diff --git a/cibuildwheel/__main__.py b/cibuildwheel/__main__.py
index 137bc19e..bce3f754 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/__main__.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/__main__.py
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ def main() -> None:
 
     build_config, skip_config = os.environ.get('CIBW_BUILD', '*'), os.environ.get('CIBW_SKIP', '')
     environment_config = get_option_from_environment('CIBW_ENVIRONMENT', platform=platform, default='')
+    before_all = get_option_from_environment('CIBW_BEFORE_ALL', platform=platform)
     before_build = get_option_from_environment('CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD', platform=platform)
     repair_command = get_option_from_environment('CIBW_REPAIR_WHEEL_COMMAND', platform=platform, default=repair_command_default)
     dependency_versions = get_option_from_environment('CIBW_DEPENDENCY_VERSIONS', platform=platform, default='pinned')
@@ -212,6 +213,7 @@ def main() -> None:
         test_extras=test_extras,
         before_test=before_test,
         before_build=before_build,
+        before_all=before_all,
         build_verbosity=build_verbosity,
         build_selector=build_selector,
         repair_command=repair_command,
diff --git a/cibuildwheel/linux.py b/cibuildwheel/linux.py
index 99e779c4..8bbda24d 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/linux.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/linux.py
@@ -133,6 +133,10 @@ def build(options: BuildOptions) -> None:
 
             call(['docker', 'start', container_name])
 
+            if options.before_all:
+                before_all_prepared = prepare_command(options.before_all, project='/project', package=options.package_dir)
+                call(['docker', 'exec', '-i', container_name] + shell_cmd, universal_newlines=True, input=before_all_prepared)
+
             for config in platform_configs:
                 if options.dependency_constraints:
                     constraints_file = options.dependency_constraints.get_for_python_version(config.version)
diff --git a/cibuildwheel/macos.py b/cibuildwheel/macos.py
index 2fd28d20..3e67b534 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/macos.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/macos.py
@@ -176,6 +176,10 @@ def build(options: BuildOptions) -> None:
     built_wheel_dir = temp_dir / 'built_wheel'
     repaired_wheel_dir = temp_dir / 'repaired_wheel'
 
+    if options.before_all:
+        before_all_prepared = prepare_command(options.before_all, project='.', package=options.package_dir)
+        call([before_all_prepared], shell=True)
+
     python_configurations = get_python_configurations(options.build_selector)
 
     for config in python_configurations:
diff --git a/cibuildwheel/util.py b/cibuildwheel/util.py
index feef6185..f7201462 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/util.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/util.py
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ class BuildOptions(NamedTuple):
     output_dir: Path
     build_selector: BuildSelector
     environment: ParsedEnvironment
+    before_all: str
     before_build: Optional[str]
     repair_command: str
     manylinux_images: Optional[Dict[str, str]]
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ class BuildOptions(NamedTuple):
     before_test: Optional[str]
     test_requires: List[str]
     test_extras: str
-    build_verbosity: int
+x    build_verbosity: int
 
 
 resources_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent / 'resources'
diff --git a/cibuildwheel/windows.py b/cibuildwheel/windows.py
index e81fe301..73628c7f 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/windows.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/windows.py
@@ -162,6 +162,10 @@ def build(options: BuildOptions) -> None:
     nuget = Path('C:\\cibw\\nuget.exe')
     download('https://dist.nuget.org/win-x86-commandline/latest/nuget.exe', nuget)
 
+    if options.before_all:
+        before_all_prepared = prepare_command(options.before_all, project='.', package=options.package_dir)
+        shell([before_all_prepared])
+
     python_configurations = get_python_configurations(options.build_selector)
     for config in python_configurations:
         dependency_constraint_flags = []
diff --git a/docs/options.md b/docs/options.md
index 18d5417b..0d61060d 100644
--- a/docs/options.md
+++ b/docs/options.md
@@ -190,6 +190,25 @@ CIBW_ENVIRONMENT: "BUILD_TIME=$(date) SAMPLE_TEXT=\"sample text\""
 !!! note
     `cibuildwheel` always defines the environment variable `CIBUILDWHEEL=1`. This can be useful for [building wheels with optional extensions](faq.md#building-packages-with-optional-c-extensions).
 
