diff --git a/lib/common.js b/lib/common.js
index 15e87e5..f89cc80 100755
--- a/lib/common.js
+++ b/lib/common.js
@@ -170,6 +170,9 @@ function humanDurationFromMs(ms) {
             break;
         }
     }
+    if (bits.length > 1 && bits[bits.length - 1].slice(-2) === 'ms') {
+        bits.pop();
+    }
     return bits.slice(0, 2).join('');
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/do_create.js b/lib/do_create.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 797f481..0000000
--- a/lib/do_create.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,106 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (c) 2015 Joyent Inc. All rights reserved.
- *
- * `triton images ...`
- */
-
-var format = require('util').format;
-var tabula = require('tabula');
-
-var errors = require('./errors');
-
-
-function do_create(subcmd, opts, args, callback) {
-    if (opts.help) {
-        this.do_help('help', {}, [subcmd], callback);
-        return;
-    } else if (args.length > 1) {
-        return callback(new Error('too many args: ' + args));
-    }
-    var triton = this.triton;
-
-    // XXX The smarts here should move to Triton class.
-
-    assert.string(opts.image, '--image <img>');
-    assert.string(opts['package'], '--package <pkg>');
-    assert.number(opts.count)
-
-    // XXX
-    /*
-     * Should all this move into sdc.createMachine? yes
-     *
-     * - lookup image, package, networks from args
-     * - assign names
-     * - start provisions (slight stagger, max N at a time)
-     * - return immediately, or '-w|--wait'
-     */
-    async.series([
-        function lookups(next) {
-            async.parallel([
-                //XXX
-                //sdc.lookup(image)
-            ])
-        },
-        function provisions(next) {
-
-        },
-        function wait(next) {
-            next();
-        }
-    ], function (err) {
-        callback(err);
-    });
-};
-do_create.options = [
-    {
-        names: ['help', 'h'],
-        type: 'bool',
-        help: 'Show this help.'
-    },
-    {
-        names: ['dc', 'd'],
-        type: 'string',
-        helpArg: '<dc>',
-        help: 'The datacenter in which to provision. Required if the current'
-            + ' profile includes more than one datacenter. Use `sdc profile`'
-            + ' to list profiles and `sdc dcs` to list available datacenters.'
-    },
-    {
-        names: ['image', 'i'],
-        type: 'string',
-        helpArg: '<img>',
-        help: 'The machine image with which to provision. Required.'
-    },
-    {
-        names: ['package', 'p'],
-        type: 'string',
-        helpArg: '<pkg>',
-        help: 'The package or instance type for the new machine(s). Required.'
-    },
-    {
-        names: ['name', 'n'],
-        type: 'string',
-        helpArg: '<name>',
-        help: 'A name for the machine. If not specified, a short random name'
-            + ' will be generated.',
-        // TODO: for count>1 support '%d' code in name: foo0, foo1, ...
-    },
-    {
-        names: ['count', 'c'],
-        type: 'positiveInteger',
-        'default': 1,
-        helpArg: '<n>',
-        help: 'The number of machines to provision. Default is 1.'
-    },
-];
-do_create.help = (
-    'Create a new instance.\n'
-    + '\n'
-    + 'Usage:\n'
-    + '     {{name}} create <options>\n'
-    + '\n'
-    + '{{options}}'
-);
-do_create.aliases = ['create-inst'];
-
-module.exports = do_create;
diff --git a/lib/do_create_instance.js b/lib/do_create_instance.js
index cc3e858..41dd710 100644
--- a/lib/do_create_instance.js
+++ b/lib/do_create_instance.js
@@ -73,8 +73,21 @@ function do_create_instance(subcmd, opts, args, callback) {
                 networks: ctx.nets && ctx.nets.map(
                     function (net) { return net.id; })
             };
-            log.trace({createOpts: createOpts}, 'create-instance createOpts');
+
+            log.trace({dryRun: opts.dry_run, createOpts: createOpts},
+                'create-instance createOpts');
             ctx.start = Date.now();
+            if (opts.dry_run) {
+                var inst = ctx.inst = {
+                    id: 'beefbeef-4c0e-11e5-86cd-a7fd38d2a50b',
+                    name: 'm00'
+                };
+                console.log('Creating instance %s (%s, %s@%s%s)',
+                    inst.name, inst.id, ctx.img.name, ctx.img.version,
+                    inst.package ? format(', %s', inst.package) : '');
+                return next();
+            }
+
             cloudapi.createMachine(createOpts, function (err, inst) {
                 if (err) {
                     return next(err);
@@ -83,9 +96,9 @@ function do_create_instance(subcmd, opts, args, callback) {
                 if (opts.json) {
                     console.log(JSON.stringify(inst));
                 } else {
-                    console.log('Creating instance %s (%s, %s@%s, %s)',
+                    console.log('Creating instance %s (%s, %s@%s%s)',
                         inst.name, inst.id, ctx.img.name, ctx.img.version,
-                        inst.package);
+                        inst.package ? format(', %s', inst.package) : '');
                 }
                 next();
             });
@@ -107,7 +120,17 @@ function do_create_instance(subcmd, opts, args, callback) {
                 });
             }
 
-            cloudapi.waitForMachineStates({
+            // Dry-run: fake wait for a few seconds.
+            var waiter = (opts.dry_run ?
+                function dryWait(waitOpts, waitCb) {
+                    setTimeout(function () {
+                        ctx.inst.state = 'running';
+                        waitCb(null, ctx.inst);
+                    }, 5000);
+                }
+                : cloudapi.waitForMachineStates);
+
+            waiter({
                 id: ctx.inst.id,
                 states: ['running', 'failed']
             }, function (err, inst) {
@@ -165,6 +188,11 @@ do_create_instance.options = [
     {
         group: 'Other options'
     },
+    {
+        names: ['dry-run'],
+        type: 'bool',
+        help: 'Go through the motions without actually creating an instance.'
+    },
     {
         names: ['wait', 'w'],
         type: 'bool',