diff --git a/nova/templates/bin/_cell-setup.sh.tpl b/nova/templates/bin/_cell-setup.sh.tpl
index dd9a38b7e4..31f1cac4af 100644
--- a/nova/templates/bin/_cell-setup.sh.tpl
+++ b/nova/templates/bin/_cell-setup.sh.tpl
@@ -18,4 +18,11 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 set -ex
 
-nova-manage cell_v2 simple_cell_setup
+NOVA_VERSION=$(nova-manage --version 2>&1 > /dev/null)
+
+# NOTE(portdirect): check if nova fully supports cells v2, and manage
+# accordingly. Support was complete in ocata (V14.x.x).
+
+if [ "${NOVA_VERSION%%.*}" -gt "14" ]; then
+  nova-manage cell_v2 discover_hosts --verbose
+fi
diff --git a/nova/templates/bin/_db-sync.sh.tpl b/nova/templates/bin/_db-sync.sh.tpl
index 8be228ef49..5177164963 100644
--- a/nova/templates/bin/_db-sync.sh.tpl
+++ b/nova/templates/bin/_db-sync.sh.tpl
@@ -18,6 +18,30 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 set -ex
 
+NOVA_VERSION=$(nova-manage --version 2>&1 > /dev/null)
+
+function manage_cells () {
+  # NOTE(portdirect): check if nova fully supports cells v2, and manage
+  # accordingly. Support was complete in ocata (V14.x.x).
+  if [ "${NOVA_VERSION%%.*}" -gt "14" ]; then
+    nova-manage cell_v2 map_cell0
+    nova-manage cell_v2 list_cells | grep -q " cell1 " || \
+      nova-manage cell_v2 create_cell --name=cell1 --verbose
+  fi
+}
+
+# NOTE(portdirect): if the db has been populated we should setup cells if
+# required, otherwise we should poulate the api db, and then setup cells.
+if [ "$(nova-manage api_db version)" -gt "0" ]; then
+  manage_cells
+  nova-manage api_db sync
+else
+  nova-manage api_db sync
+  manage_cells
+fi
+
 nova-manage db sync
-nova-manage api_db sync
+
 nova-manage db online_data_migrations
+
+echo 'Finished DB migrations'
diff --git a/nova/templates/cron-job-cell-setup.yaml b/nova/templates/cron-job-cell-setup.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..26f5701d06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nova/templates/cron-job-cell-setup.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+{{/*
+Copyright 2017 The Openstack-Helm Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/}}
+
+{{- if .Values.manifests.cron_job_cell_setup }}
+{{- $envAll := . }}
+{{- $dependencies := .Values.dependencies.static.cell_setup }}
+
+{{- $serviceAccountName := "nova-cell-setup" }}
+{{ tuple $envAll $dependencies $serviceAccountName | include "helm-toolkit.snippets.kubernetes_pod_rbac_serviceaccount" }}
+---
+apiVersion: batch/v1beta1
+kind: CronJob
+metadata:
+  name: nova-cell-setup
+spec:
+  schedule: {{ .Values.jobs.cell_setup.cron | quote }}
+  successfulJobsHistoryLimit: {{ .Values.jobs.cell_setup.history.success }}
+  failedJobsHistoryLimit: {{ .Values.jobs.cell_setup.history.failed }}
+  concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
+  jobTemplate:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+{{ tuple $envAll "nova" "cell-setup" | include "helm-toolkit.snippets.kubernetes_metadata_labels" | indent 8 }}
+    spec:
+      template:
+        metadata:
+          labels:
+{{ tuple $envAll "nova" "cell-setup" | include "helm-toolkit.snippets.kubernetes_metadata_labels" | indent 12 }}
+        spec:
+          serviceAccountName: {{ $serviceAccountName }}
+          restartPolicy: OnFailure
+          nodeSelector:
+            {{ .Values.labels.job.node_selector_key }}: {{ .Values.labels.job.node_selector_value }}
+          initContainers:
+{{ tuple $envAll $dependencies list | include "helm-toolkit.snippets.kubernetes_entrypoint_init_container" | indent 12 }}
+          containers:
+            - name: nova-cell-setup
+              image: {{ .Values.images.tags.nova_cell_setup }}
+              imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.images.pull_policy }}
+{{ tuple $envAll $envAll.Values.pod.resources.jobs.cell_setup | include "helm-toolkit.snippets.kubernetes_resources" | indent 14 }}
+              command:
+                - /tmp/cell-setup.sh
+              volumeMounts:
+                - name: nova-bin
+                  mountPath: /tmp/cell-setup.sh
+                  subPath: cell-setup.sh
+                  readOnly: true
+                - name: etcnova
+                  mountPath: /etc/nova
+                - name: nova-etc
+                  mountPath: /etc/nova/nova.conf
+                  subPath: nova.conf
+                  readOnly: true
