diff --git a/roles/head-prep/tasks/main.yml b/roles/head-prep/tasks/main.yml
index e9254b5..afa7be3 100644
--- a/roles/head-prep/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/head-prep/tasks/main.yml
@@ -49,9 +49,11 @@
     - libssl-dev
     - libvirt-bin
     - python-dev
+    - python-dnspython
     - python-glanceclient
     - python-keystoneclient
     - python-lxml
+    - python-netaddr
     - python-neutronclient
     - python-novaclient
     - python-pip
diff --git a/roles/test-vsg/defaults/main.yml b/roles/test-vsg/defaults/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32dfac7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/test-vsg/defaults/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+---
+# Copyright 2017-present Open Networking Foundation
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# test-vsg/defaults/main.yml
+
+vsg_test_ping_target: opennetworking.org.
+
diff --git a/roles/test-vsg/tasks/main.yml b/roles/test-vsg/tasks/main.yml
index 38ea270..50adb92 100644
--- a/roles/test-vsg/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/test-vsg/tasks/main.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-
+---
 # Copyright 2017-present Open Networking Foundation
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-
----
 # test-vsg/tasks/main.yml
 #
 # Run tests to check that the CORD-in-a-Box deployment has worked.
@@ -73,7 +71,7 @@
 
 - name: Test external connectivity in test client
   become: yes
-  command: lxc exec testclient -- ping -c 3 8.8.8.8
+  command: "lxc exec testclient -- ping -c 3 {{ lookup('dig', vsg_test_ping_target) }}"
   register: pingtest
   tags:
     - skip_ansible_lint # running a sub job