diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e337e762..ce6a0496 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file, in reverse
 
 ### Added
 
-- Nothing.
+- [#164](https://github.com/scoutapp/scout-apm-php/pull/164) Added additional logging and testing around core-agent launching
 
 ### Changed
 
diff --git a/src/Agent.php b/src/Agent.php
index 549886ec..8d061931 100644
--- a/src/Agent.php
+++ b/src/Agent.php
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 use Scoutapm\Connector\SocketConnector;
 use Scoutapm\CoreAgent\AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager;
 use Scoutapm\CoreAgent\Downloader;
+use Scoutapm\CoreAgent\Launcher;
+use Scoutapm\CoreAgent\Verifier;
 use Scoutapm\Events\Metadata;
 use Scoutapm\Events\RegisterMessage;
 use Scoutapm\Events\Request\Request;
@@ -190,15 +192,27 @@ public function connect() : void
                 $this->config->get(ConfigKey::APPLICATION_NAME),
                 $this->extensionVersion()
             ));
-            $manager = new AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager(
+            $coreAgentDownloadPath = $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_DIRECTORY) . '/' . $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_FULL_NAME);
+            $manager               = new AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager(
                 $this->config,
                 $this->logger,
                 new Downloader(
-                    $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_DIRECTORY) . '/' . $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_FULL_NAME),
+                    $coreAgentDownloadPath,
                     $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_FULL_NAME),
                     $this->logger,
                     $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_DOWNLOAD_URL),
                     $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_PERMISSIONS)
+                ),
+                new Launcher(
+                    $this->logger,
+                    $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_SOCKET_PATH),
+                    $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_LOG_LEVEL),
+                    $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_LOG_FILE),
+                    $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_CONFIG_FILE)
+                ),
+                new Verifier(
+                    $this->logger,
+                    $coreAgentDownloadPath
                 )
             );
             $manager->launch();
diff --git a/src/CoreAgent/AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager.php b/src/CoreAgent/AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager.php
index 46675d24..883847f1 100644
--- a/src/CoreAgent/AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager.php
+++ b/src/CoreAgent/AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager.php
@@ -7,12 +7,6 @@
 use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
 use Scoutapm\Config;
 use Scoutapm\Config\ConfigKey;
-use Throwable;
-use function array_map;
-use function exec;
-use function file_get_contents;
-use function hash;
-use function implode;
 use function sprintf;
 
 /** @internal */
@@ -20,26 +14,28 @@ final class AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager implements Manager
 {
     /** @var Config */
     private $config;
-
     /** @var LoggerInterface */
     private $logger;
-
-    /** @var string */
-    private $coreAgentDir;
-
     /** @var Downloader */
     private $downloader;
-
-    /** @var string|null */
-    private $coreAgentBinPath;
-
-    public function __construct(Config $config, LoggerInterface $logger, Downloader $downloader)
-    {
-        $this->config       = $config;
-        $this->logger       = $logger;
-        $this->coreAgentDir = $config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_DIRECTORY) . '/' . $config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_FULL_NAME);
+    /** @var Launcher */
+    private $launcher;
+    /** @var Verifier */
+    private $verifier;
+
+    public function __construct(
+        Config $config,
+        LoggerInterface $logger,
+        Downloader $downloader,
+        Launcher $launcher,
+        Verifier $verifier
+    ) {
+        $this->config = $config;
+        $this->logger = $logger;
 
         $this->downloader = $downloader;
+        $this->launcher   = $launcher;
+        $this->verifier   = $verifier;
     }
 
     public function launch() : bool
@@ -53,7 +49,8 @@ public function launch() : bool
             return false;
         }
 
-        if (! $this->verify()) {
+        $coreAgentBinPath = $this->verifier->verify();
+        if ($coreAgentBinPath === null) {
             if (! $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_DOWNLOAD_ENABLED)) {
                 $this->logger->debug(sprintf(
                     "Not attempting to download Core Agent due to '%s' setting.",
@@ -63,10 +60,11 @@ public function launch() : bool
                 return false;
             }
 
-            $this->download();
+            $this->downloader->download();
         }
 
-        if (! $this->verify()) {
+        $coreAgentBinPath = $this->verifier->verify();
+        if ($coreAgentBinPath === null) {
             $this->logger->debug(
                 'Failed to verify Core Agent. Not launching Core Agent.'
             );
@@ -74,89 +72,6 @@ public function launch() : bool
             return false;
         }
 
-        return $this->run();
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Initiate download of the agent
-     */
-    private function download() : void
-    {
-        $this->downloader->download();
-    }
-
-    private function verify() : bool
-    {
-        // Check for a well formed manifest
-        $manifest = new Manifest($this->coreAgentDir . '/manifest.json', $this->logger);
-        if (! $manifest->isValid()) {
-            $this->logger->debug('Core Agent verification failed: Manifest is not valid.');
-            $this->coreAgentBinPath = null;
-
-            return false;
-        }
-
-        // Check that the hash matches
-        $binPath = $this->coreAgentDir . '/' . $manifest->binaryName();
-        if (hash('sha256', file_get_contents($binPath)) === $manifest->hashOfBinary()) {
-            $this->coreAgentBinPath = $binPath;
-
-            return true;
-        }
-
-        $this->logger->debug('Core Agent verification failed: SHA mismatch.');
-        $this->coreAgentBinPath = null;
-
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    private function run() : bool
-    {
-        $this->logger->debug('Core Agent Launch in Progress');
-        try {
-            $logLevel   = $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_LOG_LEVEL);
-            $logFile    = $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_LOG_FILE);
-            $configFile = $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_CONFIG_FILE);
-
-            if ($logFile === null) {
-                $logFile = '/dev/null';
-            }
-
-            $commandParts = [
-                $this->coreAgentBinPath,
-                'start',
-                '--daemonize',
-                'true',
-                '--log-file',
-                $logFile,
-            ];
-
-            if ($logLevel !== null) {
-                $commandParts[] = '--log-level';
-                $commandParts[] = $logLevel;
-            }
-
-            if ($configFile !== null) {
-                $commandParts[] = '--config-file';
-                $commandParts[] = $configFile;
-            }
-
-            $commandParts[] = '--socket';
-            $commandParts[] = $this->config->get(ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_SOCKET_PATH);
-
-            $escapedCommand = implode(' ', array_map('escapeshellarg', $commandParts));
-
-            $this->logger->debug(sprintf('Launching core agent with command: %s', $escapedCommand));
-            exec($escapedCommand);
-
-            return true;
-        } catch (Throwable $e) {
-            $this->logger->debug(
-                sprintf('Failed to launch core agent - exception %s', $e->getMessage()),
-                ['exception' => $e]
-            );
-
-            return false;
-        }
+        return $this->launcher->launch($coreAgentBinPath);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/CoreAgent/Launcher.php b/src/CoreAgent/Launcher.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8944118c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/CoreAgent/Launcher.php
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Scoutapm\CoreAgent;
+
+use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
+use RuntimeException;
+use Throwable;
+use function array_map;
+use function exec;
+use function explode;
+use function function_exists;
+use function implode;
+use function in_array;
+use function ini_get;
+use function sprintf;
+use function stripos;
+
+/** @internal */
+class Launcher
+{
+    /** @var LoggerInterface */
+    private $logger;
+    /** @var string */
+    private $coreAgentSocketPath;
+    /** @var string|null */
+    private $coreAgentLogLevel;
+    /** @var string */
+    private $coreAgentLogFile;
+    /** @var string|null */
+    private $coreAgentConfigFile;
+
+    public function __construct(
+        LoggerInterface $logger,
+        string $coreAgentSocketPath,
+        ?string $coreAgentLogLevel,
+        ?string $coreAgentLogFile,
+        ?string $coreAgentConfigFile
+    ) {
+        $this->logger              = $logger;
+        $this->coreAgentSocketPath = $coreAgentSocketPath;
+        $this->coreAgentLogLevel   = $coreAgentLogLevel;
+        $this->coreAgentConfigFile = $coreAgentConfigFile;
+        $this->coreAgentLogFile    = $coreAgentLogFile ?? '/dev/null';
+    }
+
+    public function launch(string $coreAgentBinaryPath) : bool
+    {
+        if (! $this->phpCanExec()) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $this->logger->debug('Core Agent Launch in Progress');
+        try {
+            $commandParts = [
+                $coreAgentBinaryPath,
+                'start',
+                '--daemonize',
+                'true',
+                '--log-file',
+                $this->coreAgentLogFile,
+            ];
+
+            if ($this->coreAgentLogLevel !== null) {
+                $commandParts[] = '--log-level';
+                $commandParts[] = $this->coreAgentLogLevel;
+            }
+
+            if ($this->coreAgentConfigFile !== null) {
+                $commandParts[] = '--config-file';
+                $commandParts[] = $this->coreAgentConfigFile;
+            }
+
+            $commandParts[] = '--socket';
+            $commandParts[] = $this->coreAgentSocketPath;
+
+            $escapedCommand = implode(' ', array_map('escapeshellarg', $commandParts));
+
+            $this->logger->debug(sprintf('Launching core agent with command: %s', $escapedCommand));
+
+            exec($escapedCommand . ' 2>&1', $output, $exitStatus);
+
+            $this->assertOutputDoesNotContainErrors(implode("\n", $output), $exitStatus);
+
+            return true;
+        } catch (Throwable $e) {
+            $this->logger->debug(
+                sprintf('Failed to launch core agent - exception %s', $e->getMessage()),
+                ['exception' => $e]
+            );
+
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private function phpCanExec() : bool
+    {
+        if (! function_exists('exec')) {
+            $this->logger->warning('PHP function exec is not available');
+
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        if (in_array('exec', array_map('trim', explode(',', ini_get('disable_functions'))))) {
+            $this->logger->warning('PHP function exec is in disabled_functions');
+
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        if (exec('echo scoutapm') !== 'scoutapm') {
+            $this->logger->warning('PHP function exec did not return expected value');
+
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $this->logger->debug('exec is available');
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    private function assertOutputDoesNotContainErrors(string $output, int $exitStatus) : void
+    {
+        if (stripos($output, "version `GLIBC_2.18' not found") !== false) {
+            throw new RuntimeException('core-agent currently needs at least glibc 2.18. Output: ' . $output);
+        }
+
+        if ($exitStatus !== 0) {
+            throw new RuntimeException('core-agent exited with non-zero status. Output: ' . $output);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/CoreAgent/Verifier.php b/src/CoreAgent/Verifier.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..94fcc953
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/CoreAgent/Verifier.php
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Scoutapm\CoreAgent;
+
+use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
+use function hash_equals;
+use function hash_file;
+
+/** @internal */
+class Verifier
+{
+    /** @var LoggerInterface */
+    private $logger;
+
+    /** @var string */
+    private $coreAgentDownloadPath;
+
+    public function __construct(LoggerInterface $logger, string $coreAgentDownloadPath)
+    {
+        $this->logger                = $logger;
+        $this->coreAgentDownloadPath = $coreAgentDownloadPath;
+    }
+
+    public function verify() : ?string
+    {
+        // Check for a well formed manifest
+        $manifest = new Manifest($this->coreAgentDownloadPath . '/manifest.json', $this->logger);
+        if (! $manifest->isValid()) {
+            $this->logger->debug('Core Agent verification failed: Manifest is not valid.');
+
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        // Check that the hash matches
+        $binPath = $this->coreAgentDownloadPath . '/' . $manifest->binaryName();
+        if (hash_equals($manifest->hashOfBinary(), hash_file('sha256', $binPath))) {
+            return $binPath;
+        }
+
+        $this->logger->debug('Core Agent verification failed: SHA mismatch.');
+
+        return null;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Unit/AgentTest.php b/tests/Unit/AgentTest.php
index 7d356b28..0aa9af43 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/AgentTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/AgentTest.php
@@ -449,6 +449,8 @@ public function testRequestIsResetAfterCallingSend() : void
             ConfigKey::APPLICATION_NAME => 'My test app',
             ConfigKey::APPLICATION_KEY => uniqid('applicationKey', true),
             ConfigKey::MONITORING_ENABLED => true,
+            ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_DOWNLOAD_ENABLED => false,
+            ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_LAUNCH_ENABLED => false,
         ]);
 
