diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 7b33ff618..992c01d79 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -2,20 +2,17 @@
 
 'use strict';
 
-var dgram = require('dgram'),
-    fs = require('fs'),
-    path = require('path'),
-    mkdirp = require('mkdirp'),
-    parser = require('nsyslog-parser');
+var server = require('./server.js');
 
 const argv = require('yargs')
     .default('port', 2514, 'The port to listen on')  // syslog is 514 so we prefix with 2
     .default('logdir', '/tmp/logs', 'The root log directory')
     .argv;
 
-const LOG_FILE_FOLDER = argv.logdir;
-const LOG_FILE_NAME = 'app.log';
-const PORT = argv.port;
+const options = {
+    logFolder: argv.logdir,
+    port: argv.port
+};
 
 if (argv.version) {
     console.log('1.0.1');
@@ -27,34 +24,13 @@ console.log('==========================================');
 console.log('          Cloudron Syslog Daemon          ');
 console.log('==========================================');
 console.log();
-console.log(' Log Folder:  ', LOG_FILE_FOLDER);
-console.log(' UDP Port:    ', PORT);
+console.log(' Log Folder:  ', options.logFolder);
+console.log(' UDP Port:    ', options.port);
 console.log();
 console.log('==========================================');
 console.log();
 
-var server = dgram.createSocket('udp4');
-
-server.on('error', function (error) {
-    console.error('Error:', error);
-}).on('listening', function () {
+server.start(options, function (error) {
+    if (error) return console.error(error);
     console.log('Listening...');
-}).on('message', function (msg, rinfo) {
-    var info = parser(msg.toString());
-
-    if (!info || !info.appName) return console.log('Ignore unknown app log:', msg.toString());
-
-    // remove line breaks to avoid holes in the log file
-    // we do not ignore empty log lines, to allow gaps for potential ease of readability
-    const message = info.message.replace(/\n/g, '');
-
-    const filePath = path.join(LOG_FILE_FOLDER, info.appName);
-    const fileName = path.join(filePath, LOG_FILE_NAME);
-
-    try {
-        mkdirp.sync(filePath);
-        fs.appendFileSync(fileName, info.ts.toISOString() + ' ' + message + '\n');
-    } catch (error) {
-        console.error(error);
-    }
-}).bind(PORT);
+});
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 2b72540f4..0490429d1 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -9,6 +9,28 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ansi-regex/-/ansi-regex-3.0.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-7QMXwyIGT3lGbAKWa922Bas32Zg="
     },
+    "balanced-match": {
+      "version": "1.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/balanced-match/-/balanced-match-1.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-ibTRmasr7kneFk6gK4nORi1xt2c=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
+    "brace-expansion": {
+      "version": "1.1.11",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/brace-expansion/-/brace-expansion-1.1.11.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-iCuPHDFgrHX7H2vEI/5xpz07zSHB00TpugqhmYtVmMO6518mCuRMoOYFldEBl0g187ufozdaHgWKcYFb61qGiA==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "balanced-match": "1.0.0",
+        "concat-map": "0.0.1"
+      }
+    },
+    "browser-stdout": {
+      "version": "1.3.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/browser-stdout/-/browser-stdout-1.3.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-qhAVI1+Av2X7qelOfAIYwXONood6XlZE/fXaBSmW/T5SzLAmCgzi+eiWE7fUvbHaeNBQH13UftjpXxsfLkMpgw==",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "camelcase": {
       "version": "4.1.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/camelcase/-/camelcase-4.1.0.tgz",
@@ -29,6 +51,18 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/code-point-at/-/code-point-at-1.1.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-DQcLTQQ6W+ozovGkDi7bPZpMz3c="
     },
+    "commander": {
+      "version": "2.15.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/commander/-/commander-2.15.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-VlfT9F3V0v+jr4yxPc5gg9s62/fIVWsd2Bk2iD435um1NlGMYdVCq+MjcXnhYq2icNOizHr1kK+5TI6H0Hy0ag==",
+      "dev": true
+    },
+    "concat-map": {
+      "version": "0.0.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/concat-map/-/concat-map-0.0.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-2Klr13/Wjfd5OnMDajug1UBdR3s=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "cross-spawn": {
       "version": "5.1.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/cross-spawn/-/cross-spawn-5.1.0.tgz",
@@ -39,11 +73,32 @@
         "which": "1.3.1"
       }
     },
+    "debug": {
+      "version": "3.1.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/debug/-/debug-3.1.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-OX8XqP7/1a9cqkxYw2yXss15f26NKWBpDXQd0/uK/KPqdQhxbPa994hnzjcE2VqQpDslf55723cKPUOGSmMY3g==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "ms": "2.0.0"
+      }
+    },
     "decamelize": {
       "version": "1.2.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/decamelize/-/decamelize-1.2.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-9lNNFRSCabIDUue+4m9QH5oZEpA="
     },
+    "diff": {
+      "version": "3.5.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/diff/-/diff-3.5.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-A46qtFgd+g7pDZinpnwiRJtxbC1hpgf0uzP3iG89scHk0AUC7A1TGxf5OiiOUv/JMZR8GOt8hL900hV0bOy5xA==",
+      "dev": true
+    },
+    "escape-string-regexp": {
+      "version": "1.0.5",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/escape-string-regexp/-/escape-string-regexp-1.0.5.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-G2HAViGQqN/2rjuyzwIAyhMLhtQ=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "execa": {
       "version": "0.7.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/execa/-/execa-0.7.0.tgz",
@@ -58,6 +113,12 @@
         "strip-eof": "1.0.0"
       }
     },
+    "expect.js": {
+      "version": "0.3.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/expect.js/-/expect.js-0.3.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-sKWaDS7/VDdUTr8M6qYBWEHQm1s=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "find-up": {
       "version": "2.1.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/find-up/-/find-up-2.1.0.tgz",
@@ -66,6 +127,12 @@
         "locate-path": "2.0.0"
       }
     },
+    "fs.realpath": {
+      "version": "1.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fs.realpath/-/fs.realpath-1.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-FQStJSMVjKpA20onh8sBQRmU6k8=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "get-caller-file": {
       "version": "1.0.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/get-caller-file/-/get-caller-file-1.0.2.tgz",
@@ -76,6 +143,60 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/get-stream/-/get-stream-3.0.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-jpQ9E1jcN1VQVOy+LtsFqhdO3hQ="
     },
+    "glob": {
+      "version": "7.1.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/glob/-/glob-7.1.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-MJTUg1kjuLeQCJ+ccE4Vpa6kKVXkPYJ2mOCQyUuKLcLQsdrMCpBPUi8qVE6+YuaJkozeA9NusTAw3hLr8Xe5EQ==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "fs.realpath": "1.0.0",
+        "inflight": "1.0.6",
+        "inherits": "2.0.3",
+        "minimatch": "3.0.4",
+        "once": "1.4.0",
+        "path-is-absolute": "1.0.1"
+      }
+    },
+    "grepit": {
+      "version": "1.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/grepit/-/grepit-1.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-18Tdxd/IhS66mHZ0z+p8b1KLjZI=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
+    "growl": {
+      "version": "1.10.5",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/growl/-/growl-1.10.5.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-qBr4OuELkhPenW6goKVXiv47US3clb3/IbuWF9KNKEijAy9oeHxU9IgzjvJhHkUzhaj7rOUD7+YGWqUjLp5oSA==",
+      "dev": true
+    },
+    "has-flag": {
+      "version": "3.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/has-flag/-/has-flag-3.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-tdRU3CGZriJWmfNGfloH87lVuv0=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
+    "he": {
+      "version": "1.1.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/he/-/he-1.1.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-k0EP0hsAlzUVH4howvJx80J+I/0=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
+    "inflight": {
+      "version": "1.0.6",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/inflight/-/inflight-1.0.6.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-Sb1jMdfQLQwJvJEKEHW6gWW1bfk=",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "once": "1.4.0",
+        "wrappy": "1.0.2"
+      }
+    },
+    "inherits": {
+      "version": "2.0.3",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/inherits/-/inherits-2.0.3.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-Yzwsg+PaQqUC9SRmAiSA9CCCYd4=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "invert-kv": {
       "version": "1.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/invert-kv/-/invert-kv-1.0.0.tgz",
@@ -135,6 +256,15 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/mimic-fn/-/mimic-fn-1.2.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-jf84uxzwiuiIVKiOLpfYk7N46TSy8ubTonmneY9vrpHNAnp0QBt2BxWV9dO3/j+BoVAb+a5G6YDPW3M5HOdMWQ=="
     },
+    "minimatch": {
+      "version": "3.0.4",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/minimatch/-/minimatch-3.0.4.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-yJHVQEhyqPLUTgt9B83PXu6W3rx4MvvHvSUvToogpwoGDOUQ+yDrR0HRot+yOCdCO7u4hX3pWft6kWBBcqh0UA==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "brace-expansion": "1.1.11"
+      }
+    },
     "minimist": {
       "version": "0.0.8",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/minimist/-/minimist-0.0.8.tgz",
