diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index d9dd9f228..1c0e2eef5 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -202,6 +202,9 @@ script:
   # ray temp file tests
   - python -m pytest -v --durations=10 test/tempfile_test.py
 
+  # ray debug tools tests
+  - python -m pytest -v --durations=10 test/debug_tools_test.py
+
   # modin test files
   - python python/ray/test/test_modin.py
 
diff --git a/.travis/install-dependencies.sh b/.travis/install-dependencies.sh
index a81944fc3..a983a6c5e 100755
--- a/.travis/install-dependencies.sh
+++ b/.travis/install-dependencies.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ fi
 
 if [[ "$PYTHON" == "2.7" ]] && [[ "$platform" == "linux" ]]; then
   sudo apt-get update
-  sudo apt-get install -y cmake pkg-config build-essential autoconf curl libtool python-dev python-numpy python-pip unzip
+  sudo apt-get install -y cmake pkg-config build-essential autoconf curl libtool python-dev python-numpy python-pip unzip tmux gdb
   # Install miniconda.
   wget https://repo.continuum.io/miniconda/Miniconda2-4.5.4-Linux-x86_64.sh -O miniconda.sh -nv
   bash miniconda.sh -b -p $HOME/miniconda
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ if [[ "$PYTHON" == "2.7" ]] && [[ "$platform" == "linux" ]]; then
     feather-format lxml openpyxl xlrd py-spy setproctitle faulthandler pytest-timeout mock flaky
 elif [[ "$PYTHON" == "3.5" ]] && [[ "$platform" == "linux" ]]; then
   sudo apt-get update
-  sudo apt-get install -y cmake pkg-config python-dev python-numpy build-essential autoconf curl libtool unzip
+  sudo apt-get install -y cmake pkg-config python-dev python-numpy build-essential autoconf curl libtool unzip tmux gdb
   # Install miniconda.
   wget https://repo.continuum.io/miniconda/Miniconda3-4.5.4-Linux-x86_64.sh -O miniconda.sh -nv
   bash miniconda.sh -b -p $HOME/miniconda
diff --git a/python/ray/services.py b/python/ray/services.py
index c9eb23058..ca1cc8c72 100644
--- a/python/ray/services.py
+++ b/python/ray/services.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import ray
 import ray.ray_constants as ray_constants
 
 from ray.tempfile_services import (
+    get_gdb_init_path,
     get_ipython_notebook_path,
     get_logs_dir_path,
     get_temp_root,
@@ -294,15 +295,18 @@ def start_ray_process(command,
     if os.environ.get(tmux_env_var) == "1":
         logger.info("Detected environment variable '%s'.", tmux_env_var)
         use_tmux = True
+    gdb_env_var = "RAY_{}_GDB".format(process_type.upper())
+    if os.environ.get(gdb_env_var) == "1":
+        logger.info("Detected environment variable '%s'.", gdb_env_var)
+        use_gdb = True
 
-    if use_gdb:
-        raise NotImplementedError
-    if use_tmux:
-        raise NotImplementedError
-    if sum([use_valgrind, use_valgrind_profiler, use_perftools_profiler]) > 1:
+    if sum(
+        [use_gdb, use_valgrind, use_valgrind_profiler, use_perftools_profiler
+         ]) > 1:
         raise ValueError(
-            "At most one of the 'use_valgrind', 'use_valgrind_profiler', and "
-            "'use_perftools_profiler' flags can be used at a time.")
+            "At most one of the 'use_gdb', 'use_valgrind', "
+            "'use_valgrind_profiler', and 'use_perftools_profiler' flags can "
+            "be used at a time.")
     if env_updates is None:
         env_updates = {}
     if not isinstance(env_updates, dict):
@@ -311,6 +315,18 @@ def start_ray_process(command,
     modified_env = os.environ.copy()
     modified_env.update(env_updates)
 
