diff --git a/devstack/plugin.sh b/devstack/plugin.sh
index 78282e4..5273714 100755
--- a/devstack/plugin.sh
+++ b/devstack/plugin.sh
@@ -71,15 +71,6 @@ function update_ironic_enabled_drivers {
     for i in $IRONIC_DRIVER_INTERFACE_TYPES; do
         setup_ironic_enabled_interfaces_for $i
     done
-
-    # set logging for ansible-deploy
-    # NOTE(pas-ha) w/o systemd or syslog, there will be no output of single
-    # ansible tasks to ironic log, only in the stdout returned by processutils
-    if [[ "$USE_SYSTEMD" == "True" ]]; then
-        iniset $IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVERS_DIR/ironic_staging_drivers/ansible/playbooks/callback_plugins/ironic_log.ini ironic use_journal "True"
-    elif [[ "$SYSLOG" == "True" ]]; then
-        iniset $IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVERS_DIR/ironic_staging_drivers/ansible/playbooks/callback_plugins/ironic_log.ini ironic use_syslog "True"
-    fi
 }
 
 function install_ironic_staging_drivers {
@@ -125,14 +116,27 @@ function configure_ansible_deploy_driver {
     # so just disable validating SSL certs for now in DevStack
     # similar to what ironic does for IPA by default in DevStack
     iniset $IRONIC_CONF_FILE ansible image_store_insecure True
+
+    # set logging for ansible-deploy
+    # NOTE(pas-ha) w/o systemd or syslog, there will be no output
+    # of single ansible tasks to ironic log,
+    # only in the stdout returned by processutils
+    if [[ "$USE_SYSTEMD" == "True" ]]; then
+        iniset $IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVERS_DIR/ironic_staging_drivers/ansible/playbooks/callback_plugins/ironic_log.ini ironic use_journal "True"
+    elif [[ "$SYSLOG" == "True" ]]; then
+        iniset $IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVERS_DIR/ironic_staging_drivers/ansible/playbooks/callback_plugins/ironic_log.ini ironic use_syslog "True"
+    fi
 }
 
 function set_ironic_testing_driver {
-    if [[ "$IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVER" == "pxe_ipmitool_ansible" && \
+    if [[ "$IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVER" =~ "ansible" && \
+          "$IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVER" =~ "ipmi" && \
           "$IRONIC_DEPLOY_DRIVER" == "agent_ipmitool" && \
           "$IRONIC_RAMDISK_TYPE" == "tinyipa" ]]; then
-        echo_summary "Setting nodes to use ${IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVER} driver"
+        echo_summary "Setting nodes to use 'staging-ansible-ipmi' hardware type with 'staging-ansible' deploy interface"
         set_ansible_deploy_driver
+    else
+        die $LINENO "Failed to configure ironic to use ${IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVER} driver/hw type: not supported by devstack plugin or other pre-conditions not met"
     fi
 }
 
@@ -165,14 +169,18 @@ function set_ansible_deploy_driver {
         --public \
         -f value -c id)
 
-    # set nodes to use ansible_deploy driver with uploaded ramdisk
-    # using pxe_ipmitool_ansible instead of agent_ipmitool
     for node in $(openstack --os-cloud devstack baremetal node list -f value -c UUID); do
-        openstack --os-cloud devstack-admin baremetal node set $node \
-            --driver ${IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVER} \
-            --driver-info deploy_ramdisk=$ansible_ramdisk_id \
-            --driver-info ansible_deploy_username=tc \
-            --driver-info ansible_deploy_key_file=$ansible_key_file
+        # switch driver to ansible-enabled hardware type, use minimal API version that supports setting driver interfaces,
+        # set nodes to use the uploaded ramdisk and appropriate SSH creds.
+        # TODO(pas-ha) remove API version when OSC defaults to 'latest'
+        # TODO(pas-ha) change the job definition in project-config to set the HW type
+        # when stable/pike is no longer supported
+        openstack --os-cloud devstack-admin --os-baremetal-api-version 1.31 baremetal node set $node \
+             --driver staging-ansible-ipmi \
+             --deploy-interface staging-ansible \
+             --driver-info deploy_ramdisk=$ansible_ramdisk_id \
+             --driver-info ansible_deploy_username=tc \
+             --driver-info ansible_deploy_key_file=$ansible_key_file
     done
 }
 
@@ -191,7 +199,7 @@ if is_service_enabled ir-api ir-cond; then
             configure_ironic_testing_driver
         fi
     elif [[ "$1" == "stack" && "$2" == "extra" ]]; then
-        if [ -n $IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVER ]; then
+        if [[ -n ${IRONIC_STAGING_DRIVER} ]]; then
             set_ironic_testing_driver
         fi
     fi