diff --git a/exercise.sh b/exercise.sh
index f35adef..1a812f4 100755
--- a/exercise.sh
+++ b/exercise.sh
@@ -7,11 +7,11 @@
 #
 
 
-# This script exits on an error so that errors don't compound and you see 
+# This script exits on an error so that errors don't compound and you see
 # only the first error that occured.
 set -o errexit
 
-# Print the commands being run so that we can see the command that triggers 
+# Print the commands being run so that we can see the command that triggers
 # an error.  It is also useful for following allowing as the install occurs.
 set -o xtrace
 
@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ export NOVA_USERNAME=${USERNAME:-demo}
 # With Keystone you pass the keystone password instead of an api key.
 export NOVA_API_KEY=${ADMIN_PASSWORD:-secrete}
 
-# With the addition of Keystone, to use an openstack cloud you should 
-# authenticate against keystone, which returns a **Token** and **Service 
-# Catalog**.  The catalog contains the endpoint for all services the user/tenant 
-# has access to - including nova, glance, keystone, swift, ...  We currently 
-# recommend using the 2.0 *auth api*.  
+# With the addition of Keystone, to use an openstack cloud you should
+# authenticate against keystone, which returns a **Token** and **Service
+# Catalog**.  The catalog contains the endpoint for all services the user/tenant
+# has access to - including nova, glance, keystone, swift, ...  We currently
+# recommend using the 2.0 *auth api*.
 #
 # *NOTE*: Using the 2.0 *auth api* does mean that compute api is 2.0.  We will
 # use the 1.1 *compute api*
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ export NOVACLIENT_DEBUG=1
 # Get a token for clients that don't support service catalog
 # ==========================================================
 
-# manually create a token by querying keystone (sending JSON data).  Keystone 
+# manually create a token by querying keystone (sending JSON data).  Keystone
 # returns a token and catalog of endpoints.  We use python to parse the token
 # and save it.
 
@@ -120,11 +120,11 @@ IP=`nova show $NAME | grep "private network" | cut -d"|" -f3`
 # ping it once (timeout of a second)
 ping -c1 -w1 $IP || true
 
-# sometimes the first ping fails (10 seconds isn't enough time for the VM's 
+# sometimes the first ping fails (10 seconds isn't enough time for the VM's
 # network to respond?), so let's wait 5 seconds and really test ping
 sleep 5
 
-ping -c1 -w1 $IP 
+ping -c1 -w1 $IP
 # allow icmp traffic
 nova secgroup-add-rule $SECGROUP icmp -1 -1 0.0.0.0/0
 
@@ -167,5 +167,5 @@ nova delete $NAME
 # Delete a secgroup
 nova secgroup-delete $SECGROUP
 
-# FIXME: validate shutdown within 5 seconds 
+# FIXME: validate shutdown within 5 seconds
 # (nova show $NAME returns 1 or status != ACTIVE)?
diff --git a/files/keystone_data.sh b/files/keystone_data.sh
index f48eaf9..2cca345 100755
--- a/files/keystone_data.sh
+++ b/files/keystone_data.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ $BIN_DIR/keystone-manage $* endpointTemplates add RegionOne keystone http://%HOS
 $BIN_DIR/keystone-manage $* token add %SERVICE_TOKEN% admin admin 2015-02-05T00:00
 
 # EC2 related creds - note we are setting the token to user_password
-# but keystone doesn't parse them - it is just a blob from keystone's 
+# but keystone doesn't parse them - it is just a blob from keystone's
 # point of view
 $BIN_DIR/keystone-manage $* credentials add admin EC2 'admin_%ADMIN_PASSWORD%' admin admin || echo "no support for adding credentials"
 $BIN_DIR/keystone-manage $* credentials add demo EC2 'demo_%ADMIN_PASSWORD%' demo demo || echo "no support for adding credentials"
diff --git a/stack.sh b/stack.sh
index c5bc9c1..628ce54 100755
--- a/stack.sh
+++ b/stack.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 # This script installs and configures *nova*, *glance*, *dashboard* and *keystone*
 
-# This script allows you to specify configuration options of what git 
+# This script allows you to specify configuration options of what git
 # repositories to use, enabled services, network configuration and various
 # passwords.  If you are crafty you can run the script on multiple nodes using
 # shared settings for common resources (mysql, rabbitmq) and build a multi-node
@@ -65,11 +65,11 @@ fi
 # in most cases.
 #
 # We our settings from ``stackrc``.  This file is distributed with devstack and
-# contains locations for what repositories to use.  If you want to use other 
-# repositories and branches, you can add your own settings with another file 
+# contains locations for what repositories to use.  If you want to use other
+# repositories and branches, you can add your own settings with another file
 # called ``localrc``
 #
-# If ``localrc`` exists, then ``stackrc`` will load those settings.  This is 
+# If ``localrc`` exists, then ``stackrc`` will load those settings.  This is
 # useful for changing a branch or repostiory to test other versions.  Also you
 # can store your other settings like **MYSQL_PASSWORD** or **ADMIN_PASSWORD** instead
 # of letting devstack generate random ones for you.
@@ -91,8 +91,8 @@ if [[ $EUID -eq 0 ]]; then
 
     # since this script runs as a normal user, we need to give that user
     # ability to run sudo
-    apt-get update
-    apt-get install -y sudo
+    apt_get update
+    apt_get install sudo
 
     if ! getent passwd stack >/dev/null; then
         echo "Creating a user called stack"
@@ -144,6 +144,14 @@ if [ ! -n "$HOST_IP" ]; then
     HOST_IP=`LC_ALL=C /sbin/ifconfig  | grep -m 1 'inet addr:'| cut -d: -f2 | awk '{print $1}'`
 fi
 
+# apt-get wrapper to just get arguments set correctly
+function apt_get() {
+    local sudo="sudo"
+    [ "$(id -u)" = "0" ] && sudo=""
+    $sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get \
+        --option "Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold" --assume-yes "$@"
+}
+
 # Generic helper to configure passwords
 function read_password {
     set +o xtrace
@@ -159,7 +167,7 @@ function read_password {
             touch $localrc
         fi
 
-        # Presumably if we got this far it can only be that our localrc is missing 
+        # Presumably if we got this far it can only be that our localrc is missing
         # the required password.  Prompt user for a password and write to localrc.
         echo ''
         echo '################################################################################'
@@ -184,7 +192,7 @@ function read_password {
 # Nova Network Configuration
 # --------------------------
 
-# FIXME: more documentation about why these are important flags.  Also 
+# FIXME: more documentation about why these are important flags.  Also
 # we should make sure we use the same variable names as the flag names.
 
 PUBLIC_INTERFACE=${PUBLIC_INTERFACE:-eth0}
@@ -205,15 +213,15 @@ MULTI_HOST=${MULTI_HOST:-0}
 # variable but make sure that the interface doesn't already have an
 # ip or you risk breaking things.
 #
-# **DHCP Warning**:  If your flat interface device uses DHCP, there will be a 
-# hiccup while the network is moved from the flat interface to the flat network 
-# bridge.  This will happen when you launch your first instance.  Upon launch 
-# you will lose all connectivity to the node, and the vm launch will probably 
+# **DHCP Warning**:  If your flat interface device uses DHCP, there will be a
+# hiccup while the network is moved from the flat interface to the flat network
+# bridge.  This will happen when you launch your first instance.  Upon launch
+# you will lose all connectivity to the node, and the vm launch will probably
 # fail.
-# 
-# If you are running on a single node and don't need to access the VMs from 
+#
+# If you are running on a single node and don't need to access the VMs from
 # devices other than that node, you can set the flat interface to the same
-# value as ``FLAT_NETWORK_BRIDGE``.  This will stop the network hiccup from 
+# value as ``FLAT_NETWORK_BRIDGE``.  This will stop the network hiccup from
 # occuring.
 FLAT_INTERFACE=${FLAT_INTERFACE:-eth0}
 
@@ -223,11 +231,11 @@ FLAT_INTERFACE=${FLAT_INTERFACE:-eth0}
 # MySQL & RabbitMQ
 # ----------------
 
-# We configure Nova, Dashboard, Glance and Keystone to use MySQL as their 
+# We configure Nova, Dashboard, Glance and Keystone to use MySQL as their
 # database server.  While they share a single server, each has their own
 # database and tables.
 
