diff --git a/roles/nodepool-setup/defaults/main.yml b/roles/nodepool-setup/defaults/main.yml
index 5d2ac7901..2dfe1089d 100644
--- a/roles/nodepool-setup/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/nodepool-setup/defaults/main.yml
@@ -10,3 +10,12 @@ repos:
   - https://git.openstack.org/openstack-infra/devstack-gate
 zuul_changes: "{{ lookup('env', 'ZUUL_CHANGES') }}"
 subnode_swap_size: 8388608 # 8GB
+update_subnodes: true
+rdo_cloud_provider: true
+packages_list:
+  - git
+  - unbound
+  - screen
+  - vim
+  - wget
+  - iptables-services
diff --git a/roles/nodepool-setup/tasks/etc-nodepool.yml b/roles/nodepool-setup/tasks/etc-nodepool.yml
index 9498a559b..be79d88f7 100644
--- a/roles/nodepool-setup/tasks/etc-nodepool.yml
+++ b/roles/nodepool-setup/tasks/etc-nodepool.yml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 - name: Create /etc/nodepool/provider
   copy:
     content: |
-      NODEPOOL_PROVIDER=rdo-cloud-tripleo
+      NODEPOOL_PROVIDER={% if rdo_cloud_provider|bool %}rdo-cloud-tripleo{% else %}fake-cloud{% endif %}
       NODEPOOL_CLOUD=fake-cloud
       NODEPOOL_REGION=FAKE
       NODEPOOL_AZ=
diff --git a/roles/nodepool-setup/tasks/main.yml b/roles/nodepool-setup/tasks/main.yml
index be1cf2c6f..68f2eef6c 100644
--- a/roles/nodepool-setup/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/nodepool-setup/tasks/main.yml
@@ -35,15 +35,8 @@
 
 - name: Install packages
   yum:
-    name: "{{ item }}"
+    name: "{{ packages_list }}"
     state: latest
-  with_items:
-    - git
-    - unbound
-    - screen
-    - vim
-    - wget
-    - iptables-services
   become: true
 
 - include: clone-ci-repos.yml
@@ -112,21 +105,24 @@
     - "EXTRA_VARS=' --extra-vars vxlan_mtu=1400'"
   become: true
 
-- name: Update packages
-  yum:
-    name: '*'
-    state: latest
-  become: true
+- when: update_subnodes|bool
+  block:
 
-- name: Reboot hosts
-  shell: sleep 2 && shutdown -r now
-  async: 1
-  poll: 0
-  ignore_errors: true
-  become: true
+  - name: Update packages
+    yum:
+      name: '*'
+      state: latest
+    become: true
 
-- name: Wait a little
-  pause: seconds=30
+  - name: Reboot hosts
+    shell: sleep 2 && shutdown -r now
+    async: 1
+    poll: 0
+    ignore_errors: true
+    become: true
 
-- name: Wait for provisioned hosts to become reachable
-  local_action: wait_for host="{{ hostvars[inventory_hostname].subnode_public_ip }}" port=22 delay=5 state=started connect_timeout=10 timeout=180
+  - name: Wait a little
+    pause: seconds=30
+
+  - name: Wait for provisioned hosts to become reachable
+    local_action: wait_for host="{{ hostvars[inventory_hostname].subnode_public_ip }}" port=22 delay=5 state=started connect_timeout=10 timeout=180