diff --git a/files/keystone_data.sh b/files/keystone_data.sh
index 6d298d27c5..e7e67dad30 100755
--- a/files/keystone_data.sh
+++ b/files/keystone_data.sh
@@ -36,12 +36,12 @@ if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "swift" ]]; then
 fi
 
 #endpointTemplates
-$BIN_DIR/keystone-manage endpointTemplates add RegionOne nova http://%HOST_IP%:8774/v1.1/%tenant_id% http://%HOST_IP%:8774/v1.1/%tenant_id%  http://%HOST_IP%:8774/v1.1/%tenant_id% 1 1
-$BIN_DIR/keystone-manage endpointTemplates add RegionOne ec2 http://%HOST_IP%:8773/services/Cloud http://%HOST_IP%:8773/services/Admin http://%HOST_IP%:8773/services/Cloud 1 1
-$BIN_DIR/keystone-manage endpointTemplates add RegionOne glance http://%HOST_IP%:9292/v1.1/%tenant_id% http://%HOST_IP%:9292/v1.1/%tenant_id% http://%HOST_IP%:9292/v1.1/%tenant_id% 1 1
-$BIN_DIR/keystone-manage endpointTemplates add RegionOne keystone http://%HOST_IP%:5000/v2.0 http://%HOST_IP%:35357/v2.0 http://%HOST_IP%:5000/v2.0 1 1
+$BIN_DIR/keystone-manage $* endpointTemplates add RegionOne nova http://%SERVICE_HOST%:8774/v1.1/%tenant_id% http://%SERVICE_HOST%:8774/v1.1/%tenant_id%  http://%SERVICE_HOST%:8774/v1.1/%tenant_id% 1 1
+$BIN_DIR/keystone-manage $* endpointTemplates add RegionOne ec2 http://%SERVICE_HOST%:8773/services/Cloud http://%SERVICE_HOST%:8773/services/Admin http://%SERVICE_HOST%:8773/services/Cloud 1 1
+$BIN_DIR/keystone-manage $* endpointTemplates add RegionOne glance http://%SERVICE_HOST%:9292/v1.1/%tenant_id% http://%SERVICE_HOST%:9292/v1.1/%tenant_id% http://%SERVICE_HOST%:9292/v1.1/%tenant_id% 1 1
+$BIN_DIR/keystone-manage $* endpointTemplates add RegionOne keystone http://%SERVICE_HOST%:5000/v2.0 http://%SERVICE_HOST%:35357/v2.0 http://%SERVICE_HOST%:5000/v2.0 1 1
 if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "swift" ]]; then
-    $BIN_DIR/keystone-manage endpointTemplates add RegionOne swift http://%HOST_IP%:8080/v1/AUTH_%tenant_id% http://%HOST_IP%:8080/ http://%HOST_IP%:8080/v1/AUTH_%tenant_id% 1 1
+    $BIN_DIR/keystone-manage $* endpointTemplates add RegionOne swift http://%SERVICE_HOST%:8080/v1/AUTH_%tenant_id% http://%SERVICE_HOST%:8080/ http://%SERVICE_HOST%:8080/v1/AUTH_%tenant_id% 1 1
 fi
 
 # Tokens
diff --git a/openrc b/openrc
index 7c1e129278..439597554a 100644
--- a/openrc
+++ b/openrc
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@
 # Load local configuration
 source ./stackrc
 
-# Set api host endpoint
+# Set api HOST_IP endpoint.  SERVICE_HOST may also be used to specify the endpoint,
+# which is convenient for some localrc configurations.
 HOST_IP=${HOST_IP:-127.0.0.1}
+SERVICE_HOST=${SERVICE_HOST:-$HOST_IP}
 
 # Nova original used project_id as the *account* that owned resources (servers,
 # ip address, ...)   With the addition of Keystone we have standardized on the
@@ -29,7 +31,7 @@ export NOVA_PASSWORD=${ADMIN_PASSWORD:-secrete}
 #
 # *NOTE*: Using the 2.0 *auth api* does not mean that compute api is 2.0.  We
 # will use the 1.1 *compute api*
-export NOVA_URL=${NOVA_URL:-http://$HOST_IP:5000/v2.0/}
+export NOVA_URL=${NOVA_URL:-http://$SERVICE_HOST:5000/v2.0/}
 
 # Currently novaclient needs you to specify the *compute api* version.  This
 # needs to match the config of your catalog returned by Keystone.
@@ -39,7 +41,7 @@ export NOVA_VERSION=${NOVA_VERSION:-1.1}
 export NOVA_REGION_NAME=${NOVA_REGION_NAME:-RegionOne}
 
 # Set the ec2 url so euca2ools works
-export EC2_URL=${EC2_URL:-http://$HOST_IP:8773/services/Cloud}
+export EC2_URL=${EC2_URL:-http://$SERVICE_HOST:8773/services/Cloud}
 