-# By default this script will install and configure MySQL.  If you want to 
+# By default this script will install and configure MySQL.  If you want to
 # use an existing server, you can pass in the user/password/host parameters.
 # You will need to send the same ``MYSQL_PASSWORD`` to every host if you are doing
 # a multi-node devstack installation.
@@ -284,8 +292,8 @@ fi
 
 
 # install apt requirements
-sudo apt-get update
-sudo apt-get install -qqy `cat $FILES/apts/* | cut -d\# -f1 | grep -Ev "mysql-server|rabbitmq-server"`
+apt_get update
+apt_get install `cat $FILES/apts/* | cut -d\# -f1 | grep -Ev "mysql-server|rabbitmq-server"`
 
 # install python requirements
 sudo PIP_DOWNLOAD_CACHE=/var/cache/pip pip install `cat $FILES/pips/*`
@@ -352,7 +360,11 @@ cp $FILES/screenrc ~/.screenrc
 
 if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "rabbit" ]]; then
     # Install and start rabbitmq-server
-    sudo apt-get install -y -q rabbitmq-server
+    # the temp file is necessary due to LP: #878600
+    tfile=$(mktemp)
+    apt_get install rabbitmq-server > "$tfile" 2>&1
+    cat "$tfile"
+    rm -f "$tfile"
     # change the rabbit password since the default is "guest"
     sudo rabbitmqctl change_password guest $RABBIT_PASSWORD
 fi
@@ -384,7 +396,7 @@ EOF
     fi
 
     # Install and start mysql-server
-    sudo apt-get -y -q install mysql-server
+    apt_get install mysql-server
     # Update the DB to give user ‘$MYSQL_USER’@’%’ full control of the all databases:
     sudo mysql -uroot -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -h127.0.0.1 -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO '$MYSQL_USER'@'%' identified by '$MYSQL_PASSWORD';"
 
@@ -472,8 +484,8 @@ if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "n-cpu" ]]; then
     # attempt to load modules: network block device - used to manage qcow images
     sudo modprobe nbd || true
 
-    # Check for kvm (hardware based virtualization).  If unable to initialize 
-    # kvm, we drop back to the slower emulation mode (qemu).  Note: many systems 
+    # Check for kvm (hardware based virtualization).  If unable to initialize
+    # kvm, we drop back to the slower emulation mode (qemu).  Note: many systems
     # come with hardware virtualization disabled in BIOS.
     if [[ "$LIBVIRT_TYPE" == "kvm" ]]; then
         sudo modprobe kvm || true
@@ -487,7 +499,7 @@ if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "n-cpu" ]]; then
     # splitting a system into many smaller parts.  LXC uses cgroups and chroot
     # to simulate multiple systems.
     if [[ "$LIBVIRT_TYPE" == "lxc" ]]; then
-        sudo apt-get install lxc -y
+        apt_get install lxc
         # lxc uses cgroups (a kernel interface via virtual filesystem) configured
         # and mounted to ``/cgroup``
         sudo mkdir -p /cgroup
@@ -502,7 +514,7 @@ if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "n-cpu" ]]; then
     # The user that nova runs as needs to be member of libvirtd group otherwise
     # nova-compute will be unable to use libvirt.
     sudo usermod -a -G libvirtd `whoami`
-    # libvirt detects various settings on startup, as we potentially changed 
+    # libvirt detects various settings on startup, as we potentially changed
     # the system configuration (modules, filesystems), we need to restart
     # libvirt to detect those changes.
     sudo /etc/init.d/libvirt-bin restart
@@ -515,7 +527,7 @@ if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "n-cpu" ]]; then
     mkdir -p $NOVA_DIR/instances
 
     # You can specify a different disk to be mounted and used for backing the
-    # virtual machines.  If there is a partition labeled nova-instances we 
+    # virtual machines.  If there is a partition labeled nova-instances we
     # mount it (ext filesystems can be labeled via e2label).
     if [ -L /dev/disk/by-label/nova-instances ]; then
         if ! mount -n | grep -q nova-instances; then
diff --git a/tools/build_kvm.sh b/tools/build_kvm.sh
index 019b1bd..207f86b 100755
--- a/tools/build_kvm.sh
+++ b/tools/build_kvm.sh
@@ -52,13 +52,13 @@ BASE_IMAGE=$KVMSTACK_DIR/images/natty.raw
 BASE_IMAGE_COPY=$IMAGES_DIR/$DIST_NAME.raw.copy
 
