diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 3a8cc00ee34a..039ca81522a9 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -204,9 +204,19 @@ namespace :test do
 
 
   desc 'Run e2e test suite (single run)'
-  task :e2e, :browsers, :misc_options do |t, args|
+  task :e2e, [:browsers, :misc_options] => ['docs', 'e2e:server'] do |t, args|
     start_testacular('testacular-e2e.conf.js', true, args[:browsers], args[:misc_options])
   end
+
+  namespace :e2e do
+    desc 'Check for & launch a webserver'
+    task 'server' do
+      testacular_proxy_port_number = 8000
+      unless server?(testacular_proxy_port_number)
+        system "node lib/nodeserver/server.js #{testacular_proxy_port_number} &"
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end
 
 
@@ -335,3 +345,12 @@ def start_testacular(config, singleRun, browsers, misc_options)
                 "#{'--browsers=' + browsers.gsub('+', ',') if browsers} " +
                 "#{(misc_options || '').gsub('+', ',')}"
 end
+
+def server?(port)
+  require 'socket'
+  s = TCPSocket.open('localhost', port)
+  rescue => e
+    return nil
+  ensure
+    s && s.close
+end