 # Access key is set in the initial keystone data to be the same as username
 export EC2_ACCESS_KEY=${USERNAME:-demo}
diff --git a/stack.sh b/stack.sh
index 5c9781418c..15a52fc7ad 100755
--- a/stack.sh
+++ b/stack.sh
@@ -214,6 +214,9 @@ if [ ! -n "$HOST_IP" ]; then
     fi
 fi
 
+# Allow the use of an alternate hostname (such as localhost/127.0.0.1) for service endpoints.
+SERVICE_HOST=${SERVICE_HOST:-$HOST_IP}
+
 # Configure services to syslog instead of writing to individual log files
 SYSLOG=`trueorfalse False $SYSLOG`
 SYSLOG_HOST=${SYSLOG_HOST:-$HOST_IP}
@@ -270,7 +273,7 @@ FIXED_RANGE=${FIXED_RANGE:-10.0.0.0/24}
 FIXED_NETWORK_SIZE=${FIXED_NETWORK_SIZE:-256}
 FLOATING_RANGE=${FLOATING_RANGE:-172.24.4.224/28}
 NET_MAN=${NET_MAN:-FlatDHCPManager}
-EC2_DMZ_HOST=${EC2_DMZ_HOST:-$HOST_IP}
+EC2_DMZ_HOST=${EC2_DMZ_HOST:-$SERVICE_HOST}
 FLAT_NETWORK_BRIDGE=${FLAT_NETWORK_BRIDGE:-br100}
 VLAN_INTERFACE=${VLAN_INTERFACE:-$PUBLIC_INTERFACE}
 
@@ -333,7 +336,7 @@ RABBIT_HOST=${RABBIT_HOST:-localhost}
 read_password RABBIT_PASSWORD "ENTER A PASSWORD TO USE FOR RABBIT."
 
 # Glance connection info.  Note the port must be specified.
-GLANCE_HOSTPORT=${GLANCE_HOSTPORT:-$HOST_IP:9292}
+GLANCE_HOSTPORT=${GLANCE_HOSTPORT:-$SERVICE_HOST:9292}
 
 # SWIFT
 # -----
@@ -1061,7 +1064,7 @@ if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "openstackx" ]]; then
     add_nova_flag "--osapi_extension=extensions.admin.Admin"
 fi
 if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "n-vnc" ]]; then
-    VNCPROXY_URL=${VNCPROXY_URL:-"http://$HOST_IP:6080"}
+    VNCPROXY_URL=${VNCPROXY_URL:-"http://$SERVICE_HOST:6080"}
     add_nova_flag "--vncproxy_url=$VNCPROXY_URL"
     add_nova_flag "--vncproxy_wwwroot=$NOVNC_DIR/"
 fi
@@ -1142,7 +1145,7 @@ if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "key" ]]; then
     # keystone_data.sh creates our admin user and our ``SERVICE_TOKEN``.
     KEYSTONE_DATA=$KEYSTONE_DIR/bin/keystone_data.sh
     cp $FILES/keystone_data.sh $KEYSTONE_DATA
-    sudo sed -e "s,%HOST_IP%,$HOST_IP,g" -i $KEYSTONE_DATA
+    sudo sed -e "s,%SERVICE_HOST%,$SERVICE_HOST,g" -i $KEYSTONE_DATA
     sudo sed -e "s,%SERVICE_TOKEN%,$SERVICE_TOKEN,g" -i $KEYSTONE_DATA
     sudo sed -e "s,%ADMIN_PASSWORD%,$ADMIN_PASSWORD,g" -i $KEYSTONE_DATA
     # initialize keystone with default users/endpoints
@@ -1399,18 +1402,21 @@ echo ""
 # If you installed the horizon on this server, then you should be able
 # to access the site using your browser.
 if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "horizon" ]]; then
-    echo "horizon is now available at http://$HOST_IP/"
+    echo "horizon is now available at http://$SERVICE_HOST/"
 fi
 
 # If keystone is present, you can point nova cli to this server
 if [[ "$ENABLED_SERVICES" =~ "key" ]]; then
-    echo "keystone is serving at http://$HOST_IP:5000/v2.0/"
+    echo "keystone is serving at http://$SERVICE_HOST:5000/v2.0/"
     echo "examples on using novaclient command line is in exercise.sh"
     echo "the default users are: admin and demo"
     echo "the password: $ADMIN_PASSWORD"
 fi
 
-# indicate how long this took to run (bash maintained variable 'SECONDS')
+# Echo HOST_IP - useful for build_uec.sh, which uses dhcp to give the instance an address
+echo "This is your host ip: $HOST_IP"
+
+# Indicate how long this took to run (bash maintained variable 'SECONDS')
 echo "stack.sh completed in $SECONDS seconds."
 
 ) | tee -a "$LOGFILE"