diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index eeb359d6..959ff607 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 source 'https://rubygems.org'
 
-gem 'chef', '~> 11.8'
+gem 'chef', '~> 11.12.0'
 gem 'json', '<= 1.7.7' # chef 11 dependency
 gem 'berkshelf', '~> 2.0.18'
 gem 'hashie', '~> 2.0'
-gem 'chefspec', '~> 3.4.0'
-gem 'rspec', '~> 2.14.1'
+gem 'chefspec', '~> 4.0.0'
+gem 'rspec', '~> 3.0.0'
 gem 'foodcritic', '~> 3.0.3'
 gem 'strainer'
 gem 'rubocop', '~> 0.18.1'
diff --git a/spec/database_spec.rb b/spec/database_spec.rb
index 877a7c86..593d2d6f 100644
--- a/spec/database_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/database_spec.rb
@@ -33,15 +33,15 @@ describe 'openstack-common::default' do
       end
 
       it 'creates database' do
-        pending 'TODO: test this LWRP'
+        skip 'TODO: test this LWRP'
       end
 
       it 'creates database user' do
-        pending 'TODO: test this LWRP'
+        skip 'TODO: test this LWRP'
       end
 
       it 'grants privs to database user' do
-        pending 'TODO: test this LWRP'
+        skip 'TODO: test this LWRP'
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/endpoints_spec.rb b/spec/endpoints_spec.rb
index d0a0a948..3b7536e4 100644
--- a/spec/endpoints_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/endpoints_spec.rb
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ describe 'openstack-common::set_endpoints_by_interface' do
       end
 
       it 'returns endpoint URI object when uri key not in endpoint hash but host is in hash' do
-        pending 'TODO: implement'
+        skip 'TODO: implement'
         subject.should_receive(:uri_from_hash).with('host' => 'localhost', 'port' => '8080')
         uri_hash = {
           'openstack' => {
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ describe 'openstack-common::set_endpoints_by_interface' do
       it 'returns db info hash when service found' do
         subject.stub(:node).and_return(chef_run.node)
         expect(subject.db('compute')['host']).to eq('127.0.0.1')
-        expect(subject.db('compute').key?('uri')).to be_false
+        expect(subject.db('compute').key?('uri')).to be_falsey
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/logging_spec.rb b/spec/logging_spec.rb
index 61bb4f06..3705e0e7 100644
--- a/spec/logging_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/logging_spec.rb
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ describe 'openstack-common::logging' do
     describe 'logging.conf' do
       let(:file) { chef_run.template('/etc/openstack/logging.conf') }
 
+      it 'should create /etc/openstack/logging.conf' do
+        expect(chef_run).to create_template(file.name)
+      end
+
       it 'has proper owner' do
         expect(file.owner).to eq('root')
         expect(file.group).to eq('root')
diff --git a/spec/sysctl_spec.rb b/spec/sysctl_spec.rb
index 5eded653..e8a59196 100644
--- a/spec/sysctl_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/sysctl_spec.rb
@@ -7,9 +7,21 @@ describe 'openstack-common::sysctl' do
     let(:node) { runner.node }
     let(:chef_run) { runner.converge(described_recipe) }
 
+    describe 'sysctl.d directory' do
+
+      it 'should create /etc/systctl.d' do
+        expect(chef_run).to create_directory('/etc/sysctl.d')
+      end
+
+    end
+
     describe '60-openstack.conf' do
       let(:file) { chef_run.template('/etc/sysctl.d/60-openstack.conf') }
 
+      it 'should create the template /etc/systctl.d/60-openstack.conf' do
+        expect(chef_run).to create_template('/etc/sysctl.d/60-openstack.conf')
+      end
+
       it 'has proper owner' do
         expect(file.owner).to eq('root')
         expect(file.group).to eq('root')
@@ -27,6 +39,17 @@ describe 'openstack-common::sysctl' do
           expect(chef_run).to render_file(file.name).with_content(/^#{k} = #{v}$/)
         end
       end
+
+    end
+
+    describe 'execute sysctl' do
+
+      it 'should execute sysctl for 60-openstack' do
+        resource = chef_run.execute('sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.d/60-openstack.conf')
+        expect(resource).to do_nothing
+        expect(resource).to subscribe_to('template[/etc/sysctl.d/60-openstack.conf]').on(:run).immediately
+      end
+
     end
   end
 end