diff --git a/ui/build/rbe.go b/ui/build/rbe.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ceea4bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/build/rbe.go
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+// Copyright 2019 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package build
+
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"android/soong/ui/metrics"
+)
+
+const bootstrapCmd = "bootstrap"
+const rbeLeastNProcs = 2500
+const rbeLeastNFiles = 16000
+
+func startRBE(ctx Context, config Config) {
+	ctx.BeginTrace(metrics.RunSetupTool, "rbe_bootstrap")
+	defer ctx.EndTrace()
+
+	if u := ulimitOrFatal(ctx, config, "-u"); u < rbeLeastNProcs {
+		ctx.Fatalf("max user processes is insufficient: %d; want >= %d.\n", u, rbeLeastNProcs)
+	}
+	if n := ulimitOrFatal(ctx, config, "-n"); n < rbeLeastNFiles {
+		ctx.Fatalf("max open files is insufficient: %d; want >= %d.\n", n, rbeLeastNFiles)
+	}
+
+	var rbeBootstrap string
+	if rbeDir, ok := config.Environment().Get("RBE_DIR"); ok {
+		rbeBootstrap = filepath.Join(rbeDir, bootstrapCmd)
+	} else if home, ok := config.Environment().Get("HOME"); ok {
+		rbeBootstrap = filepath.Join(home, "rbe", bootstrapCmd)
+	} else {
+		ctx.Fatalln("rbe bootstrap not found")
+	}
+
+	cmd := Command(ctx, config, "boostrap", rbeBootstrap)
+
+	if output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
+		ctx.Fatalf("rbe bootstrap failed with: %v\n%s\n", err, output)
+	}
+}