diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/live-migration-default-set-to-ssh-6add1dbdeea43509.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/live-migration-default-set-to-ssh-6add1dbdeea43509.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..80969693
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/live-migration-default-set-to-ssh-6add1dbdeea43509.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - Adding a new nova.conf entry, live_migration_uri. This entry will default
+    to a ``qemu-ssh://`` uri, which uses the ssh keys that have already been
+    distributed between all of the compute hosts.
diff --git a/templates/nova.conf.j2 b/templates/nova.conf.j2
index cb3d805c..a25451a6 100644
--- a/templates/nova.conf.j2
+++ b/templates/nova.conf.j2
@@ -275,6 +275,7 @@ images_rbd_pool = {{ nova_libvirt_images_rbd_pool }}
 images_rbd_ceph_conf = /etc/ceph/ceph.conf
 {% endif %}
 live_migration_flag = "{{ nova_libvirt_live_migration_flag }}"
+live_migration_uri = "qemu+ssh://nova@%s/system?no_verify=1&keyfile={{ nova_system_home_folder }}/.ssh/id_rsa"
 hw_disk_discard = {{ nova_libvirt_hw_disk_discard }}
 disk_cachemodes = {{ nova_libvirt_disk_cachemodes }}
 {% endif %}