diff --git a/exec.c b/exec.c
index 8af2570579..b60e2dea8b 100644
--- a/exec.c
+++ b/exec.c
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 #include "qemu/rcu_queue.h"
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
 #include "translate-all.h"
+#include "sysemu/replay.h"
 
 #include "exec/memory-internal.h"
 #include "exec/ram_addr.h"
@@ -882,6 +883,7 @@ void cpu_abort(CPUState *cpu, const char *fmt, ...)
     }
     va_end(ap2);
     va_end(ap);
+    replay_finish();
 #if defined(CONFIG_USER_ONLY)
     {
         struct sigaction act;
diff --git a/include/sysemu/replay.h b/include/sysemu/replay.h
index fdf46f8089..ad5234c8fb 100644
--- a/include/sysemu/replay.h
+++ b/include/sysemu/replay.h
@@ -43,6 +43,15 @@ typedef enum ReplayCheckpoint ReplayCheckpoint;
 
 extern ReplayMode replay_mode;
 
+/* Replay process control functions */
+
+/*! Enables recording or saving event log with specified parameters */
+void replay_configure(struct QemuOpts *opts);
+/*! Initializes timers used for snapshotting and enables events recording */
+void replay_start(void);
+/*! Closes replay log file and frees other resources. */
+void replay_finish(void);
+
 /* Processing the instructions */
 
 /*! Returns number of executed instructions. */
diff --git a/replay/replay-internal.h b/replay/replay-internal.h
index 7ba60642e1..d40de2b3bd 100644
--- a/replay/replay-internal.h
+++ b/replay/replay-internal.h
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ enum ReplayEvents {
     /* some of greater codes are reserved for checkpoints */
     EVENT_CHECKPOINT,
     EVENT_CHECKPOINT_LAST = EVENT_CHECKPOINT + CHECKPOINT_COUNT - 1,
+    /* end of log event */
+    EVENT_END,
     EVENT_COUNT
 };
 
diff --git a/replay/replay.c b/replay/replay.c
index 44fbed9d4c..7edeffcb96 100644
--- a/replay/replay.c
+++ b/replay/replay.c
@@ -15,9 +15,18 @@
 #include "qemu/timer.h"
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
 #include "sysemu/sysemu.h"
+#include "qemu/error-report.h"
+
+/* Current version of the replay mechanism.
+   Increase it when file format changes. */
+#define REPLAY_VERSION              0xe02002
+/* Size of replay log header */
+#define HEADER_SIZE                 (sizeof(uint32_t) + sizeof(uint64_t))
 
 ReplayMode replay_mode = REPLAY_MODE_NONE;
 
+/* Name of replay file  */
+static char *replay_filename;
 ReplayState replay_state;
 
 bool replay_next_event_is(int event)
@@ -194,3 +203,124 @@ out:
     replay_mutex_unlock();
     return res;
 }
+
+static void replay_enable(const char *fname, int mode)
+{
+    const char *fmode = NULL;
+    assert(!replay_file);
+
+    switch (mode) {
+    case REPLAY_MODE_RECORD:
+        fmode = "wb";
+        break;
+    case REPLAY_MODE_PLAY:
+        fmode = "rb";
+        break;
+    default:
+        fprintf(stderr, "Replay: internal error: invalid replay mode\n");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    atexit(replay_finish);
+
+    replay_mutex_init();
+
+    replay_file = fopen(fname, fmode);
+    if (replay_file == NULL) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Replay: open %s: %s\n", fname, strerror(errno));
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    replay_filename = g_strdup(fname);
+
+    replay_mode = mode;
+    replay_data_kind = -1;
+    replay_state.instructions_count = 0;
+    replay_state.current_step = 0;
+
+    /* skip file header for RECORD and check it for PLAY */
+    if (replay_mode == REPLAY_MODE_RECORD) {
+        fseek(replay_file, HEADER_SIZE, SEEK_SET);
+    } else if (replay_mode == REPLAY_MODE_PLAY) {
+        unsigned int version = replay_get_dword();
+        if (version != REPLAY_VERSION) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "Replay: invalid input log file version\n");
+            exit(1);
+        }
+        /* go to the beginning */
+        fseek(replay_file, HEADER_SIZE, SEEK_SET);
+        replay_fetch_data_kind();
+    }
+
+    replay_init_events();
+}
+
+void replay_configure(QemuOpts *opts)
+{
+    const char *fname;
+    const char *rr;
+    ReplayMode mode = REPLAY_MODE_NONE;
+
+    rr = qemu_opt_get(opts, "rr");
+    if (!rr) {
+        /* Just enabling icount */
+        return;
+    } else if (!strcmp(rr, "record")) {
+        mode = REPLAY_MODE_RECORD;
+    } else if (!strcmp(rr, "replay")) {
+        mode = REPLAY_MODE_PLAY;
+    } else {
+        error_report("Invalid icount rr option: %s", rr);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    fname = qemu_opt_get(opts, "rrfile");
+    if (!fname) {
+        error_report("File name not specified for replay");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+    replay_enable(fname, mode);
+}
+
+void replay_start(void)
+{
+    if (replay_mode == REPLAY_MODE_NONE) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    /* Timer for snapshotting will be set up here. */
+
+    replay_enable_events();
+}
+
+void replay_finish(void)
+{
+    if (replay_mode == REPLAY_MODE_NONE) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    replay_save_instructions();
+
+    /* finalize the file */
+    if (replay_file) {
+        if (replay_mode == REPLAY_MODE_RECORD) {
+            /* write end event */
+            replay_put_event(EVENT_END);
+
+            /* write header */
+            fseek(replay_file, 0, SEEK_SET);
+            replay_put_dword(REPLAY_VERSION);
+        }
+
+        fclose(replay_file);
+        replay_file = NULL;
+    }
+    if (replay_filename) {
+        g_free(replay_filename);
+        replay_filename = NULL;
+    }
+
+    replay_finish_events();
+    replay_mutex_destroy();
+}
diff --git a/stubs/replay.c b/stubs/replay.c
index 3354fcf9bb..8f98790257 100644
--- a/stubs/replay.c
+++ b/stubs/replay.c
@@ -20,3 +20,12 @@ bool replay_checkpoint(ReplayCheckpoint checkpoint)
 {
     return true;
 }
+
+bool replay_events_enabled(void)
+{
+    return false;
+}
+
+void replay_finish(void)
+{
+}
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 8806092551..b3ff13716c 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -4616,6 +4616,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
         exit(1);
     }
 
+    replay_start();
+
     /* This checkpoint is required by replay to separate prior clock
        reading from the other reads, because timer polling functions query
        clock values from the log. */
@@ -4657,6 +4659,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
     }
 
     main_loop();
+    replay_disable_events();
+
     bdrv_close_all();
     pause_all_vcpus();
     res_free();