diff --git a/anvil/components/keystone.py b/anvil/components/keystone.py
index dfecfe9a..7c700737 100644
--- a/anvil/components/keystone.py
+++ b/anvil/components/keystone.py
@@ -135,11 +135,16 @@ class KeystoneRuntime(bruntime.OpenStackRuntime):
                 utils.wait_for_url(url)
             init_what = utils.load_yaml_text(contents)
             init_what = utils.expand_template_deep(init_what, params)
-            khelper.Initializer(params['keystone']['service_token'],
-                                params['keystone']['endpoints']['admin']['uri']).initialize(**init_what)
-            # Writing this makes sure that we don't init again
-            sh.write_file(self.init_fn, utils.prettify_yaml(init_what))
-            LOG.info("If you wish to re-run initialization, delete %s", colorizer.quote(self.init_fn))
+            try:
+                init_how = khelper.Initializer(params['keystone']['service_token'],
+                                               params['keystone']['endpoints']['admin']['uri'])
+                init_how.initialize(**init_what)
+            except RuntimeError:
+                LOG.exception("Failed to initialize keystone, is the keystone client library available?")
+            else:
+                # Writing this makes sure that we don't init again
+                sh.write_file(self.init_fn, utils.prettify_yaml(init_what))
+                LOG.info("If you wish to re-run initialization, delete %s", colorizer.quote(self.init_fn))
 
 
 class KeystoneTester(btesting.PythonTestingComponent):
diff --git a/anvil/packaging/base.py b/anvil/packaging/base.py
index aeb360a0..21f3c1c0 100644
--- a/anvil/packaging/base.py
+++ b/anvil/packaging/base.py
@@ -64,14 +64,12 @@ class DependencyHandler(object):
         self.download_dir = sh.joinpths(self.deps_dir, "download")
         self.log_dir = sh.joinpths(self.deps_dir, "output")
         sh.mkdir(self.log_dir, recurse=True)
-
         self.gathered_requires_filename = sh.joinpths(self.deps_dir, "pip-requires")
         self.forced_requires_filename = sh.joinpths(self.deps_dir, "forced-requires")
         self.download_requires_filename = sh.joinpths(self.deps_dir, "download-requires")
         # Executables we require to operate
         self.multipip_executable = sh.which("multipip", ["tools/"])
-        self.pip_executable = sh.which_first(['pip-python', 'pip'])
-        self.pipdownload_executable = sh.which("pip-download", ["tools/"])
+        self.pip_executable = sh.which_first(['pip', 'pip-python'])
         # List of requirements
         self.pips_to_install = []
         self.forced_packages = []
@@ -90,6 +88,12 @@ class DependencyHandler(object):
                 req_set |= set(pkg["name"]
                                for pkg in inst.get_option(key) or [])
             self.requirements[key] = req_set
+        # These pip names we will ignore from being converted/analyzed...
+        ignore_pips = self.distro.get_dependency_config("ignoreable_pips", quiet=True)
+        if not ignore_pips:
+            self.ignore_pips = set()
+        else:
+            self.ignore_pips = set(ignore_pips)
 
     @property
     def python_names(self):
@@ -182,7 +186,7 @@ class DependencyHandler(object):
             contents = "# Cleaned on %s\n\n%s\n" % (utils.iso8601(), "\n".join(new_lines))
             sh.write_file_and_backup(fn, contents)
         # NOTE(imelnikov): after updating requirement lists we should re-fetch
-        # data from them again, so we drop pip helper caches here:
+        # data from them again, so we drop pip helper caches here.
         pip_helper.drop_caches()
 
     def _gather_pips_to_install(self, requires_files, extra_pips=None):
@@ -199,10 +203,7 @@ class DependencyHandler(object):
         cmdline = cmdline + extra_pips + ["-r"] + requires_files
 
         ignore_pip_names = set(self.python_names)
-        more_ignores = self.distro.get_dependency_config('ignore_pip_names',
-                                                         quiet=True)
-        if more_ignores:
-            ignore_pip_names.update([str(n) for n in more_ignores])
+        ignore_pip_names.update(self.ignore_pips)
         if ignore_pip_names:
             cmdline.extend(["--ignore-package"])
             cmdline.extend(ignore_pip_names)
@@ -255,10 +256,24 @@ class DependencyHandler(object):
         return self.pips_to_install
 
     def _try_download_dependencies(self, attempt, pips_to_download, pip_download_dir):
+        # Clean out any previous paths that we don't want around.
+        for path in ['.build']:
+            path = sh.joinpths(pip_download_dir, path)
+            if sh.isdir(path):
+                sh.deldir(path)
+            sh.mkdir(path)
+        # Ensure certain directories exist that we want to exist (but we don't
+        # want to delete them run after run).
+        for path in ['.cache']:
+            path = sh.joinpths(pip_download_dir, path)
+            if not sh.isdir(path):
+                sh.mkdir(path)
         cmdline = [
-            self.pipdownload_executable,
-            '-d', pip_download_dir,
-            '-v',
+            self.pip_executable, '-v',
+            'install', '-I', '-U',
+            '--download', pip_download_dir,
+            '--build', sh.joinpths(pip_download_dir, '.build'),
+            '--download-cache', sh.joinpths(pip_download_dir, '.cache'),
         ]
         cmdline.extend(sorted([str(p) for p in pips_to_download]))
         out_filename = sh.joinpths(self.log_dir,
diff --git a/anvil/packaging/helpers/py2rpm_helper.py b/anvil/packaging/helpers/py2rpm_helper.py
index 860ee66f..aa4d8bc4 100644
--- a/anvil/packaging/helpers/py2rpm_helper.py
+++ b/anvil/packaging/helpers/py2rpm_helper.py
@@ -122,10 +122,11 @@ class Helper(object):
             "--source-only",
             "--rpm-base", self._rpmbuild_dir
         ]
+        executable = " ".join(self._start_cmdline()[0:1])
         params = {
             "DOWNLOADS_DIR": self._download_dir,
             "LOGS_DIR": self._log_dir,
-            "PY2RPM": self._py2rpm_executable,
+            "PY2RPM": executable,
             "PY2RPM_FLAGS": " ".join(cmdline)
         }
         marks_dir = sh.joinpths(self._deps_dir, "marks-deps")
diff --git a/anvil/packaging/yum.py b/anvil/packaging/yum.py
index dec4af67..28b8472d 100644
--- a/anvil/packaging/yum.py
+++ b/anvil/packaging/yum.py
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@ class YumDependencyHandler(base.DependencyHandler):
         LOG.info("Copied to %s", system_repo_filename)
 
     def _get_known_yum_packages(self):
+        LOG.info("Determining which yum packages are available or installed...")
         yum_map = collections.defaultdict(list)
         pkgs = []
         pkgs.extend(self.helper.list_available())
@@ -307,6 +308,7 @@ class YumDependencyHandler(base.DependencyHandler):
         # build or can satisfy by other means
         no_pips = [pkg_resources.Requirement.parse(name).key
                    for name in self.python_names]
+        no_pips.extend(self.ignore_pips)
         yum_map = self._get_known_yum_packages()
         pips_keys = set([p.key for p in pips_downloaded])
 
diff --git a/conf/distros/rhel.yaml b/conf/distros/rhel.yaml
index fbf53338..c056314e 100644
--- a/conf/distros/rhel.yaml
+++ b/conf/distros/rhel.yaml
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ dependency_handler:
         qpid-python: python-qpid # Why is this one backwards :-/
         PyYAML: PyYAML
         pyzmq: python-zmq
+    ignoreable_pips:
+    - distribute # distribute has been replaced by setuptools
     arch_dependent:
     - PuLP
     - cryptography
@@ -154,13 +156,6 @@ components:
             removable: false
         requires:
         -   name: MySQL-python
-        # These packages conflict with our deps and must be removed
-        conflicts:
-        -   name: python-paste-deploy1.5
-        -   name: python-nose1.1
-        -   name: python-routes1.12
-        -   name: python-sphinx10
-        -   name: python-webob1.0
         # Require extra packages needed to run tests
         pips:
             - name: "nose"
diff --git a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-cinder.spec b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-cinder.spec
index 79388119..98a846f0 100644
--- a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-cinder.spec
+++ b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-cinder.spec
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ Patch$idx: $fn
 
 BuildArch:        noarch
 BuildRequires:    python-setuptools
+BuildRequires:    python-pbr
 
 Requires:         python-cinder = %{epoch}:%{version}-%{release}
 
diff --git a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-glance.spec b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-glance.spec
index 0b34265c..c961e4b5 100644
--- a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-glance.spec
+++ b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-glance.spec
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ BuildRoot:        %{_tmppath}/%{name}-%{version}-%{release}
 BuildArch:        noarch
 BuildRequires:    python-devel
 BuildRequires:    python-setuptools
+BuildRequires:    python-pbr
 
 %if ! 0%{?usr_only}
 Requires(post):   chkconfig
diff --git a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-heat.spec b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-heat.spec
index a8028141..7d8f50f8 100644
--- a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-heat.spec
+++ b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-heat.spec
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ BuildArch:        noarch
 BuildRequires:    python2-devel
 BuildRequires:    python-setuptools
 BuildRequires:    python-sphinx
+BuildRequires:    python-pbr
 
 Requires:         %{name}-common = %{version}-%{release}
 Requires:         %{name}-engine = %{version}-%{release}
diff --git a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-keystone.spec b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-keystone.spec
index d47a9eeb..cd934b09 100644
--- a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-keystone.spec
+++ b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-keystone.spec
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ BuildRoot:        %{_tmppath}/%{name}-%{version}-%{release}
 BuildArch:        noarch
 BuildRequires:    python-devel
 BuildRequires:    python-setuptools
+BuildRequires:    python-pbr
 
 %if ! 0%{?usr_only}
 Requires(post):   chkconfig
diff --git a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-neutron.spec b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-neutron.spec
index f6330968..35fe8a89 100644
--- a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-neutron.spec
+++ b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-neutron.spec
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ BuildArch:	noarch
 
