diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0a0f43130f..fe93775336 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ reports/
 jscover.log
 jscover.log.*
 .pytest_cache/
+pytest_container*.txt
 .tddium*
 common/test/data/test_unicode/static/
 test_root/courses/
diff --git a/scripts/xdist/prepare_xdist_nodes.sh b/scripts/xdist/prepare_xdist_nodes.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6c1e1bcc92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/xdist/prepare_xdist_nodes.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+python scripts/xdist/pytest_container_manager.py -a up -n ${XDIST_NUM_CONTAINERS} \
+-t ${XDIST_CONTAINER_TASK_NAME} \
+-s ${XDIST_CONTAINER_SUBNET} \
+-sg ${XDIST_CONTAINER_SECURITY_GROUP}
+
+ip_list=$(<pytest_container_ip_list.txt)
+
+for ip in $ip_list
+do
+    container_reqs_cmd="ssh ubuntu@$ip 'cd /edx/app/edxapp/edx-platform;
+    git pull -q; git checkout -q ${XDIST_GIT_BRANCH};
+    source /edx/app/edxapp/edxapp_env; pip install -qr requirements/edx/testing.txt' & "
+
+    cmd=$cmd$container_reqs_cmd
+done
+cmd=$cmd"wait"
+
+echo "Executing commmand: $cmd"
+eval $cmd
diff --git a/scripts/xdist/pytest_container_manager.py b/scripts/xdist/pytest_container_manager.py
index a430791a08..de9e5ab710 100644
--- a/scripts/xdist/pytest_container_manager.py
+++ b/scripts/xdist/pytest_container_manager.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class PytestContainerManager():
         self.ecs = boto3.client('ecs', region)
         self.cluster_name = cluster
 
-    def spin_up_containers(self, number_of_containers, task_name, subnets, security_groups, public_ip_enabled, launch_type):
+    def spin_up_containers(self, number_of_containers, task_name, subnets, security_groups, public_ip, launch_type):
         """
         Spins up containers and generates two .txt files, one containing the IP
         addresses of the new containers, the other containing their task_arns.
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class PytestContainerManager():
                             'awsvpcConfiguration': {
                                 'subnets': subnets,
                                 'securityGroups': security_groups,
-                                'assignPublicIp': public_ip_enabled
+                                'assignPublicIp': public_ip
                             }
                         },
                         taskDefinition=task_definition
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     parser.add_argument('--security_groups', '-sg', nargs='+', default=None,
                         help="List of security groups to apply to the containers")
 
-    parser.add_argument('--public_ip_enabled', choices=['ENABLED', 'DISABLED'],
+    parser.add_argument('--public_ip', choices=['ENABLED', 'DISABLED'],
                         default='DISABLED', help="Whether the containers should have a public IP")
 
     parser.add_argument('--launch_type', default='FARGATE', choices=['EC2', 'FARGATE'],
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
             args.task_name,
             args.subnets,
             args.security_groups,
-            args.public_ip_enabled,
+            args.public_ip,
             args.launch_type
         )
     elif args.action == 'down':
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index a53421bd63..d9bfdafedc 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ passenv =
     SHARD
     SKIP_NPM_INSTALL
     TEST_SUITE
+    XDIST_CONTAINER_SECURITY_GROUP
+    XDIST_CONTAINER_SUBNET
+    XDIST_CONTAINER_TASK_NAME
+    XDIST_GIT_BRANCH
+    XDIST_NUM_CONTAINERS
 deps =
     django18: Django>=1.8,<1.9
     django19: Django>=1.9,<1.10