diff -ur nsca-2.7.2.original/nsca_tests/NSCATest.pm nsca-2.7.2/nsca_tests/NSCATest.pm
--- nsca-2.7.2.original/nsca_tests/NSCATest.pm	2007-01-30 05:53:05.000000000 +0000
+++ nsca-2.7.2/nsca_tests/NSCATest.pm	2008-01-08 13:23:17.000000000 +0000
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 	config => '$',
 	pid => '$',
 	timeout => '$',
+	suppress_cmd_file => '$',
 	};
 
 $| = 1;	# Autoflush on
@@ -27,6 +28,8 @@
 	my ($self, $mode) = @_;
 	$mode ||= "--single";
 
+	unlink "var/nagios.cmd", "var/nsca.dump";
+
 	printf "Starting nsca with $mode\n";
 	system("../src/nsca -c nsca_".$self->config.".cfg $mode");
 
@@ -36,9 +39,16 @@
 	close F;
 	$self->pid($pid);
 
+	unless ($self->suppress_cmd_file) {
+		$self->create_cmd;
+	}
+	return $pid;
+}
+
+sub create_cmd {
+	my $self = shift;
 	open(F, "> var/nagios.cmd") or die "Cannot create var/nagios.cmd";
 	close F;
-	return $pid;
 }
 
 sub stop {
@@ -61,14 +71,32 @@
 sub send_cmd {
 	my ($self) = @_;
 	my $timeout = $self->timeout || 2;
-	return "../src/send_nsca -to $timeout -p 56677 -H localhost -c send_".$self->config.".cfg";
+	my $config = "send_".$self->config.".cfg";
+	if (! -e $config) {
+		$config = "send_basic.cfg";
+	}
+	return "../src/send_nsca -to $timeout -p 56677 -H localhost -c $config";
 }
 
 sub read_cmd {
 	my ($self, $file) = @_;
-	$file ||= "var/nagios.cmd";
-	my $fh = IO::File->new($file) or die "Can't open $file";
-	$self->process_data($fh);
+	$self->_read_and_process_file( $file || "var/nagios.cmd" );
+}
+
+sub read_alternate {
+	my ($self, $file) = @_;
+	$self->_read_and_process_file( $file || "var/nsca.dump" );
+}
+
+sub _read_and_process_file {
+	my ($self, $file) = @_;
+	my $fh = IO::File->new($file);
+	if ($fh) {
+		return $self->process_data($fh);
+	} else {
+		warn "Can't open $file";
+		return [];
+	}
 }
 
 sub process_data {
diff -ur nsca-2.7.2.original/nsca_tests/README nsca-2.7.2/nsca_tests/README
--- nsca-2.7.2.original/nsca_tests/README	2007-01-30 05:53:05.000000000 +0000
+++ nsca-2.7.2/nsca_tests/README	2008-01-08 13:45:04.000000000 +0000
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 and accept messages by comparing the output in the dummy nagios.cmd file with
 the sent data.
 
-There are 3 tests at the moment:
+There are 4 tests at the moment:
 
     * basic - just sends a few passive checks and makes sure that the nagios.cmd file receives them
 
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
     * simultaneous - runs lots of send_nscas at the same time (well, nearly). Uses Parallel::Forker to setup all the sends then executes them all at once. Expect about 200 extra processes to hit your server!
 
+    * alternate - does not create the nagios.cmd file, so alternate file is used. Then nagios.cmd appears and starts to use that
 
 Requirements
 ------------