diff --git a/ansible/group_vars/libvirt b/ansible/group_vars/libvirt
index 694a712..1002a1a 100644
--- a/ansible/group_vars/libvirt
+++ b/ansible/group_vars/libvirt
@@ -11,3 +11,22 @@ libvirt_pool_group: "{{ ansible_user_id }}"
 # By default, allow QEMU without hardware virtualisation since this is a
 # development tool.
 libvirt_require_vt: false
+
+# This determines the libvirt unix_sock_dir configuration option. You can set
+# this option to the empty string if you want to use the default location. The
+# main use case is to run multiple instances of libvirt side-by-side.
+libvirt_custom_socket_path: ""
+
+# Sets the path to the libvirtd PID file. You will need to change this if you
+# want to run multiple instances of the libvirt daemon side-by-side.
+libvirt_custom_pid_path: >-
+  {%- if libvirt_custom_socket_path -%}
+  {{ libvirt_custom_socket_path }}/libvirt.pid
+  {%- endif -%}
+
+# This controls the libvirt connection URI. This value is used on commands run
+# on the hypervisor (as opposed to remote connections).
+libvirt_local_uri: >-
+  {%- if libvirt_custom_socket_path -%}
+  qemu+unix:///system?socket={{ libvirt_custom_socket_path }}/libvirt-sock
+  {%- endif %}
diff --git a/ansible/host_setup.yml b/ansible/host_setup.yml
index 398108e..e677aa8 100644
--- a/ansible/host_setup.yml
+++ b/ansible/host_setup.yml
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@
                 owner: "{{ libvirt_pool_owner }}"
                 group: "{{ libvirt_pool_group }}"
             libvirt_host_require_vt: "{{ libvirt_require_vt }}"
+            libvirt_host_uri: "{{ libvirt_local_uri }}"
+            libvirt_host_socket_dir: "{{ libvirt_custom_socket_path }}"
+            libvirt_host_pid_path: "{{ libvirt_custom_pid_path }}"
 
         - name: Set up Virtual BMC daemon
           include_role:
diff --git a/ansible/node_bmc.yml b/ansible/node_bmc.yml
index 3627e77..c91e33f 100644
--- a/ansible/node_bmc.yml
+++ b/ansible/node_bmc.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
         name: virtualbmc-domain
       vars:
         vbmc_domain: "{{ domain }}"
+        vbmc_libvirt_uri: "{{ libvirt_local_uri }}"
         vbmc_ipmi_address: "{{ ipmi_address }}"
         vbmc_ipmi_username: "{{ ipmi_username }}"
         vbmc_ipmi_password: "{{ ipmi_password }}"
diff --git a/ansible/node_instantiation.yml b/ansible/node_instantiation.yml
index 404e759..720e102 100644
--- a/ansible/node_instantiation.yml
+++ b/ansible/node_instantiation.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
       include_role:
         name: stackhpc.libvirt-vm
       vars:
+        libvirt_vm_uri: "{{ libvirt_local_uri }}"
         libvirt_vm_default_console_log_dir: "{{ log_directory }}"
         # Configure VM definitions for the Libvirt provider.
         # FIXME(w-miller): Set absent/present in tenks_schedule on a per-node
diff --git a/ansible/roles/ironic-enrolment/tasks/node.yml b/ansible/roles/ironic-enrolment/tasks/node.yml
index f87398d..7743d31 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/ironic-enrolment/tasks/node.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/ironic-enrolment/tasks/node.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,12 @@
       # The output format of this command gives two lines of header, followed by
       # (for each vNIC):
       # <name> <type> <source interface> <model> <MAC>
-      command: /usr/bin/virsh domiflist '{{ node.name }}'
+      command: >-
+        /usr/bin/virsh
+        {% if uri %}-c {{ uri }}{% endif %}
+        domiflist '{{ node.name }}'
+      vars:
+        uri: "{{ hostvars[ironic_hypervisor].libvirt_local_uri }}"
       register: iflist_res
       changed_when: false
       become: true
diff --git a/ansible/roles/virtualbmc-domain/defaults/main.yml b/ansible/roles/virtualbmc-domain/defaults/main.yml
index 4ecc498..04f7f82 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/virtualbmc-domain/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/virtualbmc-domain/defaults/main.yml
@@ -15,3 +15,5 @@ vbmc_log_directory:
 vbmc_virtualenv_path:
 # Whether the domain should be `present` or `absent` in Virtual BMC.
 vbmc_state: present
+# libvirt connnection URI
+vbmc_libvirt_uri:
diff --git a/ansible/roles/virtualbmc-domain/tasks/main.yml b/ansible/roles/virtualbmc-domain/tasks/main.yml
index 691b456..a664471 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/virtualbmc-domain/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/virtualbmc-domain/tasks/main.yml
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
       --username '{{ vbmc_ipmi_username }}'
       --password '{{ vbmc_ipmi_password }}'
       --address {{ vbmc_ipmi_address }}
+    {% if vbmc_libvirt_uri %} --libvirt-uri '{{vbmc_libvirt_uri}}'{% endif %}
   when: vbmc_state == 'present'
   become: true
   tags:
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/add-support-for-libvirt-connection-uri-10fd40407fb1cc53.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/add-support-for-libvirt-connection-uri-10fd40407fb1cc53.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..98c8d6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/add-support-for-libvirt-connection-uri-10fd40407fb1cc53.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    Adds support for setting the libvirt connection uri via the
+    ``libvirt_local_uri`` variable. See
+    `this story <https://storyboard.openstack.org/#!/story/2004344>`_
+    for details.