diff --git a/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 4fe913596..f0a523e1a 100644
--- a/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -196,54 +196,13 @@ build container fb:
     - docker push $tag
     - echo Created docker featurebase image with tag "$tag"
 
-# deploy EC2 instance and save instance ID
+# deploy EC2 instance, configure and run featurebase 
 deploy node for linux amd64:
   stage: integration
   image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cloud-deploy/aws-base:latest
   variables:
-    AMI: ""
-    INSTANCE: "t3a.large"
-    SECURITY_GROUP: ""
-    SUBNET_ID: ""
     PROFILE: "default"
     AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY: $AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY
-  before_script:
-    - aws configure set aws_access_key_id $AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
-    - aws configure set aws_secret_access_key $AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
-    - aws configure set region "us-east-2"
-    - aws configure set aws_profile $PROFILE
-    - echo $AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY > gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem
-    - chmod 400 gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem
-  script:
-    - AMI=$(aws ssm get-parameters --names /aws/service/ami-amazon-linux-latest/amzn2-ami-hvm-x86_64-ebs --query 'Parameters[0].[Value]' --output text --profile $PROFILE)
-    - SECURITY_GROUP=$(aws ec2 describe-security-groups --filters Name=vpc-id,Values=vpc-03a4ba3d5b7c8f978 Name=group-name,Values=default --query 'SecurityGroups[*].[GroupId]' --output text --profile $PROFILE)
-    - SUBNET_ID=$(aws ec2 describe-subnets --filters 'Name=vpc-id,Values=vpc-03a4ba3d5b7c8f978' 'Name=availability-zone,Values=us-east-2a' --query 'Subnets[0].SubnetId' --output text --profile $PROFILE)
-    - aws ec2 run-instances --image-id $AMI --instance-type $INSTANCE --security-group-ids $SECURITY_GROUP --subnet-id $SUBNET_ID --key-name gitlab-featurebase-dev --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=instance,Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=linux-amd64-node}]' --profile $PROFILE --user-data file://./qa/scripts/cloud-init.sh --iam-instance-profile Name=featurebase-dev-ssm > config.json
-    - INSTANCE_ID=$(jq '.Instances | .[] |.InstanceId' config.json | tr -d '"') 
-    - echo $INSTANCE_ID > linux-amd64-instance.txt
-    - sleep 120 # Need to wait for the EC2 instance to launch and run the initialization commands passed through user-data
-    - PUBLIC_IP=$(aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids $INSTANCE_ID --filters 'Name=instance-state-name, Values=running' --query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].PublicIpAddress' --output text --profile $PROFILE)
-    - echo $PUBLIC_IP
-    - scp  -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem featurebase_linux_amd64 ec2-user@$PUBLIC_IP:.
-    - scp  -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem ./qa/scripts/featurebase.conf ./qa/scripts/featurebase.service ec2-user@$PUBLIC_IP:.
-    - aws ssm send-command --document-name "AWS-RunShellScript" --instance-ids $INSTANCE_ID --cli-input-json file://./qa/scripts/configureFeatureBase.json --profile $PROFILE --region us-east-2
-  needs:
-    - job: build for linux amd64
-  artifacts:
-    paths:
-      - linux-amd64-instance.txt
-  needs:
-    - job: build for linux amd64
-
-# scp featurebase binary, config and service file, and configure featurebase 
-initiate featurebase linux amd64 in node:
-  stage: integration
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cloud-deploy/aws-base:latest
-  variables:
-    IP: ""
-    PROFILE: "default"
-    AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY: $AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY
-    INSTANCE_ID: ""
   before_script:
     - aws configure set aws_access_key_id $AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
     - aws configure set aws_secret_access_key $AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
@@ -253,33 +212,12 @@ initiate featurebase linux amd64 in node:
     - chmod 400 gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem
     - 'which ssh-agent || ( apt-get update -y && apt-get install openssh-client -y )'
     - eval `ssh-agent -s`
-    - mkdir -p ~/.ssh
+    - mkdir -p ~/.ssh 
     - echo "$AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" | ssh-add -
     - chmod 700 /root/.ssh
     - '[[ -f /.dockerenv ]] && echo -e "Host *\n\tStrictHostKeyChecking no\n\n" > ~/.ssh/config'
-    - INSTANCE_ID=$(cat linux-amd64-instance.txt)
+    - apt update && apt -y install jq
   script:
-    - for i in {0..24}; do IP=$(aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids $INSTANCE_ID --filters 'Name=instance-state-name, Values=running' --query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].PublicIpAddress' --output text --profile $PROFILE); if [ -n "$IP" ]; then break; fi; sleep 5; done
-    - scp  -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem featurebase_linux_amd64 .gitlab/featurebase.conf .gitlab/featurebase.service ec2-user@$IP:.
