diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/.gitignore b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/.gitignore
index 8ba2d02c2d8..09abf9359ae 100644
--- a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/.gitignore
+++ b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/.gitignore
@@ -49,5 +49,3 @@ systemvm.iso
 iso/*
 
 rspec.xml
-vagrant_ssh_config
-.kitchen/
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/.kitchen.yml b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/.kitchen.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 2441b73c837..00000000000
--- a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/.kitchen.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
----
-driver:
-  name: vagrant
-  vagrantfile_erb: Vagrantfile.kitchen
-
-provisioner:
-  name: shell
-
-platforms:
-  - name: systemvm
-
-suites:
-  - name: default
-    run_list:
-    attributes:
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/.rspec b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/.rspec
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ba8e4a3a093
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/.rspec
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+--format documentation
+--format RspecJunitFormatter
+--out rspec.xml
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Gemfile b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Gemfile
index f55fa834681..4dd07442b46 100644
--- a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Gemfile
+++ b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Gemfile
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 source 'https://rubygems.org'
 
-gem 'test-kitchen', :git => 'https://github.com/test-kitchen/test-kitchen.git', :branch => 'master'
-gem 'kitchen-vagrant'
-gem 'vagrant-wrapper'
+gem 'rake'
+gem 'rspec', '~> 2.99'
+gem 'serverspec', '~> 1.11.0'
+gem 'rspec_junit_formatter'
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Rakefile b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Rakefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b6a9881353a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Rakefile
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+require 'rake'
+require 'rspec/core/rake_task'
+
+RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new(:spec) do |t|
+  t.pattern = 'spec/*/*_spec.rb'
+end
+
+task :default => :spec
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/VBoxManage b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/VBoxManage
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..67df74ce552
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/VBoxManage
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# In some cases, while booting a virtual machine, an IDE controller
+# will be created for it. It seems that the VirtualBox GUI likes doing
+# this: when a particular machine has booted at least once with its
+# GUI turned on, this will happen pretty consistently.
+#
+# Having an IDE controller and a SATA controller breaks the assumptions
+# in the systemvm scripts about what disks are attached, causing it to
+# not find the systemvm.iso.
+#
+# So, we delete the IDE controller using Vagrant.
+#
+# Unfortunately, when the IDE controller does not exist, that deletion
+# fails, causing vagrant to fail. To work around this, we inject this
+# script into the path, causing vagrant to try to continue booting.
+
+/usr/bin/VBoxManage "$@"
+exitcode=$?
+
+if [[ "$1" == "storagectl" ]]; then
+  exit 0
+else
+  exit ${exitcode}
+fi
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Vagrantfile b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Vagrantfile
index c7abc8fba63..6630cb33e18 100644
--- a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Vagrantfile
+++ b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Vagrantfile
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ Vagrant.configure(VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION) do |config|
 