 BuildRequires:	python-devel
 BuildRequires:	python-setuptools
+BuildRequires:	python-pbr
 # Build require these parallel versions
 # as setup.py build imports neutron.openstack.common.setup
 # which will then check for these
diff --git a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-nova.spec b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-nova.spec
index 347b8d70..deb5a0ef 100644
--- a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-nova.spec
+++ b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-nova.spec
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ BuildRoot:        %{_tmppath}/%{name}-%{version}-%{release}
 BuildArch:        noarch
 BuildRequires:    python-devel
 BuildRequires:    python-setuptools
+BuildRequires:    python-pbr
 
 Requires:         %{name}-compute = %{epoch}:%{version}-%{release}
 Requires:         %{name}-cert = %{epoch}:%{version}-%{release}
diff --git a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-trove.spec b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-trove.spec
index 695050b2..c624fc6c 100644
--- a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-trove.spec
+++ b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/openstack-trove.spec
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ BuildRoot:        %{_tmppath}/%{name}-%{version}-%{release}
 BuildArch:        noarch
 BuildRequires:    python-devel
 BuildRequires:    python-setuptools
+BuildRequires:    python-pbr
 
 %if ! 0%{?usr_only}
 Requires(post):   chkconfig
diff --git a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/python-commonclient.spec b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/python-commonclient.spec
index e6bcda38..190ae10b 100644
--- a/conf/templates/packaging/specs/python-commonclient.spec
+++ b/conf/templates/packaging/specs/python-commonclient.spec
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ BuildRoot:        %{_tmppath}/%{name}-%{version}-%{release}
 
 BuildArch:        noarch
 BuildRequires:    python-setuptools
+BuildRequires:    python-pbr
 
 %if 0%{?enable_doc}
 BuildRequires:    python-sphinx
diff --git a/optional-requirements.txt b/optional-requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3c78618c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/optional-requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Used by internal setup helpers (since we run in a venv we won't have access
+# to the installed helpers). These will work just fine though for the setup
+# usage.
+python-keystoneclient
+python-glanceclient
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 5c23811e..302755be 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-pbr>=0.5.21,<1.0
-
-argparse
+# Anvil should not depend on anything that will cause issues when running
+# egg_info on the downloaded dependencies, pbr seems to be the one case that
+# currently causes an issue (since it is not directly used for anvil runtime
+# it is placed in test-requirements for the time being).
 cheetah>=2.4.4
 iniparse
 iso8601>=0.1.8
@@ -12,3 +13,4 @@ psutil>=0.6.1,<1.0
 PyYAML>=3.1.0
 six>=1.4.1
 termcolor
+argparse
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index aa73b610..c268a7c7 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ packages =
 
 scripts =
     tools/multipip
-    tools/pip-download
     tools/py2rpm
     tools/specprint
     tools/yyoom
diff --git a/smithy b/smithy
index 0e9eb8da..73c5cae3 100755
--- a/smithy
+++ b/smithy
@@ -8,37 +8,18 @@ SMITHY_NAME=$(readlink -f "$0")
 cd "$(dirname "$0")"
 
 VERBOSE="${VERBOSE:-0}"
-PY2RPM_CMD="$PWD/tools/py2rpm"
-YYOOM_CMD="$PWD/tools/yyoom"
-PIPDOWNLOAD_CMD="$PWD/tools/pip-download"
-
 YUM_OPTS="--assumeyes --nogpgcheck"
-YYOOM_OPTS="--verbose"
-RPM_OPTS=""
 CURL_OPTS=""
-
-# Colors supported??
-COLOR_SUPPORT=$(tput colors)
-
-if [ "$COLOR_SUPPORT" -ge 8 ]; then
-    ESC_SEQ="\x1b["
-    COL_RESET=$ESC_SEQ"39;49;00m"
-    COL_GREEN=$ESC_SEQ"32;01m"
-    COL_RED=$ESC_SEQ"31;01m"
-    COL_YELLOW=$ESC_SEQ"33;01m"
-else
-    ESC_SEQ=""
-    COL_RESET=""
-    COL_GREEN=""
-    COL_RED=""
-    COL_YELLOW=""
-fi
+VENV_OPTS="--no-site-packages"
+VENV_DIR="$PWD/.venv"
+VENV_ACTIVATE="$VENV_DIR/bin/activate"
+PIP="$VENV_DIR/bin/pip"
+YYOOM_CMD="$PWD/tools/yyoom"
 
 if [ "$VERBOSE" == "0" ]; then
     YUM_OPTS="$YUM_OPTS -q"
-    YYOOM_OPTS=""
-    RPM_OPTS="-q"
     CURL_OPTS="-s"
+    VENV_OPTS="$VENV_OPTS -q"
 fi
 
