diff --git a/doc/source/dev/dev-quickstart.rst b/doc/source/dev/dev-quickstart.rst
index 98d98560b6..814ed42b3b 100644
--- a/doc/source/dev/dev-quickstart.rst
+++ b/doc/source/dev/dev-quickstart.rst
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Developer Quick-Start
 =====================
 
 This is a quick walkthrough to get you started developing code for Ironic.
-This assumes you are already familiar with submitting code reviews to 
+This assumes you are already familiar with submitting code reviews to
 an OpenStack project.
 
 .. seealso::
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@ Setting up a local environment for development can be done with tox::
     # activate the virtualenv
     source .tox/venv/bin/activate
 
-    # run testr init
+    # install requirements within the virtualenv
+    pip install -U -r requirements.txt test-requirements.txt
+
+    # initialize testr
     testr init
 
 To run the pep8/flake8 syntax and style checks::
@@ -47,10 +50,110 @@ To run the pep8/flake8 syntax and style checks::
 
 To run Ironic's unit test suite::
 
-    # run unit tests
+    # run all the unit tests
     testr run
 
-When you're done, to leave the venv::
+    # to run specific tests only, specify the file, module or test name, eg:
+    testr run test_conductor
+
+When you're done::
 
     # deactivate the virtualenv
     deactivate
+
+===============================
+Exercising the Services Locally
+===============================
+
+If you would like to exercise the Ironic services in isolation within a local
+virtual environment, you can do this without starting any other OpenStack
+services. For example, this is useful for rapidly prototyping and debugging
+interactions over the RPC channel, testing database migrations, and so forth.
+
+First, install prerequisites::
+
+    # install rabbit message broker
+    # Ubuntu/Debian:
+    sudo apt-get install rabbitmq-server
+
+    # Fedora/RHEL:
+    sudo yum install rabbitmq-server
+
+    # install ironic CLI
+    sudo pip install python-ironicclient
+
+Then, activate the virtual environment created in the previous section, and run
+everything else within that::
+
+    # enter the ironic directory
+    cd <your source dir>
+    cd ironic
+
+    # activate the virtualenv
+    source .tox/venv/bin/activate
+    
+    # install ironic within the virtualenv
+    python setup.py develop
+
+    # initialize the ironic database; this defaults to storing data in
+    # ./ironic/openstack/common/db/ironic.sqlite
+    ironic-dbsync
+
+    # copy sample config and modify it as necessary
+    cp etc/ironic/ironic.conf.sample etc/ironic/ironic.conf.local
+    cat >> etc/ironic/ironic.conf.local <<EOL
+    host = test-host
+    auth_strategy = noauth
+    EOL
+
+    # start services and observe their output
+    # for each service, open a separate window and active the virtualenv in it
+    ironic-api -v -d --config-file etc/ironic/ironic.conf.local
+    ironic-conductor -v -d --config-file etc/ironic/ironic.conf.local
+
+    # export ENV vars so ironic client connects to the local services
+    export OS_AUTH_TOKEN=fake-token
+    export IRONIC_URL=http://localhost:6385/
+
+    # you should now be able to query the Ironic API
+    # and see a list of supported drivers on "test-host"
+    ironic driver-list
+
+    # enroll nodes with the "fake" driver, eg:
+    ironic node-create -d fake
+
+    # if you make some code changes and want to test their effects,
+    # install again with "python setup.py develop", stop the services
+    # with Ctrl-C, and restart them.
+
+================================
+Building developer documentation
+================================
+
+If you would like to build the documentation locally, eg. to test your
+documentation changes before uploading them for review, you should install and
+configure Apache to serve the output. Below are some basic instructions.  This
+guide does not cover the many ways one can configure Apache, nor does it
+address security issues with running a web server on your laptop.
+(In other words, you might want to do this in a VM.)
+
+::
+
+    # Install Apache on Ubuntu/Debian
+    sudo apt-get install apache2
+
+    # Install Apache on Fedora/RHEL
+    sudo yum install httpd
+    sudo systemctl start httpd
+
+    # Add symlink to build output. For this example, let's assume your
+    # Apache DocumentRoot is /var/www and ironic source is at /opt/stack/ironic
+    cd /var/www
+    sudo ln -s /opt/stack/ironic/doc/build/html ironic
+    cd /opt/stack/ironic
+
+    # build the documentation
+    source .tox/venv/bin/activate
+    python setup.py build_sphinx
+
+    # open a web browser pointed to http://localhost/ironic/index.html