   config.vm.provider 'virtualbox' do |vb|
     # enable or disable headless mode
-    vb.gui = true
+    vb.gui = false
     vb.customize ['modifyvm', :id, '--memory', '256']
     vb.customize ['storagectl', :id, '--name', 'IDE Controller', '--remove']
     vb.customize ['storageattach', :id, '--storagectl', 'SATA Controller', '--port', '1', '--type', 'dvddrive',
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Vagrantfile.kitchen b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Vagrantfile.kitchen
deleted file mode 100644
index 0da5ad82bf0..00000000000
--- a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/Vagrantfile.kitchen
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,85 +0,0 @@
-#-*- mode: ruby -*-
-# vi: set ft=ruby :
-include RbConfig
-
-VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION = '2'
-
-unless ENV['VPC_IP']
-  puts 'Please specify the VPC IP by settings the VPC_IP environment variable'
-  puts 'Example: export VPC_IP=192.168.56.30'
-  puts ''
-  exit 1
-end
-VPC_NAME='r-' + ENV['VPC_IP'].split('.').last + '-VM'
-
-if ARGV[0] == 'up'
-  iso_util=''
-  case CONFIG['host_os']
-    when /mswin|windows/i
-      puts 'Windows is not supported'
-      exit 1
-    when /linux|arch/i
-      iso_util='mkisofs -J -o systemvm.iso ./iso'
-    when /sunos|solaris/i
-      puts 'Solaris is not supported'
-      exit 1
-    when /darwin/i
-      iso_util='hdiutil makehybrid -iso -joliet -o systemvm.iso ./iso/'
-    else
-      puts 'This OS is not supported'
-      exit 1
-  end
-
-  system 'rm -rf ./systemvm.iso'
-  system 'mkdir -p iso/'
-  unless File.exist? '../../../../../../systemvm/dist/cloud-scripts.tgz'
-    puts 'No cloud-scripts.tgz found. Did you run the maven build?'
-    exit 1
-  end
-  system 'cp ../../../../../../systemvm/dist/cloud-scripts.tgz iso/'
-  unless File.exist? '../../../../../../systemvm/dist/systemvm.zip'
-    puts 'No systemvm.zip found. Did you run the maven build?'
-    exit 1
-  end
-  system 'cp ../../../../../../systemvm/dist/systemvm.zip iso/'
-
-  unless File.exist? '../../../vagrant.pub'
-    puts 'No vagrant.pub found!'
-    exit 1
-  end
-  system 'cp ../../../vagrant.pub iso/authorized_keys'
-  system 'chmod 600 iso/authorized_keys'
-
-  system iso_util
-end
-
-Vagrant.configure(VAGRANTFILE_API_VERSION) do |config|
-  config.vm.box = 'cloudstack/systemvm'
-  config.vm.network 'private_network', ip: ENV['VPC_IP'], auto_config: false
-  config.vm.synced_folder 'vagrant', '/vagrant', disabled: true
-<% config[:synced_folders].each do |source, destination, options| %>
-  config.vm.synced_folder "<%= source %>", "<%= destination %>", type: 'rsync', <%= options %>
-<% end %>
-  config.ssh.forward_agent = true
-  config.ssh.username = 'root'
-  config.ssh.host = ENV['VPC_IP']
-  config.ssh.port = 3922
-  config.ssh.guest_port = 3922
-
-  config.vm.provider 'virtualbox' do |vb|
-    # enable or disable headless mode
-    vb.gui = true
-    vb.customize ['modifyvm', :id, '--memory', '256']
-    vb.customize ['storagectl', :id, '--name', 'IDE Controller', '--remove']
-    vb.customize ['storageattach', :id, '--storagectl', 'SATA Controller', '--port', '1', '--type', 'dvddrive',
-                  '--medium', './systemvm.iso']
-    vb.customize('pre-boot', ['modifyvm', :id, '--nic1', 'none'])
-    extra_data='cmdline:console=hvc0 vpccidr=172.16.0.0/16 domain=devcloud.local dns1=8.8.8.8 dns2=8.8.8.4' +
-        " template=domP name=#{VPC_NAME} eth0ip=#{ENV['VPC_IP']}" +
-        ' eth0mask=255.255.255.0 type=vpcrouter disable_rp_filter=true'
-    vb.customize('pre-boot', ['setextradata', :id, 'VBoxInternal/Devices/pcbios/0/Config/DmiOEMVBoxRev', extra_data])
-
-    # for internet access
-    vb.customize ['modifyvm', :id, '--nic8', 'nat']
-  end
-end
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/bootstrap.sh b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/bootstrap.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 051b47f7b9e..00000000000
--- a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/bootstrap.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,112 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-set -e
-set -x
-
-# script invoked by Test-Kitchen shell provisioner to further
-# customize the VM prior to running tests
-
-function setup_networking() {
-  # for internet access
-  if [[ ! `grep eth1 /etc/network/interfaces` ]]; then
-    cat >>/etc/network/interfaces <<END
-
-iface eth1 inet dhcp
-auto eth1
-END
-  fi
-  ifup eth1
-}
-
-function install_packages() {
-  export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
-  export DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical
-
-  local apt_get="apt-get -q -y --force-yes"
-
-  ${apt_get} update
-
-  if [[ ! `which curl` ]]; then
-    ${apt_get} install curl
-  fi
-  if [[ ! `which patch` ]]; then
-    ${apt_get} install patch
-  fi
-  if [[ ! `which git` ]]; then
