diff --git a/manifests/db/mysql_api.pp b/manifests/db/mysql_api.pp
index de64d5fef..a9336f5ab 100644
--- a/manifests/db/mysql_api.pp
+++ b/manifests/db/mysql_api.pp
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@
 #   (optional) Additional hosts that are allowed to access this DB
 #   Defaults to undef
 #
+# [*setup_cell0*]
+#   (optional) Setup a cell0 for the cell_v2 functionality. This option will
+#   be set to true by default in Ocata when the cell v2 setup is mandatory.
+#   Defaults to false
+#
 class nova::db::mysql_api(
   $password,
   $dbname        = 'nova_api',
@@ -39,6 +44,7 @@ class nova::db::mysql_api(
   $charset       = 'utf8',
   $collate       = 'utf8_general_ci',
   $allowed_hosts = undef,
+  $setup_cell0   = false,
 ) {
 
   include ::nova::deps
@@ -53,6 +59,20 @@ class nova::db::mysql_api(
     allowed_hosts => $allowed_hosts,
   }
 
+  if $setup_cell0 {
+    # need for cell_v2
+    ::openstacklib::db::mysql { 'nova_api_cell0':
+      user          => $user,
+      password_hash => mysql_password($password),
+      dbname        => "${dbname}_cell0",
+      host          => $host,
+      charset       => $charset,
+      collate       => $collate,
+      allowed_hosts => $allowed_hosts,
+      create_user   => false,
+    }
+  }
+
   Anchor['nova::db::begin']
   ~> Class['nova::db::mysql_api']
   ~> Anchor['nova::db::end']
diff --git a/manifests/db/sync_api.pp b/manifests/db/sync_api.pp
index b1ab8a4a0..12eb31f48 100644
--- a/manifests/db/sync_api.pp
+++ b/manifests/db/sync_api.pp
@@ -9,8 +9,15 @@
 #   the command line between 'nova-manage' and 'db sync'.
 #   Defaults to undef
 #
+# [*cellv2_setup*]
+#   (optional) This flag toggles if we run the cell_v2 simple_cell_setup action
+#   with nova-manage. This flag will be set to true in Ocata when the cell v2
+#   setup is mandatory.
+#   Defaults to false.
+#
 class nova::db::sync_api(
   $extra_params = undef,
+  $cellv2_setup = false,
 ) {
 
   include ::nova::deps
@@ -29,4 +36,8 @@ class nova::db::sync_api(
     ],
     notify      => Anchor['nova::dbsync_api::end'],
   }
+
+  if $cellv2_setup {
+    include ::nova::db::sync_cell_v2
+  }
 }
diff --git a/manifests/db/sync_cell_v2.pp b/manifests/db/sync_cell_v2.pp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d86ec46e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifests/db/sync_cell_v2.pp
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#
+# Class to execute nova cell_v2 setup
+#
+# ==Parameters
+#
+# [*extra_params*]
+#   (optional) String of extra command line parameters to append
+#   to the nova-manage db sync command. These will be inserted in
+#   the command line between 'nova-manage' and 'db sync'.
+#   Defaults to ''
+#
+# [*transport_url*]
+#   (optional) This is the transport url to use for the simple cell setup.
+#   By default the command should look for the DEFAULT/transport_url from
+#   the nova configuration. If not available, you need to provide the
+#   transport url via the parameters. Prior to Ocata, the transport-url
+#   was a required parameter.
+#   Defaults to undef.
+#
+class nova::db::sync_cell_v2 (
+  $extra_params  = '',
+  $transport_url = undef,
+) {
+
+  include ::nova::deps
+
+  if $transport_url {
+    $transport_url_real = "--transport-url=${transport_url}"
+  } else {
+    $transport_url_real = ''
+  }
+  exec { 'nova-cell_v2-simple-cell-setup':
+    command     => "/usr/bin/nova-manage ${extra_params} cell_v2 simple_cell_setup ${transport_url_real}",
+    refreshonly => true,
+    try_sleep   => 5,
+    tries       => 10,
+    logoutput   => on_failure,
+    subscribe   => [
+      Anchor['nova::install::end'],
+      Anchor['nova::config::end'],
+      Anchor['nova::dbsync_api::end'],
+      Anchor['nova::cell_v2::begin']
+    ],
+    notify      => Anchor['nova::cell_v2::end'],
+  }
+}
diff --git a/manifests/deps.pp b/manifests/deps.pp
index e34ac0863..970bf8bce 100644
--- a/manifests/deps.pp
+++ b/manifests/deps.pp
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ class nova::deps {
   -> anchor { 'nova::dbsync::end': }
   ~> anchor { 'nova::dbsync_api::begin': }
   -> anchor { 'nova::dbsync_api::end': }
+  ~> anchor { 'nova::cell_v2::begin': }
+  -> anchor { 'nova::cell_v2::end': }
   ~> anchor { 'nova::service::begin': }
   ~> Service<| tag == 'nova-service' |>
   ~> anchor { 'nova::service::end': }
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/cell_v2-simple-cell-setup-025a90918590c872.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/cell_v2-simple-cell-setup-025a90918590c872.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d6464df47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/cell_v2-simple-cell-setup-025a90918590c872.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+features:
+  - Adds cell_v2 simple_cell_setup as part of the nova-api database setup.
+upgrade:
+  - The cell_v2 setup will become mandatory in Ocata.
diff --git a/spec/acceptance/nova_wsgi_apache_spec.rb b/spec/acceptance/nova_wsgi_apache_spec.rb
index 76d18df92..4741a45b0 100644
--- a/spec/acceptance/nova_wsgi_apache_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/acceptance/nova_wsgi_apache_spec.rb
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ describe 'basic nova' do
       class { '::nova::keystone::authtoken':
         password => 'a_big_secret',
       }
+      # TODO(aschultz): remove this once https://review.openstack.org/#/c/409970/ lands
+      class { '::nova::db::sync_cell_v2':
+        transport_url => 'rabbit://nova:an_even_bigger_secret@127.0.0.1:5672/',
+      }
       class { '::nova::api':
         service_name   => 'httpd',
       }
diff --git a/spec/classes/nova_db_mysql_api_spec.rb b/spec/classes/nova_db_mysql_api_spec.rb
index c2f2e41c5..68e7ba341 100644
--- a/spec/classes/nova_db_mysql_api_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/nova_db_mysql_api_spec.rb
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ describe 'nova::db::mysql_api' do
         :charset       => 'utf8',
         :collate       => 'utf8_general_ci',
       )}
+
+      it { is_expected.to_not contain_openstacklib__db__mysql('nova_api_cell0') }
     end
 
     context 'overriding allowed_hosts param to array' do
@@ -68,6 +70,20 @@ describe 'nova::db::mysql_api' do
       )}
     end
 
+    context 'when enabling cell0 setup' do
+      let :params do
+        { :setup_cell0 => true }.merge(required_params)
+      end
+
+      it { is_expected.to contain_openstacklib__db__mysql('nova_api_cell0').with(
+        :user          => 'nova_api',
+        :password_hash => '*AA1420F182E88B9E5F874F6FBE7459291E8F4601',
+        :charset       => 'utf8',
+        :collate       => 'utf8_general_ci',
+        :create_user   => false,
+      )}
+    end
+
   end
 
   on_supported_os({
diff --git a/spec/classes/nova_db_sync_api_spec.rb b/spec/classes/nova_db_sync_api_spec.rb
index 0302fb86a..1d26c06bc 100644
--- a/spec/classes/nova_db_sync_api_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/nova_db_sync_api_spec.rb
@@ -3,23 +3,26 @@ require 'spec_helper'
 describe 'nova::db::sync_api' do
 
