diff --git a/admin/cli/cfg.php b/admin/cli/cfg.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..01b2be955bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/admin/cli/cfg.php
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+/**
+ * CLI script allowing to get and set config values.
+ *
+ * This is technically just a thin wrapper for {@link get_config()} and
+ * {@link set_config()} functions.
+ *
+ * @package     core
+ * @subpackage  cli
+ * @copyright   2017 David Mudrák <david@moodle.com>
+ * @license     http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+
+define('CLI_SCRIPT', true);
+
+require(__DIR__.'/../../config.php');
+require_once($CFG->libdir.'/clilib.php');
+
+$usage = "Displays the current value of the given site setting. Allows to set it to the given value, too.
+
+Usage:
+    # php cfg.php [--component=<componentname>] [--json] [--shell-arg]
+    # php cfg.php --name=<configname> [--component=<componentname>] [--shell-arg] [--no-eol]
+    # php cfg.php --name=<configname> [--component=<componentname>] --set=<value>
+    # php cfg.php --name=<configname> [--component=<componentname>] --unset
+    # php cfg.php [--help|-h]
+
+Options:
+    -h --help                   Print this help.
+    --component=<frankenstyle>  Name of the component the variable is part of. Defaults to core.
+    --name=<configname>         Name of the configuration variable to get/set. If missing, print all
+                                configuration variables of the given component.
+    --set=<value>               Set the given variable to this value.
+    --unset                     Unset the given variable.
+    --shell-arg                 Escape output values so that they can be directly used as shell script arguments.
+    --json                      Encode output list of values using JSON notation.
+    --no-eol                    Do not include the trailing new line character when printing the value.
+
+The list of all variables of the given component can be printed as
+tab-separated list (default) or JSON object (--json). Particular values are
+printed as raw text values, optionally escaped so that they can be directly
+used as shell script arguments (--shell-arg). Single values are displayed with
+trailing new line by default, unless explicitly disabled (--no-eol).
+
+In the read mode, the script exits with success status 0 if the requested value
+is found. If the requested variable is not set, the script exits with status 3.
+When listing all variables of the component, the exit status is always 0 even
+if no variables for the given component are found. When setting/unsetting a
+value, the exit status is 0. In case of unexpected error, the script exits with
+error status 1.
+
+Examples:
+
+    # php cfg.php
+        Prints tab-separated list of all core configuration variables and their values.
+
+    # php cfg.php --json
+        Prints list of all core configuration variables and their values as a JSON object.
+
+    # php cfg.php --name=release
+        Prints the given configuration variable - e.g. \$CFG->release in this case.
+
+    # php cfg.php --component=tool_recyclebin
+    #   Prints tab-separated list of the plugin's configuration variables.
+
+    # export DATAROOT=\$(php cfg.php --name=dataroot --shell-arg --no-eol)
+        Stores the given configuration variable in the shell variable, escaped
+        so that it can be safely used as a shell argument.
+
+    # php cfg.php --name=theme --set=clean
+        Sets the given configuration variable to the given value.
+
+    # php cfg.php --name=noemailever --unset
+        Unsets the previously configured variable.
+";
+
+list($options, $unrecognised) = cli_get_params([
+    'help' => false,
+    'component' => null,
+    'name' => null,
+    'set' => null,
+    'unset' => false,
+    'shell-arg' => false,
+    'json' => false,
+    'no-eol' => false,
+], [
+    'h' => 'help'
+]);
+
+if ($unrecognised) {
+    $unrecognised = implode(PHP_EOL.'  ', $unrecognised);
+    cli_error(get_string('cliunknowoption', 'core_admin', $unrecognised));
+}
+
+if ($options['help']) {
+    cli_writeln($usage);
+    exit(2);
+}
+
+if ($options['unset'] || $options['set'] !== null) {
+    // Unset the variable or set it to the given value.
+    if (empty($options['name'])) {
+        cli_error('Missing configuration variable name', 2);
+    }
+    set_config($options['name'], $options['set'], $options['component']);
+    exit(0);
+}
+
+if ($options['name'] === null) {
+    // List all variables provided by the component (defaults to core).
+    $got = get_config($options['component']);
+
+    if ($options['json']) {
+        cli_writeln(json_encode($got));
+
+    } else {
+        foreach ($got as $name => $value) {
+            if ($options['shell-arg']) {
+                $value = escapeshellarg($value);
+            }
+            cli_writeln($name."\t".$value);
+        }
+    }
+
+    exit(0);
+
+} else {
+    // Display the value of a single variable.
+
+    $got = get_config($options['component'], $options['name']);
+
+    if ($got === false) {
+        cli_error('No such configuration variable found.', 3);
+    }
+
+    if ($options['shell-arg']) {
+        $got = escapeshellarg($got);
+    }
+
+    if ($options['json']) {
+        $got = json_encode($got);
+    }
+
+    if ($options['no-eol']) {
+        cli_write($got);
+    } else {
+        cli_writeln($got);
+    }
+
+    exit(0);
+}