diff --git a/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 66e266a79..f34d6d93b 100644
--- a/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ build container fb:
     - docker push $tag
     - echo Created docker featurebase image with tag "$tag"
 
+# deploy EC2 instance and upload featurebase binary 
 deploy node for linux amd64:
   stage: integration
   image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cloud-deploy/aws-base:latest
@@ -205,7 +206,7 @@ deploy node for linux amd64:
     - SECURITY_GROUP=$(aws ec2 describe-security-groups --filter Name=vpc-id,Values=vpc-03a4ba3d5b7c8f978 --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 $PROFILE --user-data file://.gitlab/cloud-init.sh
-    - sleep 120
+    - sleep 120 # Need to wait for the EC2 instance to launch and run the initialization commands passed through user-data
     - PUBLIC_IP=$(aws ec2 describe-instances --filters 'Name=tag:Name, Values=linux-amd64-node' 'Name=instance-state-name, Values=running' --query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].PublicIpAddress' --output text --profile $PROFILE)
     - echo $PUBLIC_IP
     - INSTANCE_ID=$(aws ec2 describe-instances --filters 'Name=tag:Name, Values=linux-amd64-node' 'Name=instance-state-name, Values=running' --query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].InstanceId' --output text --profile $PROFILE)
@@ -213,31 +214,15 @@ deploy node for linux amd64:
     - scp  -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem featurebase_linux_amd64 ec2-user@$PUBLIC_IP:.
     - scp  -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i gitlab-featurebase-dev.pem .gitlab/featurebase.conf .gitlab/featurebase.service ec2-user@$PUBLIC_IP:.
     - aws ec2 associate-iam-instance-profile --instance-id $INSTANCE_ID --iam-instance-profile Name=featurebase-dev-ssm
-  needs:
+    - sleep 240 # needed to allow enough time for the ssm to take into effect before the next command can get called
+    - 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
+    - sleep 120 
+    needs:
     - job: build for linux amd64
   artifacts:
     paths:
       - linux-amd64-instance.txt
 
-run featurebase in linux amd64 node:
-  stage: integration
-  image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cloud-deploy/aws-base:latest
-  variables:
-    INSTANCE_ID: ""
-    PROFILE: "default"
-  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 $PROFILE
-    - INSTANCE_ID=$(cat linux-amd64-instance.txt)
-  script:
-    - sleep 240 # needed to allow enough time for the ssm to take into effect before the next command can get called
-    - 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
-    - sleep 120
-  needs:
-    - job: deploy node for linux amd64
-
 terminate node for linux amd64:
   stage: integration
   image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cloud-deploy/aws-base:latest
@@ -253,4 +238,3 @@ terminate node for linux amd64:
     - aws ec2 terminate-instances --instance-ids $INSTANCE_ID
   needs:
     - job: deploy node for linux amd64
-    - job: run featurebase in linux amd64 node