diff --git a/lib/vagrant/util/file_checksum.rb b/lib/vagrant/util/file_checksum.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b1c00e600
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vagrant/util/file_checksum.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# This is an "interface" that should be implemented by any digest class
+# passed into FileChecksum. Note that this isn't strictly enforced at
+# the moment, and this class isn't directly used. It is merely here for
+# documentation of structure of the class.
+class DigestClass
+  def update(string); end
+  def hexdigest; end
+end
+
+class FileChecksum
+  BUFFER_SIZE = 1024
+
+  # Initializes an object to calculate the checksum of a file. The given
+  # ``digest_klass`` should implement the ``DigestClass`` interface. Note
+  # that the built-in Ruby digest classes duck type this properly:
+  # Digest::MD5, Digest::SHA1, etc.
+  def initialize(path, digest_klass)
+    @digest_klass = digest_klass
+    @path   = path
+  end
+
+  # This calculates the checksum of the file and returns it as a
+  # string.
+  #
+  # @return [String]
+  def checksum
+    digest= @digest_klass.new
+
+    File.open(@path, "r") do |f|
+      while !f.eof
+        buf = f.readpartial(BUFFER_SIZE)
+        digest.update(buf)
+      end
+    end
+
+    return digest.hexdigest
+  end
+end
diff --git a/tasks/acceptance.rake b/tasks/acceptance.rake
index d807666d5..93eeaafdd 100644
--- a/tasks/acceptance.rake
+++ b/tasks/acceptance.rake
@@ -1,9 +1,65 @@
+require 'digest/sha1'
+require 'pathname'
+require 'yaml'
+
+require 'posix-spawn'
+
+require 'vagrant/util/file_checksum'
+
 namespace :acceptance do
+  desc "Downloads the boxes required for running the acceptance tests."
+  task :boxes, :directory do |t, args|
+    # Create the directory where the boxes will be downloaded
+    box_dir = Pathname.new(args[:directory] || File.expand_path("../../test/tmp/boxes", __FILE__))
+    box_dir.mkpath
+    puts "Boxes will be placed in: #{box_dir}"
+
+    # Load the required boxes
+    boxes = YAML.load_file(File.expand_path("../../test/config/acceptance_boxes.yml", __FILE__))
+
+    boxes.each do |box|
+      puts "Box: #{box["name"]}"
+      box_file = box_dir.join("#{box["name"]}.box")
+      checksum = FileChecksum.new(box_file, Digest::SHA1)
+
+      # If the box exists, we need to check the checksum and determine if we need
+      # to redownload the file.
+      if box_file.exist?
+        print "Box exists, checking SHA1 sum... "
+        if checksum.checksum == box["checksum"]
+          puts "OK"
+          next
+        else
+          puts "FAIL"
+        end
+      end
+
+      # Download the file
+      puts "Downloading: #{box["url"]}"
+
+      # TODO: This isn't Windows friendly yet. Move to a OS-independent
+      # download.
+      pid, _stdin, stdout, stderr =
+        POSIX::Spawn.popen4("wget", box["url"], "-O", box_file.to_s)
+      pid, status = Process.waitpid2(pid)
+      if status.exitstatus != 0
+        puts "Download failed!"
+        puts stdout.read
+        puts stderr.read
+        abort
+      end
+
+      # Check the checksum of the new file to verify that it
+      # downloaded properly. This shouldn't happen, but it can!
+      if checksum.checksum != box["checksum"]
+        puts "Checksum didn't match! Download was corrupt!"
+        abort
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   desc "Generates the configuration for acceptance tests from current source."
   task :config do
-    require 'yaml'
-    require 'posix-spawn'
-
     require File.expand_path("../lib/vagrant/version", __FILE__)
     require File.expand_path('../test/acceptance/support/tempdir', __FILE__)
 
diff --git a/test/config/acceptance_boxes.yml b/test/config/acceptance_boxes.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2555407aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/acceptance_boxes.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# This is the list of required boxes for acceptance tests, and
+# their locations. The locations are used to download the boxes
+# on the fly, if necessary. Additionally, a SHA1 checksum is
+# given to determine if the box needs to be updated.
+- name: default
+  url: http://files.vagrantup.com/test/boxes/default.box
+  checksum: 1b0a7eb6e152c5b43f45485654ff4965a7f9f604