diff --git a/src/test/utils/CordContainer.py b/src/test/utils/CordContainer.py
index 81addcb..4d0c5bb 100644
--- a/src/test/utils/CordContainer.py
+++ b/src/test/utils/CordContainer.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 from docker import Client
 from shutil import copy
 from OnosCtrl import OnosCtrl
+from OnosLog import OnosLog
 
 class docker_netns(object):
 
@@ -353,7 +354,7 @@
                 except: pass
 
     def __init__(self, name = NAME, image = IMAGE, prefix = PREFIX, tag = TAG,
-                 boot_delay = 60, restart = False, network_cfg = None, cluster = False):
+                 boot_delay = 20, restart = False, network_cfg = None, cluster = False):
         if restart is True:
             ##Find the right image to restart
             running_image = filter(lambda c: c['Names'][0] == '/{}'.format(name), self.dckr.containers())
@@ -411,13 +412,32 @@
                         print('Restarting ONOS container %s' %self.name)
                         self.start(ports = self.ports, environment = self.env,
                                    host_config = self.host_config, volumes = self.volumes, tty = True)
-            print('Waiting %d seconds for ONOS to boot' %(boot_delay))
+            print('Waiting for ONOS to boot')
             time.sleep(boot_delay)
+            self.wait_for_onos_start(self.ip())
+
         self.ipaddr = self.ip()
         if cluster is False:
             self.install_cord_apps(self.ipaddr)
 
     @classmethod
+    def wait_for_onos_start(cls, ip, tries = 30):
+        onos_log = OnosLog(host = ip)
+        num_tries = 0
+        started = None
+        while not started and num_tries < tries:
+            time.sleep(3)
+            started = onos_log.search_log_pattern('ApplicationManager .* Started')
+            num_tries += 1
+
+        onos_log.close()
+        if not started:
+            print('ONOS did not start')
+        else:
+            print('ONOS started')
+        return started
+
+    @classmethod
     def setup_cluster_deprecated(cls, onos_instances, image_name = None):
         if not onos_instances or len(onos_instances) < 2:
             return
@@ -922,3 +942,6 @@
     @classmethod
     def build_image(cls, image = IMAGE):
         Xos.build_image(image, cls.dockerfile_path)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    onos = Onos(boot_delay = 10, restart = True)
diff --git a/src/test/utils/OnosLog.py b/src/test/utils/OnosLog.py
index e876c67..6bdef9f 100644
--- a/src/test/utils/OnosLog.py
+++ b/src/test/utils/OnosLog.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import os
+import re
 from SSHTestAgent import SSHTestAgent
 
 class OnosLog(object):
@@ -28,19 +29,22 @@
     def update_last_snapshot(cls, host, res):
         cls.last_snapshot_map[host] = res
 
-    def get_log(self, search_terms = None):
+    def get_log(self, search_terms = None, exception = True):
         """Run the command on the test host"""
         cmd = 'cat /root/onos/apache-karaf-3.0.5/data/log/karaf.log'
         st, output = self.ssh_agent.run_cmd(cmd)
         if st is False:
             return output
+        exception_map = {'Exception' : [] }
         last_snapshot = self.get_last_snapshot(self.ssh_agent.host)
         lines = output.splitlines()
         if search_terms:
             if type(search_terms) is str:
                 terms = [ search_terms ]
             else:
-                terms = search_terms
+                terms = list(search_terms)
+            if exception is True and 'Exception' not in terms:
+                terms.append('Exception')
             match_lines = []
             last_len = len(last_snapshot)
             for i in xrange(0, len(lines)):
@@ -50,13 +54,23 @@
                 for t in terms:
                     if lines[i].find(t) >= 0:
                         match_lines.append(lines[i])
-
+                        if t == 'Exception':
+                            exception_map[t] = lines[i+1:i+1+10]
             output = '\n'.join(match_lines)
+            output += '\n'.join(exception_map['Exception'])
 
         #update the last snapshot
         self.update_last_snapshot(self.ssh_agent.host, lines)
         return st, output
 
+    def search_log_pattern(self, pattern):
+        r_pat = re.compile(pattern)
+        cmd = 'cat /root/onos/apache-karaf-3.0.5/data/log/karaf.log'
+        st, output = self.ssh_agent.run_cmd(cmd)
+        if st is False:
+            return None
+        return r_pat.findall(output)
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     onos = os.getenv('ONOS_CONTROLLER_IP', '172.17.0.2')
     onos_log = OnosLog(host = onos)
@@ -70,3 +84,8 @@
     st, output = onos_log.get_log(('ERROR', 'INFO'))
     print(st, output)
     onos_log.close()
+    pat = onos_log.search_log_pattern('ApplicationManager .* Started')
+    if pat:
+        print(pat)
+    else:
+        print('Onos did not start')
diff --git a/src/test/utils/SSHTestAgent.py b/src/test/utils/SSHTestAgent.py
index 12d3530..4cd7666 100644
--- a/src/test/utils/SSHTestAgent.py
+++ b/src/test/utils/SSHTestAgent.py
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import os, sys
 from paramiko import SSHClient, WarningPolicy, AutoAddPolicy
-from CordTestServer import CORD_TEST_HOST
 from scapy.all import *
 
 class SSHTestAgent(object):
     key_file = os.getenv('SSH_KEY_FILE', None)
-    host = os.getenv('CORD_TEST_HOST', CORD_TEST_HOST)
+    host = os.getenv('CORD_TEST_HOST', '172.17.0.1')
+    hosts_file = os.path.join(os.getenv('HOME'), '.ssh', 'known_hosts')
     user = 'ubuntu'
     password = None
 
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
 
     def run_cmd(self, cmd, timeout = 5):
         """Run the command on the test host"""
+        host_remove = 'ssh-keygen -f "%s" -R [%s]:8101' %(self.hosts_file, self.host)
         try:
+            os.system(host_remove)
             self.client.connect(self.host, username = self.user, password = self.password,
                                 key_filename = self.key_file, timeout=timeout, port = self.port)
         except: