diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/nodes.cc b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/nodes.cc
index 33dead0b8..70511a185 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/nodes.cc
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/nodes.cc
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ int Nodes::read_basic_env()
             // reading private IPs
             sprintf(env_name, "%s_%03d_private_ip", prefix, i);
             IP_private[i] = strdup(get_nc_item(env_name).c_str());
-            if (IP_private[i] == NULL)
+            if ((IP_private[i] == NULL) || (strlen(IP_private[i]) == 0))
             {
                 IP_private[i] = IP[i];
             }
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/mdbci_wrapper b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/mdbci_wrapper
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..05006df2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/mdbci_wrapper
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+export user=${host_user} 2>&1 >/dev/null
+export ip=${host_ip} 2>&1 >/dev/null
+export host=$user@$ip 2>&1 >/dev/null
+sshopt="-q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o ConnectTimeout=120  "
+
+rsync  -avz  --progress -e "ssh $sshopt" ${MDBCI_VM_PATH}/ $host:${MDBCI_VM_PATH}/ 2>&1 >/dev/null
+ssh $sshopt $host "MDBCI_VM_PATH=$MDBCI_VM_PATH /home/$user/mdbci/mdbci $*" 2>/dev/null
+rsync  -avz  --progress -e "ssh $sshopt" $host:${MDBCI_VM_PATH}/ ${MDBCI_VM_PATH}/ 2>&1 >/dev/null
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test.sh b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test.sh
index 15becd0ab..487e4a7d4 100755
--- a/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test.sh
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test.sh
@@ -41,8 +41,6 @@
 export vm_memory=${vm_memory:-"2048"}
 export dir=`pwd`
 
-ulimit -n
-
 # read the name of build scripts directory
 export script_dir="$(dirname $(readlink -f $0))"
 
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test_vm.sh b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test_vm.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..8a63f73c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test_vm.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# read the name of build scripts directory
+export script_dir="$(dirname $(readlink -f $0))"
+
+rm -rf LOGS
+
+export curr_date=`date '+%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M'`
+export mdbci_config_name=${name:-$box-${curr_date}}
+export mdbci_config_name=`echo ${mdbci_config_name} | sed "s/?//g"`
+export MDBCI_VM_PATH=$HOME/${mdbci_config_name}_vms
+export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/mdbci
+
+. ${script_dir}/set_run_test_variables.sh
+
+export name=$mdbci_config_name
+
+# prepare separate dir for MDBCI vms
+rm -rf $HOME/${mdbci_config_name}_vms
+mkdir -p $HOME/${mdbci_config_name}_vms
+
+export provider=`mdbci show provider $box --silent 2> /dev/null`
+export backend_box=${backend_box:-"centos_7_"$provider}
+
+mdbci destroy test_vm
+
+cp ${script_dir}/test_vm.json $HOME/${mdbci_config_name}_vms/
+test_vm_box="ubuntu_bionic_"$provider
+me=`whoami`
+sed -i "s/###test_vm_box###/${test_vm_box}/"  $HOME/${mdbci_config_name}_vms/test_vm.json 
+sed -i "s/###test_vm_user###/${me}/" $HOME/${mdbci_config_name}_vms/test_vm.json
+
+mdbci generate test_vm --template test_vm.json --override
+mdbci up test_vm
+
+ip=`mdbci show network --silent test_vm`
+key=`mdbci show keyfile --silent test_vm`
+sshopt="-o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o ConnectTimeout=120  "
+
+
+ssh -i $key $sshopt $me@$ip "mkdir -p .ssh; mkdir -p ${MDBCI_VM_PATH}; mkdir -p mdbci; mkdir -p MaxScale"
+scp -i $key $sshopt -r ${script_dir}/../../* $me@$ip:~/MaxScale/
+
+scp -i $key $sshopt $HOME/.config/mdbci/max-tst.key $me@$ip:~/.ssh/id_rsa
+ssh -i $key $sshopt $me@$ip "chmod 400 .ssh/id_rsa"
+scp -i $key $sshopt ${script_dir}/mdbci_wrapper $me@$ip:~/mdbci/mdbci
+ssh -i $key $sshopt $me@$ip "chmod +x mdbci/mdbci"
+
+echo export MDBCI_VM_PATH=${MDBCI_VM_PATH} > test_env
+echo export PATH=\$PATH:\$HOME/mdbci >> test_env
+echo export host_user=$me  >> test_env
+my_ip=`ip route get $ip | egrep -o '([0-9]{1,3}\.){3}[0-9]{1,3}' | tail -1`
+echo export host_ip=${my_ip} >> test_env
+
+test_env_list=(
+    "WORKSPACE"
+    "JOB_NAME"
+    "BUILD_NUMBER"
+    "BUILD_TIMESTAMP"
+    "name"
+    "target"
+    "box"
+    "product"
+    "version"
+    "do_not_destroy_vm"
+    "test_set"
+    "ci_url"
+    "smoke"
+    "big"
+    "backend_ssl"
+    "use_snapshots"
+    "no_vm_revert"
+    "template"
+    "config_to_clone"
+    "test_branch"
+    "use_valgrind"
+    "use_callgrind"
+)
+
+for s in ${test_env_list[@]} ; do
+   eval "v=\$$s"
+   if [ -n "$v" ] ; then
+       echo "export $s=\"$v\"" >> test_env
+   fi
+done
+
+cat test_env
+
+scp -i $key $sshopt test_env $me@$ip:~/
+
+ssh -i $key $sshopt $me@$ip "sudo usermod --shell /bin/bash $me"
+ssh -i $key $sshopt $me@$ip "./MaxScale/BUILD/install_test_build_deps.sh"
+ssh -i $key $sshopt $me@$ip ". ./test_env; env; ./MaxScale/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test.sh"
+
+
+. ${script_dir}/configure_log_dir.sh
+mkdir -p LOGS
+mkdir -p ${logs_publish_dir}
+scp -i $key $sshopt -r $me@$ip:./MaxScale/build/maxscale-system-test/LOGS/* LOGS/
+
+
+cp core.* ${logs_publish_dir}
+${script_dir}/copy_logs.sh
+
+if [ "${do_not_destroy_vm}" != "yes" ] ; then
+	mdbci destroy ${mdbci_config_name}
+        mdbci destroy test_vm
+        rm -rf $HOME/${mdbci_config_name}_vms
+	echo "clean up done!"
+fi
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/test_vm.json b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/test_vm.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2359f9a00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/test_vm.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+    "ubuntu_bionic": {
+        "hostname": "default",
+        "box" : "###test_vm_box###",
+        "user" : "###test_vm_user###",
+        "memory_size": "8192",
+        "cpu_count": "8"
+    }
+}
+