 # Source in our variables (or overrides)
@@ -53,50 +34,6 @@ if [ -n "$SUDO_USER" ]; then
     fi
 fi
 
-if [ -z "$BOOT_FILES" ]; then
-    BOOT_FN=".anvil_bootstrapped"
-    BOOT_FILES="${PWD}/$BOOT_FN"
-fi
-
-clean_pip()
-{
-    # https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/982
-    if [ -n "$SUDO_USER" ]; then
-        rm -rf "/tmp/pip-build-$SUDO_USER"
-    fi
-}
-
-rpm_is_installed()
-{
-    local name=$(basename "$1")
-    rpm $RPM_OPTS "${name%.rpm}" &>/dev/null
-    return $?
-}
-
-cache_and_install_rpm_url()
-{
-    url=${1:?"Error: rpm uri is undefined!"}
-    cachedir=${RPM_CACHEDIR:-'/tmp'}
-    rpm=$(basename "$url")
-    if rpm_is_installed "$rpm"; then
-        return
-    fi
-    if [ ! -f "$cachedir/$rpm" ]; then
-        echo -e "Downloading ${COL_GREEN}${rpm}${COL_RESET} to ${COL_GREEN}${cachedir}${COL_RESET}"
-        curl $CURL_OPTS "$url" -o "$cachedir/$rpm" || return 1
-    fi
-    echo -e "Installing ${COL_GREEN}$cachedir/$rpm${COL_RESET}"
-    yum install $YUM_OPTS "$cachedir/$rpm"
-    return $?
-}
-
-bootstrap_epel()
-{
-    [ -z "$EPEL_RPM_URL" ] && return 0
-    cache_and_install_rpm_url "$EPEL_RPM_URL"
-    return $?
-}
-
 dump_list()
 {
     for var in "$@"; do
@@ -106,6 +43,176 @@ dump_list()
     done
 }
 
+yum_install()
+{
+    local requires=$@
+    if [ "$VERBOSE" == "0" ]; then
+        yum install $YUM_OPTS $requires > /dev/null 2>&1
+    else
+        yum install $YUM_OPTS $requires
+    fi
+    return $?
+}
+
+yum_remove()
+{
+    local remove=$@
+    if [ "$VERBOSE" == "0" ]; then
+        yum remove $YUM_OPTS $remove > /dev/null 2>&1
+    else
+        yum remove $YUM_OPTS $remove
+    fi
+    return $?
+}
+
+bootstrap_rpm_packages()
+{
+    if [ -n "$REQUIRES" ]; then
+        echo -e "Installing system packages:"
+        dump_list $REQUIRES
+        echo "Please wait..."
+        yum_install $REQUIRES
+        if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
+            echo -e "Failed installing!"
+            return 1
+        fi
+    fi
+    if [ -n "$CONFLICTS" ]; then
+        echo -e "Removing conflicting system packages:"
+        dump_list $CONFLICTS
+        echo "Please wait..."
+        yum_remove $CONFLICTS
+        if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
+            echo -e "Failed removing!"
+            return 1
+        fi
+    fi
+    return 0
+}
+
+clean_pip()
+{
+    # See: https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/982
+    if [ -n "$SUDO_USER" ]; then
+        rm -rf "/tmp/pip-build-$SUDO_USER"
+    fi
+}
+
+bootstrap_epel()
+{
+    # Installs the repository that will allow for installation of packages
+    # from epel, see https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/EPEL for information
+    # about what is epel.
+    [ -z "$EPEL_RPM_URL" ] && return 0
+    echo "Installing epel rpm from $EPEL_RPM_URL"
+    cache_and_install_rpm_url "$EPEL_RPM_URL"
+    return $?
+}
+
+unsudo()
+{
+    # If a sudo user is active the given files/directories will be changed to
+    # be owned by that user instead of the current root user, if no sudo user
+    # is active, then nothing changes.
+    if [ -n "$SUDO_UID" -a -n "$SUDO_GID" ]; then
+        if [ "$VERBOSE" == "0" ]; then
+            chown -R "$SUDO_UID:$SUDO_GID" $@
+        else
+            chown -R -c "$SUDO_UID:$SUDO_GID" $@
+        fi
+    fi
+}
+
+bootstrap_virtualenv()
+{
+    # Creates a virtualenv and then installs anvils requirements in it.
+    echo "Setting up virtualenv in $VENV_DIR"
+    virtualenv $VENV_OPTS "$VENV_DIR" || return 1
+    unsudo $VENV_DIR
+    local deps=$(cat requirements.txt optional-requirements.txt | grep -v '^$\|^\s*\#' | sort)
+    if [ -n "$deps" ]; then
+        echo "Installing anvil dependencies in $VENV_DIR"
+        dump_list $deps
+        echo "Please wait..."
+        if [ "$VERBOSE" == "0" ]; then
+            $PIP install -r requirements.txt -r optional-requirements.txt > /dev/null 2>&1
+        else
+            $PIP install -v -r requirements.txt -r optional-requirements.txt
+        fi
+        if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
+            return 1
+        fi
+    fi
+    unsudo $VENV_DIR
+}
+
+bootstrap_selinux()
+{
+    # See if selinux is on.
+    echo "Enabling selinux for yum like binaries."
+    if [ "$(getenforce)" == "Enforcing" ]; then
+        # Ensure all yum api interacting binaries are ok to be used.
+        chcon -h "system_u:object_r:rpm_exec_t:s0" "$YYOOM_CMD"
+    fi
+}
+
+run_smithy()
+{
+    source "$VENV_ACTIVATE"
+    local python=$(which python)
+    exec "$python" anvil $ARGS
+}
+
+puke()
+{
+    cleaned_force=$(echo "$FORCE" | sed -e 's/\([A-Z]\)/\L\1/g;s/\s//g')
+    if [ "$cleaned_force" == "yes" ]; then
+        run_smithy
+    else
+        echo -e "To run anyway set FORCE=yes and rerun." >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+needs_bootstrap()
+{
+    # Checks if we need to perform the bootstrap phase.
+    if [ "$BOOTSTRAP" == "true" ]; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+    if [ ! -d "$VENV_DIR" -o ! -f "$VENV_ACTIVATE" -o ! -f "$PIP" ]; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+    return 1
+}
+
+rpm_is_installed()
+{
+    # Checks if an rpm is already installed.
+    local name=$(basename "$1")
+    rpm -q "${name%.rpm}" &>/dev/null
+    return $?
+}
+
+cache_and_install_rpm_url()
+{
+    # Downloads an rpm from a url and then installs it (if it's not already
+    # installed).
+    url=${1:?"Error: rpm url is undefined!"}
+    cachedir=${RPM_CACHEDIR:-'/tmp'}
+    rpm=$(basename "$url")
+    if rpm_is_installed "$rpm"; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+    if [ ! -f "$cachedir/$rpm" ]; then
+        echo -e "Downloading ${rpm} to ${cachedir}"
+        curl $CURL_OPTS "$url" -o "$cachedir/$rpm" || return 1
+    fi
+    echo -e "Installing $cachedir/$rpm"
+    yum_install "$cachedir/$rpm"
+    return $?
+}
+
 greatest_version()
 {
     for arg in "$@"; do
@@ -113,169 +220,11 @@ greatest_version()
     done | sort --version-sort --reverse | head -n1
 }
 
-bootstrap_rpm_packages()
-{
-    # NOTE(aababilov): the latter operations require some packages,
-    # so, begin from installation
-    if [ -n "$REQUIRES" ]; then
-        echo -e "Installing ${COL_GREEN}system${COL_RESET} packages:"
-        dump_list $REQUIRES
-        yum install $YUM_OPTS $REQUIRES
-        if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
-            echo -e "${COL_RED}Failed installing!${COL_RESET}"
-            return 1
-        fi
-    fi
-
-    # Remove any known conflicting packages
-    CONFLICTS=$(python -c "import yaml
-packages = set()
-try:
-    for i in yaml.safe_load(open('$DISTRO_CONFIG'))['components'].itervalues():
-        for j in i.get('conflicts', []):
-            packages.add(j.get('name'))
-except KeyError:
-    pass
-for pkg in packages:
-    if pkg:
-        print pkg
-")
-    if [ -n "$CONFLICTS" ]; then
-        echo -e "Removing ${COL_YELLOW}conflicting${COL_RESET} packages:"
-        dump_list "$CONFLICTS"
-        yum erase $YUM_OPTS $CONFLICTS
-    fi
-}
-
-bootstrap_selinux()
-{
-    # See if selinux is on.
-    if [ "$(getenforce)" == "Enforcing" ]; then
-        # Ensure all yum api interacting binaries are ok to be used
-        echo "Enabling selinux for yum like binaries."
-        chcon -h "system_u:object_r:rpm_exec_t:s0" "$YYOOM_CMD"
-    fi
-}
-
-bootstrap_python_rpms()
-{
-    echo -e "Bootstrapping ${COL_GREEN}python${COL_RESET} rpms."
-    local package_map=$(python -c "import yaml
-try:
-    for k, v in yaml.safe_load(open('$DISTRO_CONFIG'))['dependency_handler']['package_map'].iteritems():
-        print '%s==%s' % (k, v)
-except KeyError:
-    pass
-")
-    local python_names=$(sed -r -e 's/#.*$//' requirements.txt | sort -u)
-    local bootstrap_dir=$(readlink -f ./.bootstrap/)
-    local transaction_cmd="transaction --skip-missing"
-    local install_packages=""
-    declare -A rpm_python_map
-    for python_name in $python_names; do
-        local specs=$(echo "$python_name" | awk 'match($0, "((=|>|<|!).*$)", res) {print res[1]}')
-        local rpm_name=$("$PY2RPM_CMD" --package-map $package_map --convert "$python_name" |
-                         awk '/^Requires:/ {print $2; exit }')
-        rpm_python_map["$rpm_name"]="$python_name"
-        install_packages="$install_packages $rpm_name$specs"
-        transaction_cmd+=" --install $rpm_name$specs"
-    done
-
-    echo -e "Installing ${COL_GREEN}python${COL_RESET} requirements:"
-    dump_list "$install_packages"
-
-    # NOTE(imelnikov): if we declare local variable and specify its value
-    # at the same statement, exit code from subshell is lost.
-    local yyoom_res
-    yyoom_res=$("$YYOOM_CMD" $YYOOM_OPTS $transaction_cmd) || return 1
-    local missing_rpms
-    missing_rpms=$(echo "$yyoom_res" | python -c "import sys, json
-for item in json.load(sys.stdin):
-    if item.get('action_type') == 'missing':
-        print(item['name'])
-") || return 2
-    local missing_packages=""
-    for rpm in $missing_rpms; do
-        missing_packages="$missing_packages ${rpm_python_map[$rpm]}"
-    done
-
-    if [ -z "$missing_packages" ]; then
-        return 0
-    fi
-    echo -e "Building ${COL_YELLOW}missing${COL_RESET} python requirements:"
-    dump_list "$missing_packages"
-    local pip_tmp_dir="$bootstrap_dir/pip-download"
-    mkdir -p "$pip_tmp_dir"
-
-    $PIPDOWNLOAD_CMD -d "$pip_tmp_dir" $missing_packages
-    echo "Building RPMs..."
-    local rpm_names
-    rpm_names=$("$PY2RPM_CMD"  --package-map $package_map --scripts-dir "conf/templates/packaging/scripts" --rpm-base "$bootstrap_dir/rpmbuild" -- "$pip_tmp_dir/"* 2>/dev/null |
-        awk '/^Wrote: /{ print $2 }' | grep -v '.src.rpm' | sort -u)
-    if [ -z "$rpm_names" ]; then
-        echo -e "${COL_RED}No binary RPMs were built!${COL_RESET}"
-        return 1
-    fi
-    local rpm_base_names=""
-    for rpm in $rpm_names; do
-        rpm_base_names="$rpm_base_names $(basename "$rpm")"
-    done
-    echo -e "Installing ${COL_YELLOW}missing${COL_RESET} python requirement packages:"
-    dump_list "$rpm_base_names"
-    yum install $YUM_OPTS $rpm_names
-    if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
-        echo -e "${COL_RED}Failed installing!${COL_RESET}"
-        return 1
-    fi
-    rm -rf "$pip_tmp_dir"
-    rm -rf "$bootstrap_dir/rpmbuild/"{BUILD,SOURCES,SPECS,BUILDROOT}
-    return 0
-}
-
-needs_bootstrap()
-{
-    local contents checksums
-    $BOOTSTRAP && return 0
-    checksums=$(get_checksums)
-    for i in $BOOT_FILES; do
-        if [ -f "$i" ]; then
-            contents=$(cat $i)
-            [ "$contents" = "$checksums" ] && return 1
-        fi
-    done
-    return 0
-}
-
-get_checksums()
-{
-    if [ ! -f "$BSCONF_FILE" ]; then
-        return 1
-    fi
-    # Used to tell if the file have changed
-    echo $(md5sum "$BSCONF_FILE")
-}
-
-run_smithy()
-{
-    PYTHON=$(which python)
-    exec "$PYTHON" anvil $ARGS
-}
-
-puke()
-{
-    cleaned_force=$(echo "$FORCE" | sed -e 's/\([A-Z]\)/\L\1/g;s/\s//g')
-    if [[ "$cleaned_force" == "yes" ]]; then
-        run_smithy
-    else
-        echo -e "To run anyway set ${COL_YELLOW}FORCE=yes${COL_RESET} and rerun." >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-}
-
 ## Identify which bootstrap configuration file to use: either set
 ## explicitly (BSCONF_FILE) or determined based on the os distribution:
 BSCONF_DIR="${BSCONF_DIR:-$(dirname $(readlink -f "$0"))/tools/bootstrap}"
-get_os_info(){
+get_os_info()
+{
     if [ "$(uname)" = "Linux" ] ; then
         if [ -f /etc/redhat-release ] ; then
             PKG="rpm"
@@ -325,13 +274,14 @@ done
 # Source immediately so that we can export the needed variables.
 if [ -f "$BSCONF_FILE" ]; then
     source "$BSCONF_FILE"
-    export REQUIRED_PACKAGES="$REQUIRES"
 fi
 
