diff --git a/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/README b/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/README
deleted file mode 100644
index d3b2c54..0000000
--- a/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/README
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-Some scripts used while testing the Ansible instance configuraiton observer
-
-xos.py was probably the prototype of an XOS SSH module for Ansible, that understood how to SSH into the instances
-without needing to play config file and environment tricks. 
diff --git a/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/inventory.txt b/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/inventory.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index bd5b542..0000000
--- a/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/inventory.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-[onlab_hpc-355]
-node67.washington.vicci.org instance_id=instance-00000045 instance_name=onlab_hpc-355
-
-[onlab_test405-372]
-node67.washington.vicci.org instance_id=instance-0000004c instance_name=onlab_test405-372
-
-[onlab_test405-376]
-node1.cs.arizona.edu
-
-[onlab_test405-378]
-node67.washington.vicci.org ansible_ssh_private_key_file=/home/smbaker/.ssh/id_rsa
-#/home/smbaker/projects/vicci/keys/test_service_key_rsa
-
-[mysite_test2-48]
-cordcompute02.onlab.us ansible_ssh_private_key_file=/home/smbaker/projects/vicci/keys/demo_admin.rsa
-
diff --git a/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/test.sh b/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/test.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 27de846..0000000
--- a/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/test.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-
-# 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.
-
-
-#! /bin/bash
-ansible-playbook --private-key /home/smbaker/.ssh/id_rsa -i ./inventory.txt test.yaml
diff --git a/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/test.yaml b/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/test.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 27ffa01..0000000
--- a/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/test.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-
-# 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.
-
-
----
-- hosts: onlab_test405-372
-  connection: xos
-  user: ubuntu
-  vars:
-     foo: 25
-#  instance_name: instance-00000045
-#  slice_name: onlab_hpc-355
-
-  tasks:
-    - name: foobar
-      shell: echo foo > /tmp/foobar
diff --git a/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/xos.py b/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/xos.py
deleted file mode 100755
index 31620df..0000000
--- a/xos/synchronizer/steps/ansible_test/xos.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,460 +0,0 @@
-
-# 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.
-
-
-# (c) 2012, Michael DeHaan <michael.dehaan@gmail.com>
-#
-# This file is part of Ansible
-#
-# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
-# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-# (at your option) any later version.
-#
-# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
-# GNU General Public License for more details.
-#
-# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
-# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-#
-
-import os
-import re
-import subprocess
-import shlex
-import pipes
-import random
-import select
-import fcntl
-import hmac
-import pwd
-import gettext
-import pty
-from hashlib import sha1
-import ansible.constants as C
-from ansible.callbacks import vvv
-from ansible import errors
-from ansible import utils
-
-class Connection(object):
-    ''' ssh based connections '''
-
-    def __init__(self, runner, host, port, user, password, private_key_file, *args, **kwargs):
-        self.runner = runner
-        self.host = host
-        self.ipv6 = ':' in self.host
-        self.port = port
-        self.user = str(user)
-        self.password = password
-        self.private_key_file = private_key_file
-        self.HASHED_KEY_MAGIC = "|1|"
-        self.has_pipelining = True
-        #self.instance_id = "instance-00000045" # C.get_config(C.p, "xos", "instance_id", "INSTANCE_ID", None)
-        #self.instance_name = "onlab_hpc-355" # C.get_config(C.p, "xos", "instance_name", "SLIVER_NAME", None)
-
-        inject={}
-        inject= utils.combine_vars(inject, self.runner.inventory.get_variables(self.host))
-
-        self.instance_id = inject["instance_id"]
-        self.instance_name = inject["instance_name"]
-
-        fcntl.lockf(self.runner.process_lockfile, fcntl.LOCK_EX)
-        self.cp_dir = utils.prepare_writeable_dir('$HOME/.ansible/cp',mode=0700)
-        fcntl.lockf(self.runner.process_lockfile, fcntl.LOCK_UN)
-
-    def connect(self):
-        ''' connect to the remote host '''
-
-        vvv("ESTABLISH CONNECTION FOR USER: %s" % self.user, host=self.host)
-
-        self.common_args = []
-        extra_args = C.ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS
-        if extra_args is not None:
-            # make sure there is no empty string added as this can produce weird errors
-            self.common_args += [x.strip() for x in shlex.split(extra_args) if x.strip()]
-        else:
-            self.common_args += ["-o", "ControlMaster=auto",
-                                 "-o", "ControlPersist=60s",
-                                 "-o", "ControlPath=%s" % (C.ANSIBLE_SSH_CONTROL_PATH % dict(directory=self.cp_dir))]
-
-        self.common_args += ["-o", "ProxyCommand ssh -q -i %s %s@%s" % (self.private_key_file, self.instance_id, self.host)]
-
-        cp_in_use = False
-        cp_path_set = False
-        for arg in self.common_args:
-            if "ControlPersist" in arg:
-                cp_in_use = True
-            if "ControlPath" in arg:
-                cp_path_set = True
-
-        if cp_in_use and not cp_path_set:
-            self.common_args += ["-o", "ControlPath=%s" % (C.ANSIBLE_SSH_CONTROL_PATH % dict(directory=self.cp_dir))]
-
-        if not C.HOST_KEY_CHECKING:
-            self.common_args += ["-o", "StrictHostKeyChecking=no"]
-
-        if self.port is not None:
-            self.common_args += ["-o", "Port=%d" % (self.port)]
-        if self.private_key_file is not None:
-            self.common_args += ["-o", "IdentityFile=\"%s\"" % os.path.expanduser(self.private_key_file)]
-        elif self.runner.private_key_file is not None:
-            self.common_args += ["-o", "IdentityFile=\"%s\"" % os.path.expanduser(self.runner.private_key_file)]
-        if self.password:
-            self.common_args += ["-o", "GSSAPIAuthentication=no",
-                                 "-o", "PubkeyAuthentication=no"]
-        else:
-            self.common_args += ["-o", "KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no",
-                                 "-o", "PreferredAuthentications=gssapi-with-mic,gssapi-keyex,hostbased,publickey",
-                                 "-o", "PasswordAuthentication=no"]
-        if self.user != pwd.getpwuid(os.geteuid())[0]:
-            self.common_args += ["-o", "User="+self.user]
-        self.common_args += ["-o", "ConnectTimeout=%d" % self.runner.timeout]
-
-        return self
-
-    def _run(self, cmd, indata):
-        if indata:
-            # do not use pseudo-pty
-            p = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
-                                     stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-            stdin = p.stdin
-        else:
-            # try to use upseudo-pty
-            try:
-                # Make sure stdin is a proper (pseudo) pty to avoid: tcgetattr errors
-                master, slave = pty.openpty()
-                p = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdin=slave,
-                                     stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-                stdin = os.fdopen(master, 'w', 0)
-                os.close(slave)
-            except:
-                p = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
-                                     stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-                stdin = p.stdin
-
-        return (p, stdin)
-
-    def _password_cmd(self):
-        if self.password:
-            try:
-                p = subprocess.Popen(["sshpass"], stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
-                    stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-                p.communicate()
-            except OSError:
-                raise errors.AnsibleError("to use the 'ssh' connection type with passwords, you must install the sshpass program")
-            (self.rfd, self.wfd) = os.pipe()
-            return ["sshpass", "-d%d" % self.rfd]
-        return []
-
-    def _send_password(self):
-        if self.password:
-            os.close(self.rfd)
-            os.write(self.wfd, "%s\n" % self.password)
-            os.close(self.wfd)
-
-    def _communicate(self, p, stdin, indata, su=False, sudoable=False, prompt=None):
-        fcntl.fcntl(p.stdout, fcntl.F_SETFL, fcntl.fcntl(p.stdout, fcntl.F_GETFL) & ~os.O_NONBLOCK)
-        fcntl.fcntl(p.stderr, fcntl.F_SETFL, fcntl.fcntl(p.stderr, fcntl.F_GETFL) & ~os.O_NONBLOCK)
-        # We can't use p.communicate here because the ControlMaster may have stdout open as well
-        stdout = ''
-        stderr = ''
-        rpipes = [p.stdout, p.stderr]
-        if indata:
-            try:
-                stdin.write(indata)
-                stdin.close()
-            except:
-                raise errors.AnsibleError('SSH Error: data could not be sent to the remote host. Make sure this host can be reached over ssh')
-        # Read stdout/stderr from process
-        while True:
-            rfd, wfd, efd = select.select(rpipes, [], rpipes, 1)
-
-            # fail early if the sudo/su password is wrong
-            if self.runner.sudo and sudoable:
-                if self.runner.sudo_pass:
-                    incorrect_password = gettext.dgettext(
-                        "sudo", "Sorry, try again.")
-                    if stdout.endswith("%s\r\n%s" % (incorrect_password,
-                                                     prompt)):
-                        raise errors.AnsibleError('Incorrect sudo password')
-
-                if stdout.endswith(prompt):
-                    raise errors.AnsibleError('Missing sudo password')
-
-            if self.runner.su and su and self.runner.su_pass:
-                incorrect_password = gettext.dgettext(
-                    "su", "Sorry")
-                if stdout.endswith("%s\r\n%s" % (incorrect_password, prompt)):
-                    raise errors.AnsibleError('Incorrect su password')
-
-            if p.stdout in rfd:
-                dat = os.read(p.stdout.fileno(), 9000)
-                stdout += dat
-                if dat == '':
-                    rpipes.remove(p.stdout)
-            if p.stderr in rfd:
-                dat = os.read(p.stderr.fileno(), 9000)
-                stderr += dat
-                if dat == '':
-                    rpipes.remove(p.stderr)
-            # only break out if no pipes are left to read or
-            # the pipes are completely read and
-            # the process is terminated
-            if (not rpipes or not rfd) and p.poll() is not None:
-                break
-            # No pipes are left to read but process is not yet terminated
-            # Only then it is safe to wait for the process to be finished
-            # NOTE: Actually p.poll() is always None here if rpipes is empty
-            elif not rpipes and p.poll() == None:
-                p.wait()
-                # The process is terminated. Since no pipes to read from are
-                # left, there is no need to call select() again.
-                break
-        # close stdin after process is terminated and stdout/stderr are read
-        # completely (see also issue #848)
-        stdin.close()
-        return (p.returncode, stdout, stderr)
-
-    def not_in_host_file(self, host):
-        if 'USER' in os.environ:
-            user_host_file = os.path.expandvars("~${USER}/.ssh/known_hosts")
-        else:
-            user_host_file = "~/.ssh/known_hosts"
-        user_host_file = os.path.expanduser(user_host_file)
-        
-        host_file_list = []
-        host_file_list.append(user_host_file)
-        host_file_list.append("/etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts")
-        host_file_list.append("/etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts2")
-        
-        hfiles_not_found = 0
-        for hf in host_file_list:
-            if not os.path.exists(hf):
-                hfiles_not_found += 1
-                continue
-            try:
-                host_fh = open(hf)
-            except IOError, e:
-                hfiles_not_found += 1
-                continue
-            else:
-                data = host_fh.read()
-                host_fh.close()
-                
-            for line in data.split("\n"):
-                if line is None or " " not in line:
-                    continue
-                tokens = line.split()
-                if tokens[0].find(self.HASHED_KEY_MAGIC) == 0:
-                    # this is a hashed known host entry
-                    try:
-                        (kn_salt,kn_host) = tokens[0][len(self.HASHED_KEY_MAGIC):].split("|",2)
-                        hash = hmac.new(kn_salt.decode('base64'), digestmod=sha1)
-                        hash.update(host)
-                        if hash.digest() == kn_host.decode('base64'):
-                            return False
-                    except:
-                        # invalid hashed host key, skip it
-                        continue
-                else:
-                    # standard host file entry
-                    if host in tokens[0]:
-                        return False
-
-        if (hfiles_not_found == len(host_file_list)):
-            vvv("EXEC previous known host file not found for %s" % host)
-        return True
-
-    def exec_command(self, cmd, tmp_path, sudo_user=None, sudoable=False, executable='/bin/sh', in_data=None, su_user=None, su=False):
-        ''' run a command on the remote host '''
-
-        ssh_cmd = self._password_cmd()
-        ssh_cmd += ["ssh", "-C"]
-        if not in_data:
-            # we can only use tty when we are not pipelining the modules. piping data into /usr/bin/python
-            # inside a tty automatically invokes the python interactive-mode but the modules are not
