diff --git a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute.tf b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute.tf
index a90108924..141ff3fd1 100644
--- a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute.tf
+++ b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute.tf
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ module "compute" {
   volume_backed_instances = lookup(each.value, "volume_backed_instances", var.volume_backed_instances)
   root_volume_size = lookup(each.value, "root_volume_size", var.root_volume_size)
   extra_volumes = lookup(each.value, "extra_volumes", {})
+  gateway_nmcli_connection = lookup(each.value, "gateway_nmcli_connection", "")
+  gateway_ip = lookup(each.value, "gateway_ip", "")
 
   compute_init_enable = lookup(each.value, "compute_init_enable", [])
 
diff --git a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/nodes.tf b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/nodes.tf
index 9bb75466e..fee03098d 100644
--- a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/nodes.tf
+++ b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/nodes.tf
@@ -86,6 +86,18 @@ resource "openstack_compute_instance_v2" "compute" {
   user_data = <<-EOF
     #cloud-config
     fqdn: ${var.cluster_name}-${each.key}.${var.cluster_name}.${var.cluster_domain_suffix}
+
+    runcmd:
+%{ if var.gateway_nmcli_connection == "dummy0" ~}
+      - nmcli connection add type dummy ifname dummy0 con-name dummy0
+      - nmcli connection modify dummy0 ipv4.address ${openstack_networking_port_v2.compute[each.key].all_fixed_ips[0]} ipv4.gateway ${openstack_networking_port_v2.compute[each.key].all_fixed_ips[0]} ipv4.route-metric 1000 ipv4.method manual
+%{ endif ~}
+%{ if (var.gateway_nmcli_connection != "") &&  (var.gateway_nmcli_connection != "dummy0") ~}
+      - nmcli connection modify '${var.gateway_nmcli_connection}' ipv4.address ${openstack_networking_port_v2.compute[each.key].all_fixed_ips[0]} ipv4.gateway ${var.gateway_ip}
+%{ endif ~}
+%{ if var.gateway_nmcli_connection != "" }
+      - nmcli connection up '${var.gateway_nmcli_connection}'
+%{ endif ~}
   EOF
 
 }
diff --git a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/variables.tf b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/variables.tf
index b0e489017..05d6b162e 100644
--- a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/variables.tf
+++ b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/compute/variables.tf
@@ -93,4 +93,16 @@ variable "compute_init_enable" {
     type = list(string)
     description = "Groups to activate for ansible-init compute rebuilds"
     default = []
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
+variable "gateway_nmcli_connection" {
+    description = "Name of nmcli connection for default gateway, '' for none or 'dummy0' to create a dummy interface"
+    type = string
+    default = ""
+}
+
+variable "gateway_ip" {
+    description = "IP of default gateway. Ignored when gateway_nmcli_connection == 'dummy0'"
+    type = string
+    default = ""
+}
diff --git a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/variables.tf b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/variables.tf
index bdffd40ce..5a5722175 100644
--- a/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/variables.tf
+++ b/environments/skeleton/{{cookiecutter.environment}}/terraform/variables.tf
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ variable "compute" {
                            Values are a mapping with:
                                 size: Size of volume in GB
                            **NB**: The order in /dev is not guaranteed to match the mapping
+            gateway_nmcli_connection: Name of nmcli connection to set a default
+                                      route on via cloud-init, e.g. "System eth0"
+                                      or "Bond bond0". Use "dummy0" to create
+                                      a dummy interface with dummy route.
+            gateway_ip: IP of default gateway. Ignored when gateway_nmcli_connection == "dummy0".
     EOF
 }