 # Name of our instance, used by libvirt
-VM_NAME=${VM_NAME:-kvmstack}
+CONTAINER_NAME=${CONTAINER_NAME:-kvmstack}
 
 # Mop up after previous runs
-virsh destroy $VM_NAME
+virsh destroy $CONTAINER_NAME
 
 # Where this vm is stored
-VM_DIR=$KVMSTACK_DIR/instances/$VM_NAME
+VM_DIR=$KVMSTACK_DIR/instances/$CONTAINER_NAME
 
 # Create vm dir
 mkdir -p $VM_DIR
@@ -148,18 +148,11 @@ git_clone $OPENSTACKX_REPO $COPY_DIR/$DEST/openstackx $OPENSTACKX_BRANCH
 git_clone $KEYSTONE_REPO $COPY_DIR/$DEST/keystone $KEYSTONE_BRANCH
 git_clone $NOVNC_REPO $COPY_DIR/$DEST/noVNC $NOVNC_BRANCH
 
-# Back to devstack
-cd $TOP_DIR
-
 # Unmount the filesystems
 unmount_images
 
-# Clean up old runs
-cd $VM_DIR
-rm -f $VM_DIR/disk
-
-# Clean up old instance data
-qemu-img create -f qcow2 -b $BASE_IMAGE_COPY disk
+# Back to devstack
+cd $TOP_DIR
 
 # Network configuration variables
 BRIDGE=${BRIDGE:-br0}
@@ -168,14 +161,16 @@ CONTAINER_IP=${CONTAINER_IP:-192.168.1.50}
 CONTAINER_CIDR=${CONTAINER_CIDR:-$CONTAINER_IP/24}
 CONTAINER_NETMASK=${CONTAINER_NETMASK:-255.255.255.0}
 CONTAINER_GATEWAY=${CONTAINER_GATEWAY:-192.168.1.1}
-CONTAINER_MAC=${CONTAINER_MAC:-02:16:3e:07:70:d7}
+CONTAINER_MAC=${CONTAINER_MAC:-"02:16:3e:07:69:`printf '%02X' $(echo $CONTAINER_IP | sed "s/.*\.//")`"}
+CONTAINER_RAM=${CONTAINER_RAM:-1524288}
+CONTAINER_CORES=${CONTAINER_CORES:-1}
 
 # libvirt.xml configuration
 LIBVIRT_XML=libvirt.xml
 cat > $LIBVIRT_XML <<EOF
 <domain type='kvm'>
-    <name>$VM_NAME</name>
-    <memory>1524288</memory>
+    <name>$CONTAINER_NAME</name>
+    <memory>$CONTAINER_RAM</memory>
     <os>
         <type>hvm</type>
         <bootmenu enable='yes'/>
@@ -183,7 +178,7 @@ cat > $LIBVIRT_XML <<EOF
     <features>
         <acpi/>
     </features>
-    <vcpu>1</vcpu>
+    <vcpu>$CONTAINER_CORES</vcpu>
     <devices>
         <disk type='file'>
             <driver type='qcow2'/>
@@ -231,8 +226,20 @@ NBD=${NBD:-/dev/nbd5}
 umount $ROOTFS || echo 'ok'
 qemu-nbd -d $NBD || echo 'ok'
 
-# Mount the instance
+# Clean up old runs
+cd $VM_DIR
+rm -f $VM_DIR/disk
+
+# Create our instance fs
+qemu-img create -f qcow2 -b $BASE_IMAGE_COPY disk
+
+sleep 5
+
 qemu-nbd -c $NBD disk
+
+sleep 5
+
+# Mount the instance
 mount $NBD $ROOTFS -o offset=32256 -t ext4
 
