diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Application.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Application.php
index 41d8f93bbb..5b3a0dc286 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Application.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Application.php
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ namespace Symfony\Component\Console;
 
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Descriptor\TextDescriptor;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Descriptor\XmlDescriptor;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\DebugFormatterHelper;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\ProcessHelper;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\QuestionHelper;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\ArgvInput;
@@ -962,6 +964,8 @@ class Application
             new DialogHelper(),
             new ProgressHelper(),
             new TableHelper(),
+            new DebugFormatterHelper(),
+            new ProcessHelper(),
             new QuestionHelper(),
         ));
     }
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/CHANGELOG.md b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/CHANGELOG.md
index 9c5741b5e7..55ded1f280 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 CHANGELOG
 =========
 
+2.6.0
+-----
+
+ * added a Process helper
+ * added a DebugFormatter helper
+
 2.5.0
 -----
 
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/DebugFormatterHelper.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/DebugFormatterHelper.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cdb620d168
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/DebugFormatterHelper.php
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Console\Helper;
+
+/**
+ * Helps outputting debug information when running an external program from a command.
+ *
+ * An external program can be a Process, an HTTP request, or anything else.
+ *
+ * @author Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ */
+class DebugFormatterHelper extends Helper
+{
+    private $colors = array('black', 'red', 'green', 'yellow', 'blue', 'magenta', 'cyan', 'white');
+    private $started = array();
+    private $count = -1;
+
+    /**
+     * Starts a debug formatting session
+     *
+     * @param string $id      The id of the formatting session
+     * @param string $message The message to display
+     * @param string $prefix  The prefix to use
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function start($id, $message, $prefix = 'RUN')
+    {
+        $this->started[$id] = array('border' => ++$this->count % count($this->colors));
+
+        return sprintf("%s<bg=blue;fg=white> %s </> <fg=blue>%s</>\n", $this->getBorder($id), $prefix, $message);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Adds progress to a formatting session
+     *
+     * @param string $id          The id of the formatting session
+     * @param string $buffer      The message to display
+     * @param bool   $error       Whether to consider the buffer as error
+     * @param string $prefix      The prefix for output
+     * @param string $errorPrefix The prefix for error output
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function progress($id, $buffer, $error = false, $prefix = 'OUT', $errorPrefix = 'ERR')
+    {
+        $message = '';
+
+        if ($error) {
+            if (isset($this->started[$id]['out'])) {
+                $message .= "\n";
+                unset($this->started[$id]['out']);
+            }
+            if (!isset($this->started[$id]['err'])) {
+                $message .= sprintf("%s<bg=red;fg=white> %s </> ", $this->getBorder($id), $errorPrefix);
+                $this->started[$id]['err'] = true;
+            }
+
+            $message .= str_replace("\n", sprintf("\n%s<bg=red;fg=white> %s </> ", $this->getBorder($id), $errorPrefix), $buffer);
+        } else {
+            if (isset($this->started[$id]['err'])) {
+                $message .= "\n";
+                unset($this->started[$id]['err']);
+            }
+            if (!isset($this->started[$id]['out'])) {
+                $message .= sprintf("%s<bg=green;fg=white> %s </> ", $this->getBorder($id), $prefix);
+                $this->started[$id]['out'] = true;
+            }
+
+            $message .= str_replace("\n", sprintf("\n%s<bg=green;fg=white> %s </> ", $this->getBorder($id), $prefix), $buffer);
+        }
+
+        return $message;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Stops a formatting session
+     *
+     * @param string $id         The id of the formatting session
+     * @param string $message    The message to display
+     * @param bool   $successful Whether to consider the result as success
+     * @param string $prefix     The prefix for the end output
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function stop($id, $message, $successful, $prefix = 'RES')
+    {
+        $trailingEOL = isset($this->started[$id]['out']) || isset($this->started[$id]['err']) ? "\n" : '';
+
+        if ($successful) {
+            return sprintf("%s%s<bg=green;fg=white> %s </> <fg=green>%s</>\n", $trailingEOL, $this->getBorder($id), $prefix, $message);
+        }
+
+        $message = sprintf("%s%s<bg=red;fg=white> %s </> <fg=red>%s</>\n", $trailingEOL, $this->getBorder($id), $prefix, $message);
+
+        unset($this->started[$id]['out'], $this->started[$id]['err']);
+
+        return $message;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param string $id The id of the formatting session
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    private function getBorder($id)
+    {
+        return sprintf('<bg=%s> </>', $this->colors[$this->started[$id]['border']]);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * {@inheritdoc}
+     */
+    public function getName()
+    {
+        return 'debug_formatter';
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProcessHelper.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProcessHelper.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2ae780b801
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProcessHelper.php
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Console\Helper;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\Exception\ProcessFailedException;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\Process;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\ProcessBuilder;
+
+/**
+ * The ProcessHelper class provides helpers to run external processes.
