diff --git a/.shellcheckrc b/.shellcheckrc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2cb6717b2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.shellcheckrc
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+external-sources=true
+source-path=source/tools
diff --git a/source/tools/utils.sh b/source/tools/utils.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..5680d82190
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/tools/utils.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Collection of sh utilities
+
+# Return number of online cpu or 1 if it can't be determined.
+utils_num_online_cpu()
+{
+	getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN 2>/dev/null && return
+	getconf NPROCESSORS_ONLN 2>/dev/null && return
+	nproc 2>/dev/null && return
+	sysctl -m hw.nproc 2>/dev/null && return
+	echo 1
+}