diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/constants.py b/stack_orchestrator/constants.py
index 75bd0ebc..2c0c8de0 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/constants.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/constants.py
@@ -45,3 +45,4 @@ runtime_class_key = "runtime-class"
 high_memlock_runtime = "high-memlock"
 high_memlock_spec_filename = "high-memlock-spec.json"
 acme_email_key = "acme-email"
+kind_mount_root_key = "kind-mount-root"
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py
index da24bdc2..dc967469 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py
@@ -371,7 +371,11 @@ class ClusterInfo:
 
             if self.spec.is_kind_deployment():
                 host_path = client.V1HostPathVolumeSource(
-                    path=get_kind_pv_bind_mount_path(volume_name)
+                    path=get_kind_pv_bind_mount_path(
+                        volume_name,
+                        kind_mount_root=self.spec.get_kind_mount_root(),
+                        host_path=volume_path,
+                    )
                 )
             else:
                 host_path = client.V1HostPathVolumeSource(path=volume_path)
@@ -394,6 +398,14 @@ class ClusterInfo:
             result.append(pv)
         return result
 
+    def _any_service_has_host_network(self):
+        for pod_name in self.parsed_pod_yaml_map:
+            pod = self.parsed_pod_yaml_map[pod_name]
+            for svc in pod.get("services", {}).values():
+                if svc.get("network_mode") == "host":
+                    return True
+        return False
+
     # TODO: put things like image pull policy into an object-scope struct
     def get_deployment(self, image_pull_policy: Optional[str] = None):
         containers = []
@@ -568,6 +580,7 @@ class ClusterInfo:
                     )
                 )
 
+        use_host_network = self._any_service_has_host_network()
         template = client.V1PodTemplateSpec(
             metadata=client.V1ObjectMeta(annotations=annotations, labels=labels),
             spec=client.V1PodSpec(
@@ -577,6 +590,10 @@ class ClusterInfo:
                 affinity=affinity,
                 tolerations=tolerations,
                 runtime_class_name=self.spec.get_runtime_class(),
+                host_network=use_host_network or None,
+                dns_policy=(
+                    "ClusterFirstWithHostNet" if use_host_network else None
+                ),
             ),
         )
         spec = client.V1DeploymentSpec(
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py
index f7f8ad43..58801d33 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/deploy_k8s.py
@@ -574,14 +574,14 @@ class K8sDeployer(Deployer):
 
     def logs(self, services, tail, follow, stream):
         self.connect_api()
-        pods = pods_in_deployment(self.core_api, self.cluster_info.app_name)
+        pods = pods_in_deployment(self.core_api, self.cluster_info.app_name, namespace=self.k8s_namespace)
         if len(pods) > 1:
             print("Warning: more than one pod in the deployment")
         if len(pods) == 0:
             log_data = "******* Pods not running ********\n"
         else:
             k8s_pod_name = pods[0]
-            containers = containers_in_pod(self.core_api, k8s_pod_name)
+            containers = containers_in_pod(self.core_api, k8s_pod_name, namespace=self.k8s_namespace)
             # If pod not started, logs request below will throw an exception
             try:
                 log_data = ""
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/helpers.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/helpers.py
index 8b367f86..c7b9703d 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/helpers.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/helpers.py
@@ -393,10 +393,10 @@ def load_images_into_kind(kind_cluster_name: str, image_set: Set[str]):
             raise DeployerException(f"kind load docker-image failed: {result}")
 
 
-def pods_in_deployment(core_api: client.CoreV1Api, deployment_name: str):
+def pods_in_deployment(core_api: client.CoreV1Api, deployment_name: str, namespace: str = "default"):
     pods = []
     pod_response = core_api.list_namespaced_pod(
-        namespace="default", label_selector=f"app={deployment_name}"
+        namespace=namespace, label_selector=f"app={deployment_name}"
     )
     if opts.o.debug:
         print(f"pod_response: {pod_response}")
@@ -406,10 +406,10 @@ def pods_in_deployment(core_api: client.CoreV1Api, deployment_name: str):
     return pods
 
 
-def containers_in_pod(core_api: client.CoreV1Api, pod_name: str) -> List[str]:
+def containers_in_pod(core_api: client.CoreV1Api, pod_name: str, namespace: str = "default") -> List[str]:
     containers: List[str] = []
     pod_response = cast(
-        client.V1Pod, core_api.read_namespaced_pod(pod_name, namespace="default")
+        client.V1Pod, core_api.read_namespaced_pod(pod_name, namespace=namespace)
     )
     if opts.o.debug:
         print(f"pod_response: {pod_response}")
@@ -440,7 +440,11 @@ def named_volumes_from_pod_files(parsed_pod_files):
     return named_volumes
 
 
-def get_kind_pv_bind_mount_path(volume_name: str):
+def get_kind_pv_bind_mount_path(volume_name: str, kind_mount_root: Optional[str] = None,
+                                host_path: Optional[str] = None):
+    if kind_mount_root and host_path and host_path.startswith(kind_mount_root):
+        rel = os.path.relpath(host_path, kind_mount_root)
+        return f"/mnt/{rel}"
     return f"/mnt/{volume_name}"
 
