diff --git a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/bbsim-tests.groovy b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/bbsim-tests.groovy
index e077979..0fe3eb4 100755
--- a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/bbsim-tests.groovy
+++ b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/bbsim-tests.groovy
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
           }
 
           // NOTE temporary workaround expose ONOS node ports
-          def localHelmFlags = extraHelmFlags + " --set global.log_level=${logLevel.toUpperCase()} " +
+          def localHelmFlags = extraHelmFlags.trim() + " --set global.log_level=${logLevel.toUpperCase()} " +
           " --set onos-classic.onosSshPort=30115 " +
           " --set onos-classic.onosApiPort=30120 " +
           " --set onos-classic.onosOfPort=31653 " +
diff --git a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/physical-build.groovy b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/physical-build.groovy
index 7fa2529..dd339f2 100644
--- a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/physical-build.groovy
+++ b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/physical-build.groovy
@@ -258,6 +258,8 @@
                 sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set TRACE org.opencord.dhcpl2relay"
                 sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set TRACE org.opencord.aaa"
                 sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set TRACE org.opencord.olt"
+                #TRACE in the pipeliner is too chatty, moving to DEBUG
+                sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set DEBUG org.opencord.olt.driver"
                 sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set DEBUG org.onosproject.net.flowobjective.impl.FlowObjectiveManager"
                 sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set DEBUG org.onosproject.net.flowobjective.impl.InOrderFlowObjectiveManager"
                 curl -sSL --user karaf:karaf -X GET http://${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip}:30120/onos/v1/applications/org.onosproject.segmentrouting | jq '.state' | grep ACTIVE
diff --git a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/software-upgrades.groovy b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/software-upgrades.groovy
index ffc4be6..de6f8ce 100644
--- a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/software-upgrades.groovy
+++ b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/software-upgrades.groovy
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@
 ])
 def test_software_upgrade(name) {
   stage('Deploy Voltha - '+ name) {
-      def extraHelmFlags = "${extraHelmFlags} --set global.log_level=DEBUG,onu=1,pon=1 --set onos-classic.replicas=3,onos-classic.atomix.replicas=3 "
+      def extraHelmFlags = extraHelmFlags.trim()
+      extraHelmFlags = extraHelmFlags + " --set global.log_level=DEBUG,onu=1,pon=1 --set onos-classic.replicas=3,onos-classic.atomix.replicas=3 "
       if ("${name}" == "onos-app-upgrade" || "${name}" == "onu-software-upgrade") {
           extraHelmFlags = extraHelmFlags + "--set global.image_tag=master --set onos-classic.image.tag=master "
       }
@@ -50,9 +51,9 @@
       """
       // forward ONOS and VOLTHA ports
       sh """
-      _TAG=onos-port-forward bash -c "while true; do kubectl port-forward --address 0.0.0.0 -n infra svc/voltha-infra-onos-classic-hs 8101:8101; done &"
-      _TAG=onos-port-forward bash -c "while true; do kubectl port-forward --address 0.0.0.0 -n infra svc/voltha-infra-onos-classic-hs 8181:8181; done &"
-      _TAG=port-forward-voltha-api bash -c "while true; do kubectl port-forward --address 0.0.0.0 -n voltha svc/voltha-voltha-api 55555:55555; done &"
+      JENKINS_NODE_COOKIE="dontKillMe" _TAG=onos-port-forward /bin/bash -c "while true; do kubectl -n infra port-forward --address 0.0.0.0 service/voltha-infra-onos-classic-hs 8101:8101; done 2>&1 " &
+      JENKINS_NODE_COOKIE="dontKillMe" _TAG=onos-port-forward /bin/bash -c "while true; do kubectl -n infra port-forward --address 0.0.0.0 service/voltha-infra-onos-classic-hs 8181:8181; done 2>&1 " &
+      JENKINS_NODE_COOKIE="dontKillMe" _TAG=port-forward-voltha-api /bin/bash -c "while true; do kubectl -n voltha port-forward --address 0.0.0.0 service/voltha-voltha-api 55555:55555; done 2>&1 " &
       """
       sh """
       sshpass -e ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 8101 karaf@127.0.0.1 log:set DEBUG org.opencord
diff --git a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/tucson-build-and-test.groovy b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/tucson-build-and-test.groovy
index e8c9382..1a96607 100644
--- a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/tucson-build-and-test.groovy
+++ b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/master/tucson-build-and-test.groovy
@@ -203,6 +203,8 @@
         sshpass -p karaf ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set TRACE org.opencord.dhcpl2relay"
         sshpass -p karaf ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set TRACE org.opencord.aaa"
         sshpass -p karaf ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set TRACE org.opencord.olt"
+        #TRACE in the pipeliner is too chatty, moving to DEBUG
+        sshpass -p karaf ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set DEBUG org.opencord.olt.driver"
         sshpass -p karaf ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set DEBUG org.onosproject.net.flowobjective.impl.FlowObjectiveManager"
         sshpass -p karaf ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set DEBUG org.onosproject.net.flowobjective.impl.InOrderFlowObjectiveManager"
 
