diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6a9e70f6..6a2bdf12 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ Changelog
 ### New Cisco Resources
 
 ### Added
+* Extend nxapi client for https support
+   * `use_ssl` will be true when `transport` is `https`
+   * now makes use of `port` for custom nxapi ports
 * Extend router_ospf_vrf with attribute:
    * `redistribute`
 * `reset_instance` method to node. Allows a single instance of nodeutils to reset the environment cache.
diff --git a/lib/cisco_node_utils/client/nxapi/client.rb b/lib/cisco_node_utils/client/nxapi/client.rb
index b2a63957..1df28a55 100644
--- a/lib/cisco_node_utils/client/nxapi/client.rb
+++ b/lib/cisco_node_utils/client/nxapi/client.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #
 # November 2014, Glenn F. Matthews
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2014-2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates.
+# Copyright (c) 2014-2019 Cisco and/or its affiliates.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -60,7 +60,11 @@ def initialize(**kwargs)
     else
       # Remote connection. This is primarily expected
       # when running e.g. from a Unix server as part of Minitest.
-      @http = Net::HTTP.new(@host)
+      @transport = kwargs[:transport] || 'http'
+      @verify_mode = kwargs[:verify_mode] || 'none'
+      @port.nil? ? @port = '' : @port = ":#{@port}"
+      uri = URI.parse("#{@transport}://#{@host}#{@port}")
+      @http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
     end
     # The default read time out is 60 seconds, which may be too short for
     # scaled configuration to apply. Change it to 300 seconds, which is
@@ -205,14 +209,18 @@ def req(type, command_or_list)
     request = build_http_request(type, command)
 
     # send the request and get the response
-    debug("Sending HTTP request to NX-API at #{@http.address}:\n" \
+    debug("Sending #{@transport} request to NX-API at #{@http.address}:\n" \
           "#{request.to_hash}\n#{request.body}")
     read_timeout_check(request)
     tries = 2
     begin
-      # Explicitly use http to avoid EOFError
-      # http://stackoverflow.com/a/23080693
-      @http.use_ssl = false
+      if @transport == 'https'
+        debug('Setting use_ssl to true')
+        @http.use_ssl = true
+        @http.verify_mode = handle_verify_mode(@verify_mode)
+      else
+        @http.use_ssl = false
+      end
       response = @http.request(request)
     rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED, Errno::ECONNRESET
       emsg = 'Connection refused or reset. Is the NX-API feature enabled?'
@@ -268,6 +276,32 @@ def build_http_request(type, command_string)
   end
   private :build_http_request
 
+  # Returns the OpenSSL verify mode based on the verify_mode arguments
+  #
+  # @raise if verify_mode param is not `peer`, `client-once`, `fail-no-peer`
+  #        or `none`
+  #
+  # @param String verify mode to use
+  #
+  # @return OpenSSL::SSL verification mode
+  def handle_verify_mode(verify_mode)
+    case verify_mode
+    when 'peer'
+      OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_PEER
+    when 'client-once'
+      OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_CLIENT_ONCE
+    when 'fail-no-peer'
+      OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_FAIL_IF_NO_PEER_CERT
+    when 'none'
+      OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE
+    else
+      fail "#{verify_mode} is not a valid mode, " \
+            'valid modes are: "none", "peer", ' \
+            '"client-once", "fail-no-peer"'
+    end
+  end
+  private :handle_verify_mode
+
   def handle_http_response(response)
     debug("HTTP Response: #{response.message}\n#{response.body}")
     case response
diff --git a/tests/basetest.rb b/tests/basetest.rb
index 4a0a67af..bc29fa68 100644
--- a/tests/basetest.rb
+++ b/tests/basetest.rb
@@ -85,6 +85,38 @@ def password
     self.class.password
   end
 
+  def self.telnet_port
+    Cisco::Environment.environment[:telnet_port] || 23
+  end
+
+  def telnet_port
+    self.class.telnet_port
+  end
+
+  def self.port
+    Cisco::Environment.environment[:port] || address.split(':')[1]
+  end
+
+  def port
+    self.class.port
+  end
+
+  def self.transport
+    Cisco::Environment.environment[:transport] || 'http'
+  end
+
+  def transport
+    self.class.transport
+  end
+
+  def self.verify_mode
+    Cisco::Environment.environment[:verify_mode] || 'none'
+  end
+
+  def verify_mode
+    self.class.verify_mode
+  end
+
   def setup
     # Hack - populate environment from user-entered values from basetest.rb
     if Cisco::Environment.environments.empty?
@@ -92,13 +124,17 @@ class << Cisco::Environment
         attr_writer :environments
       end
       Cisco::Environment.environments['default'] = {
-        host:     address.split(':')[0],
-        port:     address.split(':')[1],
-        username: username,
-        password: password,
+        host:        address.split(':')[0],
+        port:        port,
+        telnet_port: telnet_port,
+        transport:   transport,
+        verify_mode: verify_mode,
+        username:    username,
+        password:    password,
       }
     end
     @device = Net::Telnet.new('Host'    => address.split(':')[0],
+                              'Port'    => telnet_port,
                               'Timeout' => 240,
                               # NX-OS has a space after '#', IOS XR does not
                               'Prompt'  => /[$%#>] *\z/n,