 if ! needs_bootstrap; then
     clean_pip
     run_smithy
-elif ! $BOOTSTRAP; then
+fi
+
+if [ "$BOOTSTRAP" == "false" ]; then
     echo "This system needs to be updated in order to run anvil!" >&2
     echo "Running 'sudo $SMITHY_NAME --bootstrap' will attempt to do so." >&2
     puke
@@ -359,6 +309,7 @@ echo "Bootstrapping $SHORTNAME $RELEASE"
 echo "Please wait..."
 clean_pip
 for step in ${STEPS:?"Error: STEPS is undefined!"}; do
+    echo "--- Running bootstrap step $step ---"
     "bootstrap_${step}"
     if [ $? != 0 ]; then
         echo "Bootstrapping $SHORTNAME $RELEASE failed." >&2
@@ -367,21 +318,12 @@ for step in ${STEPS:?"Error: STEPS is undefined!"}; do
 done
 clean_pip
 
-# Write the checksums of the bootstrap file
-# which if new requirements are added will cause new checksums
-# and a new dependency install...
-checksum=$(get_checksums)
-for i in $BOOT_FILES; do
-    echo -e "$checksum" > "$i"
-done
-
+# Anvil writes configurations in these locations, make sure they are created
+# and that the user running this script can actually access those files (even
+# later if they are not running with sudo).
 mkdir -p -v /etc/anvil /usr/share/anvil
 touch /var/log/anvil.log
-if [ -n "$SUDO_UID" -a -n "SUDO_GID" ]; then
-    chown -c "$SUDO_UID:$SUDO_GID" /etc/anvil /usr/share/anvil \
-        /var/log/anvil.log
-    [ -d .bootstrap ] && chown -R "$SUDO_UID:$SUDO_GID" .bootstrap
-fi
+unsudo /etc/anvil /usr/share/anvil /var/log/anvil.log
 
 echo "Bootstrapped for $SHORTNAME $RELEASE"
 ARGS="-a moo"
diff --git a/test-requirements.txt b/test-requirements.txt
index 654098cb..23758d29 100644
--- a/test-requirements.txt
+++ b/test-requirements.txt
@@ -5,3 +5,12 @@ flake8==2.0
 pylint==0.25.2
 hacking>=0.8.0,<0.9
 mock>=1.0
+# This is only needed for running anvils setup.py which is not done
+# during running of anvil, but is done during testing or package
+# creation...
+#
+# Using it in the created virtualenv causes conflict with
+# other openstack packages (running there setup.py egg_info will break)
+# so placing it here means that we will avoid such conflicts in the first
+# place.
+pbr>=0.5.21,<1.0
diff --git a/tools/bootstrap/CommonRedHat b/tools/bootstrap/CommonRedHat
index 3cb36d34..572c2c36 100644
--- a/tools/bootstrap/CommonRedHat
+++ b/tools/bootstrap/CommonRedHat
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # -*- sh -*-
-STEPS="selinux epel rpm_packages python_rpms"
+STEPS="selinux epel rpm_packages virtualenv"
 EPEL_RPM_URL="http://mirrors.kernel.org/fedora-epel/6/i386/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm"
 DISTRO_CONFIG=conf/distros/rhel.yaml
 