diff --git a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/bbsim-tests.groovy b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/bbsim-tests.groovy
index 0f1002e..ef6964b 100755
--- a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/bbsim-tests.groovy
+++ b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/bbsim-tests.groovy
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
           }
 
           // NOTE temporary workaround expose ONOS node ports
-          def localHelmFlags = extraHelmFlags + " --set global.log_level=${logLevel.toUpperCase()} " +
+          def localHelmFlags = extraHelmFlags.trim() + " --set global.log_level=${logLevel.toUpperCase()} " +
           " --set onos-classic.onosSshPort=30115 " +
           " --set onos-classic.onosApiPort=30120 " +
           " --set onos-classic.onosOfPort=31653 " +
diff --git a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/physical-build.groovy b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/physical-build.groovy
index 007da19..93be6a2 100644
--- a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/physical-build.groovy
+++ b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/physical-build.groovy
@@ -258,6 +258,8 @@
                 sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set TRACE org.opencord.dhcpl2relay"
                 sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set TRACE org.opencord.aaa"
                 sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set TRACE org.opencord.olt"
+                #TRACE in the pipeliner is too chatty, moving to DEBUG
+                sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set DEBUG org.opencord.olt.driver"
                 sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set DEBUG org.onosproject.net.flowobjective.impl.FlowObjectiveManager"
                 sshpass -p karaf ssh -q -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 30115 karaf@${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip} "log:set DEBUG org.onosproject.net.flowobjective.impl.InOrderFlowObjectiveManager"
                 curl -sSL --user karaf:karaf -X GET http://${deployment_config.nodes[0].ip}:30120/onos/v1/applications/org.onosproject.segmentrouting | jq '.state' | grep ACTIVE
diff --git a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/software-upgrades.groovy b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/software-upgrades.groovy
index 665ef57..700ac94 100644
--- a/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/software-upgrades.groovy
+++ b/jjb/pipeline/voltha/voltha-2.8/software-upgrades.groovy
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@
 ])
 def test_software_upgrade(name) {
   stage('Deploy Voltha - '+ name) {
-      def extraHelmFlags = "${extraHelmFlags} --set global.log_level=DEBUG,onu=1,pon=1 --set onos-classic.replicas=3,onos-classic.atomix.replicas=3 "
+      def extraHelmFlags = extraHelmFlags.trim()
+      extraHelmFlags = extraHelmFlags + " --set global.log_level=DEBUG,onu=1,pon=1 --set onos-classic.replicas=3,onos-classic.atomix.replicas=3 "
       if ("${name}" == "onos-app-upgrade" || "${name}" == "onu-software-upgrade") {
           extraHelmFlags = extraHelmFlags + "--set global.image_tag=master --set onos-classic.image.tag=master "
       }