diff --git a/doc/source/admin/config-services-agent.rst b/doc/source/admin/config-services-agent.rst
index 22fdc4aebff..f3b36f1fe4c 100644
--- a/doc/source/admin/config-services-agent.rst
+++ b/doc/source/admin/config-services-agent.rst
@@ -43,3 +43,36 @@ vary between hosts in a neutron deployment such as the ``local_ip`` for an L2
 agent. If any agent requires access to additional external services beyond the
 neutron RPC, those endpoints should be defined in the agent-specific
 configuration file (for example, nova metadata for metadata agent).
+
+External processes run by agents
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Some neutron agents, like DHCP, Metadata or L3, often run external
+processes to provide some of their functionalities. It may be keepalived,
+dnsmasq, haproxy or some other process.
+Neutron agents are responsible for spawning and killing such processes when
+necessary.  By default, to kill such processes, agents use a simple ``kill``
+command, but in some cases, like for example when those additional services
+are running inside containers, it may be not a good solution.
+To address this problem, operators should use the ``AGENT`` config group option
+``kill_scripts_path`` to configure a path to where ``kill scripts`` for such
+processes live. By default, it is set to ``/etc/neutron/kill_scripts/``.
+If option ``kill_scripts_path`` is changed in the config to the different
+location, ``exec_dirs`` in ``/etc/rootwrap.conf`` should be changed accordingly.
+If ``kill_scripts_path`` is set, every time neutron has to kill a process,
+for example ``dnsmasq``, it will look in this directory for a file with the name
+``<process_name>-kill``. So for ``dnsmasq`` process it will look for a
+``dnsmasq-kill`` script. If such a file exists there, it will be called
+instead of using the ``kill`` command.
+
+Kill scripts are called with two parameters:
+
+.. code-block::
+
+    <process>-kill <sig> <pid>
+
+where: ``<sig>`` is the signal, same as with the ``kill`` command, for example
+``9`` or ``SIGKILL``; and ``<pid>`` is pid of the process to kill.
+
+This external script should then handle killing of the given process as neutron
+will not call the ``kill`` command for it anymore.
diff --git a/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/dhcp.filters b/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/dhcp.filters
index 2b2d9a7d21f..0502eb63fdf 100644
--- a/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/dhcp.filters
+++ b/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/dhcp.filters
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ dnsmasq: CommandFilter, dnsmasq, root
 # neutron/agent/linux/dhcp.py
 kill_dnsmasq: KillFilter, root, /sbin/dnsmasq, -9, -HUP, -15
 kill_dnsmasq_usr: KillFilter, root, /usr/sbin/dnsmasq, -9, -HUP, -15
+# dnsmasq kill script filter
+kill_dnsmasq_script: CommandFilter, dnsmasq-kill, root
 
 ovs-vsctl: CommandFilter, ovs-vsctl, root
 mm-ctl: CommandFilter, mm-ctl, root
diff --git a/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/dibbler.filters b/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/dibbler.filters
index 7ba7015c25e..18d20782604 100644
--- a/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/dibbler.filters
+++ b/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/dibbler.filters
@@ -15,3 +15,7 @@
 # prefix_delegation_agent
 dibbler-client: CommandFilter, dibbler-client, root
 kill_dibbler-client: KillFilter, root, dibbler-client, -9
+# dibbler kill script filter
+kill_dibbler_script: CommandFilter, dibbler-kill, root
+# dibbler-client kill script filter
+kill_dibbler-client_script: CommandFilter, dibbler-client-kill, root
diff --git a/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/l3.filters b/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/l3.filters
index 0382abaec72..cdfc85bb9c1 100644
--- a/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/l3.filters
+++ b/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d/l3.filters
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ radvd: CommandFilter, radvd, root
 # haproxy
 haproxy: RegExpFilter, haproxy, root, haproxy, -f, .*
 kill_haproxy: KillFilter, root, haproxy, -15, -9, -HUP
+# haproxy kill script filter
+kill_haproxy_script: CommandFilter, haproxy-kill, root
 
 kill_radvd_usr: KillFilter, root, /usr/sbin/radvd, -15, -9, -HUP
 kill_radvd: KillFilter, root, /sbin/radvd, -15, -9, -HUP
@@ -52,6 +54,8 @@ ip6tables-restore: CommandFilter, ip6tables-restore, root
 # Keepalived
 keepalived: CommandFilter, keepalived, root
 kill_keepalived: KillFilter, root, keepalived, -HUP, -15, -9
+# keepalived kill script filter
+kill_keepalived_script: CommandFilter, keepalived-kill, root
 
 # l3 agent to delete floatingip's conntrack state
 conntrack: CommandFilter, conntrack, root
@@ -75,3 +79,5 @@ kill_keepalived_monitor_py37: KillFilter, root, python3.7, -15
 # absolute path
 kill_keepalived_monitor_platform_py: KillFilter, root, /usr/libexec/platform-python, -15
 kill_keepalived_monitor_platform_py36: KillFilter, root, /usr/libexec/platform-python3.6, -15
+# neutron-keepalived-state-change-monitor kill script filter
+kill_neutron-keepalived-state-change-monitor_script: CommandFilter, neutron-keepalived-state-change-monitor-kill, root
diff --git a/etc/rootwrap.conf b/etc/rootwrap.conf
index 3a6b11f44dc..3b56b6a3e49 100644
--- a/etc/rootwrap.conf
+++ b/etc/rootwrap.conf
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ filters_path=/etc/neutron/rootwrap.d,/usr/share/neutron/rootwrap
 # explicitely specify a full path (separated by ',')
 # If not specified, defaults to system PATH environment variable.
 # These directories MUST all be only writeable by root !
-exec_dirs=/sbin,/usr/sbin,/bin,/usr/bin,/usr/local/bin,/usr/local/sbin
+exec_dirs=/sbin,/usr/sbin,/bin,/usr/bin,/usr/local/bin,/usr/local/sbin,/etc/neutron/kill_scripts
 
 # Enable logging to syslog
 # Default value is False
diff --git a/neutron/agent/l3/ha_router.py b/neutron/agent/l3/ha_router.py
index dd2084a8507..a748c6c355d 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/l3/ha_router.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/l3/ha_router.py
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 HA_DEV_PREFIX = 'ha-'
 IP_MONITOR_PROCESS_SERVICE = 'ip_monitor'
 SIGTERM_TIMEOUT = 10
+KEEPALIVED_STATE_CHANGE_MONITOR_SERVICE_NAME = (
+    "neutron-keepalived-state-change-monitor")
 
 # TODO(liuyulong): move to neutron-lib?
 STATE_CHANGE_PROC_NAME = 'neutron-keepalived-state-change'
@@ -360,6 +362,7 @@ class HaRouter(router.RouterInfo):
             self.agent_conf,
             '%s.monitor' % self.router_id,
             self.ha_namespace,
+            service=KEEPALIVED_STATE_CHANGE_MONITOR_SERVICE_NAME,
             default_cmd_callback=self._get_state_change_monitor_callback())
 
     def _get_state_change_monitor_callback(self):
diff --git a/neutron/agent/linux/dhcp.py b/neutron/agent/linux/dhcp.py
index 327c4e8ffdd..1cb3313b5b4 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/linux/dhcp.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/linux/dhcp.py
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ class DhcpLocalProcess(DhcpBase):
             conf=self.conf,
             uuid=self.network.id,
             namespace=self.network.namespace,
+            service=DNSMASQ_SERVICE_NAME,
             default_cmd_callback=cmd_callback,
             pid_file=self.get_conf_file_name('pid'),
             run_as_root=True)
diff --git a/neutron/agent/linux/external_process.py b/neutron/agent/linux/external_process.py
index b1d9c3cbc7e..36c8e8e95c4 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/linux/external_process.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/linux/external_process.py
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ class ProcessManager(MonitoredProcess):
         self.pid_file = pid_file
         self.run_as_root = run_as_root or self.namespace is not None
         self.custom_reload_callback = custom_reload_callback
+        self.kill_scripts_path = cfg.CONF.AGENT.kill_scripts_path
 
         if service:
             self.service_pid_fname = 'pid.' + service
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@ class ProcessManager(MonitoredProcess):
                 ip_wrapper.netns.execute(cmd, addl_env=self.cmd_addl_env,
                                          run_as_root=self.run_as_root)
             else:
-                cmd = ['kill', '-%s' % (sig), pid]
+                cmd = self.get_kill_cmd(sig, pid)
                 utils.execute(cmd, run_as_root=self.run_as_root)
                 # In the case of shutting down, remove the pid file
                 if sig == '9':
@@ -117,6 +118,13 @@ class ProcessManager(MonitoredProcess):
         else:
             LOG.debug('No process started for %s', self.uuid)
 