-            # compatible with the interactive-mode ("unexpected indent" mainly because of empty lines)
-            ssh_cmd += ["-tt"]
-        if utils.VERBOSITY > 3:
-            ssh_cmd += ["-vvv"]
-        else:
-            ssh_cmd += ["-q"]
-        ssh_cmd += self.common_args
-
-        if self.ipv6:
-            ssh_cmd += ['-6']
-        #ssh_cmd += [self.host]
-        ssh_cmd += [self.instance_name]
-
-        if su and su_user:
-            sudocmd, prompt, success_key = utils.make_su_cmd(su_user, executable, cmd)
-            prompt_re = re.compile(prompt)
-            ssh_cmd.append(sudocmd)
-        elif not self.runner.sudo or not sudoable:
-            prompt = None
-            if executable:
-                ssh_cmd.append(executable + ' -c ' + pipes.quote(cmd))
-            else:
-                ssh_cmd.append(cmd)
-        else:
-            sudocmd, prompt, success_key = utils.make_sudo_cmd(sudo_user, executable, cmd)
-            ssh_cmd.append(sudocmd)
-
-        vvv("EXEC %s" % ssh_cmd, host=self.host)
-
-        not_in_host_file = self.not_in_host_file(self.host)
-
-        if C.HOST_KEY_CHECKING and not_in_host_file:
-            # lock around the initial SSH connectivity so the user prompt about whether to add 
-            # the host to known hosts is not intermingled with multiprocess output.
-            fcntl.lockf(self.runner.process_lockfile, fcntl.LOCK_EX)
-            fcntl.lockf(self.runner.output_lockfile, fcntl.LOCK_EX)
-
-        # create process
-        (p, stdin) = self._run(ssh_cmd, in_data)
-
-        self._send_password()
-
-        if (self.runner.sudo and sudoable and self.runner.sudo_pass) or \
-                (self.runner.su and su and self.runner.su_pass):
-            # several cases are handled for sudo privileges with password
-            # * NOPASSWD (tty & no-tty): detect success_key on stdout
-            # * without NOPASSWD:
-            #   * detect prompt on stdout (tty)
-            #   * detect prompt on stderr (no-tty)
-            fcntl.fcntl(p.stdout, fcntl.F_SETFL,
-                        fcntl.fcntl(p.stdout, fcntl.F_GETFL) | os.O_NONBLOCK)
-            fcntl.fcntl(p.stderr, fcntl.F_SETFL,
-                        fcntl.fcntl(p.stderr, fcntl.F_GETFL) | os.O_NONBLOCK)
-            sudo_output = ''
-            sudo_errput = ''
-
-            while True:
-                if success_key in sudo_output or \
-                    (self.runner.sudo_pass and sudo_output.endswith(prompt)) or \
-                    (self.runner.su_pass and prompt_re.match(sudo_output)):
-                    break
-
-                rfd, wfd, efd = select.select([p.stdout, p.stderr], [],
-                                              [p.stdout], self.runner.timeout)
-                if p.stderr in rfd:
-                    chunk = p.stderr.read()
-                    if not chunk:
-                        raise errors.AnsibleError('ssh connection closed waiting for sudo or su password prompt')
-                    sudo_errput += chunk
-                    incorrect_password = gettext.dgettext(
-                        "sudo", "Sorry, try again.")
-                    if sudo_errput.strip().endswith("%s%s" % (prompt, incorrect_password)):
-                        raise errors.AnsibleError('Incorrect sudo password')
-                    elif sudo_errput.endswith(prompt):
-                        stdin.write(self.runner.sudo_pass + '\n')
-
-                if p.stdout in rfd:
-                    chunk = p.stdout.read()
-                    if not chunk:
-                        raise errors.AnsibleError('ssh connection closed waiting for sudo or su password prompt')
-                    sudo_output += chunk
-
-                if not rfd:
-                    # timeout. wrap up process communication
-                    stdout = p.communicate()
-                    raise errors.AnsibleError('ssh connection error waiting for sudo or su password prompt')
-
-            if success_key not in sudo_output:
-                if sudoable:
-                    stdin.write(self.runner.sudo_pass + '\n')
-                elif su:
-                    stdin.write(self.runner.su_pass + '\n')
-
-        (returncode, stdout, stderr) = self._communicate(p, stdin, in_data, su=su, sudoable=sudoable, prompt=prompt)
-
-        if C.HOST_KEY_CHECKING and not_in_host_file:
-            # lock around the initial SSH connectivity so the user prompt about whether to add 
-            # the host to known hosts is not intermingled with multiprocess output.
