diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/Add-scenario-config-opt-target-dir-5a969b64be1dc718.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/Add-scenario-config-opt-target-dir-5a969b64be1dc718.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3adacfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/Add-scenario-config-opt-target-dir-5a969b64be1dc718.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    Adding a new config options `[scenario]/target_dir` which allows
+    users to specify the location where timestamps files will be
+    written to. The default value is /tmp that, however, cannot be
+    expected to persist across reboots of an instance.
diff --git a/tempest/api/compute/images/test_images.py b/tempest/api/compute/images/test_images.py
index d728853..a90d500 100644
--- a/tempest/api/compute/images/test_images.py
+++ b/tempest/api/compute/images/test_images.py
@@ -90,6 +90,14 @@
                                               name=snapshot_name,
                                               wait_until='ACTIVE',
                                               wait_for_server=False)
+        # This is required due to ceph issue:
+        # https://bugs.launchpad.net/glance/+bug/2045769.
+        # New location APIs are async so we need to wait for the location
+        # import task to complete.
+        # This should work with old location API since we don't fail if there
+        # are no tasks for the image
+        waiters.wait_for_image_tasks_status(self.images_client,
+                                            image['id'], 'success')
         self.addCleanup(self.client.delete_image, image['id'])
         self.assertEqual(snapshot_name, image['name'])
 
@@ -110,6 +118,14 @@
                                               name=snapshot_name,
                                               wait_until='ACTIVE',
                                               wait_for_server=False)
+        # This is required due to ceph issue:
+        # https://bugs.launchpad.net/glance/+bug/2045769.
+        # New location APIs are async so we need to wait for the location
+        # import task to complete.
+        # This should work with old location API since we don't fail if there
+        # are no tasks for the image
+        waiters.wait_for_image_tasks_status(self.images_client,
+                                            image['id'], 'success')
         self.addCleanup(self.client.delete_image, image['id'])
         self.assertEqual(snapshot_name, image['name'])
 
@@ -130,6 +146,14 @@
                                               name=snapshot_name,
                                               wait_until='ACTIVE',
                                               wait_for_server=False)
+        # This is required due to ceph issue:
+        # https://bugs.launchpad.net/glance/+bug/2045769.
+        # New location APIs are async so we need to wait for the location
+        # import task to complete.
+        # This should work with old location API since we don't fail if there
+        # are no tasks for the image
+        waiters.wait_for_image_tasks_status(self.images_client,
+                                            image['id'], 'success')
         self.addCleanup(self.client.delete_image, image['id'])
         self.assertEqual(snapshot_name, image['name'])
 
diff --git a/tempest/common/waiters.py b/tempest/common/waiters.py
index e249f35..9e97f47 100644
--- a/tempest/common/waiters.py
+++ b/tempest/common/waiters.py
@@ -672,6 +672,28 @@
     raise lib_exc.TimeoutException
 
 
+def wait_for_server_ports_active(client, server_id, is_active, **kwargs):
+    """Wait for all server ports to reach active status
+    :param client: The network client to use when querying the port's status
+    :param server_id: The uuid of the server's ports we need to verify.
+    :param is_active: A function to call to the check port active status.
+    :param kwargs: Additional arguments, if any, to pass to list_ports()
+    """
+    start_time = time.time()
+    while (time.time() - start_time <= client.build_timeout):
+        ports = client.list_ports(device_id=server_id, **kwargs)['ports']
+        if all(is_active(port) for port in ports):
+            LOG.debug("Server ID %s ports are all ACTIVE %s: ",
+                      server_id, ports)
+            return ports
+        LOG.warning("Server ID %s has ports that are not ACTIVE, waiting "
+                    "for state to change on all: %s", server_id, ports)
+        time.sleep(client.build_interval)
+    LOG.error("Server ID %s ports have failed to transition to ACTIVE, "
+              "timing out: %s", server_id, ports)
+    raise lib_exc.TimeoutException
+
+
 def wait_for_ssh(ssh_client, timeout=30):
     """Waits for SSH connection to become usable"""
     start_time = int(time.time())
diff --git a/tempest/config.py b/tempest/config.py
index b1f736c..471782b 100644
--- a/tempest/config.py
+++ b/tempest/config.py
@@ -1217,7 +1217,10 @@
                default='icmp',
                choices=('icmp', 'tcp', 'udp'),
                help='The protocol used in security groups tests to check '
-                    'connectivity.')
+                    'connectivity.'),
+    cfg.StrOpt('target_dir',
+               default='/tmp',
+               help='Directory in which to write the timestamp file.'),
 ]
 