 
@@ -563,6 +567,7 @@ def _generate_kind_mounts(parsed_pod_files, deployment_dir, deployment_context):
     volume_definitions = []
     volume_host_path_map = _get_host_paths_for_volumes(deployment_context)
     seen_host_path_mounts = set()  # Track to avoid duplicate mounts
+    kind_mount_root = deployment_context.spec.get_kind_mount_root()
 
     # Cluster state backup for offline data recovery (unique per deployment)
     # etcd contains all k8s state; PKI certs needed to decrypt etcd offline
@@ -583,6 +588,17 @@ def _generate_kind_mounts(parsed_pod_files, deployment_dir, deployment_context):
         f"  - hostPath: {pki_host_path}\n" f"    containerPath: /etc/kubernetes/pki\n"
     )
 
+    # When kind-mount-root is set, emit a single extraMount for the root.
+    # Individual volumes whose host path starts with the root are covered
+    # by this single mount and don't need their own extraMount entries.
+    mount_root_emitted = False
+    if kind_mount_root:
+        volume_definitions.append(
+            f"  - hostPath: {kind_mount_root}\n"
+            f"    containerPath: /mnt\n"
+        )
+        mount_root_emitted = True
+
     # Note these paths are relative to the location of the pod files (at present)
     # So we need to fix up to make them correct and absolute because kind assumes
     # relative to the cwd.
@@ -642,6 +658,9 @@ def _generate_kind_mounts(parsed_pod_files, deployment_dir, deployment_context):
                                         volume_host_path_map[volume_name],
                                         deployment_dir,
                                     )
+                                    # Skip individual extraMount if covered by mount root
+                                    if mount_root_emitted and str(host_path).startswith(kind_mount_root):
+                                        continue
                                     container_path = get_kind_pv_bind_mount_path(
                                         volume_name
                                     )
@@ -683,11 +702,35 @@ def _generate_kind_port_mappings_from_services(parsed_pod_files):
 
 def _generate_kind_port_mappings(parsed_pod_files):
     port_definitions = []
+    seen = set()
     # Map port 80 and 443 for the Caddy ingress controller (HTTPS support)
     for port_string in ["80", "443"]:
         port_definitions.append(
             f"  - containerPort: {port_string}\n    hostPort: {port_string}\n"
         )
+        seen.add((port_string, "TCP"))
+    # Map ports declared in compose services
+    for pod in parsed_pod_files:
+        parsed_pod_file = parsed_pod_files[pod]
+        if "services" in parsed_pod_file:
+            for service_name in parsed_pod_file["services"]:
+                service_obj = parsed_pod_file["services"][service_name]
+                for port_entry in service_obj.get("ports", []):
+                    port_str = str(port_entry)
+                    protocol = "TCP"
+                    if "/" in port_str:
+                        port_str, proto = port_str.split("/", 1)
+                        protocol = proto.upper()
+                    if ":" in port_str:
+                        port_str = port_str.split(":")[-1]
+                    port_num = port_str.strip("'\"")
+                    if (port_num, protocol) not in seen:
+                        seen.add((port_num, protocol))
+                        port_definitions.append(
+                            f"  - containerPort: {port_num}\n"
+                            f"    hostPort: {port_num}\n"
+                            f"    protocol: {protocol}\n"
+                        )
     return (
         ""
         if len(port_definitions) == 0
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/spec.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/spec.py
index e5647b04..c62d0aea 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/spec.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/spec.py
@@ -202,5 +202,8 @@ class Spec:
     def is_kind_deployment(self):
         return self.get_deployment_type() in [constants.k8s_kind_deploy_type]
 
+    def get_kind_mount_root(self):
+        return self.obj.get(constants.kind_mount_root_key)
+
     def is_docker_deployment(self):
         return self.get_deployment_type() in [constants.compose_deploy_type]
diff --git a/tests/scripts/run-test-local.sh b/tests/scripts/run-test-local.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..f6f32346
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/run-test-local.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Run a test suite locally in an isolated venv.
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ./tests/scripts/run-test-local.sh <test-script>
+#
+# Examples:
+#   ./tests/scripts/run-test-local.sh tests/webapp-test/run-webapp-test.sh
+#   ./tests/scripts/run-test-local.sh tests/smoke-test/run-smoke-test.sh
+#   ./tests/scripts/run-test-local.sh tests/k8s-deploy/run-deploy-test.sh
+#
+# The script creates a temporary venv, installs shiv, builds the laconic-so
+# package, runs the requested test, then cleans up.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
+  echo "Usage: $0 <test-script> [args...]"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+TEST_SCRIPT="$1"
+shift
+
+if [ ! -f "$TEST_SCRIPT" ]; then
+  echo "Error: $TEST_SCRIPT not found"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+REPO_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../.." && pwd)"
+VENV_DIR=$(mktemp -d /tmp/so-test-XXXXXX)
+
+cleanup() {
+  echo "Cleaning up venv: $VENV_DIR"
+  rm -rf "$VENV_DIR"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+cd "$REPO_DIR"
+
+echo "==> Creating venv in $VENV_DIR"
+python3 -m venv "$VENV_DIR"
+source "$VENV_DIR/bin/activate"
+
+echo "==> Installing shiv"
+pip install -q shiv
+
+echo "==> Building laconic-so package"
+./scripts/create_build_tag_file.sh
+./scripts/build_shiv_package.sh
+
+echo "==> Running: $TEST_SCRIPT $*"
+exec "./$TEST_SCRIPT" "$@"