@@ -18,11 +18,16 @@ REQUIRES='
     createrepo
     yum-utils
 
-    PyYAML
-
     rpm-build
     python-pip
+    python-virtualenv
     python-argparse
-    python-setuptools
     python-six
 '
+CONFLICTS='
+    python-paste-deploy1.5
+    python-nose1.1
+    python-routes1.12
+    python-sphinx10
+    python-webob1.0
+'
diff --git a/tools/pip-download b/tools/pip-download
deleted file mode 100755
index 16bd81ee..00000000
--- a/tools/pip-download
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,228 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/python
-
-# vim: tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4
-
-#    Copyright (C) 2012 Yahoo! Inc. All Rights Reserved.
-#
-#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
-#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
-#    a copy of the License at
-#
-#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
-#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
-#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
-#    under the License.
-
-import distutils
-import glob
-import optparse
-import os
-import subprocess
-import sys
-import thread
-import threading
-import time
-
-from pip import download as pip_down
-from pip import req as pip_req
-from pip import util as pip_util
-
-PIP_CMDS = (
-    "pip-%s" % (".".join([str(s) for s in sys.version_info[0:2]])),
-    'pip-python',
-    'pip',
-)
-ARCHIVE_EXTS = (
-    '.zip', '.tgz', '.tbz',
-    '.tar.gz', '.tar', '.gz', '.bz2',
-    '.pybundle', '.whl',
-)
-
-
-class Spinner(threading.Thread):
-    def __init__(self, wait_time=0.15, stream=sys.stdout):
-        super(Spinner, self).__init__()
-        self.daemon = True
-        self.death_event = threading.Event()
-        self.wait_time = float(wait_time)
-        self.stream = stream
-
-    def run(self):
-        if not self.stream.isatty():
-            tpl = "%s"
-            selectors = (".",)
-        else:
-            tpl = "\b%s"
-            selectors = ('-', '\\', '|', '/')
-        try:
-            index = 0
-            has_output_something = False
-            selector_count = len(selectors)
-            while not self.death_event.is_set():
-                self.stream.write(tpl % selectors[index])
-                self.stream.flush()
-                has_output_something = True
-                if selector_count > 1:
-                    index = (index + 1) % selector_count
-                time.sleep(self.wait_time)
-            if has_output_something:
-                self.stream.write("\n")
-                self.stream.flush()
-        except KeyboardInterrupt:
-            thread.interrupt_main()
-
-
-def call(cmd):
-    proc = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stderr=None, stdin=None, stdout=None)
-    ret = proc.communicate()
-    if proc.returncode != 0:
-        raise RuntimeError("Failed running command: %s\n"
-                           "Exit code: %s" % (" ".join(cmd), proc.returncode))
-    return ret
-
-
-def find_pip():
-    for pp in PIP_CMDS:
-        bin_name = distutils.spawn.find_executable(pp)
-        if bin_name:
-            return bin_name
-    raise RuntimeError("Unable to find pip via any of %s commands"
-                       % list(PIP_CMDS))
-
-
-def execute_download(options, deps, download_dir, cache_dir, build_dir):
-    cmd = [find_pip()]
-    if options.verbose:
-        cmd.extend(['-v'])
-    else:
-        cmd.extend(['-q'])
-    cmd.extend(['install', '-I', '-U',
-                '--download', download_dir,
-                '--build', build_dir,
-                '--download-cache', cache_dir])
-    cmd.extend([str(d) for d in deps])
-    call(cmd)
-
-
-def remove_archive_extensions(path):
-    for i in ARCHIVE_EXTS:
-        if path.endswith(i):
-            path = path[0:-len(i)]
-    return path
-
-
-def extract_requirement(source_dir):
-    # Remove old egg-infos since it appears that pip will not work if there
-    # are previous egg-info directories existing in the source directory.
-    source_dir = os.path.abspath(source_dir)
