diff --git a/elements/rabbitmq-server/element-deps b/elements/rabbitmq-server/element-deps
index 8b0805b9b..f729f5401 100644
--- a/elements/rabbitmq-server/element-deps
+++ b/elements/rabbitmq-server/element-deps
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ os-svc-install
 package-installs
 sysctl
 use-ephemeral
+ntp
diff --git a/elements/rabbitmq-server/files/etc/init/rabbitmq-server.conf b/elements/rabbitmq-server/files/etc/init/rabbitmq-server.conf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3d419001c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/rabbitmq-server/files/etc/init/rabbitmq-server.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+start on runlevel [2345]
+stop on runlevel [016]
+respawn
+# The default post-start of 1 second sleep delays respawning enough to
+# not hit the default of 10 times in 5 seconds. Make it 2 times in 5s.
+respawn limit 2 5
+
+# Process will exit from SIGTERM due to post-stop pkill, prevent this
+# causing a respawn
+normal exit 0 TERM
+
+env RUN_DIR=/var/run/rabbitmq
+env PID_FILE=$RUN_DIR/pid
+env OS_SVC_ENABLE_CONTROL=1
+export OS_SVC_ENABLE_CONTROL
+
+pre-start script
+    [ -d "$RUN_DIR" ] || install -d -D -m 0755 -o rabbitmq -g rabbitmq $RUN_DIR
+end script
+exec /usr/sbin/rabbitmq-server > /var/log/rabbitmq/startup_log \
+                              2> /var/log/rabbitmq/startup_err
+
+post-start exec /usr/sbin/rabbitmqctl wait $PID_FILE >/dev/null 2>&1
+pre-stop exec /usr/sbin/rabbitmqctl stop $PID_FILE >/dev/null 2>&1
+
+# Get the Erlang nameserver too.
+post-stop exec /usr/bin/pkill -u rabbitmq >/dev/null 2>&1
diff --git a/elements/rabbitmq-server/files/etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf b/elements/rabbitmq-server/files/etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aadde2db9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/rabbitmq-server/files/etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+HOME=/var/lib/rabbitmq
+LOG_BASE=/var/log/rabbitmq
+MNESIA_BASE=/var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia
+PID_FILE=/var/run/rabbitmq/pid
diff --git a/elements/rabbitmq-server/install.d/20-rabbitmq-server b/elements/rabbitmq-server/install.d/20-rabbitmq-server
index f7e33d819..41bb0c4a6 100755
--- a/elements/rabbitmq-server/install.d/20-rabbitmq-server
+++ b/elements/rabbitmq-server/install.d/20-rabbitmq-server
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ install-packages rabbitmq-server
 register-state-path --leave-symlink /var/lib/rabbitmq
 register-state-path --leave-symlink /var/log/rabbitmq
 
+FILES="$(dirname $0)/../files"
+
 # Note(jang): the rabbitmq-server service is installed, but not started, since
 # the first run of os-collect-config is required to configure it properly.
 
@@ -20,28 +22,8 @@ if [ "$DISTRO_NAME" = "ubuntu" ] || [ "$DISTRO_NAME" = "debian" -a "$DIB_INIT_SY
     # that it'll be running a venv-based service to use directly. Install an upstart
     # configuration that's compatible with os-svc-enable and os-svc-restart
 
-    cat > /etc/init/rabbitmq-server.conf <<eof
-start on runlevel [2345]
-stop on runlevel [016]
-respawn
-# the default post-start of 1 second sleep delays respawning enough to
-# not hit the default of 10 times in 5 seconds. Make it 2 times in 5s.
-respawn limit 2 5
-
-env OS_SVC_ENABLE_CONTROL=1
-export OS_SVC_ENABLE_CONTROL
-
-pre-start script
-    [ -d "/var/run/rabbitmq" ] || install -d -D -m 0755 -o rabbitmq -g rabbitmq /var/run/rabbitmq
-end script
-exec /usr/sbin/rabbitmq-server > /var/log/rabbitmq/startup_log 2> /var/log/rabbitmq/startup_err
-post-start exec /usr/sbin/rabbitmqctl wait /var/run/rabbitmq/pid >/dev/null 2>&1
-pre-stop exec /usr/sbin/rabbitmqctl stop /var/run/rabbitmq/pid >/dev/null 2>&1
-
-# Get the Erlang nameserver too.
-post-stop exec /usr/bin/pkill -u rabbitmq >/dev/null 2>&1
-
-eof
+    FILE=/etc/init/rabbitmq-server.conf
+    install -g root -o root -m 0755 "${FILES}${FILE}" "${FILE}"
 fi
 
