diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 968f0e66..ee5eac08 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 *.so
 *.pyd
 *.gz
+.*.sw[a-z]
 *.zip
 *.egg
 *.egg-info/
diff --git a/TESTING.md b/TESTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a06970c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/TESTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+First, run a little mysql server in your home directory.
+
+*NOTE:* The below setup is quite insecure and should be shutdown and deleted when testing is concluded.
+
+    mkdir -p ~/tmp/mysqldb-test-server/
+    cd !$
+
+    mysql_install_db --no-defaults --user=$USER --datadir=$PWD/data --socket=$PWD/mysql.sock --force
+    /usr/sbin/mysqld --no-defaults --user=$USER --datadir=$PWD/data --socket=$PWD/mysql.sock --port 33060
+
+
+Now edit tests/default.cnf to add the port and change the user to 'root':
+
+    port = 33060
+    user = root
+
+
+Install nose:
+
+    pip install nose
+
+
+Populate your new DB with a test table:
+
+    echo 'create database test;' | mysql --port 33060 -h 0.0.0.0 -u root
+
+
+Finally, run the tests:
+
+    cd PATH/TO/MYSQLDB && nosetests
+
+
+When you're done, stop the server:
+
+    cd ~/tmp/mysqldb-test-server && cat data/*.pid | xargs kill
+
+
+Remove its data:
+
+    rm -rf data
diff --git a/tests/default.cnf b/tests/default.cnf
index 2aeda7cf..d912b13d 100644
--- a/tests/default.cnf
+++ b/tests/default.cnf
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 [MySQLdb-tests]
 host = 127.0.0.1
+port = 3306
 user = test
 database = test
 #password =