 # Configure instance network
@@ -355,7 +362,7 @@ if [ "$WAIT_TILL_LAUNCH" = "1" ]; then
         kill $TAIL_PID
         exit 1
     }
- 
+
     # Let Ctrl-c kill tail and exit
     trap kill_tail SIGINT
 
diff --git a/tools/build_lxc.sh b/tools/build_lxc.sh
index df9e32e..4d2372b 100755
--- a/tools/build_lxc.sh
+++ b/tools/build_lxc.sh
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ if [ "$WAIT_TILL_LAUNCH" = "1" ]; then
         kill $TAIL_PID
         exit 1
     }
- 
+
     # Let Ctrl-c kill tail and exit
     trap kill_tail SIGINT
 
diff --git a/tools/build_nfs.sh b/tools/build_nfs.sh
index 651bae2..36126fa 100755
--- a/tools/build_nfs.sh
+++ b/tools/build_nfs.sh
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ rm -rf $DEST
 # clean install of natty
 if [ ! -d $CHROOTCACHE/natty-base ]; then
     $PROGDIR/make_image.sh -C natty $CHROOTCACHE/natty-base
-    # copy kernel modules...  
+    # copy kernel modules...
     # NOTE(ja): is there a better way to do this?
     cp -pr /lib/modules/`uname -r` $CHROOTCACHE/natty-base/lib/modules
     # a simple password - pass
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ if [ ! -d $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev ]; then
     chroot $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev apt-get install -y `cat files/apts/* | cut -d\# -f1 | egrep -v "(rabbitmq|libvirt-bin|mysql-server)"`
     chroot $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev pip install `cat files/pips/*`
 
-    # Create a stack user that is a member of the libvirtd group so that stack 
+    # Create a stack user that is a member of the libvirtd group so that stack
     # is able to interact with libvirt.
     chroot $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev groupadd libvirtd
     chroot $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev useradd stack -s /bin/bash -d $DEST -G libvirtd
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ if [ ! -d $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev ]; then
     # a simple password - pass
     echo stack:pass | chroot $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev chpasswd
 
-    # and has sudo ability (in the future this should be limited to only what 
+    # and has sudo ability (in the future this should be limited to only what
     # stack requires)
     echo "stack ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL" >> $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev/etc/sudoers
 fi
diff --git a/tools/build_pxe_boot.sh b/tools/build_pxe_boot.sh
index 0653664..7fd964b 100755
--- a/tools/build_pxe_boot.sh
+++ b/tools/build_pxe_boot.sh
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ PROGDIR=`dirname $0`
 mkdir -p $DEST_DIR/pxelinux.cfg
 cd $DEST_DIR
 for i in memdisk menu.c32 pxelinux.0; do
-	cp -p /usr/lib/syslinux/$i $DEST_DIR
+    cp -p /usr/lib/syslinux/$i $DEST_DIR
 done
 
 CFG=$DEST_DIR/pxelinux.cfg/default
diff --git a/tools/build_ramdisk.sh b/tools/build_ramdisk.sh
index decdeb2..ca7bdd5 100755
--- a/tools/build_ramdisk.sh
+++ b/tools/build_ramdisk.sh
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ USE_CURRENT_DEVSTACK=${USE_CURRENT_DEVSTACK:-1}
 # clean install of natty
 if [ ! -d $CHROOTCACHE/natty-base ]; then
     $PROGDIR/make_image.sh -C natty $CHROOTCACHE/natty-base
-    # copy kernel modules...  
+    # copy kernel modules...
     # NOTE(ja): is there a better way to do this?
     cp -pr /lib/modules/`uname -r` $CHROOTCACHE/natty-base/lib/modules
     # a simple password - pass
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ if [ ! -d $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev ]; then
     chroot $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev apt-get install -y `cat files/apts/* | cut -d\# -f1 | egrep -v "(rabbitmq|libvirt-bin|mysql-server)"`
     chroot $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev pip install `cat files/pips/*`
 
-    # Create a stack user that is a member of the libvirtd group so that stack 
+    # Create a stack user that is a member of the libvirtd group so that stack
     # is able to interact with libvirt.
     chroot $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev groupadd libvirtd
     chroot $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev useradd stack -s /bin/bash -d $DEST -G libvirtd
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ if [ ! -d $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev ]; then
     # a simple password - pass
     echo stack:pass | chroot $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev chpasswd
 
-    # and has sudo ability (in the future this should be limited to only what 
+    # and has sudo ability (in the future this should be limited to only what
     # stack requires)
     echo "stack ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL" >> $CHROOTCACHE/natty-dev/etc/sudoers
 fi