-    ${apt_get} install git
-  fi
-}
-
-function install_chef() {
-  if [[ ! -f '/opt/chef/embedded/bin/gem' ]]; then
-    curl -L https://www.opscode.com/chef/install.sh | bash
-  fi
-}
-function add_junit_reports_to_serverspec() {
-  local gem="/opt/chef/embedded/bin/gem"
-  local gem_install="${gem} install --no-rdoc --no-ri"
-
-  ${gem_install} rspec rspec_junit_formatter
-
-  if [[ ! -d 'serverspec' ]]; then
-    git clone https://github.com/serverspec/serverspec.git
-    (cd serverspec; git submodule update --init --recursive)
-  fi
-  cd serverspec
-  git reset --hard
-  cat >serverspec.patch <<END
-diff -u serverspec.gemspec serverspec-spec3.gemspec
---- serverspec.gemspec
-+++ serverspec.gemspec
-@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
-   spec.require_paths = ["lib"]
-
-   spec.add_runtime_dependency "net-ssh"
--  spec.add_runtime_dependency "rspec", "~> 2.99"
-+  spec.add_runtime_dependency "rspec", [">= 2.99", '< 4.0']
-   spec.add_runtime_dependency "rspec-its"
-   spec.add_runtime_dependency "highline"
-   spec.add_runtime_dependency "specinfra", "~> 1.22"
-END
-  patch -p0 <serverspec.patch
-
-  ${gem} build serverspec.gemspec
-  ${gem_install} serverspec-*.gem
-  cd ..
-
-
-  if [[ ! -d 'busser-serverspec' ]]; then
-    git clone https://github.com/test-kitchen/busser-serverspec.git
-  fi
-  cd busser-serverspec
-  git reset --hard
-  cat >busser-serverspec.patch <<END
-diff -u lib/busser/serverspec/runner.rb lib/busser/serverspec/runner-spec3.rb
---- lib/busser/serverspec/runner.rb
-+++ lib/busser/serverspec/runner.rb
-@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new(:spec) do |t|
-   end
-
-   t.rspec_path = rspec_bin if rspec_bin
--  t.rspec_opts = ['--color', '--format documentation']
-+  t.rspec_opts = ['--color', '--format documentation', '--format RspecJunitFormatter', '--out /tmp/rspec.xml']
-   t.ruby_opts = "-I#{base_path}"
-   t.pattern = "#{base_path}/**/*_spec.rb"
- end
-END
-
-  patch -p0 <busser-serverspec.patch
-  ${gem} build busser-serverspec.gemspec
-  ${gem_install} busser-serverspec-*.gem
-  cd ..
-}
-
-function main() {
-  setup_networking
-  install_packages
-  install_chef
-  add_junit_reports_to_serverspec
-}
-
-# we only run main() if not source-d
-return 2>/dev/null || main
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/spec/spec_helper.rb b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/spec/spec_helper.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..56bb307ac3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+require 'serverspec'
+require 'pathname'
+require 'net/ssh'
+require 'pp'
+
+include SpecInfra::Helper::Ssh
+include SpecInfra::Helper::DetectOS
+
+#RSpec.configure do |c|
+#  c.before :all do
+#    c.path = '/sbin:/usr/sbin'
+#  end
+#end
+
+RSpec.configure do |c|
+  if ENV['ASK_SUDO_PASSWORD']
+    require 'highline/import'
+    c.sudo_password = ask('Enter sudo password: ') { |q| q.echo = false }
+  else
+    c.sudo_password = ENV['SUDO_PASSWORD']
+  end
+  c.before :all do
+    block = self.class.metadata[:example_group_block]
+    if RUBY_VERSION.start_with?('1.8')
+      file = block.to_s.match(/.*@(.*):[0-9]+>/)[1]
+    else
+      file = block.source_location.first
+    end
+    host  = File.basename(Pathname.new(file).dirname)
+    if c.host != host
+      c.ssh.close if c.ssh
+      c.host  = host
+      options = Net::SSH::Config.for(c.host)
+      user    = options[:user] || Etc.getlogin
+      config  = `vagrant ssh-config default`
+      if config != ''
+        config.each_line do |line|
+          if match = /HostName (.*)/.match(line)
+            host = match[1]
+          elsif  match = /User (.*)/.match(line)
+            user = match[1]
+          elsif match = /IdentityFile (.*)/.match(line)
+            options[:keys] =  [match[1].gsub(/"/,'')]
+          elsif match = /Port (.*)/.match(line)
+            options[:port] = match[1]
+          end
+        end
+      end
+      c.ssh   = Net::SSH.start(host, user, options)
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/spec/test_cloudstack_metadata_spec.rb b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/spec/test_cloudstack_metadata_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..72814f2d861
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/spec/test_cloudstack_metadata_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe file('/etc/cloudstack-release') do
+  it { should be_file }
+  its(:content) { should match /Cloudstack Release [0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)+/ }
+end
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/test.sh b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/test.sh
index c32029fd22e..f44ba7fae3d 100755
--- a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/test.sh
+++ b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/test.sh
@@ -44,16 +44,12 @@ if [[ ! -z "${JENKINS_HOME}" ]]; then
   DEBUG=1
 fi
 
