diff --git a/cloudbaseinit/plugins/common/execcmd.py b/cloudbaseinit/plugins/common/execcmd.py
index c6660f49..e0f0c56a 100644
--- a/cloudbaseinit/plugins/common/execcmd.py
+++ b/cloudbaseinit/plugins/common/execcmd.py
@@ -12,11 +12,14 @@
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
 
+
 import functools
 import os
+import re
 import tempfile
 import uuid
 
+from cloudbaseinit.openstack.common import log as logging
 from cloudbaseinit.osutils import factory as osutils_factory
 
 
@@ -27,8 +30,60 @@ __all__ = (
     'Bash',
     'Powershell',
     'PowershellSysnative',
+    'CommandExecutor',
+    'EC2Config',
 )
 
+LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# used with ec2 config files (xmls)
+SCRIPT_TAG = 1
+POWERSHELL_TAG = 2
+# regexp and temporary file extension for each tag
+TAG_REGEX = {
+    SCRIPT_TAG: (
+        re.compile(br"<script>([\s\S]+?)</script>"),
+        "cmd"
+    ),
+    POWERSHELL_TAG: (
+        re.compile(br"<powershell>([\s\S]+?)</powershell>"),
+        "ps1"
+    )
+}
+
+
+def _ec2_find_sections(data):
+    """An intuitive script generator.
+
+    Is able to detect and extract code between:
+        - <script>...</script>
+        - <powershell>...</powershell>
+    tags. Yields data with each specific block of code.
+    Note that, regardless of data structure, all cmd scripts are
+    yielded before the rest of powershell scripts.
+    """
+    # extract code blocks between the tags
+    blocks = {
+        SCRIPT_TAG: TAG_REGEX[SCRIPT_TAG][0].findall(data),
+        POWERSHELL_TAG: TAG_REGEX[POWERSHELL_TAG][0].findall(data)
+    }
+    # build and yield blocks (preserve order)
+    for script_type in (SCRIPT_TAG, POWERSHELL_TAG):
+        for code in blocks[script_type]:
+            code = code.strip()
+            if not code:
+                continue    # skip the empty ones
+            yield code, script_type
+
+
+def _split_sections(multicmd):
+    for code, stype in _ec2_find_sections(multicmd):
+        if stype == SCRIPT_TAG:
+            command = Shell.from_data(code)
+        else:
+            command = PowershellSysnative.from_data(code)
+        yield command
+
 
 class BaseCommand(object):
     """Implements logic for executing an user command.
@@ -143,3 +198,51 @@ class PowershellSysnative(BaseCommand):
 
 class Powershell(PowershellSysnative):
     sysnative = False
+
+
+class CommandExecutor(object):
+
+    """Execute multiple commands and gather outputs."""
+
+    SEP = b"\n"            # multistring separator
+
+    def __init__(self, commands):
+        self._commands = commands
+
+    def execute(self):
+        out_total = []
+        err_total = []
+        ret_total = 0
+        for command in self._commands:
+            out = err = b""
+            ret_val = 0
+            try:
+                out, err, ret_val = command()
+            except Exception as exc:
+                LOG.exception(
+                    "An error occurred during part execution: %s",
+                    exc
+                )
+            else:
+                out_total.append(out)
+                err_total.append(err)
+                ret_total += ret_val
+        return (
+            self.SEP.join(out_total),
+            self.SEP.join(err_total),
+            ret_total
+        )
+
+    __call__ = execute
+
+
+class EC2Config(object):
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_data(cls, multicmd):
+        """Create multiple `CommandExecutor` objects.
+
+        These are created using data chunks
+        parsed from the given command data.
+        """
+        return CommandExecutor(_split_sections(multicmd))
diff --git a/cloudbaseinit/plugins/windows/userdatautils.py b/cloudbaseinit/plugins/windows/userdatautils.py
index 233d95f8..230245a9 100644
--- a/cloudbaseinit/plugins/windows/userdatautils.py
+++ b/cloudbaseinit/plugins/windows/userdatautils.py
@@ -12,23 +12,26 @@
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
 
+
 import functools
 import re
 
 from cloudbaseinit.openstack.common import log as logging
 from cloudbaseinit.plugins.common import execcmd
 
+
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # Avoid 80+ length by using a local variable, which
 # is deleted afterwards.
 _compile = functools.partial(re.compile, flags=re.I)
 FORMATS = (
-    (_compile(br'^rem cmd\s'), execcmd.Shell),
-    (_compile(br'^#!/usr/bin/env\spython\s'), execcmd.Python),
+    (_compile(br'^rem\s+cmd\s'), execcmd.Shell),
+    (_compile(br'^#!\s*/usr/bin/env\s+python\s'), execcmd.Python),
     (_compile(br'^#!'), execcmd.Bash),
     (_compile(br'^#(ps1|ps1_sysnative)\s'), execcmd.PowershellSysnative),
     (_compile(br'^#ps1_x86\s'), execcmd.Powershell),
+    (_compile(br'</?(script|powershell)>'), execcmd.EC2Config),
 )
 del _compile
 
