u.String()
+		}
 
 		// Preserve the forced getter if it exists. We try to use the
 		// original set force first, followed by any force set by the
diff --git a/config/module/detect_test.go b/config/module/detect_test.go
index 8f62f6618b..69a5a6fef7 100644
--- a/config/module/detect_test.go
+++ b/config/module/detect_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,24 @@ func TestDetect(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{"./foo", "/foo", "file:///foo/foo", false},
 		{"git::./foo", "/foo", "git::file:///foo/foo", false},
-		{"git::github.com/hashicorp/foo", "", "git::https://github.com/hashicorp/foo.git", false},
+		{
+			"git::github.com/hashicorp/foo",
+			"",
+			"git::https://github.com/hashicorp/foo.git",
+			false,
+		},
+		{
+			"./foo//bar",
+			"/foo",
+			"file:///foo/foo//bar",
+			false,
+		},
+		{
+			"git::github.com/hashicorp/foo//bar",
+			"",
+			"git::https://github.com/hashicorp/foo.git//bar",
+			false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for i, tc := range cases {
diff --git a/config/module/get.go b/config/module/get.go
index cd553f2671..14f105548c 100644
--- a/config/module/get.go
+++ b/config/module/get.go
@@ -3,8 +3,11 @@ package module
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/url"
+	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
@@ -51,6 +54,24 @@ func Get(dst, src string) error {
 	var force string
 	force, src = getForcedGetter(src)
 
+	// If there is a subdir component, then we download the root separately
+	// and then copy over the proper subdir.
+	var realDst string
+	src, subDir := getDirSubdir(src)
+	if subDir != "" {
+		tmpDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "tf")
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(tmpDir); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		defer os.RemoveAll(tmpDir)
+
+		realDst = dst
+		dst = subDir
+	}
+
 	u, err := url.Parse(src)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -68,9 +89,52 @@ func Get(dst, src string) error {
 	err = g.Get(dst, u)
 	if err != nil {
 		err = fmt.Errorf("error downloading module '%s': %s", src, err)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// If we have a subdir, copy that over
+	if subDir != "" {
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(realDst); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(realDst, 0755); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		return copyDir(realDst, filepath.Join(dst, subDir))
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// GetCopy is the same as Get except that it downloads a copy of the
+// module represented by source.
+//
+// This copy will omit and dot-prefixed files (such as .git/, .hg/) and
+// can't be updated on its own.
+func GetCopy(dst, src string) error {
+	// Create the temporary directory to do the real Get to
+	tmpDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "tf")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := os.RemoveAll(tmpDir); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpDir)
+
+	// Get to that temporary dir
+	if err := Get(tmpDir, src); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Make sure the destination exists
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(dst, 0755); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
-	return err
+	// Copy to the final location
+	return copyDir(dst, tmpDir)
 }
 
 // getRunCommand is a helper that will run a command and capture the output
diff --git a/config/module/get_test.go b/config/module/get_test.go
index 85488577db..cf34f1ae8a 100644
--- a/config/module/get_test.go
+++ b/config/module/get_test.go
@@ -46,6 +46,34 @@ func TestGet_fileForced(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestGet_fileSubdir(t *testing.T) {
+	dst := tempDir(t)
+	u := testModule("basic//subdir")
+
+	if err := Get(dst, u); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	mainPath := filepath.Join(dst, "sub.tf")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(mainPath); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestGetCopy_file(t *testing.T) {
+	dst := tempDir(t)
+	u := testModule("basic")
+
+	if err := GetCopy(dst, u); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	mainPath := filepath.Join(dst, "main.tf")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(mainPath); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestGetDirSubdir(t *testing.T) {
 	cases := []struct {
 		Input string
diff --git a/website/source/docs/commands/init.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/commands/init.html.markdown
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a157a047a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/website/source/docs/commands/init.html.markdown
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+---
+layout: "docs"
+page_title: "Command: init"
+sidebar_current: "docs-commands-init"
+---
+
+# Command: init
+
+The `terraform init` command is used to initialize a Terraform configuration
+using another
+[module](/docs/modules/index.html)
+as a skeleton.
+
+## Usage
+
+Usage: `terraform init [options] SOURCE [DIR]`
+
+Init will download the module from SOURCE and copy it into the DIR
+(which defaults to the current working directory). Version control
+information from the module (such as Git history) will not be copied.
+
+The directory being initialized must be empty of all Terraform configurations.
+If the module has other files which conflict with what is already in the
+directory, they _will be overwritten_.
diff --git a/website/source/layouts/docs.erb b/website/source/layouts/docs.erb
index 3b1c92fe60..9536b29406 100644
--- a/website/source/layouts/docs.erb
+++ b/website/source/layouts/docs.erb
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@
 					<a href="/docs/commands/graph.html">graph</a>
 					</li>
 
+					<li<%= sidebar_current("docs-commands-init") %>>
+					<a href="/docs/commands/init.html">init</a>
+					</li>
+
 					<li<%= sidebar_current("docs-commands-output") %>>
 					<a href="/docs/commands/output.html">output</a>
 					</li>