diff --git a/autogen.sh b/autogen.sh
index 35a6fca34..d9a5933ec 100755
--- a/autogen.sh
+++ b/autogen.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#! /bin/sh
+#!/bin/bash
 
 TOP_DIR=$(dirname $0)
 LAST_DIR=$PWD
@@ -45,45 +45,47 @@ parse_options ()
    done
 }
 
+
 run_or_die ()
 {
    COMMAND=$1
-   
    # check for empty commands
    if test -z "$COMMAND" ; then
-      echo "*warning* no command specified"
+      echo -e "\033[1;5;31mERROR\033[0m No command specified!"
       return 1
    fi
-   
-   shift;
 
+   shift;
    OPTIONS="$@"
-   
    # print a message
-   echo -n "*info* running $COMMAND"
    if test -n "$OPTIONS" ; then
-      echo " ($OPTIONS)"
+      echo -en "\033[1m$COMMAND $OPTIONS\033[0m ... "
    else
-      echo
+      echo -en "\033[1m$COMMAND\033[0m ... "
    fi
 
    # run or die
    $COMMAND $OPTIONS ; RESULT=$?
    if test $RESULT -ne 0 ; then
-      echo "*error* $COMMAND failed. (exit code = $RESULT)"
+      echo -e "\033[1;5;31mERROR\033[0m $COMMAND failed. (exit code = $RESULT)"
       exit 1
    fi
-   
+
+   echo -e "\033[0;32mOK\033[0m"
    return 0
 }
 
+
 parse_options "$@"
 
-echo "Building librb autotools files."
-
+echo "*** Generating Charybdis build..."
 run_or_die $ACLOCAL -I m4
 run_or_die $LIBTOOLIZE --force --copy
 run_or_die $AUTOHEADER
 run_or_die $AUTOCONF
 run_or_die $AUTOMAKE --add-missing --copy
 #run_or_die $SHTOOLIZE all
+
+echo
+echo -e "\033[1;32m*\033[0m Ready to configure Charybdis."
+echo -e "\033[1;5;33m*\033[0m Now run ./configure"
diff --git a/tools/boostrap.sh b/tools/boostrap.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..37a4e8bfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/boostrap.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+TOPDIR=$1                # This should be an absolute path to the repo root
+BLIBS=$2                 # A comma-separated list of which boost libs to build
+BTOOLSET=$3              # The platform toolchain name (gcc, clang, mingw, ...)
+BVARIANT=$4              # release optimization or debug symbols etc
+BLINK=$5                 # whether to build with shared or static linkage (we like shared)
+BTHREADING=$6            # whether to build with thread-safety (we benefit from SINGLE THREADED)
+
+
+if [ -z $TOPDIR ]; then
+	TOPDIR=$PWD
+fi
+
+
+if [ -z $BLIBS ]; then
+	BLIBS="system"
+fi
+
+
+case "$BTOOLSET" in
+g\+\+*|gcc*)
+	BSFLAGS="--with-toolset=gcc";;
+
+clang\+\+*|clang*)
+	BSFLAGS="--with-toolset=clang";;
+
+mingw\+\+*|mingw*)
+	BSFLAGS="";;
+
+*)
+	BTOOLSET="";;
+esac
+
+
+if [ -z $BVARIANT ]; then
+	BVARIANT="release"
+fi
+
+
+if [ -z $BLINK ]; then
+	BLINK="shared"
+fi
+
+
+if [ -z $BTHREADING ]; then
+	BTHREADING="single"
+fi
+
+
+run ()
+{
+	COMMAND=$1
+	# check for empty commands
+	if test -z "$COMMAND" ; then
+		echo -e "\033[1;5;31mERROR\033[0m No command specified!"
+		return 1
+	fi
+
+	shift;
+	OPTIONS="$@"
+	# print a message
+	if test -n "$OPTIONS" ; then
+		echo -ne "\033[1m$COMMAND $OPTIONS\033[0m ... "
+	else
+		echo -ne "\033[1m$COMMAND\033[0m ... "
+	fi
+
+	# run or die
+	$COMMAND $OPTIONS ; RESULT=$?
+	if test $RESULT -ne 0 ; then
+		echo -e "\033[1;5;31mERROR\033[0m $COMMAND failed. (exit code = $RESULT)"
+		exit 1
+	fi
+
+	echo -e "\033[0;32myes\033[0m"
+	return 0
+}
+
+
+echo "*** Synchronizing boost... "
+
+# Save current dir and return to it later
+USERDIR=$PWD
+
+### Populate the boost submodule directory.
+run cd $TOPDIR
+run git submodule update --init boost
+run cd boost
+
+### Build tools
+run git submodule update --init --recursive tools/build
+run git submodule update --init --recursive tools/inspect
+
+### These are the libraries we need. Most of them are header-only. If not header-only,
+### add to the list --with-libraries in the ./bootstrap command below
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/predef
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/assert
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/static_assert
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/type_traits
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/config
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/core
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/detail
+
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/asio
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/system
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/regex
+
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/lexical_cast
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/range
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/concept_check
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/utility
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/throw_exception
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/numeric
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/integer
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/array
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/functional
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/container
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/move
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/math
+
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/tokenizer
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/iterator
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/mpl
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/preprocessor
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/date_time
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/smart_ptr
+run git submodule update --init --recursive libs/bind
+
+run ./bootstrap.sh --prefix=`pwd` --with-libraries=$BLIBS $BSFLAGS
+run ./b2 threading=$BTHREADING variant=$BVARIANT link=$BLINK address-model=64
+
+### Install should go right into this local submodule repository
+run ./b2 install
+
+### TODO: this shouldn't be necessary.
+### XXX: required when boost submodules are fetched and built la carte, but not required
+### XXX: when all submodules are fetched and built. we're missing a step.
+for lib in `ls -d libs/*/include`; do
+	run cp -r ${lib}/* include/
+done
+run cp -r libs/numeric/conversion/include/* include/
+
+# Return to user's original directory
+run cd $USERDIR