diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/required_defaults_CentOS.yml b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/required_defaults_CentOS.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b989bae90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/required_defaults_CentOS.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+---
+libvirt_service_name: libvirtd
+required_packages:
+ - qemu-img
+ - qemu-kvm-tools
+ - qemu-kvm
+ - qemu-kvm-common
+ - sgabios
+ - libvirt
+ - libvirt-client
+ - libvirt-daemon
+ - libvirt-daemon-config-network
+ - libvirt-daemon-config-nwfilter
+ - libvirt-daemon-driver-network
+ - libvirt-daemon-driver-nodedev
+ - libvirt-daemon-driver-nwfilter
+ - libvirt-daemon-driver-qemu
+ - libvirt-daemon-driver-secret
+ - libvirt-daemon-driver-storage
+ - libvirt-daemon-kvm
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/required_defaults_Debian.yml b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/required_defaults_Debian.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e1e4149a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/required_defaults_Debian.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+libvirt_service_name: libvirt-bin
+required_packages:
+ - libvirt-bin
+ - qemu-utils
+ - qemu-kvm
+ - qemu-system-x86
+ - sgabios
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/required_defaults_RedHat.yml b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/required_defaults_RedHat.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4d3a274ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/required_defaults_RedHat.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+libvirt_service_name: libvirtd
+required_packages:
+ - qemu-img
+ - qemu-kvm-tools
+ - qemu-kvm
+ - qemu-kvm-common
+ - qemu-system-x86
+ - sgabios
+ - libvirt
+ - libvirt-client
+ - libvirt-daemon
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/files/create_vm_nodes-for-role.sh b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/files/create_vm_nodes-for-role.sh
index f7d69d9d2..d5a4d0bc2 100755
--- a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/files/create_vm_nodes-for-role.sh
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/files/create_vm_nodes-for-role.sh
@@ -38,6 +38,15 @@ VM_EMULATOR=${VM_EMULATOR:-/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64}
 VM_CPU=${VM_CPU:-1}
 VM_RAM=${VM_RAM:-3072}
 VM_DISK=${VM_DISK:-10}
+VM_MACHINE="pc-1.0"
+
+# CentOS provides a single emulator package
+# which differs from other distributions, and
+# needs to be explicitly set.
+if [ -e /etc/centos-release ]; then
+  VM_EMULATOR=/usr/libexec/qemu-kvm
+  VM_MACHINE="pc"
+fi
 
 # VM network
 VM_NET_BRIDGE=${VM_NET_BRIDGE:-default}
@@ -95,6 +104,12 @@ function create_node {
 
     if [ -n "$LOGDIR" ] ; then
       mkdir -p "$LOGDIR"
+      if [ -e /etc/centos-release ]; then
+        # NOTE(TheJulia): For some unknown reason, libvirt's log folder permissions
+        # on CentOS ship in an inoperable state.  Users must be able to read a folder
+        # to open files in the folder structure.
+        chmod o+rx "$LOGDIR/.."
+      fi
     fi
 
     PREALLOC=
@@ -112,15 +127,20 @@ function create_node {
       volume_path=$(virsh vol-path --pool $LIBVIRT_STORAGE_POOL $VOL_NAME)
       # Pre-touch the VM to set +C, as it can only be set on empty files.
       touch "$volume_path"
-      chattr +C "$volume_path" || true
 
+      # NOTE(TheJulia): CentOS default installs with an XFS root, and chattr
+      # fails to set +C on XFS.  This could be more elegent, however the use
+      # case is for CI testing.
+      if [ ! -e /etc/centos-release ]; then
+        chattr +C "$volume_path" || true
+      fi
       vm_xml="
 <domain type='qemu'>
   <name>${NAME}</name>
   <memory unit='KiB'>${MEM}</memory>
   <vcpu>${CPU}</vcpu>
   <os>
-    <type arch='${ARCH}' machine='pc-1.0'>hvm</type>
+    <type arch='${ARCH}' machine='${VM_MACHINE}'>hvm</type>
     <boot dev='network'/>
     <bootmenu enable='no'/>
     <bios useserial='yes'/>
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/main.yml
index f6756b1b5..ebbc7714b 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/main.yml
@@ -14,27 +14,16 @@
 #
 # TODO: Consider converting to ansible virt module.
 ---
-- name: "Install testing apt packages for Ubuntu/Debian"
-  when: ansible_os_family == 'Debian'
-  apt: name={{ item }} state=present
-  with_items:
-    - libvirt-bin
-    - qemu-utils
-    - qemu-kvm
-    - qemu-system-x86
-    - sgabios
-- name: "Install testing yum packages for RedHat/CentOS/Fedora/OpenSuse"
-  when: ansible_os_family in ['CentOS', 'Fedora', 'OpenSuse', 'RedHat']
-  yum: name={{ item }} state=present
-  with_items:
-    - libvirt-client
-    - qemu-img
-    - qemu-kvm-tools
-    - qemu-kvm
-    - qemu-system-x86
-    - sgabios
+- name: "Load Distribution defaults"
+  include_vars: "{{ item }}"
+  with_first_found:
+    - "../defaults/required_defaults_{{ ansible_distribution }}.yml"
+    - "../defaults/required_defaults_{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml"
+- name: "Install required packages"
+  action: "{{ ansible_pkg_mgr }} name={{item}} state=present"
+  with_items: required_packages
 - name: "Restart libvirt service"
-  service: name=libvirt-bin state=restarted
+  service: name={{libvirt_service_name}} state=restarted
 - name: "Create virtual machines"
   script: create_vm_nodes-for-role.sh
   environment: