diff --git a/xos/configurations/frontend/xos.yaml b/xos/configurations/frontend/xos.yaml
index 8b286cd..3153e95 100644
--- a/xos/configurations/frontend/xos.yaml
+++ b/xos/configurations/frontend/xos.yaml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
         ui_port: 9999
         bootstrap_ui_port: 9998
         docker_project_name: frontend
+        frontend_only: true
 
     /opt/xos/xos_configuration/xos_common_config:
       type: tosca.nodes.XOSVolume
diff --git a/xos/core/models/xosmodel.py b/xos/core/models/xosmodel.py
index 4942241..01c9514 100644
--- a/xos/core/models/xosmodel.py
+++ b/xos/core/models/xosmodel.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
     db_container_name = StrippedCharField(max_length=200, help_text="name of XOS db container", default="xos_db")
     docker_project_name = StrippedCharField(max_length=200, help_text="docker project name")
     enable_build = models.BooleanField(help_text="True if Onboarding Synchronizer should build XOS as necessary", default=True)
+    frontend_only = models.BooleanField(help_text="If True, XOS will not start synchronizer containers", default=False)
 
     def __unicode__(self):  return u'%s' % (self.name)
 
diff --git a/xos/synchronizers/onboarding/xosbuilder.py b/xos/synchronizers/onboarding/xosbuilder.py
index 56019ce..60ed485 100644
--- a/xos/synchronizers/onboarding/xosbuilder.py
+++ b/xos/synchronizers/onboarding/xosbuilder.py
@@ -224,17 +224,18 @@
 #                             "links": ["xos_db"],
 #                             "volumes": volume_list}
 
-         for c in ServiceController.objects.all():
-             if self.check_controller_unready(c):
-                 logger.warning("Controller %s has unready resources" % str(c))
-                 continue
+         if not xos.frontend_only:
+             for c in ServiceController.objects.all():
+                 if self.check_controller_unready(c):
+                     logger.warning("Controller %s has unready resources" % str(c))
+                     continue
 
-             containers["xos_synchronizer_%s" % c.name] = \
-                            {"image": "xosproject/xos-synchronizer-%s" % c.name,
-                             "command": 'bash -c "sleep 120; cd /opt/xos/synchronizers/%s; bash ./run.sh"' % c.name,
-                             #"external_links": [db_container_name],
-                             "links": ["xos_db"],
-                             "volumes": volume_list}
+                 containers["xos_synchronizer_%s" % c.name] = \
+                                {"image": "xosproject/xos-synchronizer-%s" % c.name,
+                                 "command": 'bash -c "sleep 120; cd /opt/xos/synchronizers/%s; bash ./run.sh"' % c.name,
+                                 #"external_links": [db_container_name],
+                                 "links": ["xos_db"],
+                                 "volumes": volume_list}
 
          vars = { "containers": containers }
 
diff --git a/xos/tosca/custom_types/xos.m4 b/xos/tosca/custom_types/xos.m4
index 20b7381..9ed62ed 100644
--- a/xos/tosca/custom_types/xos.m4
+++ b/xos/tosca/custom_types/xos.m4
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@
                 type: boolean
                 required: false
                 description: True if XOS build should be enabled
+            frontend_only:
+                type: boolean
+                required: false
+                description: True if XOS should not start synchronizer containers
 
 
     tosca.nodes.XOSVolume:
diff --git a/xos/tosca/custom_types/xos.yaml b/xos/tosca/custom_types/xos.yaml
index cc541ae..79e637b 100644
--- a/xos/tosca/custom_types/xos.yaml
+++ b/xos/tosca/custom_types/xos.yaml
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@
                 type: boolean
                 required: false
                 description: True if XOS build should be enabled
+            frontend_only:
+                type: boolean
+                required: false
+                description: True if XOS should not start synchronizer containers
 
 
     tosca.nodes.XOSVolume:
diff --git a/xos/tosca/resources/xosmodel.py b/xos/tosca/resources/xosmodel.py
index 188bb4f..b397686 100644
--- a/xos/tosca/resources/xosmodel.py
+++ b/xos/tosca/resources/xosmodel.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 class XOSXOS(XOSResource):
     provides = "tosca.nodes.XOS"
     xos_model = XOS
-    copyin_props = ["ui_port", "bootstrap_ui_port", "docker_project_name", "enable_build"]
+    copyin_props = ["ui_port", "bootstrap_ui_port", "docker_project_name", "enable_build", "frontend_only"]
 
 class XOSVolume(XOSResource):
     provides = "tosca.nodes.XOSVolume"