diff --git a/ci/testnet-deploy.sh b/ci/testnet-deploy.sh
index f5e3952cf4..d6e9267f98 100755
--- a/ci/testnet-deploy.sh
+++ b/ci/testnet-deploy.sh
@@ -51,120 +51,144 @@ echo "Network entrypoint URL: $publicUrl ($publicIp)"
 echo "Snap channel: $SOLANA_SNAP_CHANNEL"
 
 leaderName=${publicUrl//./-}
-vmlist=()
+
+vmlist=() # Each array element is the triple "class:vmName:vmZone"
+
+#
+# vm_foreach_in_class [class] [cmd]
+# where
+#   class - the desired VM class to operate on
+#   cmd   - the command to execute on each VM in the desired class.
+#           The command will receive three arguments:
+#               vmName - GCP name of the VM
+#               vmZone - The GCP zone the VM is located in
+#               count  - Monotonically increasing count for each
+#                        invocation of cmd, starting at 1
+#
+#
+vm_foreach_in_class() {
+  declare class=$1
+  declare cmd=$2
+
+  declare count=1
+  for info in "${vmlist[@]}"; do
+    declare vmClass vmName vmZone
+    IFS=: read -r vmClass vmName vmZone < <(echo "$info")
+
+    if [[ $class = "$vmClass" ]]; then
+      eval "$cmd" "$vmName" "$vmZone" "$count"
+      count=$((count + 1))
+    fi
+  done
+}
+
 
 findVms() {
-  declare filter="$1"
+  declare class="$1"
+  declare filter="$2"
   gcloud compute instances list --filter="$filter"
   while read -r vmName vmZone status; do
     if [[ $status != RUNNING ]]; then
       echo "Warning: $vmName is not RUNNING, ignoring it."
       continue
     fi
-    vmlist+=("$vmName:$vmZone")
+    vmlist+=("$class:$vmName:$vmZone")
   done < <(gcloud compute instances list --filter="$filter" --format 'value(name,zone,status)')
 }
 
-wait_for_node() {
-  declare pid=$1
-
-  declare ok=true
-  wait "$pid" || ok=false
-  cat "log-$pid.txt"
-  if ! $ok; then
-    echo ^^^ +++
-    exit 1
-  fi
-}
-
 echo "Leader node:"
-findVms "name=$leaderName"
+findVms leader "name=$leaderName"
 [[ ${#vmlist[@]} = 1 ]] || {
   echo "Unable to find $leaderName"
   exit 1
 }
 
-echo "Client node:"
-findVms "name=$leaderName-client"
-clientVm=
-if [[ ${#vmlist[@]} = 2 ]]; then
-  clientVm=${vmlist[1]}
-  unset 'vmlist[1]'
-fi
+echo "Client node(s):"
+findVms client "name~^$leaderName-client"
 
 echo "Validator nodes:"
-findVms "name~^$leaderName-validator-"
-
-if ! $ROLLING_UPDATE; then
-  count=1
-  for info in "${vmlist[@]}"; do
-    nodePosition="($count/${#vmlist[*]})"
-    vmName=${info%:*}
-    vmZone=${info#*:}
-    echo "--- Shutting down $vmName in zone $vmZone $nodePosition"
-    gcloud compute ssh "$vmName" --zone "$vmZone" \
-      --ssh-flag="-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null" \
-      --command="sudo snap remove solana" &
-
-    if [[ $((count % 5)) = 0 ]]; then
-      #  Slow down deployment to avoid triggering GCP login
-      #  quota limits (each |ssh| counts as a login)
-      sleep 3
-    fi
-
-    count=$((count + 1))
-  done
-
-  wait
-fi
+findVms validator "name~^$leaderName-validator-"
 
 # Add "network stopping" datapoint
 netName=${SOLANA_NET_URL%testnet.solana.com}
 netName=${netName:0:8}
 ci/metrics_write_datapoint.sh "testnet-deploy,name=\"$netName\" stop=1"
 