@@ -148,6 +278,31 @@
         "minimist": "0.0.8"
       }
     },
+    "mocha": {
+      "version": "5.2.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/mocha/-/mocha-5.2.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-2IUgKDhc3J7Uug+FxMXuqIyYzH7gJjXECKe/w43IGgQHTSj3InJi+yAA7T24L9bQMRKiUEHxEX37G5JpVUGLcQ==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "browser-stdout": "1.3.1",
+        "commander": "2.15.1",
+        "debug": "3.1.0",
+        "diff": "3.5.0",
+        "escape-string-regexp": "1.0.5",
+        "glob": "7.1.2",
+        "growl": "1.10.5",
+        "he": "1.1.1",
+        "minimatch": "3.0.4",
+        "mkdirp": "0.5.1",
+        "supports-color": "5.4.0"
+      }
+    },
+    "ms": {
+      "version": "2.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ms/-/ms-2.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-VgiurfwAvmwpAd9fmGF4jeDVl8g=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "npm-run-path": {
       "version": "2.0.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/npm-run-path/-/npm-run-path-2.0.2.tgz",
@@ -166,6 +321,15 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/number-is-nan/-/number-is-nan-1.0.1.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-CXtgK1NCKlIsGvuHkDGDNpQaAR0="
     },
+    "once": {
+      "version": "1.4.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/once/-/once-1.4.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-WDsap3WWHUsROsF9nFC6753Xa9E=",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "wrappy": "1.0.2"
+      }
+    },
     "os-locale": {
       "version": "2.1.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/os-locale/-/os-locale-2.1.0.tgz",
@@ -207,6 +371,12 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/path-exists/-/path-exists-3.0.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-zg6+ql94yxiSXqfYENe1mwEP1RU="
     },
+    "path-is-absolute": {
+      "version": "1.0.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/path-is-absolute/-/path-is-absolute-1.0.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-F0uSaHNVNP+8es5r9TpanhtcX18=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "path-key": {
       "version": "2.0.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/path-key/-/path-key-2.0.1.tgz",
@@ -227,6 +397,15 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/require-main-filename/-/require-main-filename-1.0.1.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-l/cXtp1IeE9fUmpsWqj/3aBVpNE="
     },
+    "rimraf": {
+      "version": "2.6.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/rimraf/-/rimraf-2.6.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-lreewLK/BlghmxtfH36YYVg1i8IAce4TI7oao75I1g245+6BctqTVQiBP3YUJ9C6DQOXJmkYR9X9fCLtCOJc5w==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "glob": "7.1.2"
+      }
+    },
     "set-blocking": {
       "version": "2.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/set-blocking/-/set-blocking-2.0.0.tgz",
@@ -272,6 +451,15 @@
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/strip-eof/-/strip-eof-1.0.0.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-u0P/VZim6wXYm1n80SnJgzE2Br8="
     },
+    "supports-color": {
+      "version": "5.4.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/supports-color/-/supports-color-5.4.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-zjaXglF5nnWpsq470jSv6P9DwPvgLkuapYmfDm3JWOm0vkNTVF2tI4UrN2r6jH1qM/uc/WtxYY1hYoA2dOKj5w==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "requires": {
+        "has-flag": "3.0.0"
+      }
+    },
     "which": {
       "version": "1.3.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/which/-/which-1.3.1.tgz",
@@ -327,6 +515,12 @@
         }
       }
     },
+    "wrappy": {
+      "version": "1.0.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/wrappy/-/wrappy-1.0.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-tSQ9jz7BqjXxNkYFvA0QNuMKtp8=",
+      "dev": true
+    },
     "y18n": {
       "version": "3.2.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/y18n/-/y18n-3.2.1.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 8e0a494e9..2f8b1148b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "description": "Cloudron Syslog Daemon listening on port 2514",
   "main": "index.js",
   "scripts": {
-    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
+    "test": "./node_modules/.bin/mocha ./test.js"
   },
   "bin": {
     "cloudron-syslog": "./index.js"
@@ -19,5 +19,11 @@
     "mkdirp": "^0.5.1",
     "nsyslog-parser": "^0.8.1",
     "yargs": "^11.0.0"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "expect.js": "^0.3.1",
+    "grepit": "^1.0.0",
+    "mocha": "^5.2.0",
+    "rimraf": "^2.6.2"
   }
 }
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..60a265e46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server.js
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+'use strict';
+
+exports = module.exports = {