+    def get_kill_cmd(self, sig, pid):
+        if self.kill_scripts_path:
+            kill_file = "%s-kill" % self.service
+            if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(self.kill_scripts_path, kill_file)):
+                return [kill_file, sig, pid]
+        return ['kill', '-%s' % (sig), pid]
+
     def get_pid_file_name(self):
         """Returns the file name for a given kind of config file."""
         if self.pid_file:
diff --git a/neutron/agent/linux/keepalived.py b/neutron/agent/linux/keepalived.py
index edcd837fb28..44dd054a16d 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/linux/keepalived.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/linux/keepalived.py
@@ -457,6 +457,7 @@ class KeepalivedManager(object):
             cfg.CONF,
             self.resource_id,
             self.namespace,
+            service=KEEPALIVED_SERVICE_NAME,
             pids_path=self.conf_path)
 
     def _get_vrrp_process(self, pid_file):
diff --git a/neutron/agent/metadata/driver.py b/neutron/agent/metadata/driver.py
index 16e78a91da2..93f78b199b1 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/metadata/driver.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/metadata/driver.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ from neutron.agent.linux import external_process
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 METADATA_SERVICE_NAME = 'metadata-proxy'
+HAPROXY_SERVICE = 'haproxy'
 
 PROXY_CONFIG_DIR = "ns-metadata-proxy"
 _HAPROXY_CONFIG_TEMPLATE = """
@@ -220,7 +221,7 @@ class MetadataDriver(object):
                                           conf.state_path,
                                           pid_file)
             haproxy.create_config_file()
-            proxy_cmd = ['haproxy',
+            proxy_cmd = [HAPROXY_SERVICE,
                          '-f', haproxy.cfg_path]
             return proxy_cmd
 
@@ -260,6 +261,7 @@ class MetadataDriver(object):
             conf=conf,
             uuid=router_id,
             namespace=ns_name,
+            service=HAPROXY_SERVICE,
             default_cmd_callback=callback)
 
 
diff --git a/neutron/conf/agent/common.py b/neutron/conf/agent/common.py
index fd31fb0a39e..84f9f5446c4 100644
--- a/neutron/conf/agent/common.py
+++ b/neutron/conf/agent/common.py
@@ -145,6 +145,15 @@ PROCESS_MONITOR_OPTS = [
     cfg.IntOpt('check_child_processes_interval', default=60,
                help=_('Interval between checks of child process liveness '
                       '(seconds), use 0 to disable')),
+    cfg.StrOpt('kill_scripts_path', default='/etc/neutron/kill_scripts/',
+               help=_('Location of scripts used to kill external processes. '
+                      'Names of scripts here must follow the pattern: '
+                      '"<process-name>-kill" where <process-name> is name of '
+                      'the process which should be killed using this script. '
+                      'For example, kill script for dnsmasq process should be '
+                      'named "dnsmasq-kill". '
+                      'If path is set to None, then default "kill" command '
+                      'will be used to stop processes.')),
 ]
 
 AVAILABILITY_ZONE_OPTS = [
diff --git a/neutron/tests/functional/agent/l3/framework.py b/neutron/tests/functional/agent/l3/framework.py
index e91b6801a8f..ee9f74fa8bb 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/functional/agent/l3/framework.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/functional/agent/l3/framework.py
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ from neutron.agent.linux import external_process
 from neutron.agent.linux import interface
 from neutron.agent.linux import ip_lib
 from neutron.agent.linux import keepalived
+from neutron.agent.metadata import driver as metadata_driver
 from neutron.common import utils as common_utils
 from neutron.conf.agent import common as agent_config
 from neutron.conf import common as common_config
@@ -398,7 +399,8 @@ class L3AgentTestFramework(base.BaseSudoTestCase):
         pm = external_process.ProcessManager(
             conf,
             router.router_id,
-            router.ns_name)
+            router.ns_name,
+            service=metadata_driver.HAPROXY_SERVICE)
         return pm.active
 
