diff --git a/ansible/gold-master.yml b/ansible/gold-master.yml
index 0889fde9aaa4eeb82af5370d2a0e45cd98ffc7e1..d5e898dc9331f4bf9fd62de7d5da99d7ed119482 100644
--- a/ansible/gold-master.yml
+++ b/ansible/gold-master.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     # NOTE: on first run this fetches the whole image (~650MB) over the Internet
     - name: lxd_bootstrap
       container_name: gold-master
-      alias: ubuntu/xenial/amd64
+      alias: "16.04"
 
   tasks:
     - name: create br-wan profile
diff --git a/ansible/roles/lxd_bootstrap/defaults/main.yml b/ansible/roles/lxd_bootstrap/defaults/main.yml
index 1cc8694f28a88c45e63effcae8c751f1a75e9901..38b2a10909687638186a7ab8bd776cd8c044d0e9 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/lxd_bootstrap/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/lxd_bootstrap/defaults/main.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 profiles: [default]
-alias: ubuntu/xenial/amd64
+alias: "16.04"
 wait_for_ipv4_addresses: false
diff --git a/ansible/roles/lxd_bootstrap/tasks/main.yml b/ansible/roles/lxd_bootstrap/tasks/main.yml
index 22735be14ec4d106d513ec7b2a2bd07037b53160..4132ac6118bc565bcf0792f719482d4ea9b80d82 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/lxd_bootstrap/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/lxd_bootstrap/tasks/main.yml
@@ -3,15 +3,15 @@
 # for management via ansible. For more ideas see
 # https://github.com/novafloss/ansible-role-boot/blob/master/tasks/lxd.yml
 
-- name: create and start {{ container_name }} container
+- name: create and start {{ container_name }} container with {{ alias }}
   lxd_container:
     name: '{{ container_name }}'
     state: started
     source:
       type: image
       mode: pull
-      server: https://images.linuxcontainers.org
-      protocol: lxd
+      server: https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases
+      protocol: simplestreams
       alias: '{{ alias }}'
     profiles: '{{ profiles }}'
     wait_for_ipv4_addresses: '{{ wait_for_ipv4_addresses }}'
@@ -22,25 +22,27 @@
 # https://github.com/lxc/lxd/issues/2166
 # Workaround:
 # http://bnpcs.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/disable-http-pipelining-in-ubuntu.html
+# However this is not required for the "official" Ubuntu images which
+# contain /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/90cloud-init-pipelining
 
-- name: check pipelining for apt-get
-  delegate_to: '{{ container_name }}'
-  raw: test -f /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00no-pipeline
-  register: apt_pipeline_check
-  failed_when: apt_pipeline_check.rc not in [0, 1]
-  changed_when: false
+#- name: check pipelining for apt-get
+#  delegate_to: '{{ container_name }}'
+#  raw: test -f /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00no-pipeline
+#  register: apt_pipeline_check
+#  failed_when: apt_pipeline_check.rc not in [0, 1]
+#  changed_when: false
 
-- name: disable pipelining for apt-get
-  delegate_to: '{{ container_name }}'
-  raw: echo 'Acquire::http::Pipeline-Depth "0";' >/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00no-pipeline
-  when: apt_pipeline_check.rc == 1
-  changed_when: apt_pipeline_check.rc == 1
+#- name: disable pipelining for apt-get
+#  delegate_to: '{{ container_name }}'
+#  raw: echo 'Acquire::http::Pipeline-Depth "0";' >/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00no-pipeline
+#  when: apt_pipeline_check.rc == 1
+#  changed_when: apt_pipeline_check.rc == 1
 
 # Ansible cannot run in a container unless python2 is present.
 # So we must force it to be installed using raw commands.
 - name: check python is installed in container
   delegate_to: '{{ container_name }}'
-  raw: dpkg-query -W -f='${Status}' python
+  raw: dpkg -s python
   register: python_install_check
   failed_when: python_install_check.rc not in [0, 1]
   changed_when: false