diff --git a/cluster/kube-env.sh b/cluster/kube-env.sh
index 17d09fb67647c..9339f290a21d1 100644
--- a/cluster/kube-env.sh
+++ b/cluster/kube-env.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,6 @@
 # You can override the default provider by exporting the KUBERNETES_PROVIDER
 # variable in your bashrc
 #
-# The valid values: 'gce', 'azure' and 'vagrant'
+# The valid values: 'gce', 'azure', 'vagrant', 'local'
 
 KUBERNETES_PROVIDER=${KUBERNETES_PROVIDER:-gce}
diff --git a/cluster/kubecfg.sh b/cluster/kubecfg.sh
index 8e70e92f818c2..225c3632351aa 100755
--- a/cluster/kubecfg.sh
+++ b/cluster/kubecfg.sh
@@ -27,15 +27,4 @@ fi
 
 detect-master > /dev/null
 
-# detect-master returns this if there is no master found.
-if [ "$KUBE_MASTER_IP" == "external-ip" ]; then
-  KUBE_MASTER_IP=""
-fi
-
-if [ "$KUBERNETES_MASTER" == "" ]; then
-  if [ "${KUBE_MASTER_IP}" != "" ]; then
-    $CLOUDCFG -h https://${KUBE_MASTER_IP} $@
-    exit $?
-  fi
-fi
 $CLOUDCFG $@
diff --git a/cluster/local/config-default.sh b/cluster/local/config-default.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..2ac9205400197
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cluster/local/config-default.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Copyright 2014 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+## Contains configuration values for interacting with the Vagrant cluster
+
+# NUMBER OF MINIONS IN THE CLUSTER
+NUM_MINIONS=1
+
+# IP LOCATIONS FOR INTERACTING WITH THE MASTER
+export KUBE_MASTER_IP="127.0.0.1"
+export KUBERNETES_MASTER="http://127.0.0.1:8080"
+
+# IP LOCATIONS FOR INTERACTING WITH THE MINIONS
+for (( i=0; i <${NUM_MINIONS}; i++)) do
+	KUBE_MINION_IP_ADDRESSES[$i]="127.0.0.1"
+done
diff --git a/cluster/local/util.sh b/cluster/local/util.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b967fef5e0ca9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cluster/local/util.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Copyright 2014 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# A library of helper functions that each provider hosting Kubernetes must implement to use cluster/kube-*.sh scripts.
+
+source $(dirname ${BASH_SOURCE})/${KUBE_CONFIG_FILE-"config-default.sh"}
+
+function detect-master () {
+	echo "KUBE_MASTER_IP: $KUBE_MASTER_IP"
+	echo "KUBE_MASTER: $KUBE_MASTER"
+}
+
+# Get minion IP addresses and store in KUBE_MINION_IP_ADDRESSES[]
+function detect-minions {
+	echo "Minions already detected"
+}
+
+# Verify prereqs on host machine
+function verify-prereqs {
+  for x in go; do
+    if [ "$(which $x)" == "" ]; then
+      echo "Can't find $x in PATH, please fix and retry."
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  done
+}
+
+# Instantiate a kubernetes cluster
+function kube-up {
+	echo "Not applicable"
+}
+
+# Delete a kubernetes cluster
+function kube-down {
+	echo "Not applicable"
+}
+
+# Update a kubernetes cluster with latest source
+function kube-push {
+	echo "Not applicable"
+}
+
+# Execute prior to running tests to build a release if required for env
+function test-build-release {
+	echo "Not applicable"
+}
+
+# Execute prior to running tests to initialize required structure
+function test-setup {
+	echo "Not applicable"
+}
+
+# Execute after running tests to perform any required clean-up
+function test-teardown {
+	echo "Not applicable"
+}
diff --git a/docs/getting-started-guides/locally.md b/docs/getting-started-guides/locally.md
index 709d47eeb85b1..d1e21a4b5d265 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started-guides/locally.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started-guides/locally.md
@@ -9,4 +9,54 @@ hack/local-up-cluster.sh
 
 This will build and start a lightweight local cluster, consisting of a master and a single minion. Type Control-C to shut it down.
 
-If you are running both a remote kubernetes cluster and the local cluster, you can determine which you talk to using the ```KUBERNETES_MASTER``` environment variable.
+You can use the cluster/kubecfg.sh script to interact with the local cluster.
+
+```
+cd kubernetes
+modify cluster/kube-env.sh:
+  KUBERNETES_PROVIDER="local"
+
+cluster/kubecfg.sh => interact with the local cluster
+```
+
+### Running a container
+
+Your cluster is running, and you want to start running containers!
+
+You can now use any of the cluster/kubecfg.sh commands to interact with your local setup.
+```
+cluster/kubecfg.sh list /pods
+cluster/kubecfg.sh list /services
+cluster/kubecfg.sh list /replicationControllers
+cluster/kubecfg.sh -p 8080:80 run dockerfile/nginx 1 myNginx
+
+
+## begin wait for provision to complete, you can monitor the docker pull by opening a new terminal
+  sudo docker images
+  ## you should see it pulling the dockerfile/nginx image, once the above command returns it
+  sudo docker ps
+  ## you should see your container running!
+  exit
+## end wait
+
+## introspect kubernetes!
+cluster/kubecfg.sh list /pods
+cluster/kubecfg.sh list /services
+cluster/kubecfg.sh list /replicationControllers
+```
+
+Congratulations!
+
+### Troubleshooting
+
+#### I cannot create a replication controller with replica size greater than 1!  What gives?
+
+You are running a single minion setup.  This has the limitation of only supporting a single replica of a given pod.  If you are interested in running with larger replica sizes, we encourage you to try the local vagrant setup or one of the cloud providers.
+
+#### I changed Kubernetes code, how do I run it?
+
+```
+cd kubernetes
+hack/build-go.sh
+hack/local-up-cluster.sh
+```
\ No newline at end of file