diff --git a/pkg/api/config.go b/pkg/api/config.go
index 7ba88d90a4c..07ab71708bc 100644
--- a/pkg/api/config.go
+++ b/pkg/api/config.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
 )
 
 // ValidateAtRuntime validates all the configuration's values without knowledge of config
@@ -286,6 +287,28 @@ func validateTestConfigurationType(fieldRoot string, test TestStepConfiguration,
 	return validationErrors
 }
 
+func validateTestSteps(fieldRoot string, steps []TestStep) (ret []error) {
+	seen := sets.NewString()
+	for i, s := range steps {
+		fieldRootI := fmt.Sprintf("%s[%d]", fieldRoot, i)
+		if len(s.Name) == 0 {
+			ret = append(ret, fmt.Errorf("%s: `name` is required", fieldRootI))
+		} else if seen.Has(s.Name) {
+			ret = append(ret, fmt.Errorf("%s: duplicated name %q", fieldRootI, s.Name))
+		} else {
+			seen.Insert(s.Name)
+		}
+		if len(s.Image) == 0 {
+			ret = append(ret, fmt.Errorf("%s: `image` is required", fieldRootI))
+		}
+		if len(s.Commands) == 0 {
+			ret = append(ret, fmt.Errorf("%s: `commands` is required", fieldRootI))
+		}
+		ret = append(ret, validateResourceRequirements(fieldRootI+".resources", s.Resources)...)
+	}
+	return
+}
+
 func validateReleaseBuildConfiguration(input *ReleaseBuildConfiguration, org, repo string) []error {
 	var validationErrors []error
 
diff --git a/pkg/api/config_test.go b/pkg/api/config_test.go
index bfae3ae89e0..09ce7962f5c 100644
--- a/pkg/api/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/config_test.go
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 package api
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff"
 	kerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
 )
 
@@ -385,8 +388,106 @@ func TestValidateBaseRpmImages(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func parseError(id string, err error) error {
-	return fmt.Errorf("%q expected to be valid, got 'Error(%v)' instead", id, err)
+func TestValidateTestSteps(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name  string
+		steps []TestStep
+		errs  []error
+	}{{
+		name: "valid step",
+		steps: []TestStep{{
+			Name:     "name",
+			Image:    "image",
+			Commands: "commands",
+			Resources: ResourceRequirements{
+				Requests: ResourceList{"cpu": "1"},
+				Limits:   ResourceList{"memory": "1m"},
+			},
+		}},
+	}, {
+		name: "no name",
+		steps: []TestStep{{
+			Image:    "image",
+			Commands: "commands",
+			Resources: ResourceRequirements{
+				Requests: ResourceList{"cpu": "1"},
+				Limits:   ResourceList{"memory": "1m"},
+			},
+		}},
+		errs: []error{errors.New("test[0]: `name` is required")},
+	}, {
+		name: "duplicated names",
+		steps: []TestStep{{
+			Name:     "s0",
+			Image:    "image",
+			Commands: "commands",
+			Resources: ResourceRequirements{
+				Requests: ResourceList{"cpu": "1"},
+				Limits:   ResourceList{"memory": "1m"},
+			},
+		}, {
+			Name:     "s1",
+			Image:    "image",
+			Commands: "commands",
+			Resources: ResourceRequirements{
+				Requests: ResourceList{"cpu": "1"},
+				Limits:   ResourceList{"memory": "1m"},
+			},
+		}, {
+			Name:     "s0",
+			Image:    "image",
+			Commands: "commands",
+			Resources: ResourceRequirements{
+				Requests: ResourceList{"cpu": "1"},
+				Limits:   ResourceList{"memory": "1m"},
+			},
+		}},
+		errs: []error{errors.New(`test[2]: duplicated name "s0"`)},
+	}, {
+		name: "no image",
+		steps: []TestStep{{
+			Name:     "no_image",
+			Commands: "commands",
+			Resources: ResourceRequirements{
+				Requests: ResourceList{"cpu": "1"},
+				Limits:   ResourceList{"memory": "1m"},
+			},
+		}},
+		errs: []error{errors.New("test[0]: `image` is required")},
+	}, {
+		name: "no commands",
+		steps: []TestStep{{
+			Name:  "no_commands",
+			Image: "image",
+			Resources: ResourceRequirements{
+				Requests: ResourceList{"cpu": "1"},
+				Limits:   ResourceList{"memory": "1m"},
+			},
+		}},
+		errs: []error{errors.New("test[0]: `commands` is required")},
+	}, {
+		name: "invalid resources",
+		steps: []TestStep{{
+			Name:     "bad_resources",
+			Image:    "image",
+			Commands: "commands",
+			Resources: ResourceRequirements{
+				Requests: ResourceList{"cpu": "yes"},
+				Limits:   ResourceList{"piña_colada": "10dL"},
+			},
+		}},
+		errs: []error{
+			errors.New("'test[0].resources.limits' specifies an invalid key piña_colada"),
+			errors.New("test[0].resources.requests.cpu: invalid quantity: quantities must match the regular expression '^([+-]?[0-9.]+)([eEinumkKMGTP]*[-+]?[0-9]*)$'"),
+		},
+	}} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			ret := validateTestSteps("test", tc.steps)
+			if !reflect.DeepEqual(ret, tc.errs) {
+				t.Fatal(diff.ObjectReflectDiff(ret, tc.errs))
+			}
+		})
+	}
 }
 
 func parseValidError(id string) error {
diff --git a/pkg/api/types.go b/pkg/api/types.go
index 97bddd41f55..fe19b9ff471 100644
--- a/pkg/api/types.go
+++ b/pkg/api/types.go
@@ -307,6 +307,14 @@ type TestStepConfiguration struct {
 	OpenshiftInstallerCustomTestImageClusterTestConfiguration *OpenshiftInstallerCustomTestImageClusterTestConfiguration `json:"openshift_installer_custom_test_image,omitempty"`
 }
 
+type TestStep struct {
+	Name        string               `json:"name,omitempty"`
+	Image       string               `json:"image,omitempty"`
+	Commands    string               `json:"commands,omitempty"`
+	ArtifactDir string               `json:"artifact_dir,omitempty"`
+	Resources   ResourceRequirements `json:"resources,omitempty"`
+}
+
 // Secret describes a secret to be mounted inside a test
 // container.
 type Secret struct {