diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cb1d98a56..872d716eb 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -112,3 +112,4 @@ freeipa2-dev-doc
 /ipapython/version.py
 /ipapython/.DEFAULT_PLUGINS
 
+/ipatests/.cache/
diff --git a/BUILD.txt b/BUILD.txt
index 20548bdd3..e3898aa68 100644
--- a/BUILD.txt
+++ b/BUILD.txt
@@ -66,9 +66,9 @@ changes are required.
 Testing
 -------
 
-For more information, see http://www.freeipa.org/page/Testing
+For more information, see https://www.freeipa.org/page/Testing
 
-We use python nosetests to test for regressions in the management framework
+We use python pytest to test for regressions in the management framework
 and plugins. All test dependencies are required by the freeipa-tests package.
 
 To run all of the tests you will need 2 sessions, one to run the lite-server
@@ -82,6 +82,14 @@ Some tests may be skipped. For example, all the XML-RPC tests will be skipped
 if you haven't started the lite-server. The DNS tests will be skipped if
 the underlying IPA installation doesn't configure DNS, etc.
 
+To just execute fast unittest and code linters, use the fastcheck target.
+Fast tests only execute a subset of the test suite that does not depend on
+an initialized API and server instance. Fast linting just verifies modified
+files / lines.
+
+% make fastcheck
+
+
 API.txt
 -------
 The purpose of the file API.txt is to prevent accidental API changes. The
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index e16a5379f..85c020506 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -169,13 +169,13 @@ if ! WITH_PYTHON2
 	@echo "ERROR: python2 not available"; exit 1
 endif
 	@ # run all linters, tests, and check with Python 2
-	PYTHONPATH=$(top_srcdir) $(PYTHON2) ipatests/ipa-run-tests \
+	PYTHONPATH=$(abspath $(top_srcdir)) $(PYTHON2) ipatests/ipa-run-tests \
 	    --ipaclient-unittests
 	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) acilint apilint polint jslint check
 	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) PYTHON=$(PYTHON2) pylint
 if WITH_PYTHON3
 	@ # just tests and pylint on Python 3
-	PYTHONPATH=$(top_srcdir) $(PYTHON3) ipatests/ipa-run-tests \
+	PYTHONPATH=$(abspath $(top_srcdir)) $(PYTHON3) ipatests/ipa-run-tests \
 	    --ipaclient-unittests
 	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) PYTHON=$(PYTHON3) pylint
 else
@@ -183,6 +183,49 @@ else
 endif
 	@echo "All tests passed."
 
+.PHONY: fastcheck fasttest fastlint
+fastcheck:
+if WITH_PYTHON2
+	@$(MAKE) -j1 $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) PYTHON=$(PYTHON2) fastlint fasttest
+endif
+if WITH_PYTHON3
+	@$(MAKE) -j1 $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) PYTHON=$(PYTHON3) fastlint fasttest
+endif
+
+fasttest: $(GENERATED_PYTHON_FILES) ipasetup.py
+	@ # --ignore doubles speed of total test run compared to pytest.skip()
+	@ # on module.
+	PYTHONPATH=$(abspath $(top_srcdir)) $(PYTHON3) ipatests/ipa-run-tests \
+	    --skip-ipaapi \
+	    --ignore $(abspath $(top_srcdir))/ipatests/test_integration \
+	    --ignore $(abspath $(top_srcdir))/ipatests/test_xmlrpc
+
+fastlint: $(GENERATED_PYTHON_FILES) ipasetup.py
+if ! WITH_PYLINT
+	@echo "ERROR: pylint not available"; exit 1
+endif
+	@echo "Fast linting with $(PYTHON) from branch '$(GIT_BRANCH)'"
+
+	@MERGEBASE=$$(git merge-base --fork-point $(GIT_BRANCH)); \
+	FILES=$$(git diff --name-only $${MERGEBASE} \
+	    | grep -E '\.py$$'); \
+	if [ -n "$${FILES}" ]; then \
+		echo "Fast linting files: $${FILES}"; \
+		echo "pylint"; \
+		echo "------"; \
+	    PYTHONPATH=$(abspath $(top_srcdir)) $(PYTHON) -m pylint \
+	        --rcfile=$(top_srcdir)/pylintrc \
+	        --load-plugins pylint_plugins \
+	        $${FILES} || exit $?; \
+	    echo "pycodestyle"; \
+	    echo "-----------"; \
+	    git diff $${MERGEBASE} | \
+	        $(PYTHON) -m pycodestyle --diff || exit $?; \
+	else \
+	    echo "No modified Python files found"; \
+	fi
+
+
 .PHONY: $(top_builddir)/ipaplatform/override.py
 $(top_builddir)/ipaplatform/override.py:
 	(cd $(top_builddir)/ipaplatform && make override.py)
diff --git a/VERSION.m4 b/VERSION.m4
index 48d24f277..77802121d 100644
--- a/VERSION.m4
+++ b/VERSION.m4
@@ -48,6 +48,16 @@ define(IPA_VERSION_PRE_RELEASE, )
 ########################################################
 define(IPA_VERSION_IS_GIT_SNAPSHOT, yes)
 