 
diff --git a/tempest/scenario/manager.py b/tempest/scenario/manager.py
index 714a7c7..01c42c8 100644
--- a/tempest/scenario/manager.py
+++ b/tempest/scenario/manager.py
@@ -1098,8 +1098,6 @@
 
         if ip_addr and not kwargs.get('fixed_ips'):
             kwargs['fixed_ips'] = 'ip_address=%s' % ip_addr
-        ports = self.os_admin.ports_client.list_ports(
-            device_id=server['id'], **kwargs)['ports']
 
         # A port can have more than one IP address in some cases.
         # If the network is dual-stack (IPv4 + IPv6), this port is associated
@@ -1114,6 +1112,18 @@
             return (port['status'] == 'ACTIVE' or
                     port.get('binding:vnic_type') == 'baremetal')
 
+        # Wait for all compute ports to be ACTIVE.
+        # This will raise a TimeoutException if that does not happen.
+        client = self.os_admin.ports_client
+        try:
+            ports = waiters.wait_for_server_ports_active(
+                client=client, server_id=server['id'],
+                is_active=_is_active, **kwargs)
+        except lib_exc.TimeoutException:
+            LOG.error("Server ports failed transitioning to ACTIVE for "
+                      "server: %s", server)
+            raise
+
         port_map = [(p["id"], fxip["ip_address"])
                     for p in ports
                     for fxip in p["fixed_ips"]
@@ -1121,7 +1131,8 @@
                         _is_active(p))]
         inactive = [p for p in ports if p['status'] != 'ACTIVE']
         if inactive:
-            LOG.warning("Instance has ports that are not ACTIVE: %s", inactive)
+            # This should just be Ironic ports, see _is_active() above
+            LOG.debug("Instance has ports that are not ACTIVE: %s", inactive)
 
         self.assertNotEmpty(port_map,
                             "No IPv4 addresses found in: %s" % ports)
@@ -1227,7 +1238,7 @@
         # Default the directory in which to write the timestamp file to /tmp
         # and only use the mount_path as the target directory if we mounted
         # dev_name to mount_path.
-        target_dir = '/tmp'
+        target_dir = CONF.scenario.target_dir
         if dev_name is not None:
             mount_path = os.path.join(mount_path, dev_name)
             ssh_client.make_fs(dev_name, fs=fs)
@@ -1266,7 +1277,7 @@
         # Default the directory from which to read the timestamp file to /tmp
         # and only use the mount_path as the target directory if we mounted
         # dev_name to mount_path.
-        target_dir = '/tmp'
+        target_dir = CONF.scenario.target_dir
         if dev_name is not None:
             mount_path = os.path.join(mount_path, dev_name)
             ssh_client.mkdir(mount_path)
diff --git a/tempest/tests/common/test_waiters.py b/tempest/tests/common/test_waiters.py
index f194173..f7f2dc7 100755
--- a/tempest/tests/common/test_waiters.py
+++ b/tempest/tests/common/test_waiters.py
@@ -884,6 +884,58 @@
                           waiters.wait_for_port_status, mock_client,
                           fake_port_id, fake_status)
 
