diff --git a/templates/prep-scripts/_container_sys_setup.sh.j2 b/templates/prep-scripts/_container_sys_setup.sh.j2
index a7363826..b95815d0 100644
--- a/templates/prep-scripts/_container_sys_setup.sh.j2
+++ b/templates/prep-scripts/_container_sys_setup.sh.j2
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 mkdir -p /dev
 mkdir -p /proc
 mkdir -p /sys/fs/cgroup
+mkdir -p /dev/pts
+
+#gnupg requires this
+mkdir -p /root/.gnupg
 
 # In order for the package manager to function /dev/null, /dev/random and
 # /dev/urandom must exist. This is is being run here because some images do not
@@ -11,6 +15,11 @@ mkdir -p /sys/fs/cgroup
 [ ! -e /dev/random ] && mknod -m 0666 /dev/random c 1 8
 [ ! -e /dev/urandom ] && mknod -m 0666 /dev/urandom c 1 9
 
+for i in {0..5}; do
+  [ ! -e "/dev/pts/$i" ] && mknod -m 0666 "/dev/pts/$i" c 136 $i
+done
+[ ! -e /dev/pts/ptmx ] && mknod -m 0666 /dev/pts/ptmx c 5 2
+
 # Create the directory where local facts will be stored
 mkdir -p /etc/ansible/facts.d
 
diff --git a/templates/prep-scripts/ubuntu_18_prep.sh.j2 b/templates/prep-scripts/ubuntu_18_prep.sh.j2
index 2db4ed4a..426c9c43 100644
--- a/templates/prep-scripts/ubuntu_18_prep.sh.j2
+++ b/templates/prep-scripts/ubuntu_18_prep.sh.j2
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ apt-get remove -y --purge snap* lxc* lxd* resolvconf* || true
 apt-get update
 apt-get install -y -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef" -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold" --force-yes gnupg
 
+#start gpg-agent if is is not already running
+gpg-connect-agent /bye
+
 apt-key add -v /root/repo.keys
 rm /root/repo.keys