diff --git a/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.auto.pkrvars.hcl b/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.auto.pkrvars.hcl
index ca96f68..8c61328 100644
--- a/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.auto.pkrvars.hcl
+++ b/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.auto.pkrvars.hcl
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ checksum_url						=	"https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/images/latest/Arch-Linux-x8
 
 host_ssh_user						=	"michael"
 host_ssh_address				=	"server.balsillie.net"
+host_ssh_private_key		=	"/home/michael/.ssh/conf.d/home/michael_server_copy.key"
+host_ssh_known_hosts		= "/home/michael/.ssh/known_hosts_server"
 
 guest_hostname					=	"arch-minimal-template"
 cpu_count								=	2
@@ -12,7 +14,7 @@ arch										=	"x86_64"
 chipset									=	"pc-q35-6.1"
 loader_type							=	"pflash"
 loader_path							=	"/usr/share/edk2-ovmf/x64/OVMF_CODE.secboot.fd"
-secure_boot							=	true
+secure_boot							=	false
 nvram_template					=	"/usr/share/edk2-ovmf/x64/OVMF_VARS.fd"
 nvram_path_base					=	"/var/lib/libvirt/qemu/nvram"
 
@@ -26,7 +28,7 @@ ssh_source							=	"192.168.20.0/24"
 
 guest_ssh_user					= "arch"
 guest_ssh_port					= 22
-guest_ssh_private_key		=	"~/.ssh/conf.d/home/arch@arch_template.key"
+guest_ssh_private_key		=	"/home/michael/.ssh/conf.d/home/arch@arch_template.key"
 guest_ssh_public_key		=	"~/.ssh/conf.d/home/arch@arch_template.key.pub"
 
 network_address					=	"192.168.21.200/24"
diff --git a/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.build.pkr.hcl b/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.build.pkr.hcl
index 86c8e6c..f3e9e6f 100644
--- a/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.build.pkr.hcl
+++ b/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.build.pkr.hcl
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ data "http" "image_checksum" {
 }
 
 locals {
-	image_checksum	=	split(" ",data.http.image_checksum)[0]
-  libvirt_uri			= "qemu+ssh://${var.host_ssh_user}@${var.host_ssh_address}/system"
+	image_checksum	=	split(" ",data.http.image_checksum.body)[0]
+  libvirt_uri			= "qemu+ssh://${var.host_ssh_user}@${var.host_ssh_address}/system?keyfile=${var.host_ssh_private_key}&no_verify=1"
 	nvram_path			=	"${var.nvram_path_base}/${var.guest_hostname}_VARS.fd"
 	cidata_name			= "${var.volume_name}_cidata"
 }
@@ -47,8 +47,10 @@ source "libvirt" "arch-minimal" {
 	chipset					=	var.chipset
 	loader_type			=	var.loader_type
 	loader_path			= var.loader_path
-	nvram_template	=	var.nvmram_template
-	nvram_path			=	local.nvram_path
+	// nvram_template	=	var.nvram_template
+	// nvram_path			=	local.nvram_path
+	nvram_template	=	local.nvram_path
+	nvram_path			=	var.nvram_template
 	secure_boot			=	var.secure_boot
 
 	volume {
@@ -65,6 +67,7 @@ source "libvirt" "arch-minimal" {
 			type			=	"external"
 			urls			=	[var.image_url]
 			checksum	= local.image_checksum
+			// checksum	= "f237ada9ba61431f6aebb066d2b3f0b5b432ea21da6034d98248725df1417545"
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -77,19 +80,19 @@ source "libvirt" "arch-minimal" {
 			type						=	"cloud-init"
 			
 			meta_data				=	jsonencode({
-				"instance-id"	=	${var.guest_hostname}
-				"hostname"		= ${var.guest_hostname}
+				"instance-id" = "${var.guest_hostname}"
+				"hostname"		= "${var.guest_hostname}"
 			})
 
 			user_data				=	format("#cloud-config\n%s", jsonencode({
-				"packages"			=	[
+				"packages" = [
 					"qemu-guest-agent",
 					"ufw"
 				]
-				"runcmd"				=	[
+				"runcmd" =	[
 					["systemctl", "enable", "--now", "qemu-guest-agent"],
 					["ufw", "enable"],
-					["ufw", "allow", "from", ${var.ssh_source}, "to", "port", "22", "proto", "tcp"],
+					["ufw", "allow", "from", "${var.ssh_source}", "to", "port", "22", "proto", "tcp"],
 					["systemctl", "enable", "--now", "ufw"]
 				]
 			}))
@@ -103,16 +106,15 @@ source "libvirt" "arch-minimal" {
 							name	=	"en*"
 						}
 						dhcp4	=	false
-						addresses = [${var.network_address}]
-						gateway4 = ${var.network_gateway}
+						addresses = ["${var.network_address}"]
+						gateway4 = "${var.network_gateway}"
 						nameservers = {
-							addresses = [${var.network_nameserver}]
-							search = [${var.network_domain}]
+							addresses = ["${var.network_nameserver}"]
+							search = ["${var.network_domain}"]
 						}
 					}
 				}
 			})
-
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -127,14 +129,14 @@ source "libvirt" "arch-minimal" {
 	network_address_source	=	"agent"
 
 	graphics {
-		type		=	"spice"
-		port		=	5900
+		type		=	"vnc"
+		port		=	5902
 	}
 
 	communicator {
-		ssh_username		= var.guest_ssh_user
-		ssh_port				= var.guest_ssh_port
-		ssh_private_key	= var.guest_ssh_private_key
+		ssh_username					= var.guest_ssh_user
+		ssh_port							= var.guest_ssh_port
+		ssh_private_key_file	= var.guest_ssh_private_key
 	}
 	communicator_interface	=	"default-network"
 }
diff --git a/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.variables.pkr.hcl b/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.variables.pkr.hcl
index 9034332..87f38df 100644
--- a/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.variables.pkr.hcl
+++ b/packer/libvirt/arch/arch-minimal.variables.pkr.hcl
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ variable "guest_ssh_pass" {
 	type = string
 	sensitive = true
 	description = "Password for SSH connection to the guest VM."
+	default = "placeholder"
 }
 
 variable "guest_ssh_port" {
@@ -119,14 +120,24 @@ variable "ssh_source" {
 	description	=	"The subnet that will be added to the firewall SSH exception during cloud-init."
 }
 
+variable "host_ssh_user" {
+	type	=	string
+	description	=	"The user to connect to the hypervisor as, used to construct the libvirt URI."
+}
+
 variable "host_ssh_address" {
 	type	=	string
 	description	=	"The address of the hypervisor, used to construct the libvirt URI."
 }
 
-variable "host_ssh_user" {
+variable "host_ssh_private_key" {
 	type	=	string
-	description	=	"The user to connect to the hypervisor as, used to construct the libvirt URI."
+	description	=	"File path to the SSH key used to authenticate to the hypervisor host."
+}
+
+variable "host_ssh_known_hosts" {
+	type	=	string
+	description	=	"File path to the known_hosts file for validating the hypervisor host connection."
 }
 
 variable "network_address" {
diff --git a/packer/libvirt/arch/templates/meta_data.j2 b/packer/libvirt/arch/templates/meta_data.j2
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/packer/libvirt/arch/templates/network_config.j2 b/packer/libvirt/arch/templates/network_config.j2
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/packer/libvirt/arch/templates/user_data.j2 b/packer/libvirt/arch/templates/user_data.j2
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29..0000000