     def device_exists_with_ips_and_mac(self, expected_device, name_getter,
diff --git a/neutron/tests/functional/agent/test_dhcp_agent.py b/neutron/tests/functional/agent/test_dhcp_agent.py
index 98b5ae3df51..fc03a8cc84f 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/functional/agent/test_dhcp_agent.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/functional/agent/test_dhcp_agent.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ from neutron.agent.linux import external_process
 from neutron.agent.linux import interface
 from neutron.agent.linux import ip_lib
 from neutron.agent.linux import utils
+from neutron.agent.metadata import driver as metadata_driver
 from neutron.common import utils as common_utils
 from neutron.conf.agent import common as config
 from neutron.tests.common import net_helpers
@@ -256,7 +257,8 @@ class DHCPAgentOVSTestFramework(base.BaseSudoTestCase):
         return external_process.ProcessManager(
             self.conf,
             network.id,
-            network.namespace)
+            network.namespace,
+            service=metadata_driver.HAPROXY_SERVICE)
 
 
 class DHCPAgentOVSTestCase(DHCPAgentOVSTestFramework):
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/dhcp/test_agent.py b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/dhcp/test_agent.py
index a6db52d63a7..0a5f9c9f86c 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/dhcp/test_agent.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/dhcp/test_agent.py
@@ -693,6 +693,7 @@ class TestDhcpAgentEventHandler(base.BaseTestCase):
         return mock.call(conf=cfg.CONF,
                          uuid=FAKE_NETWORK_UUID,
                          namespace=ns,
+                         service='haproxy',
                          default_cmd_callback=mock.ANY)
 
     def _enable_dhcp_helper(self, network, enable_isolated_metadata=False,
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_external_process.py b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_external_process.py
index 866a284514b..732e9e52340 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_external_process.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_external_process.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import os.path
 
 import mock
+from oslo_config import cfg
 from oslo_utils import fileutils
 import psutil
 
@@ -244,6 +245,48 @@ class TestProcessManager(base.BaseTestCase):
                     manager.disable()
                     debug.assert_called_once_with(mock.ANY, mock.ANY)
 
+    def _test_disable_custom_kill_script(self, kill_script_exists, namespace,
+                                         kill_scripts_path='test-path/'):
+        cfg.CONF.set_override("kill_scripts_path", kill_scripts_path, "AGENT")
+        if kill_script_exists:
+            expected_cmd = ['test-service-kill', '9', 4]
+        else:
+            expected_cmd = ['kill', '-9', 4]
+
+        with mock.patch.object(ep.ProcessManager, 'pid') as pid:
+            pid.__get__ = mock.Mock(return_value=4)
+            with mock.patch.object(ep.ProcessManager, 'active') as active:
+                active.__get__ = mock.Mock(return_value=True)
+                manager = ep.ProcessManager(
+                    self.conf, 'uuid', namespace=namespace,
+                    service='test-service')
+                with mock.patch.object(ep, 'utils') as utils, \
+                        mock.patch.object(os.path, 'isfile',
+                                          return_value=kill_script_exists):
+                    manager.disable()
+                    utils.execute.assert_called_with(
+                        expected_cmd, run_as_root=bool(namespace))
+
+    def test_disable_custom_kill_script_no_namespace(self):
+        self._test_disable_custom_kill_script(
+            kill_script_exists=True, namespace=None)
+
+    def test_disable_custom_kill_script_namespace(self):
+        self._test_disable_custom_kill_script(
+            kill_script_exists=True, namespace="ns")
+
+    def test_disable_custom_kill_script_no_kill_script_no_namespace(self):
+        self._test_disable_custom_kill_script(
+            kill_script_exists=False, namespace=None)
+
+    def test_disable_custom_kill_script_no_kill_script_namespace(self):
+        self._test_disable_custom_kill_script(
+            kill_script_exists=False, namespace="ns")
+
+    def test_disable_custom_kill_script_namespace_no_path(self):
+        self._test_disable_custom_kill_script(
+            kill_script_exists=False, namespace="ns", kill_scripts_path=None)
+
     def test_get_pid_file_name_default(self):
         manager = ep.ProcessManager(self.conf, 'uuid')
         retval = manager.get_pid_file_name()
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/add-custom-kill-scripts-af405ba49142d59c.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/add-custom-kill-scripts-af405ba49142d59c.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2165e1414f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/add-custom-kill-scripts-af405ba49142d59c.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    Added support for custom scripts used to kill external processes managed by
+    neutron agents, such as ``dnsmasq`` or ``keepalived``. Such custom scripts,
+    if defined, will be used instead default ``kill`` command to kill such
+    external processes.