+ *
+ * @author Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ */
+class ProcessHelper extends Helper
+{
+    /**
+     * Runs an external process.
+     *
+     * @param OutputInterface      $output   An OutputInterface instance
+     * @param string|array|Process $cmd      An instance of Process or an array of arguments to escape and run or a command to run
+     * @param string|null          $error    An error message that must be displayed if something went wrong
+     * @param callable|null        $callback A PHP callback to run whenever there is some
+     *                                       output available on STDOUT or STDERR
+     *
+     * @return Process The process that ran
+     */
+    public function run(OutputInterface $output, $cmd, $error = null, $callback = null)
+    {
+        $formatter = $this->getHelperSet()->get('debug_formatter');
+
+        if (is_array($cmd)) {
+            $process = ProcessBuilder::create($cmd)->getProcess();
+        } elseif ($cmd instanceof Process) {
+            $process = $cmd;
+        } else {
+            $process = new Process($cmd);
+        }
+
+        if ($output->isVeryVerbose()) {
+            $output->write($formatter->start(spl_object_hash($process), $process->getCommandLine()));
+        }
+
+        if ($output->isDebug()) {
+            $callback = $this->wrapCallback($output, $process, $callback);
+        }
+
+        $process->run($callback);
+
+        if ($output->isVeryVerbose()) {
+            $message = $process->isSuccessful() ? 'Command ran successfully' : sprintf('%s Command did not run successfully', $process->getExitCode());
+            $output->write($formatter->stop(spl_object_hash($process), $message, $process->isSuccessful()));
+        }
+
+        if (!$process->isSuccessful() && null !== $error) {
+            $output->writeln(sprintf('<error>%s</error>', $error));
+        }
+
+        return $process;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Runs the process.
+     *
+     * This is identical to run() except that an exception is thrown if the process
+     * exits with a non-zero exit code.
+     *
+     * @param OutputInterface $output   An OutputInterface instance
+     * @param string|Process  $cmd      An instance of Process or a command to run
+     * @param string|null     $error    An error message that must be displayed if something went wrong
+     * @param callable|null   $callback A PHP callback to run whenever there is some
+     *                                  output available on STDOUT or STDERR
+     *
+     * @return Process The process that ran
+     *
+     * @throws ProcessFailedException
+     *
+     * @see run()
+     */
+    public function mustRun(OutputInterface $output, $cmd, $error = null, $callback = null)
+    {
+        $process = $this->run($output, $cmd, $error, $callback);
+
+        if (!$process->isSuccessful()) {
+            throw new ProcessFailedException($process);
+        }
+
+        return $process;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Wraps a Process callback to add debugging output.
