diff --git a/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 6390da8ad..37506c709 100644
--- a/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -200,5 +200,15 @@ build container fb:
 deploy node for linux amd64:
   stage: lint
   image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cloud-deploy/aws-base:latest
+  before_script:
+    - echo $AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY > gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem
+    - chmod 400 gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem
+    - 'which ssh-agent || ( apt-get update -y && apt-get install openssh-client -y )'
+    - eval `ssh-agent -s`
+    - mkdir -p ~/.ssh && 
+    - echo "$AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" | ssh-add -
+    - chmod 700 /root/.ssh
+    - '[[ -f /.dockerenv ]] && echo -e "Host *\n\tStrictHostKeyChecking no\n\n" > ~/.ssh/config'
+    - apt update && apt -y install jq
   script:
     - ./qa/scripts/deployNode.sh $AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID $AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY $AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY
diff --git a/qa/scripts/deployNode.sh b/qa/scripts/deployNode.sh
index 5c0694aba..4d89805a2 100755
--- a/qa/scripts/deployNode.sh
+++ b/qa/scripts/deployNode.sh
@@ -7,20 +7,6 @@ function configure_env() {
     aws configure set aws_secret_access_key $AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
     aws configure set region $REGION
     aws configure set aws_profile $PROFILE
-    echo $AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY > gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem
-    chmod 400 gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem
-
-    # set up ssh permissions 
-    which ssh-agent || ( apt-get update -y && apt-get install openssh-client -y )    
-    eval `ssh-agent -s`
-    mkdir -p ~/.ssh
-    echo "$AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" 
-    echo "$AWS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" | ssh-add -
-    chmod 700 /root/.ssh
-
-    # install jq
-    apt update && apt -y install jq
-
 }
 
 function deploy_node() {