+    def test_wait_for_server_ports_active(self):
+        """Test that the waiter replies with the ports before the timeout"""
+
+        def is_active(port):
+            return port['status'] == 'ACTIVE'
+
+        def client_response(device_id):
+            """Mock client response, replies with partial status after one
+            call and final status after 2 calls
+            """
+            if mock_client.call_count >= 2:
+                return mock_ports_active
+            else:
+                mock_client.call_count += 1
+                if mock_client.call_count > 1:
+                    return mock_ports_half_active
+                return mock_ports
+
+        mock_ports = {'ports': [{'id': '1234', 'status': 'DOWN'},
+                                {'id': '5678', 'status': 'DOWN'}]}
+        mock_ports_half_active = {'ports': [{'id': '1234', 'status': 'ACTIVE'},
+                                            {'id': '5678', 'status': 'DOWN'}]}
+        mock_ports_active = {'ports': [{'id': '1234', 'status': 'ACTIVE'},
+                                       {'id': '5678', 'status': 'ACTIVE'}]}
+        mock_client = mock.Mock(
+            spec=ports_client.PortsClient,
+            build_timeout=30, build_interval=1,
+            list_ports=client_response)
+        fake_server_id = "9876"
+        self.assertEqual(mock_ports_active['ports'],
+                         waiters.wait_for_server_ports_active(
+                             mock_client, fake_server_id, is_active))
+
+    def test_wait_for_server_ports_active_timeout(self):
+        """Negative test - checking that a timeout
+        presented by a small 'fake_timeout' and a static status of
+        'DOWN' in the mock will raise a timeout exception
+        """
+
+        def is_active(port):
+            return port['status'] == 'ACTIVE'
+
+        mock_ports = {'ports': [{'id': '1234', 'status': "DOWN"}]}
+        mock_client = mock.Mock(
+            spec=ports_client.PortsClient,
+            build_timeout=2, build_interval=1,
+            list_ports=lambda device_id: mock_ports)
+        fake_server_id = "9876"
+        self.assertRaises(lib_exc.TimeoutException,
+                          waiters.wait_for_server_ports_active,
+                          mock_client, fake_server_id, is_active)
+
 
 class TestServerFloatingIPWaiters(base.TestCase):
 
diff --git a/zuul.d/integrated-gate.yaml b/zuul.d/integrated-gate.yaml
index 1343a7c..8077308 100644
--- a/zuul.d/integrated-gate.yaml
+++ b/zuul.d/integrated-gate.yaml
@@ -358,18 +358,6 @@
         TEMPEST_VOLUME_TYPE: volumev2
 
 - job:
-    name: tempest-centos8-stream-fips
-    parent: devstack-tempest
-    description: |
-      Integration testing for a FIPS enabled Centos 8 system
-    nodeset: devstack-single-node-centos-8-stream
-    vars:
-      tox_envlist: full
-      configure_swap_size: 4096
-      nslookup_target: 'opendev.org'
-      enable_fips: True
-
-- job:
     name: tempest-centos9-stream-fips
     parent: devstack-tempest
     description: |
@@ -503,9 +491,6 @@
               - ^.*/2024.1
               - master
         - tempest-integrated-compute
-        # centos-8-stream is tested from wallaby -> yoga branches
-        - tempest-integrated-compute-centos-8-stream:
-            branches: ^.*/(wallaby|xena|yoga)$
         # Do not run it on ussuri until below issue is fixed
         # https://storyboard.openstack.org/#!/story/2010057
         # and job is broken up to wallaby branch due to the issue
diff --git a/zuul.d/stable-jobs.yaml b/zuul.d/stable-jobs.yaml
index 9d69715..cb1330f 100644
--- a/zuul.d/stable-jobs.yaml
+++ b/zuul.d/stable-jobs.yaml
@@ -149,41 +149,3 @@
       - ^.*/victoria
       - ^.*/wallaby
       - ^.*/xena
-
-- job:
-    name: tempest-integrated-compute-centos-8-stream
-    parent: tempest-integrated-compute
-    # TODO(gmann): Make this job non voting until bug#1957941 if fixed.
-    voting: false
-    nodeset: devstack-single-node-centos-8-stream
-    branches:
-      - ^.*/wallaby
-      - ^.*/xena
-      - ^.*/yoga
-    description: |
-      This job runs integration tests for compute. This is
-      subset of 'tempest-full-py3' job and run Nova, Neutron, Cinder (except backup tests)
-      and Glance related tests. This is meant to be run on Nova gate only.
-      This version of the job also uses CentOS 8 stream.
-    vars:
-      # Required until bug/1949606 is resolved when using libvirt and QEMU
-      # >=5.0.0 with a [libvirt]virt_type of qemu (TCG).
-      configure_swap_size: 4096
-
-- job:
-    name: tempest-full-py3-centos-8-stream
-    parent: tempest-full-py3
-    # TODO(gmann): Make this job non voting until bug#1957941 if fixed.
-    voting: false
-    branches:
-      - ^.*/wallaby
-      - ^.*/xena
-      - ^.*/yoga
-    nodeset: devstack-single-node-centos-8-stream
-    description: |
-      Base integration test with Neutron networking and py36 running
-      on CentOS 8 stream
-    vars:
-      # Required until bug/1949606 is resolved when using libvirt and QEMU
-      # >=5.0.0 with a [libvirt]virt_type of qemu (TCG).
-      configure_swap_size: 4096