+    if use_gdb:
+        if not use_tmux:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "If 'use_gdb' is true, then 'use_tmux' must be true as well.")
+        gdb_init_path = get_gdb_init_path(process_type)
+        ray_process_path = command[0]
+        ray_process_args = command[1:]
+        run_args = " ".join(["'{}'".format(arg) for arg in ray_process_args])
+        with open(gdb_init_path, "w") as gdb_init_file:
+            gdb_init_file.write("run {}".format(run_args))
+        command = ["gdb", ray_process_path, "-x", gdb_init_path]
+
     if use_valgrind:
         command = [
             "valgrind", "--track-origins=yes", "--leak-check=full",
@@ -325,6 +341,12 @@ def start_ray_process(command,
         modified_env["LD_PRELOAD"] = os.environ["PERFTOOLS_PATH"]
         modified_env["CPUPROFILE"] = os.environ["PERFTOOLS_LOGFILE"]
 
+    if use_tmux:
+        # The command has to be created exactly as below to ensure that it
+        # works on all versions of tmux. (Tested with tmux 1.8-5, travis'
+        # version, and tmux 2.1)
+        command = ["tmux", "new-session", "-d", "{}".format(" ".join(command))]
+
     process = subprocess.Popen(
         command,
         env=modified_env,
@@ -1205,8 +1227,8 @@ def determine_plasma_store_config(object_store_memory=None,
                     "up space by deleting files in /dev/shm or terminating "
                     "any running plasma_store_server processes. If you are "
                     "inside a Docker container, you may need to pass an "
-                    "argument with the flag '--shm-size' to 'docker run'."
-                    .format(shm_avail))
+                    "argument with the flag '--shm-size' to 'docker run'.".
+                    format(shm_avail))
         else:
             plasma_directory = "/tmp"
 
@@ -1221,8 +1243,9 @@ def determine_plasma_store_config(object_store_memory=None,
                        "plasma_directory is set.")
 
     if not os.path.isdir(plasma_directory):
-        raise Exception("The file {} does not exist or is not a directory."
-                        .format(plasma_directory))
+        raise Exception(
+            "The file {} does not exist or is not a directory.".format(
+                plasma_directory))
 
     return object_store_memory, plasma_directory
 
diff --git a/python/ray/tempfile_services.py b/python/ray/tempfile_services.py
index 156843b79..66016a4f1 100644
--- a/python/ray/tempfile_services.py
+++ b/python/ray/tempfile_services.py
@@ -142,6 +142,12 @@ def get_ipython_notebook_path():
     return notebook_name
 
 
+def get_gdb_init_path(process_type):
+    return make_inc_temp(
+        prefix="gdb_init_{}".format(process_type),
+        directory_name=get_temp_root())
+
+
 def new_log_files(name, redirect_output):
     """Generate partially randomized filenames for log files.
 
diff --git a/test/debug_tools_test.py b/test/debug_tools_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..642b82cb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/debug_tools_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import division
+from __future__ import print_function
+
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+import pytest
+
+import ray
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def ray_gdb_start():
+    # Setup environment and start ray
+    _environ = os.environ.copy()
+    for process_name in ["RAYLET", "PLASMA_STORE"]:
+        os.environ["RAY_{}_GDB".format(process_name)] = "1"
+        os.environ["RAY_{}_TMUX".format(process_name)] = "1"
+
+    yield None
+
+    # Restore original environment and stop ray
+    os.environ.clear()
+    os.environ.update(_environ)
+    ray.shutdown()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    sys.platform != "linux" and sys.platform != "linux2",
+    reason="This test requires Linux.")
+def test_raylet_gdb(ray_gdb_start):
+    # ray_gdb_start yields the expected process name
+    ray.init(num_cpus=1)
+
+    @ray.remote
+    def f():
+        return 42
+
+    assert ray.get(f.remote()) == 42
+
+    # Check process name in `ps aux | grep gdb`
+    for process_name in ["raylet/raylet", "plasma/plasma_store_server"]:
+        pgrep_command = subprocess.Popen(
+            ["pgrep", "-f", "gdb.*{}".format(process_name)],
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+        assert pgrep_command.communicate()[0]
+        subprocess.call(["pkill", "-f", "gdb.*{}".format(process_name)])