-kitchen_args=
-if [[ "${DEBUG}" == "1" ]]; then
-  kitchen_args="-l debug"
-fi
-kitchen="bundle exec kitchen"
-
-# optional (jenkins) build number tag to put into the image filename
-VPC_IP="${VPC_IP:-192.168.56.30}"
+VPC_IP="${VPC_IP:-192.168.56.254}"
 export VPC_IP
 
+# inject our custom VBoxManage wrapper script
+export PATH=$PWD:$PATH
+
 ###
 ### Generic helper functions
 ###
@@ -166,39 +162,28 @@ function box_update() {
   log INFO "vagrant box update complete"
 }
 
-function converge_kitchen() {
-  log INFO "invoking test-kitchen converge"
-  ${kitchen} create ${kitchen_args}
-  ${kitchen} converge ${kitchen_args}
-  log INFO "test-kitchen complete"
+function vagrant_up() {
+  log INFO "invoking vagrant up"
+  vagrant up --no-provision
+  log INFO "vagrant up complete"
 }
 
-function verify_kitchen() {
-  log INFO "invoking test-kitchen verify"
-
-  ${kitchen} verify ${kitchen_args}
-
-  # re-run busser test with patched serverspec gem to get a rspec.xml
-  ${kitchen} exec ${kitchen_args} -c '
-BUSSER_ROOT="/tmp/busser" GEM_HOME="/tmp/busser/gems" GEM_PATH="/tmp/busser/gems" GEM_CACHE="/tmp/busser/gems/cache"
-export BUSSER_ROOT GEM_HOME GEM_PATH GEM_CACHE
-/tmp/kitchen/bootstrap.sh
-sudo -E /tmp/busser/bin/busser test
-'
-
-  # ssh to machine ourselves to avoid kitchen output
-  (cd .kitchen/kitchen-vagrant/default-systemvm; vagrant ssh-config) > vagrant_ssh_config
-  add_on_exit rm -f vagrant_ssh_config
-  scp -F vagrant_ssh_config default:/tmp/rspec.xml rspec.xml
-  log INFO "test results in rspec.xml"
-
-  log INFO "test-kitchen complete"
+function vagrant_provision() {
+  log INFO "invoking vagrant provision"
+  vagrant provision
+  log INFO "vagrant up complete"
 }
 
-function destroy_kitchen() {
-  log INFO "invoking test-kitchen destroy"
-  ${kitchen} destroy ${kitchen_args}
-  log INFO "test-kitchen destroy complete"
+function serverspec() {
+  log INFO "invoking serverspec"
+  bundle exec rake spec
+  log INFO "serverspec complete"
+}
+
+function vagrant_destroy() {
+  log INFO "invoking vagrant destroy"
+  vagrant destroy -f
+  log INFO "vagrant destroy complete"
 }
 ###
 ### Main invocation
@@ -207,9 +192,11 @@ function destroy_kitchen() {
 function main() {
   prepare
   box_update
-  add_on_exit destroy_kitchen
-  converge_kitchen
-  verify_kitchen
+  vagrant_destroy
+  add_on_exit vagrant_destroy
+  vagrant_up
+  vagrant_provision
+  serverspec
   add_on_exit log INFO "BUILD SUCCESSFUL"
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/test/integration/default/serverspec/test_cloudstack_metadata_spec.rb b/tools/vagrant/systemvm/test/integration/default/serverspec/test_cloudstack_metadata_spec.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 26b700ba988..00000000000
--- a/tools/vagrant/systemvm/test/integration/default/serverspec/test_cloudstack_metadata_spec.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-require 'serverspec'
-
-include Serverspec::Helper::Exec
-include Serverspec::Helper::DetectOS
-
-RSpec.configure do |c|
-  c.before :all do
-    c.path = '/sbin:/usr/sbin'
-  end
-end
-
-describe file('/etc/cloudstack-release') do
-  it { should be_file }
-  its(:content) { should match /Cloudstack Release [0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)+/ }
-end