-            fcntl.lockf(self.runner.output_lockfile, fcntl.LOCK_UN)
-            fcntl.lockf(self.runner.process_lockfile, fcntl.LOCK_UN)
-        controlpersisterror = 'Bad configuration option: ControlPersist' in stderr or \
-                              'unknown configuration option: ControlPersist' in stderr
-
-        if C.HOST_KEY_CHECKING:
-            if ssh_cmd[0] == "sshpass" and p.returncode == 6:
-                raise errors.AnsibleError('Using a SSH password instead of a key is not possible because Host Key checking is enabled and sshpass does not support this.  Please add this host\'s fingerprint to your known_hosts file to manage this host.')
-
-        if p.returncode != 0 and controlpersisterror:
-            raise errors.AnsibleError('using -c ssh on certain older ssh versions may not support ControlPersist, set ANSIBLE_SSH_ARGS="" (or ssh_args in [ssh_connection] section of the config file) before running again')
-        if p.returncode == 255 and (in_data or self.runner.module_name == 'raw'):
-            raise errors.AnsibleError('SSH Error: data could not be sent to the remote host. Make sure this host can be reached over ssh')
-
-        return (p.returncode, '', stdout, stderr)
-
-    def put_file(self, in_path, out_path):
-        ''' transfer a file from local to remote '''
-        vvv("PUT %s TO %s" % (in_path, out_path), host=self.host)
-        if not os.path.exists(in_path):
-            raise errors.AnsibleFileNotFound("file or module does not exist: %s" % in_path)
-        cmd = self._password_cmd()
-
-        host = self.host
-        if self.ipv6:
-            host = '[%s]' % host
-
-        if C.DEFAULT_SCP_IF_SSH:
-            cmd += ["scp"] + self.common_args
-            cmd += [in_path,host + ":" + pipes.quote(out_path)]
-            indata = None
-        else:
-            cmd += ["sftp"] + self.common_args + [host]
-            indata = "put %s %s\n" % (pipes.quote(in_path), pipes.quote(out_path))
-
-        (p, stdin) = self._run(cmd, indata)
-
-        self._send_password()
-
-        (returncode, stdout, stderr) = self._communicate(p, stdin, indata)
-
-        if returncode != 0:
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("failed to transfer file to %s:\n%s\n%s" % (out_path, stdout, stderr))
-
-    def fetch_file(self, in_path, out_path):
-        ''' fetch a file from remote to local '''
-        vvv("FETCH %s TO %s" % (in_path, out_path), host=self.host)
-        cmd = self._password_cmd()
-
-        host = self.host
-        if self.ipv6:
-            host = '[%s]' % host
-
-        if C.DEFAULT_SCP_IF_SSH:
-            cmd += ["scp"] + self.common_args
-            cmd += [host + ":" + in_path, out_path]
-            indata = None
-        else:
-            cmd += ["sftp"] + self.common_args + [host]
-            indata = "get %s %s\n" % (in_path, out_path)
-
-        p = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
-                             stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
-        self._send_password()
-        stdout, stderr = p.communicate(indata)
-
-        if p.returncode != 0:
-            raise errors.AnsibleError("failed to transfer file from %s:\n%s\n%s" % (in_path, stdout, stderr))
-
-    def close(self):
-        ''' not applicable since we're executing openssh binaries '''
-        pass
-
diff --git a/xos/synchronizer/steps/test.yaml b/xos/synchronizer/steps/test.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 02ffa5c..0000000
--- a/xos/synchronizer/steps/test.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-
-# 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.
-
-
----
-- hosts: {{ instance_name }}
-  connection: ssh
-  user: ubuntu
-  tasks:
-    - name: foobar
-      shell: echo foo > /tmp/foobar