diff --git a/config/environments/default_libvirt.yml b/config/environments/default_libvirt.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fdfaf4232
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/environments/default_libvirt.yml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+environment_type: libvirt
diff --git a/doc/source/environment-configuration.rst b/doc/source/environment-configuration.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5ee7da787
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/source/environment-configuration.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+.. _environment-configuration:
+
+Environment Configuration
+=========================
+
+TripleO-Quickstart has the requirement and capacity to execute in several
+different environments and using different types of systems to bootstrap
+the environments.
+
+Some known examples of different environments are:
+
+  * upstream OpenStack CI
+  * CI CentOS (ci.centos.org)
+  * local libvirt environments
+  * running OVB based deployments in various clouds
+  * Using a CentOS or RHEL qcow2 image without preinstalled OpenStack RPMS.
+
+Anything defined in an environment configuration file should not impact or
+overwrite a variable in a featureset, topology or release configuration file.
+There should be no intersection of variables between the three types of
+configuration.
+
+You will find environment configuration files under $repo/config/environments.
+Some of the environment configuration will be stored in TripleO Quickstart or
+TripleO Quickstart Extras, however sometimes the configuration is specific
+to CI and may only exist in the environment itself.  For example variables
+specific to executing TripleO Quickstart in upstream will live in
+https://github.com/openstack-infra/tripleo-ci/tree/master/toci-quickstart
+
+Example Invocation::
+
+    quickstart.sh -E config/environments/default_libvirt.yml $VIRTHOST
diff --git a/doc/source/index.rst b/doc/source/index.rst
index 0aa3df630..d02fc8e5c 100644
--- a/doc/source/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/index.rst
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Contents:
    configuration
    feature-configuration
    node-configuration
+   environment-configuration
    accessing-libvirt
    accessing-undercloud
    accessing-overcloud
diff --git a/quickstart.sh b/quickstart.sh
index b26d502de..9ec7c77b7 100755
--- a/quickstart.sh
+++ b/quickstart.sh
@@ -186,6 +186,9 @@ usage () {
     echo "  -N, --nodes <file>"
     echo "                      specify the number of nodes that should be created by"
     echo "                      the provisioner. "
+    echo "  -E, --environment <file>"
+    echo "                      specify additional configuration that is specific to"
+    echo "                      the environment where TripleO-Quickstart is running."
     echo "  -e, --extra-vars <key>=<value>"
     echo "                      additional ansible variables, can be used multiple times"
     echo "  -w, --working-dir <dir>"
@@ -282,6 +285,11 @@ while [ "x$1" != "x" ]; do
             shift
             ;;
 
+        --environment|-E)
+            OPT_ENVIRONMENT=$2
+            shift
+            ;;
+
         --clean|-X)
             OPT_CLEAN=1
             ;;
@@ -383,6 +391,8 @@ fi
 : ${OPT_CONFIG:=$OPT_WORKDIR/config/general_config/minimal.yml}
 # Default Nodes
 : ${OPT_NODES:=$OPT_WORKDIR/config/nodes/1ctlr_1comp.yml}
+# Default Environment
+: ${OPT_ENVIRONMENT:=$OPT_WORKDIR/config/environments/default_libvirt.yml}
 
 # allow the deprecated config files to work
 OLD_CONFIG=""
@@ -481,9 +491,10 @@ else
 fi
 
 ansible-playbook -$VERBOSITY $OPT_WORKDIR/playbooks/$OPT_PLAYBOOK \
-    -e @$OPT_CONFIG \
-    -e @$OPT_NODES \
     -e @$OPT_WORKDIR/config/release/$OPT_RELEASE.yml \
+    -e @$OPT_NODES \
+    -e @$OPT_CONFIG \
+    -e @$OPT_ENVIRONMENT \
     -e local_working_dir=$OPT_WORKDIR \
     -e virthost=$VIRTHOST \
     ${OPT_VARS[@]} \