+### `CIBW_BEFORE_ALL` {: #before-all}
+> Execute a shell command preparing common part for each wheel. 
+
+Shell command to prepare common part of project (ex. build libraries which does not depend on python).
+This option is added mainly for linux build, because linux wheels are build in isolated from host docker containers.
+
+The placeholder `{package}` can be used here; it will be replaced by the path to the package being built by `cibuildwheel`.
+
+Platform-specific variants also available:<br/>
+ `CIBW_BEFORE_ALL_MACOS` | `CIBW_BEFORE_ALL_WINDOWS` | `CIBW_BEFORE_ALL_LINUX`
+
+#### Examples
+```yaml
+# build third party library
+CIBW_BEFORE_ALL: make -C third_party_lib
+
+# install system library
+CIBW_BEFORE_ALL: yum install -y libffi-dev
+```
 
 ### `CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD` {: #before-build}
 > Execute a shell command preparing each wheel's build
diff --git a/test/14_before_all/cibuildwheel_test.py b/test/14_before_all/cibuildwheel_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e5340e35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/14_before_all/cibuildwheel_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import os
+
+import utils
+
+
+def test():
+    project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+
+    with open(os.path.join(project_dir, "text_info.txt"), mode='w') as ff:
+        print("dummy text", file=ff)
+
+    # build the wheels
+    actual_wheels = utils.cibuildwheel_run(project_dir, add_env={
+        # write python version information to a temporary file, this is
+        # checked in setup.py
+        'CIBW_BEFORE_ALL': '''python -c "open('{project}/text_info.txt', 'w').write('sample text')"''',
+    })
+
+
+    # also check that we got the right wheels
+    os.remove(os.path.join(project_dir, "text_info.txt"))
+    expected_wheels = utils.expected_wheels('spam', '0.1.0')
+    assert set(actual_wheels) == set(expected_wheels)
diff --git a/test/14_before_all/setup.py b/test/14_before_all/setup.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7b68808b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/14_before_all/setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import os
+import sys
+
+from setuptools import (
+    Extension,
+    setup,
+)
+
+# assert that the Python version as written to text_info.txt in the CIBW_BEFORE_ALL step
+# is the same one as is currently running.
+with open("text_info.txt") as f:
+    stored_text = f.read()
+
+print("## stored text: "+stored_text)
+assert stored_text == "sample text"
+
+
+
+setup(
+    name="spam",
+    ext_modules=[Extension('spam', sources=['spam.c'])],
+    version="0.1.0",
+)
diff --git a/test/14_before_all/spam.c b/test/14_before_all/spam.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d1ab0f22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/14_before_all/spam.c
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#include <Python.h>
+
+static PyObject *
+spam_system(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
+{
+    const char *command;
+    int sts;
+
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s", &command))
+        return NULL;
+    sts = system(command);
+    return PyLong_FromLong(sts);
+}
+
+/* Module initialization */
+
+#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION >= 3
+    #define MOD_INIT(name) PyMODINIT_FUNC PyInit_##name(void)
+    #define MOD_DEF(m, name, doc, methods, module_state_size) \
+        static struct PyModuleDef moduledef = { \
+            PyModuleDef_HEAD_INIT, name, doc, module_state_size, methods, }; \
+        m = PyModule_Create(&moduledef);
+    #define MOD_RETURN(m) return m;
+#else
+    #define MOD_INIT(name) PyMODINIT_FUNC init##name(void)
+    #define MOD_DEF(m, name, doc, methods, module_state_size) \
+        m = Py_InitModule3(name, methods, doc);
+    #define MOD_RETURN(m) return;
+#endif
+
+static PyMethodDef module_methods[] = {
+    {"system", (PyCFunction)spam_system, METH_VARARGS, 
+     "Execute a shell command."},
+    {NULL}  /* Sentinel */
+};
+
+MOD_INIT(spam)
+{
+    PyObject* m;
+
+    MOD_DEF(m, 
+            "spam", 
+            "Example module", 
+            module_methods,
+            -1)
+
+    MOD_RETURN(m)
+}