-client_run() {
-  declare message=$1
-  declare cmd=$2
-  [[ -n $clientVm ]] || return 0;
-  vmName=${clientVm%:*}
-  vmZone=${clientVm#*:}
+gcp_vm_exec() {
+  declare vmName=$1
+  declare vmZone=$2
+  declare message=$3
+  declare cmd=$4
+
   echo "--- $message $vmName in zone $vmZone"
   gcloud compute ssh "$vmName" --zone "$vmZone" \
     --ssh-flag="-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null" \
     --command="$cmd"
 }
 
-client_run \
-  "Shutting down" \
-  "\
-    set -x;
-    tmux list-sessions; \
-    tmux capture-pane -t solana -p; \
-    tmux kill-session -t solana; \
-    sudo snap remove solana; \
+gcp_login_quota_workaround() {
+  declare count=$1
+
+  if [[ $((count % 5)) = 0 ]]; then
+    #  Slow down deployment to avoid triggering GCP login
+    #  quota limits (each |ssh| counts as a login)
+    sleep 3
+  fi
+}
+
+client_start() {
+  declare vmName=$1
+  declare vmZone=$2
+  declare count=$3
+
+  gcp_vm_exec "$vmName" "$vmZone" \
+    "Starting client $count:" \
+    "\
+      set -x;
+      sudo snap install solana --$SOLANA_SNAP_CHANNEL --devmode; \
+      sudo snap set solana metrics-config=$SOLANA_METRICS_CONFIG; \
+      snap info solana; \
+      tmux new -s solana -d \" \
+          /snap/bin/solana.bench-tps $SOLANA_NET_URL ${#vmlist[@]} --loop 2>&1 | tee /tmp/solana.log; \
+          echo Error: bench-tps should never exit; \
+          bash \
+        \"; \
+      sleep 2; \
+      tmux capture-pane -t solana -p -S -100; \
+      tail /tmp/solana.log; \
   "
+}
 
-echo "--- Refreshing leader"
-leader=true
-pids=()
-count=1
-for info in "${vmlist[@]}"; do
-  nodePosition="($count/${#vmlist[*]})"
+client_stop() {
+  declare vmName=$1
+  declare vmZone=$2
+  declare count=$3
 
-  vmName=${info%:*}
-  vmZone=${info#*:}
-  echo "Starting refresh for $vmName $nodePosition"
+  gcp_vm_exec "$vmName" "$vmZone" \
+    "Stopping client $count:" \
+    "\
+      set -x;
+      tmux list-sessions; \
+      tmux capture-pane -t solana -p; \
+      tmux kill-session -t solana; \
+      sudo snap remove solana; \
+    "
+}
+
+fullnode_start() {
+  declare class=$1
+  declare vmName=$2
+  declare vmZone=$3
+  declare count=$4
 
   (
     SECONDS=0
-    echo "--- $vmName in zone $vmZone $nodePosition"
     commonNodeConfig="\
       rust-log=$RUST_LOG \
       default-metrics-rate=$SOLANA_DEFAULT_METRICS_RATE \
       metrics-config=$SOLANA_METRICS_CONFIG \
     "
-    if $leader; then
+    if [[ $class = leader ]]; then
       nodeConfig="mode=leader+drone $commonNodeConfig"
       if [[ -n $SOLANA_CUDA ]]; then
         nodeConfig="$nodeConfig enable-cuda=1"
@@ -174,9 +198,8 @@ for info in "${vmlist[@]}"; do
     fi
 
     set -x
-    gcloud compute ssh "$vmName" --zone "$vmZone" \
-      --ssh-flag="-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -t" \
-      --command="\
+    gcp_vm_exec "$vmName" "$vmZone" "Starting $class $count:" \
+      "\
         set -ex; \
         logmarker='solana deploy $(date)/$RANDOM'; \
         sudo snap remove solana; \
@@ -190,55 +213,96 @@ for info in "${vmlist[@]}"; do
       "
     echo "Succeeded in ${SECONDS} seconds"
   ) > "log-$vmName.txt" 2>&1 &
-  pid=$!
+  declare pid=$!
+
   # Rename log file so it can be discovered later by $pid
+  while [[ ! -f "log-$vmName.txt" ]]; do
+    sleep 1
+  done
   mv "log-$vmName.txt" "log-$pid.txt"
 
-  if $leader; then
-    echo Waiting for leader...
-    # Wait for the leader to initialize before starting the validators
-    # TODO: Remove this limitation eventually.
-    wait_for_node "$pid"
+  gcp_login_quota_workaround "$count"
+  pids+=("$pid")
+}
 
-    echo "--- Refreshing validators"
-  else
-    #  Slow down deployment to ~20 machines a minute to avoid triggering GCP login
-    #  quota limits (each |ssh| counts as a login)
-    sleep 3
+leader_start() {
+  fullnode_start leader "$@"
+}
 
-    pids+=("$pid")
-  fi
-  leader=false
-  count=$((count + 1))
-done
+validator_start() {
+  fullnode_start validator "$@"
+}
 
-echo --- Waiting for validators
-for pid in "${pids[@]}"; do
-  wait_for_node "$pid"
-done
+fullnode_stop() {
+  declare vmName=$1
+  declare vmZone=$2
+  declare count=$3
+
+  (
+    SECONDS=0
+    gcp_vm_exec "$vmName" "$vmZone" "Shutting down" "sudo snap remove solana"
+    echo "Succeeded in ${SECONDS} seconds"
+  ) > "log-$vmName.txt" 2>&1 &
+  declare pid=$!
+
+  # Rename log file so it can be discovered later by $pid
+  while [[ ! -f "log-$vmName.txt" ]]; do
+    sleep 1
+  done
+  mv "log-$vmName.txt" "log-$pid.txt"
+
+  gcp_login_quota_workaround "$count"
+  pids+=("$pid")
+}
+
+wait_for_pids() {
+  echo "--- Waiting for $*"
+  for pid in "${pids[@]}"; do
+    declare ok=true
+    wait "$pid" || ok=false
+    cat "log-$pid.txt"
+    if ! $ok; then
+      echo ^^^ +++
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  done
+}
+
+
+vm_foreach_in_class client client_stop
+
+if ! $ROLLING_UPDATE; then
+  pids=()
+  echo "--- Shutting down all full nodes"
+  vm_foreach_in_class leader fullnode_stop
+  vm_foreach_in_class validator fullnode_stop
+  wait_for_pids fullnode shutdown
+fi
+
+pids=()
+echo --- Starting leader node
+vm_foreach_in_class leader leader_start
+wait_for_pids leader
+
+pids=()
+echo --- Starting validator nodes
+vm_foreach_in_class validator validator_start
+wait_for_pids validators
 
 echo "--- $publicUrl sanity test"
 (
+  fullnode_count=0
+  inc_fullnode_count() {
+    fullnode_count=$((fullnode_count + 1))
+  }
+  vm_foreach_in_class leader inc_fullnode_count
+  vm_foreach_in_class validator inc_fullnode_count
+
   set -x
-  USE_SNAP=1 ci/testnet-sanity.sh $publicUrl ${#vmlist[@]}
+  USE_SNAP=1 ci/testnet-sanity.sh $publicUrl $fullnode_count
 )
 
-client_run \
-  "Starting client on " \
-  "\
-    set -x;
-    sudo snap install solana --$SOLANA_SNAP_CHANNEL --devmode; \
-    sudo snap set solana metrics-config=$SOLANA_METRICS_CONFIG; \
-    snap info solana; \
-    tmux new -s solana -d \" \
-        /snap/bin/solana.bench-tps $SOLANA_NET_URL ${#vmlist[@]} --loop 2>&1 | tee /tmp/solana.log; \
-        echo Error: bench-tps should never exit; \
-        bash \
-      \"; \
-    sleep 2; \
-    tmux capture-pane -t solana -p -S -100; \
-    tail /tmp/solana.log; \
-  "
+vm_foreach_in_class client client_start
 
 # Add "network started" datapoint
 ci/metrics_write_datapoint.sh "testnet-deploy,name=\"$netName\" start=1"