+    start: start,
+    stop: stop
+};
+
+const LOG_FILENAME = 'app.log';
+
+var assert = require('assert'),
+    dgram = require('dgram'),
+    fs = require('fs'),
+    path = require('path'),
+    mkdirp = require('mkdirp'),
+    parser = require('nsyslog-parser');
+
+var server = null;
+
+function start(options, callback) {
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof options, 'object');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof options.port, 'number');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof options.logFolder, 'string');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
+
+    server = dgram.createSocket('udp4');
+
+    server.on('error', function (error) {
+        callback(error);
+    }).on('listening', function () {
+        callback();
+    }).on('message', function (msg, rinfo) {
+        var info = parser(msg.toString());
+
+        if (!info || !info.appName) return console.log('Ignore unknown app log:', msg.toString());
+
+        // remove line breaks to avoid holes in the log file
+        // we do not ignore empty log lines, to allow gaps for potential ease of readability
+        const message = info.message.replace(/\n/g, '');
+
+        const filePath = path.join(options.logFolder, info.appName);
+        const fileName = path.join(filePath, LOG_FILENAME);
+
+        try {
+            mkdirp.sync(filePath);
+            fs.appendFileSync(fileName, info.ts.toISOString() + ' ' + message + '\n');
+        } catch (error) {
+            console.error(error);
+        }
+    }).bind(options.port);
+}
+
+function stop(callback) {
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
+
+    if (!server) return callback();
+
+    server.close();
+
+    server = null;
+
+    callback();
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..51c38ba8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+/* global it:false */
+/* global describe:false */
+/* global before:false */
+/* global after:false */
+
+'use strict';
+
+var expect = require('expect.js'),
+    dgram = require('dgram'),
+    grepit = require('grepit'),
+    path = require('path'),
+    os = require('os'),
+    rimraf = require('rimraf'),
+    server = require('./server.js');
+
+const PORT = 5678;
+const LOG_FOLDER = path.join(os.tmpdir(), '/cloudron-syslog-test/');
+
+function sendMessage(message, callback) {
+    const client = dgram.createSocket('udp4');
+    client.send(message, PORT, 'localhost', function (error) {
+        if (error) return callback(error);
+
+        client.close();
+
+        callback();
+    });
+}
+
+function verifyMessage(pattern, fileName, callback) {
+    // give the server some time to write to disk
+    setTimeout(function () {
+        const found = grepit(pattern, path.join(LOG_FOLDER, fileName));
+        if (found.length === 0) return callback('not found');
+        callback();
+    }, 250);
+}
+
+describe('Daemon', function () {
+    this.timeout(5000);
+
+    after(function (done) {
+        rimraf.sync(LOG_FOLDER);
+        server.stop(done);
+    });
+
+    it('can start', function (done) {
+        server.start({ port: PORT, logFolder: LOG_FOLDER }, function (error) {
+            expect(error).to.not.be.ok();
+            done();
+        });
+    });
+
+    it('handle good message', function (done) {
+        // IETF (RFC 5424) message, with structured data and chained hostnames
+        const ietfLine = '<110>1 2009-05-03T14:00:39.529966+02:00 host.example.org/relay.example.org testapp 2138 - [exampleSDID@32473 iut="3" eventSource="Application" eventID="1011"][exampleSDID@32474 iut="4" eventSource="Application" eventID="1012"][ssign VER="0111" RSID="1" SG="0" SPRI="0" GBC="2" FMN="1" CNT="7" HB="K6wzcombEvKJ+UTMcn9bPryAeaU= zrkDcIeaDluypaPCY8WWzwHpPok= zgrWOdpx16ADc7UmckyIFY53icE= XfopJ+S8/hODapiBBCgVQaLqBKg= J67gKMFl/OauTC20ibbydwIlJC8= M5GziVgB6KPY3ERU1HXdSi2vtdw= Wxd/lU7uG/ipEYT9xeqnsfohyH0=" SIGN="AKBbX4J7QkrwuwdbV7Taujk2lvOf8gCgC62We1QYfnrNHz7FzAvdySuMyfM="] BOMAn application event log entry';
+
+        sendMessage(ietfLine, function (error) {
+            expect(error).to.not.be.ok();
+
+            verifyMessage(/An application event log entry/, 'testapp/app.log', done);
+        });
+    });
+
+    it('ignores invalid message', function (done) {
+        const invalidLine = 'foobar';
+
+        sendMessage(invalidLine, function (error) {
+            expect(error).to.not.be.ok();
+
+            verifyMessage(/foobar/, 'testapp/app.log', function (error) {
+                expect(error).to.be.ok();
+                done();
+            });
+        });
+    });
+
+    xit('can handle message with :', function (done) {
+        const message = '<30>1 2018-06-24T22:22:53Z my.test.com testapp 26599 testapp - This: contains two : colons';
+
+        sendMessage(message, function (error) {
+            expect(error).to.not.be.ok();
+
+            verifyMessage(/This: contains two : colons/, 'testapp/app.log', done);
+        });
+    });
+});