diff --git a/tests/e2e/testutils.go b/tests/e2e/testutils.go
index caae26b75b..235f708554 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/testutils.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/testutils.go
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ func CreateCluster(nodeOS string, serverCount, agentCount int) ([]string, []stri
 			return nil
 		})
 		// We must wait a bit between provisioning nodes to avoid too many learners attempting to join the cluster
-		time.Sleep(30 * time.Second)
+		time.Sleep(20 * time.Second)
 	}
 	if err := errg.Wait(); err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err
@@ -288,11 +288,11 @@ func ParseNodes(kubeConfig string, print bool) ([]Node, error) {
 	return nodes, nil
 }
 
-func ParsePods(kubeconfig string, print bool) ([]Pod, error) {
+func ParsePods(kubeConfig string, print bool) ([]Pod, error) {
 	pods := make([]Pod, 0, 10)
 	podList := ""
 
-	cmd := "kubectl get pods -o wide --no-headers -A --kubeconfig=" + kubeconfig
+	cmd := "kubectl get pods -o wide --no-headers -A --kubeconfig=" + kubeConfig
 	res, _ := RunCommand(cmd)
 	res = strings.TrimSpace(res)
 	podList = res
@@ -328,6 +328,21 @@ func RestartCluster(nodeNames []string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// DockerLogin authenticates to the docker registry for increased pull limits
+func DockerLogin(kubeConfig string, ci bool) error {
+	if !ci {
+		return nil
+	}
+	// Authenticate to docker hub to increade pull limit
+	cmd := fmt.Sprintf("kubectl create secret docker-registry regcred --from-file=%s --type=kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson --kubeconfig=%s",
+		"../amd64_resource_files/docker_cred.json", kubeConfig)
+	res, err := RunCommand(cmd)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create docker registry secret: %s : %v", res, err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // RunCmdOnNode executes a command from within the given node
 func RunCmdOnNode(cmd string, nodename string) (string, error) {
 	runcmd := "vagrant ssh -c \"" + cmd + "\" " + nodename
diff --git a/tests/e2e/validatecluster/validatecluster_test.go b/tests/e2e/validatecluster/validatecluster_test.go
index 94cb5e97dd..658f9c6b0f 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/validatecluster/validatecluster_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/validatecluster/validatecluster_test.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ var nodeOS = flag.String("nodeOS", "generic/ubuntu2004", "VM operating system")
 var serverCount = flag.Int("serverCount", 3, "number of server nodes")
 var agentCount = flag.Int("agentCount", 2, "number of agent nodes")
 var hardened = flag.Bool("hardened", false, "true or false")
-var alwaysKill = flag.Bool("alwaysKill", false, "alaways destroy VMs even on test failure")
+var ci = flag.Bool("ci", false, "running on CI")
 
 // Environment Variables Info:
 // E2E_EXTERNAL_DB: mysql, postgres, etcd (default: etcd)
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Verify Create", Ordered, func() {
 			fmt.Println("Agent Nodes:", agentNodeNames)
 			kubeConfigFile, err = e2e.GenKubeConfigFile(serverNodeNames[0])
 			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(e2e.DockerLogin(kubeConfigFile, *ci)).To(Succeed())
 		})
 
 		It("Checks Node and Pod Status", func() {
@@ -270,7 +271,7 @@ var _ = AfterEach(func() {
 })
 
 var _ = AfterSuite(func() {
-	if failed && !*alwaysKill {
+	if failed && !*ci {
 		fmt.Println("FAILED!")
 	} else {
 		Expect(e2e.DestroyCluster()).To(Succeed())