   shared_examples_for 'nova-dbsync-api' do
-
-    it 'runs nova-db-sync-api' do
-      is_expected.to contain_exec('nova-db-sync-api').with(
-        :command     => '/usr/bin/nova-manage  api_db sync',
-        :refreshonly => 'true',
-        :logoutput   => 'on_failure',
-        :subscribe   => ['Anchor[nova::install::end]',
-                         'Anchor[nova::config::end]',
-                         'Anchor[nova::dbsync_api::begin]'],
-        :notify      => 'Anchor[nova::dbsync_api::end]',
-      )
+    context 'with defaults' do
+      it {
+        is_expected.to contain_exec('nova-db-sync-api').with(
+          :command     => '/usr/bin/nova-manage  api_db sync',
+          :refreshonly => 'true',
+          :logoutput   => 'on_failure',
+          :subscribe   => ['Anchor[nova::install::end]',
+                           'Anchor[nova::config::end]',
+                           'Anchor[nova::dbsync_api::begin]'],
+          :notify      => 'Anchor[nova::dbsync_api::end]',
+        )
+      }
+      it { is_expected.to_not contain_class('nova::db::sync_cell_v2') }
     end
 
-    describe "overriding extra_params" do
+    context "overriding extra_params" do
       let :params do
         {
           :extra_params => '--config-file /etc/nova/nova.conf',
+          :cellv2_setup => true
         }
       end
 
@@ -33,9 +36,9 @@ describe 'nova::db::sync_api' do
                            'Anchor[nova::dbsync_api::begin]'],
           :notify      => 'Anchor[nova::dbsync_api::end]',
         )
-        }
-      end
-
+      }
+      it { is_expected.to contain_class('nova::db::sync_cell_v2') }
+    end
   end
 
 
@@ -44,10 +47,7 @@ describe 'nova::db::sync_api' do
   }).each do |os,facts|
     context "on #{os}" do
       let (:facts) do
-        facts.merge(OSDefaults.get_facts({
-          :processorcount => 8,
-          :concat_basedir => '/var/lib/puppet/concat'
-        }))
+        facts.merge(OSDefaults.get_facts())
       end
 
       it_configures 'nova-dbsync-api'
diff --git a/spec/classes/nova_db_sync_cell_v2_spec.rb b/spec/classes/nova_db_sync_cell_v2_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a0bd30ab0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/classes/nova_db_sync_cell_v2_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe 'nova::db::sync_cell_v2' do
+
+  shared_examples_for 'nova-db-sync-cell_v2' do
+    context 'with defaults' do
+
+      it {
+        is_expected.to contain_exec('nova-cell_v2-simple-cell-setup').with(
+          :command     => '/usr/bin/nova-manage  cell_v2 simple_cell_setup ',
+          :refreshonly => 'true',
+          :try_sleep   => 5,
+          :tries       => 10,
+          :logoutput   => 'on_failure',
+          :subscribe   => ['Anchor[nova::install::end]',
+                           'Anchor[nova::config::end]',
+                           'Anchor[nova::dbsync_api::end]',
+                           'Anchor[nova::cell_v2::begin]'],
+          :notify      => 'Anchor[nova::cell_v2::end]',
+        )
+      }
+    end
+
+    context "overriding extra_params" do
+      let :params do
+        {
+          :extra_params  => '--config-file /etc/nova/nova.conf',
+          :transport_url => 'rabbit://user:pass@host:1234/virt'
+        }
+      end
+
+      it {
+        is_expected.to contain_exec('nova-cell_v2-simple-cell-setup').with(
+          :command     => '/usr/bin/nova-manage --config-file /etc/nova/nova.conf cell_v2 simple_cell_setup --transport-url=rabbit://user:pass@host:1234/virt',
+          :refreshonly => 'true',
+          :try_sleep   => 5,
+          :tries       => 10,
+          :logoutput   => 'on_failure',
+          :subscribe   => ['Anchor[nova::install::end]',
+                           'Anchor[nova::config::end]',
+                           'Anchor[nova::dbsync_api::end]',
+                           'Anchor[nova::cell_v2::begin]'],
+          :notify      => 'Anchor[nova::cell_v2::end]',
+        )
+      }
+    end
+  end
+
+
+  on_supported_os({
+    :supported_os   => OSDefaults.get_supported_os
+  }).each do |os,facts|
+    context "on #{os}" do
+      let (:facts) do
+        facts.merge(OSDefaults.get_facts())
+      end
+
+      it_configures 'nova-db-sync-cell_v2'
+    end
+  end
+
+end