-    for egg_d in glob.glob(os.path.join(source_dir, "*.egg-info")):
-        pip_util.rmtree(egg_d)
-    req = pip_req.InstallRequirement.from_line(source_dir)
-    req.source_dir = source_dir
-    req.run_egg_info()
-    return req
-
-
-def examine_file(filename, extract_dir):
-    if not os.path.isfile(filename):
-        raise IOError("Can not extract missing file: %s" % (filename))
-    if not os.path.isdir(extract_dir):
-        raise IOError("Can not extract to missing dir: %s" % (extract_dir))
-    basename = os.path.basename(filename)
-    untar_dir = os.path.join(extract_dir, remove_archive_extensions(basename))
-    if os.path.isdir(untar_dir):
-        pip_util.rmtree(untar_dir)
-    pip_util.unpack_file(filename, untar_dir, content_type='', link='')
-    return extract_requirement(untar_dir)
-
-
-def iter_archives_in(base_dir):
-    for basename in os.listdir(base_dir):
-        if basename.startswith("."):
-            continue
-        if not pip_down.is_archive_file(basename):
-            continue
-        filename = os.path.join(base_dir, basename)
-        if not os.path.isfile(filename):
-            continue
-        yield filename
-
-
-def perform_download(options, deps,
-                     download_dir, extract_dir, cache_dir, build_dir):
-    execute_download(options, deps, download_dir, cache_dir, build_dir)
-    files_examined = {}
-    for filename in iter_archives_in(download_dir):
-        files_examined[filename] = examine_file(filename, extract_dir)
-    return files_examined
-
-
-def print_header(text):
-    if not text:
-        return
-    print("-" * len(text))
-    print(text)
-    print("-" * len(text))
-
-
-def main():
-    usage = "usage: %prog [options] req req2 ..."
-    parser = optparse.OptionParser(usage=usage)
-    parser.add_option("-d", action="store", dest="download_dir",
-                      help='directory to download dependencies too',
-                      metavar="DIR")
-    parser.add_option("-n", "--no-wipe", action="store_false", dest="wipe",
-                      help='do not clear old downloaded items', default=True)
-    parser.add_option("-v", '--verbose', action="store_true",
-                      help='enable verbose output',
-                      dest="verbose", default=False)
-    (options, packages) = parser.parse_args()
-
-    download_dir = options.download_dir
-    if not options.download_dir:
-        parser.error("Download directory required")
-    if not packages:
-        parser.error("Download requirement/s expected")
-
-    # Clear out the build & extraction directory if it exists so we don't
-    # conflict with previous build or extraction attempts.
-    extract_dir = os.path.join(download_dir, '.extract')
-    cache_dir = os.path.join(download_dir, '.cache')
-    build_dir = os.path.join(download_dir, '.build')
-    for d in (extract_dir, build_dir):
-        if os.path.isdir(d):
-            pip_util.rmtree(d)
-    for d in (download_dir, extract_dir, cache_dir, build_dir):
-        if not os.path.isdir(d):
-            os.makedirs(d)
-
-    # Clear out the previously existing files so that we don't have conflicts
-    # with the files we are about to download.
-    if options.wipe:
-        existing_files = list(iter_archives_in(download_dir))
-        if existing_files:
-            print_header("Cleaning")
-            for path in sorted(existing_files):
-                print(" - %s (X)" % (os.path.basename(path)))
-                os.unlink(path)
-
-    print_header("Downloading")
-    s = Spinner()
-    s.start()
-    downloaded = perform_download(options, list(packages),
-                                  download_dir, extract_dir, cache_dir,
-                                  build_dir)
-    s.death_event.set()
-    s.join()
-
-    print_header("Saved")
-    for filename in sorted(downloaded.keys()):
-        print(" - %s (%s)" % (os.path.basename(filename),
-                              downloaded[filename].req))
-
-
-if __name__ == '__main__':
-    main()