diff --git a/playbooks/system-test.yaml b/playbooks/system-test.yaml
index c2eff3f0d..07749966f 100644
--- a/playbooks/system-test.yaml
+++ b/playbooks/system-test.yaml
@@ -28,5 +28,6 @@
       environment:
         PODMAN: '/usr/bin/podman'
         TOOLBOX: '{{ toolbox_bin }}'
+        TOOLBOX_TESTS_SYSTEM_CONFIG: 1
       args:
         chdir: '{{ zuul.project.src_dir }}'
diff --git a/test/system/000-setup.bats b/test/system/000-setup.bats
index 019b03594..86e5b8187 100644
--- a/test/system/000-setup.bats
+++ b/test/system/000-setup.bats
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bats
 
+load 'libs/bats-support/load'
 load 'libs/helpers'
 
 @test "test suite: Setup" {
+    _setup_runtime_dir || fail "Failed to setup runtime dir ${RUNTIME_DIR}"
+    _setup_toolbox_configs || fail "Failed to setup config files"
     # Cache the default image for the system
     _pull_and_cache_distro_image $(get_system_id) $(get_system_version) || die
     # Cache all images that will be needed during the tests
diff --git a/test/system/101-create.bats b/test/system/101-create.bats
index fc8d4153f..d7e1986b1 100644
--- a/test/system/101-create.bats
+++ b/test/system/101-create.bats
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ load 'libs/bats-assert/load'
 load 'libs/helpers'
 
 setup() {
+  setup_config_files
   cleanup_containers
 }
 
@@ -78,3 +79,28 @@ teardown() {
   assert_line --index 1 "If it was a private image, log in with: podman login foo.org"
   assert_line --index 2 "Use 'toolbox --verbose ...' for further details."
 }
+
+@test "create: Create a container with overriden distro option (system-wide)" {
+  skip_if_system_config_disabled
+}
+
+@test "create: Create a container with overriden distro option (user-specific)" {
+}
+
+@test "create: Create a container with overriden release option (system-wide)" {
+  skip_if_system_config_disabled
+}
+
+@test "create: Create a container with overriden release option (user-specific)" {
+}
+
+@test "create: Create a container with overriden image option (system-wide)" {
+  skip_if_system_config_disabled
+}
+
+@test "create: Create a container with overriden image option (user-specific)" {
+}
+
+@test "create: Create a container with overriden image option (both system-wide + user-specific)" {
+  skip_if_system_config_disabled
+}
diff --git a/test/system/libs/helpers.bash b/test/system/libs/helpers.bash
index 0ad7a29ec..0704b1012 100644
--- a/test/system/libs/helpers.bash
+++ b/test/system/libs/helpers.bash
@@ -8,7 +8,12 @@ readonly TOOLBOX=${TOOLBOX:-toolbox}
 readonly SKOPEO=$(command -v skopeo)
 
 # Helpful globals
+readonly RUNTIME_DIR="${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-"/run"}/toolbox/system-tests"
 readonly IMAGE_CACHE_DIR="${BATS_RUN_TMPDIR}/image-cache"
+readonly TEST_HOME_DIR="${RUNTIME_DIR}/home"
+
+readonly SYSTEM_CONFIG="/etc/containers/toolbox.conf"
+readonly USER_CONFIG="~/.config/containers/toolbox.conf"
 
 # Images
 declare -Ag IMAGES=([busybox]="docker.io/library/busybox" \
@@ -26,6 +31,28 @@ function cleanup_containers() {
 }
 
 
+# Backups writable configuration files
+function setup_config_files() {
+  if [ ${TOOLBOX_TESTS_SYSTEM_CONFIG} -eq 1 ]; then
+    if ! _is_system_config_writable; then
+      echo "System config file is not writable. Tests configuring system config file will fail."
+      return 1
+    fi
+
+    rm ${TOOLBOX_SYSTEM_CONFIG}
+  fi
+
+  export HOME=${TEST_HOME_DIR}
+
+  if ! _is_user_config_writable; then
+    echo "User config file is not writable. Tests configuring user config file will fail."
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  rm ${TOOLBOX_USER_CONFIG}
+}
+
+
 # Pulls an image using Podman and saves it to a image dir using Skopeo
 #
 # Parameters
@@ -96,6 +123,39 @@ function _clean_cached_images() {
 }
 
 
+function _is_system_config_writable() {
+  return is_path_writable "$TOOLBOX_SYSTEM_CONFIG"
+}
+
+
+function _is_user_config_writable() {
+  return is_path_writable "$TOOLBOX_USER_CONFIG"
+}
+
+
+# Restores writable configuration files
+function _restore_toolbox_configs() {
+  if _is_system_config_writable; then
+    mv $BACKUP_SYSTEM_CONFIG $TOOLBOX_SYSTEM_CONFIG
+  fi
+
+  if _is_user_config_writable; then
+    mv $BACKUP_USER_CONFIG $TOOLBOX_USER_CONFIG
+  fi
+}
+
+
+function _setup_runtime_dir() {
+  local user_id=$(id -u)
+
+  if [ -z "${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}" ] && [ "${user_id}" -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is not set and the user is not root. Runtime dir ${RUNTIME_DIR} will probably be inaccessible."
+  fi
+
+  mkdir -p "${RUNTIME_DIR}"
+}
+
+
 # Copies an image from local storage to Podman's image store
 # 
 # Call before creating any container. Network failures are not nice.
@@ -270,3 +330,46 @@ function get_system_version() {
 
     echo $(awk -F= '/VERSION_ID/ {print $2}' $os_release | head -n 1)
 }
+
+
+# Checks if path is writable
+#
+# Parameters:
+# ===========
+# - path - the checked location
+function is_path_writable() {
+  local path="$1"
+
+  if [ -w "$path" ]; then
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  if ! [ -f "$path" ]; then
+    if ! mkdir -p $(dirname "$path"); then
+      echo "Failed to create directory $(dirname "$path")"
+      return 1
+    fi
+
+    if ! touch "$path"; then
+      echo "Failed to create file $path"
+      return 1
+    fi
+
+    rm "$path"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  return 1
+}
+
+function skip_if_system_config_unwritable() {
+  if ! _is_system_config_writable; then
+    skip "$TOOLBOX_SYSTEM_CONFIG is unwritable"
+  fi
+}
+
+function skip_if_user_config_unwritable() {
+  if ! _is_user_config_writable; then
+    skip "$TOOLBOX_USER_CONFIG is unwritable"
+  fi
+}