@@ -45,15 +48,14 @@ def execute_user_data_script(user_data):
     out = err = None
     command = _get_command(user_data)
     if not command:
-        # Unsupported
         LOG.warning('Unsupported user_data format')
         return ret_val
 
     try:
         out, err, ret_val = command()
-    except Exception as ex:
+    except Exception as exc:
         LOG.warning('An error occurred during user_data execution: \'%s\'',
-                    ex)
+                    exc)
     else:
         LOG.debug('User_data stdout:\n%s', out)
         LOG.debug('User_data stderr:\n%s', err)
diff --git a/cloudbaseinit/tests/plugins/common/test_execcmd.py b/cloudbaseinit/tests/plugins/common/test_execcmd.py
index 669180e3..409b2fc4 100644
--- a/cloudbaseinit/tests/plugins/common/test_execcmd.py
+++ b/cloudbaseinit/tests/plugins/common/test_execcmd.py
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
 
+
 import os
+import textwrap
 import unittest
 
 import mock
@@ -22,6 +24,8 @@ from cloudbaseinit.tests import testutils
 
 
 def _remove_file(filepath):
+    if not filepath:
+        return
     try:
         os.remove(filepath)
     except OSError:
@@ -29,7 +33,7 @@ def _remove_file(filepath):
 
 
 @mock.patch('cloudbaseinit.osutils.factory.get_os_utils')
-class execcmdTest(unittest.TestCase):
+class TestExecCmd(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_from_data(self, _):
         command = execcmd.BaseCommand.from_data(b"test")
@@ -108,3 +112,51 @@ class execcmdTest(unittest.TestCase):
             command.execute()
 
             cleanup.assert_called_once_with()
+
+    @mock.patch("cloudbaseinit.plugins.common.execcmd.PowershellSysnative")
+    @mock.patch("cloudbaseinit.plugins.common.execcmd.Shell")
+    def _test_process_ec2(self, mock_shell, mock_psnative, tag=None):
+        if tag:
+            content = textwrap.dedent("""
+            <{0}>mocked</{0}>
+
+            <{0}>second</{0}>
+            <abc>1</abc>
+            <{0}>third
+            </{0}>
+            <{0}></{0}> # empty
+            <{0}></{0} # invalid
+            """.format(tag)).encode()
+        else:
+            content = textwrap.dedent("""
+            <powershell>p1</powershell>
+            <script>s1</script>
+            <script>s2</script>
+            <powershell>p2</powershell>
+            <script>s3</script>
+            """).encode()
+
+        def ident(value):
+            ident_func = mock.MagicMock()
+            ident_func.return_value = (value, b"", 0)
+            return ident_func
+
+        mock_shell.from_data = ident
+        mock_psnative.from_data = ident
+
+        ec2conf = execcmd.EC2Config.from_data(content)
+        out, _, _ = ec2conf()
+
+        if tag:
+            self.assertEqual(b"mocked\nsecond\nthird", out)
+        else:
+            self.assertEqual(b"s1\ns2\ns3\np1\np2", out)
+
+    def test_process_ec2_script(self, _):
+        self._test_process_ec2(tag="script")
+
+    def test_process_ec2_powershell(self, _):
+        self._test_process_ec2(tag="powershell")
+
+    def test_process_ec2_order(self, _):
+        self._test_process_ec2()
diff --git a/cloudbaseinit/tests/plugins/windows/test_userdatautils.py b/cloudbaseinit/tests/plugins/windows/test_userdatautils.py
index 5cccee81..fa7df2cd 100644
--- a/cloudbaseinit/tests/plugins/windows/test_userdatautils.py
+++ b/cloudbaseinit/tests/plugins/windows/test_userdatautils.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
 
+
 import os
 import unittest
 
@@ -22,6 +23,8 @@ from cloudbaseinit.plugins.windows import userdatautils
 
 
 def _safe_remove(filepath):
+    if not filepath:
+        return
     try:
         os.remove(filepath)
     except OSError:
@@ -38,7 +41,7 @@ class UserDataUtilsTest(unittest.TestCase):
         to remove the underlying target path of the command.
         """
         command = userdatautils._get_command(data)
-        if command:
+        if command and not isinstance(command, execcmd.CommandExecutor):
             self.addCleanup(_safe_remove, command._target_path)
         return command
 
@@ -58,6 +61,9 @@ class UserDataUtilsTest(unittest.TestCase):
         command = self._get_command(b'#ps1_x86\n')
         self.assertIsInstance(command, execcmd.Powershell)
 
+        command = self._get_command(b'<script>echo test</script>')
+        self.assertIsInstance(command, execcmd.CommandExecutor)
+
         command = self._get_command(b'unknown')
         self.assertIsNone(command)
 
diff --git a/cloudbaseinit/utils/encoding.py b/cloudbaseinit/utils/encoding.py
index 7a09e90d..b5585ecb 100644
--- a/cloudbaseinit/utils/encoding.py
+++ b/cloudbaseinit/utils/encoding.py
@@ -33,3 +33,13 @@ def write_file(target_path, data, mode='wb'):
 
     with open(target_path, mode) as f:
         f.write(data)
+
+
+def read_file(target_path, mode='rb'):
+    with open(target_path, mode) as f:
+        data = f.read()
+
+    if 'b' in mode:
+        data = data.decode()
+
+    return data