-    - aws ssm send-command --document-name "AWS-RunShellScript" --instance-ids $INSTANCE_ID --cli-input-json file://.gitlab/configureFeatureBase.json --profile $PROFILE --region us-east-2
+    - ./qa/scripts/deployNode.sh $PROFILE
   needs:
     - job: build for linux amd64
-    - job: deploy node for linux amd64
-
-# terminate EC2 instance  
-terminate node for linux amd64:
-  stage: integration
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cloud-deploy/aws-base:latest
-  variables:
-    INSTANCE_ID: ""
-  before_script:
-    - aws configure set aws_access_key_id $AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
-    - aws configure set aws_secret_access_key $AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
-    - aws configure set region "us-east-2"
-    - INSTANCE_ID=$(cat linux-amd64-instance.txt)
-  script:
-    - aws ec2 terminate-instances --instance-ids $INSTANCE_ID
-  needs:
-    - job: deploy node for linux amd64
-    - job: initiate featurebase linux amd64 in node
-  when: always 
diff --git a/qa/scripts/deployNode.sh b/qa/scripts/deployNode.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..b928a31e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qa/scripts/deployNode.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# To run script: ./deployNode.sh $PROFILE
+
+function deploy_node() {
+    # get AMI, security group and subnet ID 
+    AMI=$(aws ssm get-parameters --names /aws/service/ami-amazon-linux-latest/amzn2-ami-hvm-x86_64-ebs --query 'Parameters[0].[Value]' --output text --profile $PROFILE)
+    if [[ $? > 0 ]]; then 
+        echo "aws session manager failed to find AMI"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    SECURITY_GROUP=$(aws ec2 describe-security-groups --filters Name=vpc-id,Values=vpc-03a4ba3d5b7c8f978 Name=group-name,Values=default --query 'SecurityGroups[*].[GroupId]' --output text --profile $PROFILE)
+    if [[ $? > 0 ]]; then 
+        echo "aws session manager failed to find security group"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    
+    SUBNET_ID=$(aws ec2 describe-subnets --filters 'Name=vpc-id,Values=vpc-03a4ba3d5b7c8f978' 'Name=availability-zone,Values=us-east-2a' --query 'Subnets[0].SubnetId' --output text --profile $PROFILE)
+    if [[ $? > 0 ]]; then 
+        echo "aws session manager failed to find subnet ID"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    # launch EC2 instance and get instance ID
+    aws ec2 run-instances --image-id $AMI --instance-type $INSTANCE --security-group-ids $SECURITY_GROUP --subnet-id $SUBNET_ID --key-name gitlab-featurebase-dev --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=instance,Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=linux-amd64-node}]' --profile $PROFILE --user-data file://./qa/scripts/cloud-init.sh --iam-instance-profile Name=featurebase-dev-ssm > config.json
+    if [[ $? > 0 ]]; then 
+        echo "aws run-instances failed to launch a new EC2 instance"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    INSTANCE_ID=$(jq '.Instances | .[0] |.InstanceId' config.json | tr -d '"') 
+    echo "aws run-instances succeeded in launching a new EC2 instance with instance ID: " $INSTANCE_ID
+}
+
+function initialize_featurebase() {
+    # get IP for node 
+    for i in {0..24}
+    do 
+        IP=$(aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids $INSTANCE_ID --filters 'Name=instance-state-name, Values=running' --query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].PublicIpAddress' --output text --profile $PROFILE)
+        if [ -n "$IP" ]; then
+            echo "Public IP for EC2 instance found: " $IP 
+            break
+        fi
+
+        if [[ $? > 0 ]]; then 
+            echo "aws cli describe-instances command failed to find public IP"
+            terminate_node
+            exit 1
+        fi
+
+        sleep 5
+    done
+    
+    sleep 60 # to allow enough time for node to be ready for use
+
+    # copy featurebase binary and files to ec2 instance
+    scp  -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem featurebase_linux_amd64 ./qa/scripts/featurebase.conf ./qa/scripts/featurebase.service ec2-user@$IP:.
+    if [[ $? > 0 ]]; then 
+        echo "scp of featurebase binary, service and config files to EC2 instance failed"
+        terminate_node
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    # execute script to configure featurebase on the EC2 node 
+    aws ssm send-command --document-name "AWS-RunShellScript" --instance-ids $INSTANCE_ID --cli-input-json file://./qa/scripts/configureFeatureBase.json --profile $PROFILE --region $REGION
+    if [[ $? > 0 ]]; then 
+        echo "aws cli session manager send-command failed"
+        terminate_node
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+function terminate_node() {
+    aws ec2 terminate-instances --instance-ids $INSTANCE_ID --profile $PROFILE 
+}
+
+# Pass variables to shell script
+PROFILE=$1
+shift 
+
+# set some variables 
+INSTANCE="t3a.large"
+REGION="us-east-2"
+
+# get AMI, security group and subnet for EC2 instance,
+# launch instance, save instance Id and run cloud-init to set up node env
+deploy_node
+
+# Get IP for instance, scp featurebase binary, config and service files;
+# set up featurebase config in node 
+initialize_featurebase
+
+# terminate node 
+terminate_node