 if [ "$DIB_INIT_SYSTEM" = "systemd" ]; then
@@ -52,13 +34,8 @@ if [ "$DIB_INIT_SYSTEM" = "systemd" ]; then
     sed -i 's/\[Service\]/\[Service\]\nRestart=on-failure/g' /lib/systemd/system/rabbitmq-server.service
 fi
 
-
-cat > /etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf <<EOF
-HOME=/mnt/state/var/lib/rabbitmq
-LOG_BASE=/mnt/state/var/log/rabbitmq
-MNESIA_BASE=/mnt/state/var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia
-PID_FILE=/var/run/rabbitmq/pid
-EOF
+FILE=/etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-env.conf
+install -g root -o root -m 0755 "${FILES}${FILE}" "${FILE}"
 
 # Enable ulimits in pam if needed
 PAM_FILE=/etc/pam.d/su
diff --git a/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-apply-config/mnt/state/var/lib/rabbitmq/.erlang.cookie b/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-apply-config/var/lib/rabbitmq/.erlang.cookie
similarity index 100%
rename from elements/rabbitmq-server/os-apply-config/mnt/state/var/lib/rabbitmq/.erlang.cookie
rename to elements/rabbitmq-server/os-apply-config/var/lib/rabbitmq/.erlang.cookie
diff --git a/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/configure.d/20-rabbitmq-server-selinux b/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/configure.d/20-rabbitmq-server-selinux
index 3eea7f249..5633e37bb 100755
--- a/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/configure.d/20-rabbitmq-server-selinux
+++ b/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/configure.d/20-rabbitmq-server-selinux
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ set -eu
 
 [ -x /usr/sbin/semanage ] || exit 0
 
-semanage fcontext -a -t rabbitmq_var_lib_t "/mnt/state/var/lib/rabbitmq(/.*)?"
-restorecon -Rv /mnt/state/var/lib/rabbitmq
+semanage fcontext -a -t rabbitmq_var_lib_t "/var/lib/rabbitmq(/.*)?"
+restorecon -Rv /var/lib/rabbitmq
 
-semanage fcontext -a -t rabbitmq_var_log_t "/mnt/state/var/log/rabbitmq(/.*)?"
-restorecon -Rv /mnt/state/var/log/rabbitmq
+semanage fcontext -a -t rabbitmq_var_log_t "/var/log/rabbitmq(/.*)?"
+restorecon -Rv /var/log/rabbitmq
diff --git a/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/post-configure.d/40-rabbitmq b/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/post-configure.d/40-rabbitmq
deleted file mode 100755
index 0189a9ad7..000000000
--- a/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/post-configure.d/40-rabbitmq
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,101 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-set -eux
-
-[ -d /mnt/state/var/log/rabbitmq ] || install -d -D -m 0770 -o rabbitmq -g rabbitmq /mnt/state/var/log/rabbitmq
-
-os-svc-enable -n rabbitmq-server
-os-svc-restart -n rabbitmq-server
-
-
-# Cluster setup
-# Why not using auto-configuration of cluster (specifying 'cluster_nodes' in
-# rabbitmq.conf):
-# 1) This is not robust because when joining a node, it iterates
-# through all nodes and joins to first available node, if no suitable node is
-# found, joining node is started standalone.
-# 2) This is done only for fresh nodes (first start, or reset db).
-# 3) You might end up with multiple different clusters A joins with B, C joins
-# with D
-#
-# When joining a node into rabbitmq cluster:
-# - if this node is already in cluster with current master[1] node, do nothing
-# - iterate through all nodes and check if there is a node which is in a
-# cluster[2], if such node exists, join to this node
-# - if no existing cluster is found:
-#     - if this is master node, start this node standalone
-#     - if it's not master node, try to join with master node otherwise fail (if
-#     fail we retry on next os-refresh-config run)
-#
-# [1] master node is first node in alphabetically sorted list of 'rabbit.nodes'
-# [2] cluster is any cluster with at least 2 running nodes
-
-function is_in_cluster() {
-    local node=$1
-    # Returns true if the list following "running_nodes" in rabbitmqctl
-    # cluster_status contains at least two nodes.
-    rabbitmqctl -n rabbit@$node cluster_status|grep -q "running_nodes,\[[^]]\+,"
-}
-
-function join_with() {
-    local node=$1
-    rabbitmqctl stop_app
-    rabbitmqctl join_cluster rabbit@$node || return 1
-    rabbitmqctl start_app
-}
-
-LOCAL=$(hostname -s)
-# TODO - nodes are comma separated hostnames, there is probably no type for this
-NODES=$(os-apply-config --key rabbit.nodes --type raw --key-default '' | sed 's/,/\n/g')
-MASTER=$(echo "$NODES"|sort -n|head -1)
-
-# Heat can return hostname with capital letters, cloud-init converts to lowercase. Make sure
-# we can compare them in a case-insensitive manor:
-LOCAL=${LOCAL,,}
-NODES=${NODES,,}
-MASTER=${MASTER,,}
-
-if [ -n "$NODES" ];then
-    if os-is-bootstrap-host; then
-        # if this is master node which is already clustered, do nothing
-        if is_in_cluster $LOCAL; then
-            exit 0
-        fi
-    else
-        # if this node is already in cluster with current master node, do nothing
-        if rabbitmqctl cluster_status|grep -q "$MASTER"; then
-            exit 0
-        fi
-    fi
-
-    JOINED_WITH=''
-    # find another node which is already clustered and try join with it
-    for NODE in $NODES;do
-        if [ ! "$NODE" = "$LOCAL" ] && is_in_cluster $NODE; then
-            if join_with $NODE; then
-                JOINED_WITH=$NODE
-                break
-            fi
-        fi
-    done
-
-    if [ -z "$JOINED_WITH"]; then
-        # if there is no existing cluster yet and this is master node, start this
-        # node standalone (other nodes will join to this one)
-        if os-is-bootstrap-host; then
-            rabbitmqctl start_app
-        else
-            if ! join_with $MASTER; then
-                echo "failed to join this node into cluster"
-                exit 1
-            fi
-        fi
-    fi
-
-    # wait until rabbitmq node is up
-    timeout 60 rabbitmqctl wait /var/run/rabbitmq/pid
-
-    # make sure that all queues (except those with auto-generated names) are
-    # mirrored across all nodes in running:
-    rabbitmqctl set_policy HA '^(?!amq\.).*' '{"ha-mode": "all"}'
-fi
diff --git a/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/post-configure.d/51-rabbitmq b/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/post-configure.d/51-rabbitmq
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..fba50f0fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/post-configure.d/51-rabbitmq
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -eux
+set -o pipefail
+
+LOCAL_RABBIT_HOST="$(os-apply-config --key bootstrap_host.nodeid --type netaddress --key-default '')"
+NODES=($(os-apply-config --key rabbit.nodes --type raw --key-default '' | sed 's/,/\n/g' | sort))
+TOTAL_NODES=${#NODES[@]}
+
+# Insufficient meta-data to attempt to start-up RabbitMQ.
+if [ -z "${LOCAL_RABBIT_HOST}" ]; then
+    echo "RabbitMQ bootstrap_host.nodeid is not defined in meta-data, aborting."
+    exit 255
+fi
+
+os-svc-enable -n rabbitmq-server
+
+## Non-cluster configuration set-up. ##
+if [ ${TOTAL_NODES} -le 1 ]; then
+    os-svc-restart -n rabbitmq-server
+    echo "RabbitMQ non-cluster configuration complete..."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+## Cluster configuration set-up. ##
+function is_in_cluster() {
+    # Returns true if the list following "running_nodes" in rabbitmqctl
+    # cluster_status contains at least two nodes.
+    rabbitmqctl cluster_status 2>/dev/null |
+        grep -q "running_nodes,\[[^]]\+,"
+}
+
+# Number of nodes in the cluster according to remote node $1.
+# If $1 isn't in a cluster or it's in a cluster by itself, then this will
+# return 0.
+function cluster_size() {
+    local remote_node="${1}"
+    rabbitmqctl -n "rabbit@${remote_node}" cluster_status 2>/dev/null |
+        sed -n '/{running_nodes,\[[^]]\+,/,/\]\},/p' |
+        wc -l
+}
+
+function leave_cluster() {
+    rabbitmqctl stop_app
+    # This syncs all data into the cluster, then removes this node, cleaning local mnesia.
+    rabbitmqctl reset
+}
+export -f leave_cluster
+
+function join_cluster_with() {
+    local remote_node="${1}"
+    local local_node="${2}"
+    rabbitmqctl stop_app
+    rabbitmqctl join_cluster "rabbit@${remote_node}" 2>/dev/null || true
+    rabbitmqctl start_app
+
+    if ! is_in_cluster; then
+       echo "Failed to join node [${local_node}] with [${remote_node}]..."
+       return 1
+    fi
+}
+
+BOOTSTRAP_NODE="$(os-apply-config --key bootstrap_host.bootstrap_nodeid --type netaddress --key-default '')"
+NODE_INDEX=""
+# Find the nodes being worked on in the NODES array.
+for (( index = 0; index < ${TOTAL_NODES}; index++ )); do
+   if [ "${NODES[$index]}" == "${LOCAL_RABBIT_HOST}" ]; then
+      NODE_INDEX=${index}
+   fi
+done
+
+if [ -z "${BOOTSTRAP_NODE}" -o ${TOTAL_NODES} -lt 3 -o -z "${NODE_INDEX}" ]; then
+    #      We do not know who the bootstrap is, why are we attempting to bring up a Rabbit cluster?
+    # -OR- we do not have sufficient nodes to support HA so lets abort.
+    # -OR- we did not find our node in the array and hence did not set node_indexs.
+    echo "bootstrap_host.bootstrap_nodeid: ${BOOTSTRAP_NODE}, TOTAL_NODES: ${TOTAL_NODES}, NODE_INDEX: ${NODE_INDEX}"
+    echo "RabbitMQ cluster configuration prerequisites not met, aborting."
+    exit 255
+fi
+
+for (( index = 0; index < ${TOTAL_NODES}; index++ )); do
+    if ! ping -c1 "${NODES[$index]}"; then
+        echo "RabbitMQ host unreachable: ${NODES[$index]}"
+        HOST_UNREACHABLE=1
+    fi
+done
+[ -z "${HOST_UNREACHABLE:-}" ] || exit 1
+
+# Refuse to stop unless all nodes are running, this avoids pause_minority.
+# From the RabbitMQ docs: pause_minority
+#     Your network is maybe less reliable. You have clustered across 3 AZs
+#     in EC2, and you assume that only one AZ will fail at once. In that
+#     scenario you want the remaining two AZs to continue working and the
+#     nodes from the failed AZ to rejoin automatically and without fuss when
+#     the AZ comes back.
+# (See: os-apply-config/etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.config)
+#
+# We want to orchestrate nodes leaving the cluster. We'll do this using a
+# metronome.  For example, if we have 3 nodes, there will be six periods.
+# The first node may leave in period 0. The second node may leave in period
+# 1. The third node may leave in period 2.
+#
+# Metronome:   0 .. 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 4 .. 5 ..
+# Node leaves: 0 ....... 1 ....... 2 .......
+#
+# The dead periods in between allow for $PERIOD seconds of clock
+# desynchronization. PERIOD should be about the half the length of time it
+# takes for a node to join the cluster.
+PERIOD=10
+NODE_LEAVES_AT=$(( ${NODE_INDEX} * 2 ))
+while is_in_cluster; do
+    NODES_IN_CLUSTER=$(cluster_size "${BOOTSTRAP_NODE}")
+    if [ ${NODES_IN_CLUSTER} -gt ${TOTAL_NODES} ]; then
+        echo "A node we don't know about appears to have joined the cluster, aborting."
+        exit 255
+    fi
+
+    METRONOME=$(( ($(date +%s) / ${PERIOD}) % (${TOTAL_NODES} * 2) ))
+    if [ ${NODES_IN_CLUSTER} -eq ${TOTAL_NODES} -a \
+         ${METRONOME} -eq ${NODE_LEAVES_AT} ]; then
+        # All other nodes are in the cluster and it's our allotted time,
+        # safe to leave. Tell other nodes we're about to leave the cluster.
+        echo "Leaving cluster..."
+        timeout 300 bash -c leave_cluster || { rabbitmqctl start_app && exit 1; }
+    else
+        echo "Refusing to allow node to leave cluster..."
+    fi
+    sleep 2
+done
+
+# Restart RabbitMQ. We need to have left the cluster first or we risk data loss.
+os-svc-restart -n rabbitmq-server
+
+# We're the bootstrap node
+if [ "${LOCAL_RABBIT_HOST}" == "${BOOTSTRAP_NODE}" ]; then
+   # If we are not in a cluster keep trying to join a node.
+   # Note: This loop is required as the BOOTSTRAP_NODE may have left a running
+   #       cluster and it therefore must re-join.
+   while ! is_in_cluster; do
+       # Try to join with each node in turn.
+       COUNT=$(( (${COUNT:-0} + 1)  % ${TOTAL_NODES} ))
+       if [ ${COUNT} -ne ${NODE_INDEX} ]; then
+          join_cluster_with "${NODES[${COUNT}]}" "${LOCAL_RABBIT_HOST}" || true
+       fi
+   done
+
+   # Check that we have not got a partition i.e. The case where we do not have
+   # synced clocks and hence we can get split in the clustering A+B C. If we
+   # get this we will wait as this is more favourable than a bad/broken
+   # cluster set-up.
+   while [[ $(cluster_size "${LOCAL_RABBIT_HOST}") -ne ${TOTAL_NODES} ]]; do
+       echo "Waiting for nodes to join [${BOOTSTRAP_NODE}]..."
+       sleep 10
+   done
+else
+   # Wait until the BOOTSTRAP_NODE has at least formed a cluster with one node.
+   while [[ $(cluster_size "${BOOTSTRAP_NODE}") -lt 2 ]]; do
+       echo "Waiting for bootstrap node to initialise the cluster..."
+       sleep 10
+   done
+   is_in_cluster || join_cluster_with "${BOOTSTRAP_NODE}" "${LOCAL_RABBIT_HOST}"
+fi
+
+# Make sure that all queues (except those with auto-generated names) are
+# mirrored across all nodes in the cluster running:
+rabbitmqctl set_policy HA '^(?!amq\.).*' '{"ha-mode": "all"}'
+
+echo "RabbitMQ cluster configuration complete..."
diff --git a/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/post-configure.d/50-rabbitmq-passwords b/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/post-configure.d/52-rabbitmq-passwords
similarity index 100%
rename from elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/post-configure.d/50-rabbitmq-passwords
rename to elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/post-configure.d/52-rabbitmq-passwords
diff --git a/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/pre-configure.d/80-rabbitmq-cluster b/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/pre-configure.d/80-rabbitmq-cluster
index 8dce997a7..2f1f8b723 100755
--- a/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/pre-configure.d/80-rabbitmq-cluster
+++ b/elements/rabbitmq-server/os-refresh-config/pre-configure.d/80-rabbitmq-cluster
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -eux
 
-[ -d /mnt/state/var/lib/rabbitmq ] || install -d -D -m 0770 -o rabbitmq -g rabbitmq /mnt/state/var/lib/rabbitmq
-install -m 600 -o rabbitmq -g rabbitmq /dev/null /mnt/state/var/lib/rabbitmq/.erlang.cookie
-[ -d /mnt/state/var/log/rabbitmq ] || install -d -D -m 0770 -o rabbitmq -g rabbitmq /mnt/state/var/log/rabbitmq
+install -m 600 -o rabbitmq -g rabbitmq /dev/null /var/lib/rabbitmq/.erlang.cookie