diff --git a/group_vars/all b/group_vars/all
index cecb867..b6ee730 100644
--- a/group_vars/all
+++ b/group_vars/all
@@ -7,3 +7,6 @@ ad_domain: "{{ krb5_realm.lower() }}"
 computer_ou: ou=Hosts,ou=morhidi,ou=HadoopClusters,ou=morhidi,dc=ad,dc=sec,dc=cloudera,dc=com
 domain: vpc.cloudera.com
 kdc: w2k8-1.ad.sec.cloudera.com
+
+# hostname_var can be set to 'ansible_fqdn' (to use the internal hostname) or 'inventory_hostname' (default, uses the public/inventory hostname)
+hostname_var: 'inventory_hostname'
diff --git a/roles/cdh/tasks/main.yml b/roles/cdh/tasks/main.yml
index 840abf9..10c6a64 100644
--- a/roles/cdh/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/cdh/tasks/main.yml
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 - debug: msg="Import cluster template command ID - {{ command_id }}"
   when: cluster_exists == False
 
-- debug: msg="Login to Cloudera Manager to monitor import progress - http://{{ hostvars[scm_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}:{{ scm_port }}/cmf/commands/commands"
+- debug: msg="Login to Cloudera Manager to monitor import progress - http://{{ hostvars[scm_hostname][hostname_var] }}:{{ scm_port }}/cmf/commands/commands"
   when: cluster_exists == False
 
 - file:
diff --git a/roles/cdh/templates/hive.j2 b/roles/cdh/templates/hive.j2
index dd336cf..e8a813b 100644
--- a/roles/cdh/templates/hive.j2
+++ b/roles/cdh/templates/hive.j2
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "serviceConfigs": [
     {
       "name": "hive_metastore_database_host",
-      "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}"
+      "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname][hostname_var] }}"
     }, {
       "name": "hive_metastore_database_type",
       "value": "{{ databases.metastore.type }}"
diff --git a/roles/cdh/templates/hue.j2 b/roles/cdh/templates/hue.j2
index 1a391ac..abaa917 100644
--- a/roles/cdh/templates/hue.j2
+++ b/roles/cdh/templates/hue.j2
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "serviceConfigs": [
     {
       "name": "database_host",
-      "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}"
+      "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname][hostname_var] }}"
     }, {
       "name": "database_type",
       "value": "{{ databases.hue.type }}"
diff --git a/roles/cdh/templates/oozie.j2 b/roles/cdh/templates/oozie.j2
index 29a0078..868b76d 100644
--- a/roles/cdh/templates/oozie.j2
+++ b/roles/cdh/templates/oozie.j2
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
       "configs": [
         {
           "name": "oozie_database_host",
-          "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}"
+          "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname][hostname_var] }}"
         }, {
           "name": "oozie_database_type",
           "value": "{{ databases.oozie.type }}"
diff --git a/roles/cdh/templates/sentry.j2 b/roles/cdh/templates/sentry.j2
index 840bc69..e5fffe6 100644
--- a/roles/cdh/templates/sentry.j2
+++ b/roles/cdh/templates/sentry.j2
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   "serviceConfigs": [
     {
       "name": "sentry_server_database_host",
-      "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}"
+      "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname][hostname_var] }}"
     }, {
       "name": "sentry_server_database_type",
       "value": "{{ databases.sentry.type }}"
diff --git a/roles/cm_agents/tasks/main.yml b/roles/cm_agents/tasks/main.yml
index 88919fe..bb8ada0 100644
--- a/roles/cm_agents/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/cm_agents/tasks/main.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     - cloudera-manager-agent
 
 - name: Configure Cloudera Manager Agent 'server_host'
-  lineinfile: dest=/etc/cloudera-scm-agent/config.ini regexp=^server_host line=server_host={{ hostvars[scm_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}
+  lineinfile: dest=/etc/cloudera-scm-agent/config.ini regexp=^server_host line=server_host={{ hostvars[scm_hostname][hostname_var] }}
 
 - name: Restart Cloudera Manager Agents
   service: name=cloudera-scm-agent state=restarted enabled=yes
diff --git a/roles/krb5_server/templates/krb5.conf.j2 b/roles/krb5_server/templates/krb5.conf.j2
index cb12ba4..bf351bf 100644
--- a/roles/krb5_server/templates/krb5.conf.j2
+++ b/roles/krb5_server/templates/krb5.conf.j2
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@
 
 [realms]
   {{ default_realm|upper }} = {
-    kdc = {{ hostvars[groups['krb5_server'][0]]['inventory_hostname'] }}
-    admin_server = {{ hostvars[groups['krb5_server'][0]]['inventory_hostname'] }}
+    kdc = {{ hostvars[groups['krb5_server'][0]][hostname_var] }}
+    admin_server = {{ hostvars[groups['krb5_server'][0]][hostname_var] }}
     default_domain = {{ ansible_fqdn.split('.')[1:]|join('.') }}
   }
 
diff --git a/roles/scm/handlers/main.yml b/roles/scm/handlers/main.yml
index 8b83546..ba75aea 100644
--- a/roles/scm/handlers/main.yml
+++ b/roles/scm/handlers/main.yml
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@
 
 - name: wait cloudera-scm-server
   wait_for:
-    host={{ hostvars[scm_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}
+    host={{ scm_hostname }}
     port={{ scm_port }}
     delay=5
     state=started
-    timeout=300
\ No newline at end of file
+    timeout=300
+    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/roles/scm/tasks/main.yml b/roles/scm/tasks/main.yml
index 99bdb3b..7869c77 100644
--- a/roles/scm/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/scm/tasks/main.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 - name: Prepare Cloudera Manager Server External Database
   command: /usr/share/cmf/schema/scm_prepare_database.sh
              -f
-             --host {{ hostvars[db_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}
+             --host {{ hostvars[db_hostname][hostname_var] }}
              mysql {{ databases.scm.name }} {{ databases.scm.user }} {{ databases.scm.pass }}
   changed_when: False
 
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
 - name: Get Cloudera Manager API version
   uri:
-    url: http://{{ hostvars[scm_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}:{{ scm_port }}/api/version
+    url: http://{{ scm_hostname }}:{{ scm_port }}/api/version
     method: GET
     status_code: 200
     user: "{{ scm_default_user }}"
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
   register: result
 
 # Set base CM API URL
-- set_fact: cm_api_url="http://{{ hostvars[scm_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}:{{ scm_port }}/api/{{ result.content }}"
+- set_fact: cm_api_url="http://{{ scm_hostname }}:{{ scm_port }}/api/{{ result.content }}"
 - debug: var=cm_api_url
 
 # Install Cloudera Manager Python API
diff --git a/roles/scm/templates/cms_base.j2 b/roles/scm/templates/cms_base.j2
index 0b08ca6..7139478 100644
--- a/roles/scm/templates/cms_base.j2
+++ b/roles/scm/templates/cms_base.j2
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@
         "items": [
           {
             "name": "firehose_database_host",
-            "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}"
+            "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname][hostname_var] }}"
           }, {
             "name": "firehose_database_name",
             "value": "{{ databases.amon.name }}"
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@
         "items": [
           {
             "name": "headlamp_database_host",
-            "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}"
+            "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname][hostname_var] }}"
           }, {
             "name": "headlamp_database_name",
             "value": "{{ databases.rman.name }}"
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@
         "items": [
           {
             "name": "navigator_database_host",
-            "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}"
+            "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname][hostname_var] }}"
           }, {
             "name": "navigator_database_name",
             "value": "{{ databases.nav.name }}"
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@
         "items": [
           {
             "name": "nav_metaserver_database_host",
-            "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname]['inventory_hostname'] }}"
+            "value": "{{ hostvars[db_hostname][hostname_var] }}"
           }, {
             "name": "nav_metaserver_database_name",
             "value": "{{ databases.navms.name }}"
diff --git a/roles/scm/templates/scm.j2 b/roles/scm/templates/scm.j2
index a2b1c38..495c94f 100644
--- a/roles/scm/templates/scm.j2
+++ b/roles/scm/templates/scm.j2
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     {% if krb5_kdc_type != 'none' %}
     {
       "name" : "KDC_HOST",
-      "value" : "{{ hostvars[groups['krb5_server'][0]]['inventory_hostname'] }}"
+      "value" : "{{ hostvars[groups['krb5_server'][0]][hostname_var] }}"
     }, {
       "name" : "KDC_TYPE",
       {% if krb5_kdc_type == 'ad' %}