diff --git a/lib/ceilometer b/lib/ceilometer
index 2b014b05b8..aa1b39605f 100644
--- a/lib/ceilometer
+++ b/lib/ceilometer
@@ -66,6 +66,13 @@ function configure_ceilometer() {
     cp $CEILOMETER_DIR/etc/ceilometer/policy.json $CEILOMETER_CONF_DIR
     iniset $CEILOMETER_CONF DEFAULT policy_file $CEILOMETER_CONF_DIR/policy.json
 
+    # the compute and central agents need these credentials in order to
+    # call out to the public nova and glance APIs
+    iniset $CEILOMETER_CONF DEFAULT os_username ceilometer
+    iniset $CEILOMETER_CONF DEFAULT os_password $SERVICE_PASSWORD
+    iniset $CEILOMETER_CONF DEFAULT os_tenant_name $SERVICE_TENANT_NAME
+    iniset $CEILOMETER_CONF DEFAULT os_auth_url $OS_AUTH_URL
+
     iniset $CEILOMETER_CONF keystone_authtoken auth_protocol http
     iniset $CEILOMETER_CONF keystone_authtoken admin_user ceilometer
     iniset $CEILOMETER_CONF keystone_authtoken admin_password $SERVICE_PASSWORD
@@ -82,7 +89,7 @@ function install_ceilometer() {
 # start_ceilometer() - Start running processes, including screen
 function start_ceilometer() {
     screen_it ceilometer-acompute "cd $CEILOMETER_DIR && sg libvirtd \"$CEILOMETER_BIN_DIR/ceilometer-agent-compute --config-file $CEILOMETER_CONF\""
-    screen_it ceilometer-acentral "export OS_USERNAME=ceilometer OS_PASSWORD=$SERVICE_PASSWORD OS_TENANT_NAME=$SERVICE_TENANT_NAME OS_AUTH_URL=$OS_AUTH_URL && cd $CEILOMETER_DIR && $CEILOMETER_BIN_DIR/ceilometer-agent-central --config-file $CEILOMETER_CONF"
+    screen_it ceilometer-acentral "cd $CEILOMETER_DIR && $CEILOMETER_BIN_DIR/ceilometer-agent-central --config-file $CEILOMETER_CONF"
     screen_it ceilometer-collector "cd $CEILOMETER_DIR && $CEILOMETER_BIN_DIR/ceilometer-collector --config-file $CEILOMETER_CONF"
     screen_it ceilometer-api "cd $CEILOMETER_DIR && $CEILOMETER_BIN_DIR/ceilometer-api -d -v --log-dir=$CEILOMETER_API_LOG_DIR --config-file $CEILOMETER_CONF"
 }