         $requestBeforeSend = $agent->getRequest();
@@ -518,6 +520,7 @@ public function testAgentLogsWarningWhenFailingToConnectToSocket() : void
                 ConfigKey::MONITORING_ENABLED => true,
                 ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_SOCKET_PATH => '/socket/path/should/not/exist',
                 ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_DOWNLOAD_ENABLED => false,
+                ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_LAUNCH_ENABLED => false,
             ]),
             $this->logger,
             new DevNullCache()
@@ -545,6 +548,7 @@ public function testAgentLogsDebugWhenConnectedToSocket() : void
             ConfigKey::APPLICATION_KEY => uniqid('applicationKey', true),
             ConfigKey::MONITORING_ENABLED => true,
             ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_DOWNLOAD_ENABLED => false,
+            ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_LAUNCH_ENABLED => false,
         ]);
 
         $agent->connect();
@@ -736,6 +740,8 @@ public function testOlderVersionsOfExtensionIsNotedInLogs() : void
             ConfigKey::APPLICATION_NAME => 'My test app',
             ConfigKey::APPLICATION_KEY => uniqid('applicationKey', true),
             ConfigKey::MONITORING_ENABLED => true,
+            ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_DOWNLOAD_ENABLED => false,
+            ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_LAUNCH_ENABLED => false,
         ]);
 
         $this->phpExtension
@@ -755,6 +761,8 @@ public function testNewerVersionsOfExtensionIsNotLogged() : void
             ConfigKey::APPLICATION_NAME => 'My test app',
             ConfigKey::APPLICATION_KEY => uniqid('applicationKey', true),
             ConfigKey::MONITORING_ENABLED => true,
+            ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_DOWNLOAD_ENABLED => false,
+            ConfigKey::CORE_AGENT_LAUNCH_ENABLED => false,
         ]);
 
         $this->phpExtension
diff --git a/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/CoreAgentManagerTest.php b/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/CoreAgentManagerTest.php
deleted file mode 100644
index 488855ca..00000000
--- a/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/CoreAgentManagerTest.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-declare(strict_types=1);
-
-namespace Scoutapm\UnitTests\CoreAgent;
-
-use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
-use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
-use Scoutapm\Config;
-use Scoutapm\CoreAgent\AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager;
-use Scoutapm\CoreAgent\Downloader;
-
-/** @covers \Scoutapm\CoreAgent\AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager */
-final class CoreAgentManagerTest extends TestCase
-{
-    public function testInitialize() : void
-    {
-        $cam = new AutomaticDownloadAndLaunchManager(
-            new Config(),
-            $this->createMock(LoggerInterface::class),
-            $this->createMock(Downloader::class)
-        );
-
-        // Provided by the DefaultConfig
-        self::assertNotNull($cam);
-    }
-}
diff --git a/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/LauncherTest.php b/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/LauncherTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e61ca013
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/LauncherTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Scoutapm\UnitTests\CoreAgent;
+
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+use Psr\Log\Test\TestLogger;
+use Scoutapm\CoreAgent\Launcher;
+
+/** @covers \Scoutapm\CoreAgent\Launcher */
+final class LauncherTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function testLaunchingCoreAgentWithInvalidGlibcIsCaught() : void
+    {
+        $logger = new TestLogger();
+
+        $launcher = new Launcher(
+            $logger,
+            'socket-path.sock',
+            null,
+            null,
+            null
+        );
+
+        self::assertFalse($launcher->launch(__DIR__ . '/emulated-core-agent-glibc-error.sh'));
+        $logger->hasDebugThatContains('core-agent currently needs at least glibc 2.18');
+    }
+
+    public function testLaunchCoreAgentWithNonZeroExitCodeIsCaught() : void
+    {
+        $logger = new TestLogger();
+
+        $launcher = new Launcher(
+            $logger,
+            'socket-path.sock',
+            null,
+            null,
+            null
+        );
+
+        self::assertFalse($launcher->launch(__DIR__ . '/emulated-unknown-error.sh'));
+        $logger->hasDebugThatContains('core-agent exited with non-zero status. Output: Something bad went wrong');
+    }
+
+    public function testCoreAgentCanBeLaunched() : void
+    {
+        $logger = new TestLogger();
+
+        $launcher = new Launcher(
+            $logger,
+            '/tmp/socket-path.sock',
+            'TRACE',
+            '/tmp/core-agent.log',
+            '/tmp/core-agent-config.ini'
+        );
+
+        self::assertTrue($launcher->launch(__DIR__ . '/emulated-happy-path.sh'));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/emulated-core-agent-glibc-error.sh b/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/emulated-core-agent-glibc-error.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..88754c69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/emulated-core-agent-glibc-error.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+>&2 echo "/tmp/scout_apm_core/scout_apm_core-v1.2.7-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/core-agent: /lib64/libc.so.6: version \`GLIBC_2.18' not found (required by /tmp/scout_apm_core/scout_apm_core-v1.2.7-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/core-agent)"
+exit 1
diff --git a/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/emulated-happy-path.sh b/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/emulated-happy-path.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..37520e1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/emulated-happy-path.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+EXPECTED_PARAMS="start --daemonize true --log-file /tmp/core-agent.log --log-level TRACE --config-file /tmp/core-agent-config.ini --socket /tmp/socket-path.sock"
+ACTUAL_PARAMS=$*
+
+if [ "$ACTUAL_PARAMS" != "$EXPECTED_PARAMS" ]; then
+  >&2 printf "Script params did not match expectations.\n\nExpected: %s\nActual  : %s\n" "$EXPECTED_PARAMS" "$ACTUAL_PARAMS"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/emulated-unknown-error.sh b/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/emulated-unknown-error.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d0f31983
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/CoreAgent/emulated-unknown-error.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+>&2 echo "Something bad went wrong"
+exit 1