+     *
+     * @param OutputInterface $output   An OutputInterface interface
+     * @param Process         $process  The Process
+     * @param callable|null   $callback A PHP callable
+     *
+     * @return callable
+     */
+    public function wrapCallback(OutputInterface $output, Process $process, $callback = null)
+    {
+        $formatter = $this->getHelperSet()->get('debug_formatter');
+
+        return function ($type, $buffer) use ($output, $process, $callback, $formatter) {
+            $output->write($formatter->progress(spl_object_hash($process), $buffer, Process::ERR === $type));
+
+            if (null !== $callback) {
+                call_user_func($callback, $type, $buffer);
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * {@inheritdoc}
+     */
+    public function getName()
+    {
+        return 'process';
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProcessHelperTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProcessHelperTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0ca247f1eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProcessHelperTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Console\Tests\Helper;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\DebugFormatterHelper;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\HelperSet;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\Helper;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\StreamOutput;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\ProcessHelper;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\Process;
+
+class ProcessHelperTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider provideCommandsAndOutput
+     */
+    public function testVariousProcessRuns($expected, $cmd, $verbosity, $error)
+    {
+        $helper = new ProcessHelper();
+        $helper->setHelperSet(new HelperSet(array(new DebugFormatterHelper())));
+        $output = $this->getOutputStream($verbosity);
+        $helper->run($output, $cmd, $error);
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $this->getOutput($output));
+    }
+
+    public function testPassedCallbackIsExecuted()
+    {
+        $helper = new ProcessHelper();
+        $helper->setHelperSet(new HelperSet(array(new DebugFormatterHelper())));
+        $output = $this->getOutputStream(StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_NORMAL);
+
+        $executed = false;
+        $callback = function () use (&$executed) { $executed = true; };
+
+        $helper->run($output, 'php -r "echo 42;"', null, $callback);
+        $this->assertTrue($executed);
+    }
+
+    public function provideCommandsAndOutput()
+    {
+        $successOutputVerbose = <<<EOT
+  RUN  php -r "echo 42;"
+  RES  Command ran successfully
+
+EOT;
+        $successOutputDebug = <<<EOT
+  RUN  php -r "echo 42;"
+  OUT  42
+  RES  Command ran successfully
+
+EOT;
+        $successOutputProcessDebug = <<<EOT
+  RUN  'php' '-r' 'echo 42;'
+  OUT  42
+  RES  Command ran successfully
+
+EOT;
+        $syntaxErrorOutputVerbose = <<<EOT
+  RUN  php -r "fwrite(STDERR, 'error message');usleep(50000);fwrite(STDOUT, 'out message');exit(252);"
+  RES  252 Command did not run successfully
+
+EOT;
+        $syntaxErrorOutputDebug = <<<EOT
+  RUN  php -r "fwrite(STDERR, 'error message');usleep(50000);fwrite(STDOUT, 'out message');exit(252);"
+  ERR  error message
+  OUT  out message
+  RES  252 Command did not run successfully
+
+EOT;
+
+        $errorMessage = 'An error occurred';
+
+        return array(
+            array('', 'php -r "echo 42;"', StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_VERBOSE, null),
+            array($successOutputVerbose, 'php -r "echo 42;"', StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_VERY_VERBOSE, null),
+            array($successOutputDebug, 'php -r "echo 42;"', StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_DEBUG, null),
+            array('', 'php -r "syntax error"', StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_VERBOSE, null),
+            array($syntaxErrorOutputVerbose, 'php -r "fwrite(STDERR, \'error message\');usleep(50000);fwrite(STDOUT, \'out message\');exit(252);"', StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_VERY_VERBOSE, null),
+            array($syntaxErrorOutputDebug, 'php -r "fwrite(STDERR, \'error message\');usleep(50000);fwrite(STDOUT, \'out message\');exit(252);"', StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_DEBUG, null),
+            array($errorMessage.PHP_EOL, 'php -r "fwrite(STDERR, \'error message\');usleep(50000);fwrite(STDOUT, \'out message\');exit(252);"', StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_VERBOSE, $errorMessage),
+            array($syntaxErrorOutputVerbose.$errorMessage.PHP_EOL, 'php -r "fwrite(STDERR, \'error message\');usleep(50000);fwrite(STDOUT, \'out message\');exit(252);"', StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_VERY_VERBOSE, $errorMessage),
+            array($syntaxErrorOutputDebug.$errorMessage.PHP_EOL, 'php -r "fwrite(STDERR, \'error message\');usleep(50000);fwrite(STDOUT, \'out message\');exit(252);"', StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_DEBUG, $errorMessage),
+            array($successOutputProcessDebug, array('php', '-r', 'echo 42;'), StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_DEBUG, null),
+            array($successOutputDebug, new Process('php -r "echo 42;"'), StreamOutput::VERBOSITY_DEBUG, null),
+        );
+    }
+
+    private function getOutputStream($verbosity)
+    {
+        return new StreamOutput(fopen('php://memory', 'r+', false), $verbosity, false);
+    }
+
+    private function getOutput(StreamOutput $output)
+    {
+        rewind($output->getStream());
+
+        return stream_get_contents($output->getStream());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/composer.json b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/composer.json
index 40131af463..4a106d7db6 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/composer.json
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/composer.json
@@ -20,10 +20,12 @@
     },
     "require-dev": {
         "symfony/event-dispatcher": "~2.1",
+        "symfony/process": "~2.1",
         "psr/log": "~1.0"
     },
     "suggest": {
         "symfony/event-dispatcher": "",
+        "symfony/process": "",
         "psr/log": "For using the console logger"
     },
     "autoload": {