diff --git a/cmd/geth/main.go b/cmd/geth/main.go
index 4d7d572201..d180c269ff 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/main.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/main.go
@@ -239,6 +239,9 @@ JavaScript API. See https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Javascipt-Conso
 		utils.RPCEnabledFlag,
 		utils.RPCListenAddrFlag,
 		utils.RPCPortFlag,
+		utils.IPCDisabledFlag,
+		utils.IPCApiFlag,
+		utils.IPCPathFlag,
 		utils.WhisperEnabledFlag,
 		utils.VMDebugFlag,
 		utils.ProtocolVersionFlag,
@@ -382,6 +385,11 @@ func startEth(ctx *cli.Context, eth *eth.Ethereum) {
 		}
 	}
 	// Start auxiliary services if enabled.
+	if !ctx.GlobalBool(utils.IPCDisabledFlag.Name) {
+		if err := utils.StartIPC(eth, ctx); err != nil {
+			utils.Fatalf("Error string IPC: %v", err)
+		}
+	}
 	if ctx.GlobalBool(utils.RPCEnabledFlag.Name) {
 		if err := utils.StartRPC(eth, ctx); err != nil {
 			utils.Fatalf("Error starting RPC: %v", err)
diff --git a/cmd/utils/flags.go b/cmd/utils/flags.go
index ab7eaf0234..4c3690d492 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/flags.go
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/p2p/nat"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rpc"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/xeth"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rpc/api"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rpc/comms"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rpc/codec"
 )
 
 func init() {
@@ -206,6 +209,20 @@ var (
 		Usage: "Domain on which to send Access-Control-Allow-Origin header",
 		Value: "",
 	}
+	IPCDisabledFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:  "ipcdisable",
+		Usage: "Disable the IPC-RPC server",
+	}
+	IPCApiFlag = cli.StringFlag{
+		Name:  "ipcapi",
+		Usage: "Specify the API's which are offered over this interface",
+		Value: api.DefaultIpcApis,
+	}
+	IPCPathFlag = DirectoryFlag{
+		Name:  "ipcpath",
+		Usage: "Filename for IPC socket/pipe",
+		Value: DirectoryString{common.DefaultIpcPath()},
+	}
 	// Network Settings
 	MaxPeersFlag = cli.IntFlag{
 		Name:  "maxpeers",
@@ -368,6 +385,22 @@ func MakeAccountManager(ctx *cli.Context) *accounts.Manager {
 	return accounts.NewManager(ks)
 }
 
+func StartIPC(eth *eth.Ethereum, ctx *cli.Context) error {
+	config := comms.IpcConfig{
+		Endpoint: ctx.GlobalString(IPCPathFlag.Name),
+	}
+
+	xeth := xeth.New(eth, nil)
+	codec := codec.JSON
+
+	apis, err := api.ParseApiString(ctx.GlobalString(IPCApiFlag.Name), codec, xeth, eth)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return comms.StartIpc(config, codec, apis...)
+}
+
 func StartRPC(eth *eth.Ethereum, ctx *cli.Context) error {
 	config := rpc.RpcConfig{
 		ListenAddress: ctx.GlobalString(RPCListenAddrFlag.Name),
diff --git a/common/path.go b/common/path.go
index 3468b3366f..63a23abcd1 100644
--- a/common/path.go
+++ b/common/path.go
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ func DefaultDataDir() string {
 	}
 }
 
+func DefaultIpcPath() string {
+	return filepath.Join(DefaultDataDir(), "geth.ipc")
+}
+
 func IsWindows() bool {
 	return runtime.GOOS == "windows"
 }
diff --git a/rpc/api/api.go b/rpc/api/api.go
index 758e056ed9..93dc3058c9 100644
--- a/rpc/api/api.go
+++ b/rpc/api/api.go
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@ package api
 
 import "github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rpc/shared"
 
+const (
+	// List with all API's which are offered over the IPC interface by default
+	DefaultIpcApis = "eth"
+)
+
 // Ethereum RPC API interface
 type EthereumApi interface {
 	// Execute the given request and returns the response or an error