+                - name: nova-etc
+                  mountPath: /etc/nova/policy.yaml
+                  subPath: policy.yaml
+                  readOnly: true
+          volumes:
+            - name: etcnova
+              emptyDir: {}
+            - name: nova-etc
+              configMap:
+                name: nova-etc
+                defaultMode: 0444
+            - name: nova-bin
+              configMap:
+                name: nova-bin
+                defaultMode: 0555
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/nova/templates/job-cell-setup.yaml b/nova/templates/job-cell-setup.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index f5da25a52f..0000000000
--- a/nova/templates/job-cell-setup.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,73 +0,0 @@
-{{/*
-Copyright 2017 The Openstack-Helm Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/}}
-
-{{- if .Values.manifests.job_cell_setup }}
-{{- $envAll := . }}
-{{- $dependencies := .Values.dependencies.static.cell_setup }}
-
-{{- $serviceAccountName := "nova-cell-setup" }}
-{{ tuple $envAll $dependencies $serviceAccountName | include "helm-toolkit.snippets.kubernetes_pod_rbac_serviceaccount" }}
----
-apiVersion: batch/v1
-kind: Job
-metadata:
-  name: nova-cell-setup
-spec:
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-{{ tuple $envAll "nova" "cell-setup" | include "helm-toolkit.snippets.kubernetes_metadata_labels" | indent 8 }}
-    spec:
-      serviceAccountName: {{ $serviceAccountName }}
-      restartPolicy: OnFailure
-      nodeSelector:
-        {{ .Values.labels.job.node_selector_key }}: {{ .Values.labels.job.node_selector_value }}
-      initContainers:
-{{ tuple $envAll $dependencies list | include "helm-toolkit.snippets.kubernetes_entrypoint_init_container" | indent 8 }}
-      containers:
-        - name: nova-cell-setup
-          image: {{ .Values.images.tags.nova_cell_setup }}
-          imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.images.pull_policy }}
-{{ tuple $envAll $envAll.Values.pod.resources.jobs.cell_setup | include "helm-toolkit.snippets.kubernetes_resources" | indent 10 }}
-          command:
-            - /tmp/cell-setup.sh
-          volumeMounts:
-            - name: nova-bin
-              mountPath: /tmp/cell-setup.sh
-              subPath: cell-setup.sh
-              readOnly: true
-            - name: etcnova
-              mountPath: /etc/nova
-            - name: nova-etc
-              mountPath: /etc/nova/nova.conf
-              subPath: nova.conf
-              readOnly: true
-            - name: nova-etc
-              mountPath: /etc/nova/policy.yaml
-              subPath: policy.yaml
-              readOnly: true
-      volumes:
-        - name: etcnova
-          emptyDir: {}
-        - name: nova-etc
-          configMap:
-            name: nova-etc
-            defaultMode: 0444
-        - name: nova-bin
-          configMap:
-            name: nova-bin
-            defaultMode: 0555
-{{- end }}
diff --git a/nova/values.yaml b/nova/values.yaml
index 3b0b1e0df6..0cefa66964 100644
--- a/nova/values.yaml
+++ b/nova/values.yaml
@@ -85,6 +85,15 @@ images:
     nova_spiceproxy_assets: 'docker.io/kolla/ubuntu-source-nova-spicehtml5proxy:3.0.3'
     test: 'docker.io/kolla/ubuntu-source-rally:4.0.0'
 
+jobs:
+  # NOTE(portdirect): When using cells new nodes will be added to the cell on the hour by default.
+  # TODO(portdirect): Add a post-start action to nova compute pods that registers themselves.
+  cell_setup:
+    cron: "0 */1 * * *"
+    history:
+      success: 3
+      failed: 1
+
 bootstrap:
   enabled: true
   ks_user: admin
@@ -252,6 +261,11 @@ dependencies:
           service: identity
         - endpoint: internal
           service: compute
+      pod:
+        - requireSameNode: false
+          labels:
+            application: nova
+            component: compute
     compute:
       pod:
         - requireSameNode: true
@@ -1614,6 +1628,7 @@ pod:
 manifests:
   configmap_bin: true
   configmap_etc: true
+  cron_job_cell_setup: true
   daemonset_compute: true
   deployment_api_metadata: true
   deployment_api_osapi: true
@@ -1639,7 +1654,6 @@ manifests:
   job_ks_placement_endpoints: true
   job_ks_placement_service: true
   job_ks_placement_user: true
-  job_cell_setup: true
   pdb_metadata: true
   pdb_placement: true
   pdb_osapi: true