diff --git a/ciao-scheduler/scheduler.go b/ciao-scheduler/scheduler.go
index 4d6a96933..4282ce7ef 100644
--- a/ciao-scheduler/scheduler.go
+++ b/ciao-scheduler/scheduler.go
@@ -746,7 +746,6 @@ func (sched *ssntpSchedulerServer) CommandForward(controllerUUID string, command
 		fallthrough
 	case ssntp.ReleasePublicIP:
 		dest = sched.fwdCmdToCNCI(command, payload)
-
 	default:
 		dest.SetDecision(ssntp.Discard)
 	}
diff --git a/testutil/singlevm/verify.sh b/testutil/singlevm/verify.sh
index 492ebc56b..49539606e 100755
--- a/testutil/singlevm/verify.sh
+++ b/testutil/singlevm/verify.sh
@@ -2,75 +2,188 @@
 
 ciao_bin="$HOME/local"
 ciao_gobin="$GOPATH"/bin
+event_counter=0
 
-# Read cluster env variables
+#Utility functions
+function exitOnError {
+	local exit_code="$1"
+	local error_string="$2"
+
+	if [ $1 -ne 0 ]
+	then
+		echo "FATAL ERROR exiting: " "$error_string" "$exit_code"
+		exit 1
+	fi
+}
+
+#Checks that no network artifacts are left behind
+function checkForNetworkArtifacts() {
+
+	#Verify that there are no ciao related artifacts left behind
+	ciao_networks=`sudo docker network ls --filter driver=ciao -q | wc -l`
+
+	if [ $ciao_networks -ne 0 ]
+	then
+		echo "FATAL ERROR: ciao docker networks not cleaned up"
+		sudo docker network ls --filter driver=ciao
+		exit 1
+	fi
+
+
+	#The only ciao interfaces left behind should be CNCI VNICs
+	#Once we can delete tenants we should not even have them around
+	cnci_vnics=`ip -d link | grep alias | grep cnci | wc -l`
+	ciao_vnics=`ip -d link | grep alias | wc -l`
+
+	if [ $cnci_vnics -ne $ciao_vnics ]
+	then
+		echo "FATAL ERROR: ciao network interfaces not cleaned up"
+		ip -d link | grep alias
+		exit 1
+	fi
+}
+
+#There are too many failsafes in the CNCI. Hence just disable iptables utility to trigger failure
+#This also ensures that the CNCI is always left in a consistent state (sans the permission)
+function triggerIPTablesFailure {
+	ssh -T -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i "$CIAO_SSH_KEY" demouser@"$ssh_ip" <<-EOF
+	sudo chmod -x /usr/bin/iptables
+	EOF
+}
+
+#Restore the iptables so that the cluster is usable
+function restoreIPTables {
+	ssh -T -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i "$CIAO_SSH_KEY" demouser@"$ssh_ip" <<-EOF
+	sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/iptables
+	EOF
+}
+
+function clearAllEvents() {
+	#Clear out all prior events
+	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event delete
+
+	#Wait for the event count to drop to 0
+	retry=0
+	ciao_events=0
+
+	until [ $retry -ge 6 ]
+	do
+		ciao_events=`"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list -f '{{len .}}'`
+
+		if [ $ciao_events -eq 0 ]
+		then
+			break
+		fi
+		let retry=retry+1
+		sleep 1
+	done
+
+	exitOnError $ciao_events "ciao events not deleted properly"
+}
+
+function checkEventStatus {
+	local event_index="$1"
+	local event_code="$2"
+	local retry=0
+	local ciao_events=0
+	local total_events=0
+	local code=""
+
+	#We only need to wait for as many events as the index
+	total_events=$((event_index + 1))
+
+	until [ $retry -ge 6 ]
+	do
+		ciao_events=`"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list -f '{{len .}}'`
+
+		if [ $ciao_events -eq $total_events ]
+		then
+			break
+		fi
 
+		let retry=retry+1
+		sleep 1
+	done
+
+	if [ $ciao_events -ne $total_events ]
+	then
+		echo "FATAL ERROR: ciao event not reported. Events seen =" $ciao_events
+		"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
+		exit 1
+	fi
+
+	code=$("$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list -f "{{(index . ${event_index}).Message}}" | cut -d ' ' -f 1)
+
+	if [ "$event_code" != "$code" ]
+	then
+		echo "FATAL ERROR: Unknown event $code. Looking for $event_code"
+		"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
+		exit 1
+	fi
+
+	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
+}
+
+function createExternalIPPool() {
+	# first create a new external IP pool and add a subnet to it.
+	# this is an admin only operation, so make sure our env variables
+	# are set accordingly. Since user admin might belong to more than one
+	# tenant, make sure to specify that we are logging in as part of the
+	# "admin" tenant/project.
+	ciao_user=$CIAO_USERNAME
+	ciao_passwd=$CIAO_PASSWORD
+	export CIAO_USERNAME=$CIAO_ADMIN_USERNAME
+	export CIAO_PASSWORD=$CIAO_ADMIN_PASSWORD
+	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli -tenant-name admin pool create -name test
+	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli -tenant-name admin pool add -subnet 203.0.113.0/24 -name test
+	export CIAO_USERNAME=$ciao_user
+	export CIAO_PASSWORD=$ciao_passwd
+}
+
+function deleteExternalIPPool() {
+	#Cleanup the pool
+	export CIAO_USERNAME=$CIAO_ADMIN_USERNAME
+	export CIAO_PASSWORD=$CIAO_ADMIN_PASSWORD
+
+	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli -tenant-name admin pool delete -name test
+	exitOnError $?  "Unable to delete pool"
+
+	export CIAO_USERNAME=$ciao_user
+	export CIAO_PASSWORD=$ciao_passwd
+}
+
+# Read cluster env variables
 . $ciao_bin/demo.sh
 
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli workload list
-
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to list workloads"
-	exit 1
-fi
+exitOnError $?  "Unable to list workloads"
 
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli instance add --workload=e35ed972-c46c-4aad-a1e7-ef103ae079a2 --instances=2
-
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to launch VMs"
-	exit 1
-fi
+exitOnError $?  "Unable to launch VMs"
 
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli instance list
-
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to list instances"
-	exit 1
-fi
+exitOnError $? "Unable to list instances"
 
 #Launch containers
-
 #Pre-cache the image to reduce the start latency
 sudo docker pull debian
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli instance add --workload=ca957444-fa46-11e5-94f9-38607786d9ec --instances=1
-
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to launch containers"
-	exit 1
-fi
+exitOnError $? "Unable to launch containers"
 
 sleep 5
 
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli instance list
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to list instances"
-	exit 1
-fi
+exitOnError $? "Unable to list instances"
 
 container_1=`sudo docker ps -q -l`
 container_1_ip=`sudo docker inspect --format='{{range .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' $container_1`
 
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli instance add --workload=ca957444-fa46-11e5-94f9-38607786d9ec --instances=1
-
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to launch containers"
-	exit 1
-fi
-
+exitOnError $?  "Unable to launch containers"
 sleep 5
 
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli instance list
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to list instances"
-	exit 1
-fi
+exitOnError $?  "Unable to list instances"
 
 container_2=`sudo docker ps -q -l`
 
@@ -118,93 +231,22 @@ fi
 echo "Checking Docker Networking"
 sudo docker exec $container_2 /bin/ping -c 3 $container_1_ip
 
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to ping across containers"
-	exit 1
-else
-	echo "Container connectivity verified"
-fi
+exitOnError $?  "Unable to ping across containers"
+echo "Container connectivity verified"
 
 #Clear out all prior events
-"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event delete
-
-#Wait for the event count to drop to 0
-retry=0
-ciao_events=0
-
-until [ $retry -ge 6 ]
-do
-	ciao_events=`"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list -f '{{len .}}'`
-
-	if [ $ciao_events -eq 0 ]
-	then
-		break
-	fi
-
-	let retry=retry+1
-	sleep 1
-done
-
-if [ $ciao_events -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: ciao events not deleted properly"
-	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
-	exit 1
-fi
+clearAllEvents
 
 #Test External IP Assignment support
 #Pick the first instance which is a VM, as we can even SSH into it
 #We have already checked that the VM is up.
-# first create a new external IP pool and add a subnet to it.
-# this is an admin only operation, so make sure our env variables
-# are set accordingly. Since user admin might belong to more than one
-# tenant, make sure to specify that we are logging in as part of the
-# "admin" tenant/project.
-ciao_user=$CIAO_USERNAME
-ciao_passwd=$CIAO_PASSWORD
-export CIAO_USERNAME=$CIAO_ADMIN_USERNAME
-export CIAO_PASSWORD=$CIAO_ADMIN_PASSWORD
-"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli -tenant-name admin pool create -name test
-"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli -tenant-name admin pool add -subnet 203.0.113.0/24 -name test
-export CIAO_USERNAME=$ciao_user
-export CIAO_PASSWORD=$ciao_passwd
+createExternalIPPool
 
 testinstance=`"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli instance list -f '{{with index . 0}}{{.ID}}{{end}}'`
-
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli external-ip map -instance $testinstance -pool test
 
 #Wait for the CNCI to report successful map
-retry=0
-ciao_events=0
-
-until [ $retry -ge 6 ]
-do
-	ciao_events=`"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list -f '{{len .}}'`
-
-	if [ $ciao_events -eq 1 ]
-	then
-		break
-	fi
-
-	let retry=retry+1
-	sleep 1
-done
-
-if [ $ciao_events -ne 1 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: ciao external IP event not reported"
-	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
-	exit 1
-fi
-
-mapped=`ciao-cli event list -f '{{if eq (len .) 1}}{{(index . 0).Message}}{{end}}' | cut -d " " -f 1`
-if [ $mapped != "Mapped" ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unknown event"
-	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
-	exit 1
-fi
+checkEventStatus $event_counter "Mapped"
 
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli external-ip list
@@ -220,13 +262,7 @@ ping_result=$?
 test_hostname=`ssh -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i "$CIAO_SSH_KEY" demouser@"$testip" hostname`
 sudo ip route del 203.0.113.0/24 dev ciaovlan
 
-if [ $ping_result -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to ping external IP"
-	exit 1
-else
-	echo "Container external connectivity verified"
-fi
+exitOnError $ping_result "Unable to ping external IP"
 
 if [ "$test_hostname" == "$test_instance" ]
 then
@@ -239,170 +275,49 @@ fi
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli external-ip unmap -address $testip
 
 #Wait for the CNCI to report successful unmap
-retry=0
-ciao_events=0
-
-until [ $retry -ge 6 ]
-do
-	ciao_events=`"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list -f '{{len .}}'`
-
-	if [ $ciao_events -eq 2 ]
-	then
-		break
-	fi
-
-	let retry=retry+1
-	sleep 1
-done
-
-if [ $ciao_events -ne 2 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: ciao external IP event not reported"
-	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
-	exit 1
-fi
+event_counter=$((event_counter+1))
+checkEventStatus $event_counter "Unmapped"
 
-unmapped=`"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list -f '{{if eq (len .) 2}}{{(index . 1).Message}}{{end}}' | cut -d " " -f 1`
-if [ $unmapped != "Unmapped" ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unknown event"
-	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
-	exit 1
-fi
-
-"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli external-ip list
 
-#Negative test case for external IP
-#Clear out a ciao chains to trigger a failure
-ssh -T -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i "$CIAO_SSH_KEY" demouser@"$ssh_ip" << EOF
-sudo iptables-save > /tmp/rules.save
-sudo iptables -t nat -D PREROUTING -j ciao-floating-ip-pre
-sudo iptables -t nat -X ciao-floating-ip-pre
-EOF
+#Test for External IP Failures
 
+#Map failure
+triggerIPTablesFailure
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli external-ip map -instance $testinstance -pool test
-
 #Wait for the CNCI to report unsuccessful map
-retry=0
-ciao_events=0
-
-until [ $retry -ge 6 ]
-do
-	ciao_events=`"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list -f '{{len .}}'`
+event_counter=$((event_counter+1))
+checkEventStatus $event_counter "Failed"
+restoreIPTables
 
-	if [ $ciao_events -eq 3 ]
-	then
-		break
-	fi
-
-	let retry=retry+1
-	sleep 1
-done
-
-if [ $ciao_events -ne 3 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: ciao external IP error not reported"
-	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
-	exit 1
-fi
-
-mapped=`ciao-cli event list -f '{{if eq (len .) 3}}{{(index . 2).Message}}{{end}}' | cut -d " " -f 1,2,3`
-if [ "$mapped" != "Failed to map" ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unknown event"
-	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
-	exit 1
-fi
+#Unmap failure
+"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli external-ip map -instance $testinstance -pool test
+event_counter=$((event_counter+1))
+checkEventStatus $event_counter "Mapped"
 
-#Verify that we see the error
-"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
+triggerIPTablesFailure 
+"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli external-ip unmap -address $testip
+event_counter=$((event_counter+1))
+checkEventStatus $event_counter "Failed"
+restoreIPTables
 
-#Restore the iptables so that the cluster is usable
-ssh -T -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i "$CIAO_SSH_KEY" demouser@"$ssh_ip" << EOF
-sudo iptables-restore  /tmp/rules.save
-EOF
-
-#Cleanup the pool
-export CIAO_USERNAME=$CIAO_ADMIN_USERNAME
-export CIAO_PASSWORD=$CIAO_ADMIN_PASSWORD
-"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli -tenant-name admin pool delete -name test
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to delete pool"
-	exit 1
-fi
-export CIAO_USERNAME=$ciao_user
-export CIAO_PASSWORD=$ciao_passwd
+#Cleanup
+"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli external-ip unmap -address $testip
+event_counter=$((event_counter+1))
+checkEventStatus $event_counter "Unmapped"
 
+#Cleanup pools
+deleteExternalIPPool
 
 #Now delete all instances
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli instance delete --all
-
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: Unable to delete instances"
-	exit 1
-fi
+exitOnError $?  "Unable to delete instances"
 
 "$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli instance list
 
 #Wait for all the instance deletions to be reported back
-retry=0
-ciao_events=0
-
-until [ $retry -ge 6 ]
-do
-	ciao_events=`"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list -f '{{len .}}'`
-
-	if [ $ciao_events -eq 6 ]
-	then
-		break
-	fi
+event_counter=$((event_counter+4))
+checkEventStatus $event_counter "Deleted"
 
-	let retry=retry+1
-	sleep 1
-done
-
-if [ $ciao_events -ne 6 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: ciao instances not deleted properly"
-	"$ciao_gobin"/ciao-cli event list
-	exit 1
-fi
-
-#Wait around a bit as instance delete is asynchronous
-retry=0
-ciao_networks=0
-until [ $retry -ge 6 ]
-do
-	#Verify that there are no ciao related artifacts left behind
-	ciao_networks=`sudo docker network ls --filter driver=ciao -q | wc -l`
-
-	if [ $ciao_networks -eq 0 ]
-	then
-		break
-	fi
-	let retry=retry+1
-	sleep 1
-done
-
-if [ $ciao_networks -ne 0 ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: ciao docker networks not cleaned up"
-	sudo docker network ls --filter driver=ciao
-	exit 1
-fi
-
-
-#The only ciao interfaces left behind should be CNCI VNICs
-#Once we can delete tenants we should not even have them around
-cnci_vnics=`ip -d link | grep alias | grep cnci | wc -l`
-ciao_vnics=`ip -d link | grep alias | wc -l`
-
-if [ $cnci_vnics -ne $ciao_vnics ]
-then
-	echo "FATAL ERROR: ciao network interfaces not cleaned up"
-	ip -d link | grep alias
-	exit 1
-fi
+#Verify that there are no ciao related artifacts left behind
+checkForNetworkArtifacts