+########################################################
+# git development branch:                              #
+#                                                      #
+# - master: define(IPA_GIT_BRANCH, master)             #
+# - ipa-X-X: define(IPA_GIT_BRANCH,                    #
+#       ipa-IPA_VERSION_MAJOR-IPA_VERSION_MINOR)       #
+########################################################
+define(IPA_GIT_BRANCH, master)
+dnl define(IPA_GIT_BRANCH, ipa-IPA_VERSION_MAJOR-IPA_VERSION_MINOR)
+
 ########################################################
 # The version of IPA data. This is used to identify    #
 # incompatibilities in data that could cause issues    #
@@ -128,6 +138,7 @@ NEWLINE)) dnl IPA_VERSION end
 dnl DEBUG: uncomment following lines and run command m4 VERSION.m4
 dnl `IPA_VERSION: ''IPA_VERSION'
 dnl `IPA_GIT_VERSION: ''IPA_GIT_VERSION'
+dnf `IPA_GIT_BRANCH: ''IPA_GIT_BRANCH'
 dnl `IPA_API_VERSION: ''IPA_API_VERSION'
 dnl `IPA_DATA_VERSION: ''IPA_DATA_VERSION'
 dnl `IPA_NUM_VERSION: ''IPA_NUM_VERSION'
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a89d69c46..abef733e3 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -364,6 +364,7 @@ AC_SUBST([NUM_VERSION], [IPA_NUM_VERSION])
 AC_SUBST(VENDOR_SUFFIX)
 AC_SUBST([VERSION], [IPA_VERSION])
 AC_SUBST([GIT_VERSION], [IPA_GIT_VERSION])
+AC_SUBST([GIT_BRANCH], [IPA_GIT_BRANCH])
 # used by Makefile.am for files depending on templates
 AC_SUBST([CONFIG_STATUS])
 
diff --git a/freeipa.spec.in b/freeipa.spec.in
index 62b4a832e..c68b166d0 100644
--- a/freeipa.spec.in
+++ b/freeipa.spec.in
@@ -174,18 +174,20 @@ BuildRequires:  python3-wheel
 %endif # with_wheels
 
 #
-# Build dependencies for lint
+# Build dependencies for lint and fastcheck
 #
 %if 0%{?with_lint}
 BuildRequires:  python2-samba
 # 1.6: x509.Name.rdns (https://github.com/pyca/cryptography/issues/3199)
 BuildRequires:  python2-cryptography >= 1.6
 BuildRequires:  python2-gssapi >= 1.2.0-5
+BuildRequires:  softhsm
 %if 0%{?fedora} >= 26
 BuildRequires:  python2-pylint
 %else
 BuildRequires:  pylint >= 1.7
 %endif
+BuildRequires:  python2-pycodestyle
 # workaround for https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1096506
 BuildRequires:  python2-polib
 BuildRequires:  python2-libipa_hbac
@@ -223,6 +225,7 @@ BuildRequires:  python3-samba
 BuildRequires:  python3-cryptography >= 1.6
 BuildRequires:  python3-gssapi >= 1.2.0
 BuildRequires:  python3-pylint >= 1.7
+BuildRequires:  python3-pycodestyle
 # workaround for https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1096506
 BuildRequires:  python3-polib
 BuildRequires:  python3-libipa_hbac