diff --git a/ci/testnet-deploy.sh b/ci/testnet-deploy.sh
index e3d49bc95d..1ec1a1046d 100755
--- a/ci/testnet-deploy.sh
+++ b/ci/testnet-deploy.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ clientNodeCount=0
 additionalFullNodeCount=10
 publicNetwork=false
 skipSetup=false
+skipStart=false
+externalNode=false
 tarChannelOrTag=edge
 delete=false
 enableGpu=false
@@ -65,7 +67,7 @@ zone=$3
 [[ -n $zone ]] || usage "Zone not specified"
 shift 3
 
-while getopts "h?p:Pn:c:t:gG:a:Dbd:ru" opt; do
+while getopts "h?p:Pn:c:t:gG:a:Dbd:rusx" opt; do
   case $opt in
   h | \?)
     usage
@@ -111,6 +113,12 @@ while getopts "h?p:Pn:c:t:gG:a:Dbd:ru" opt; do
   r)
     skipSetup=true
     ;;
+  s)
+    skipStart=true
+    ;;
+  x)
+    externalNode=true
+    ;;
   u)
     blockstreamer=true
     ;;
@@ -142,7 +150,7 @@ set -x
 
 if ! $skipSetup; then
   echo "--- $cloudProvider.sh delete"
-  time net/"$cloudProvider".sh delete -z "$zone" -p "$netName"
+  time net/"$cloudProvider".sh delete -z "$zone" -p "$netName" ${externalNode:+-x}
   if $delete; then
     exit 0
   fi
@@ -180,6 +188,10 @@ if ! $skipSetup; then
     create_args+=(-P)
   fi
 
+  if $externalNode; then
+    create_args+=(-x)
+  fi
+
   time net/"$cloudProvider".sh create "${create_args[@]}"
 else
   echo "--- $cloudProvider.sh config"
@@ -218,19 +230,22 @@ if $skipSetup; then
 fi
 
 ok=true
-(
-  if $skipSetup; then
-    # TODO: Enable rolling updates
-    #op=update
-    op=restart
-  else
-    op=start
-  fi
+if ! $skipStart; then
+  (
+    if $skipSetup; then
+      # TODO: Enable rolling updates
+      #op=update
+      op=restart
+    else
+      op=start
+    fi
 
-  # shellcheck disable=SC2086 # Don't want to double quote maybeRejectExtraNodes
-  time net/net.sh $op -t "$tarChannelOrTag" \
-    $maybeSkipSetup $maybeRejectExtraNodes $maybeNoValidatorSanity $maybeNoLedgerVerify
-) || ok=false
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2086 # Don't want to double quote maybeRejectExtraNodes
+    time net/net.sh $op -t "$tarChannelOrTag" \
+      $maybeSkipSetup $maybeRejectExtraNodes $maybeNoValidatorSanity $maybeNoLedgerVerify
+  ) || ok=false
+
+  net/net.sh logs
+fi
 
-net/net.sh logs
 $ok
diff --git a/ci/testnet-manager.sh b/ci/testnet-manager.sh
index 8e274e9bac..a382ead250 100755
--- a/ci/testnet-manager.sh
+++ b/ci/testnet-manager.sh
@@ -210,7 +210,13 @@ start() {
       NO_VALIDATOR_SANITY=1 \
       RUST_LOG=solana=info \
         ci/testnet-deploy.sh beta-testnet-solana-com ec2 us-west-1a \
-          -t "$CHANNEL_OR_TAG" -n 35 -c 0 -u -P -a eipalloc-0f286cf8a0771ce35 \
+          -t "$CHANNEL_OR_TAG" -n 35 -c 0 -s -u -P -a eipalloc-0f286cf8a0771ce35 \
+          ${maybeReuseLedger:+-r} \
+          ${maybeDelete:+-D}
+      NO_VALIDATOR_SANITY=1 \
+      RUST_LOG=solana=info \
+        ci/testnet-deploy.sh beta-testnet-solana-com gce us-west1-a \
+          -t "$CHANNEL_OR_TAG" -n 65 -c 0 -x -u -P \
           ${maybeReuseLedger:+-r} \
           ${maybeDelete:+-D}
     )