diff --git a/multinode-demo/start_nodes.sh b/multinode-demo/start_nodes.sh
index ceb45651e0..9158b7a71c 100755
--- a/multinode-demo/start_nodes.sh
+++ b/multinode-demo/start_nodes.sh
@@ -1,60 +1,48 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-# Format for the nodes file
-# node1 public-ip|node1 privte-ip
-# node2 public-ip|node2 privte-ip
-# ....
-# e.g.
-# 35.197.92.75|10.138.0.6
-# 35.185.232.222|10.138.0.3
-# 35.233.137.53|10.138.0.5
-
 nodes_file=$1
 remote_user=$2
 ssh_keys=$3
 
-declare -A ip_addr_array
-while IFS=\| read public private
-do
-  ip_addr_array[$public]=$private
-done < $nodes_file
+oldIFS="$IFS"
+IFS=$'\n' ip_addr_array=($(<$nodes_file))
+IFS="$oldIFS"
+
+ssh_command_prefix='export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"; cd solana; USE_INSTALL=1 ./multinode-demo/'
 
 count=0
 leader=
-for public_ip in ${!ip_addr_array[*]}
-do
-  rsync -r -av ~/.cargo/bin $remote_user@$public_ip:~/.cargo
-  rsync -r -av ./multinode-demo $remote_user@$public_ip:~/solana/
+for ip_addr in "${ip_addr_array[@]}"; do
+  echo "$ip_addr"
+
+  rsync -r -av ~/.cargo/bin "$remote_user"@"$ip_addr":~/.cargo
+  rsync -r -av ./multinode-demo "$remote_user"@"$ip_addr":~/solana/
   
-  if [ -z $ssh_keys ]
-  then
-    echo "skip copying the ssk keys"
+  if [[ -z $ssh_keys ]]; then
+    echo "skip copying the ssh keys"
   else
-    echo "rsync -r -av $ssh_keys/* $remote_user@$public_ip:~/.ssh/"
+    echo "rsync -r -av $ssh_keys/* $remote_user@$ip_addr:~/.ssh/"
   fi
 
-  ssh $remote_user@$public_ip 'source .cargo/env; cd solana; USE_INSTALL=1 ./multinode-demo/setup.sh'
+  ssh "$remote_user"@"$ip_addr" $ssh_command_prefix'setup.sh'
   
-  if [ $count -eq 0 ]
-  then
+  if [[ "$count" -eq 0 ]]; then
     # Start the leader on the first node
-    echo "Starting leader node $public_ip"
-    ssh -n -f $remote_user@$public_ip 'source .cargo/env; cd solana; USE_INSTALL=1 ./multinode-demo/leader.sh > leader.log 2>&1'
-    leader=${ip_addr_array[$public_ip]}
+    echo "Starting leader node $ip_addr"
+    ssh -n -f "$remote_user"@"$ip_addr" $ssh_command_prefix'leader.sh > leader.log 2>&1'
+    leader=${ip_addr_array[0]}
   else
     # Start validator on all other nodes
-    echo "Starting validator node $public_ip"
-    ssh -n -f $remote_user@$public_ip "source .cargo/env; cd solana; USE_INSTALL=1 ./multinode-demo/validator.sh $remote_user@$leader:~/solana $leader > validator.log 2>&1"
+    echo "Starting validator node $ip_addr"
+    ssh -n -f "$remote_user"@"$ip_addr" $ssh_command_prefix"validator.sh $remote_user@$leader:~/solana $leader > validator.log 2>&1"
   fi
 
   (( count++ ))
 
-  if [ $count -eq ${#ip_addr_array[@]} ]
-  then
+  if [[ "$count" -eq ${#ip_addr_array[@]} ]]; then
     # Launch client demo on the last node
-    echo "Starting client demo on $public_ip"
-    ssh -n -f $remote_user@$public_ip "source .cargo/env; cd solana; USE_INSTALL=1 ./multinode-demo/client.sh $remote_user@$leader:~/solana $count > client.log 2>&1"
+    echo "Starting client demo on $ip_addr"
+    ssh -n -f "$remote_user"@"$ip_addr" $ssh_command_prefix"client.sh $remote_user@$leader:~/solana $count > client.log 2>&1"
   fi
-
 done