diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/build.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/build.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1c43acc2b3c23d09ef24d46c96dae177430b3164
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/build.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+##############################################################################
+# Copyright (c) 2013-2016, Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC.
+# Produced at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
+#
+# This file is part of Spack.
+# Created by Todd Gamblin, tgamblin@llnl.gov, All rights reserved.
+# LLNL-CODE-647188
+#
+# For details, see https://github.com/llnl/spack
+# Please also see the LICENSE file for our notice and the LGPL.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation) version 2.1, February 1999.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the IMPLIED WARRANTY OF
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the terms and
+# conditions of the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+##############################################################################
+
+import spack.cmd.configure as cfg
+
+from spack import *
+
+description = 'Stops at build stage when installing a package, if possible'
+
+build_system_to_phase = {
+    CMakePackage: 'build',
+    AutotoolsPackage: 'build'
+}
+
+
+def setup_parser(subparser):
+    cfg.setup_parser(subparser)
+
+
+def build(parser, args):
+    cfg._stop_at_phase_during_install(args, build, build_system_to_phase)
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/configure.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/configure.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3eebe2584bb92ae3370c3dc3119b86f796ff8c9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/configure.py
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+##############################################################################
+# Copyright (c) 2013-2016, Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC.
+# Produced at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
+#
+# This file is part of Spack.
+# Created by Todd Gamblin, tgamblin@llnl.gov, All rights reserved.
+# LLNL-CODE-647188
+#
+# For details, see https://github.com/llnl/spack
+# Please also see the LICENSE file for our notice and the LGPL.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation) version 2.1, February 1999.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the IMPLIED WARRANTY OF
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the terms and
+# conditions of the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+##############################################################################
+
+import argparse
+
+import llnl.util.tty as tty
+import spack.cmd
+import spack.cmd.install as inst
+
+from spack import *
+
+description = 'Stops at configuration stage when installing a package, if possible'  # NOQA: ignore=E501
+
+
+build_system_to_phase = {
+    CMakePackage: 'cmake',
+    AutotoolsPackage: 'configure'
+}
+
+
+def setup_parser(subparser):
+    subparser.add_argument(
+        'package',
+        nargs=argparse.REMAINDER,
+        help="spec of the package to install"
+    )
+    subparser.add_argument(
+        '-v', '--verbose',
+        action='store_true',
+        help="Print additional output during builds"
+    )
+
+
+def _stop_at_phase_during_install(args, calling_fn, phase_mapping):
+    if not args.package:
+        tty.die("configure requires at least one package argument")
+
+    # TODO: to be refactored with code in install
+    specs = spack.cmd.parse_specs(args.package, concretize=True)
+    if len(specs) != 1:
+        tty.error('only one spec can be installed at a time.')
+    spec = specs.pop()
+    pkg = spec.package
+    try:
+        key = [cls for cls in phase_mapping if isinstance(pkg, cls)].pop()
+        phase = phase_mapping[key]
+        # Install package dependencies if needed
+        parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+        inst.setup_parser(parser)
+        tty.msg('Checking dependencies for {0}'.format(args.package))
+        cli_args = ['-v'] if args.verbose else []
+        install_args = parser.parse_args(cli_args + ['--only=dependencies'])
+        install_args.package = args.package
+        inst.install(parser, install_args)
+        # Install package and stop at the given phase
+        cli_args = ['-v'] if args.verbose else []
+        install_args = parser.parse_args(cli_args + ['--only=package'])
+        install_args.package = args.package
+        inst.install(parser, install_args, stop_at=phase)
+    except IndexError:
+        tty.error(
+            'Package {0} has no {1} phase, or its {1} phase is not separated from install'.format(  # NOQA: ignore=E501
+                spec.name, calling_fn.__name__)
+        )
+
+
+def configure(parser, args):
+    _stop_at_phase_during_install(args, configure, build_system_to_phase)
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/install.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/install.py
index 6ca75d7999a95571ee84dc431650bac4516356d3..aab7c0abc747780a5564c15468da6912592cb769 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/install.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/install.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ def setup_parser(subparser):
         help="Run tests during installation of a package.")
 
 
-def install(parser, args):
+def install(parser, args, **kwargs):
     if not args.package:
         tty.die("install requires at least one package argument")
 
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ def install(parser, args):
 
     # Parse cli arguments and construct a dictionary
     # that will be passed to Package.do_install API
-    kwargs = {
+    kwargs.update({
         'keep_prefix': args.keep_prefix,
         'keep_stage': args.keep_stage,
         'install_deps': 'dependencies' in args.things_to_install,
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ def install(parser, args):
         'verbose': args.verbose,
         'fake': args.fake,
         'dirty': args.dirty
-    }
+    })
 
     # Spec from cli
     specs = spack.cmd.parse_specs(args.package, concretize=True)
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/package.py b/lib/spack/spack/package.py
index 7eb5446a3016f6f671fb41c80ac79e20eeb06809..99796104a5a2423c2878fb7ff0eb3ab524eb9cbf 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/package.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/package.py
@@ -1263,13 +1263,9 @@ def build_process():
             # A StopIteration exception means that do_install
             # was asked to stop early from clients
             tty.msg(e.message)
-        except Exception:
-            tty.warn("Keeping install prefix in place despite error.",
-                     "Spack will think this package is installed. " +
-                     "Manually remove this directory to fix:",
-                     self.prefix,
-                     wrap=False)
-            raise
+            tty.msg(
+                'Package stage directory : {0}'.format(self.stage.source_path)
+            )
         finally:
             # Remove the install prefix if anything went wrong during install.
             if not keep_prefix: