diff --git a/Vagrantfile b/Vagrantfile
index 514179fe73c..55612548fb4 100644
--- a/Vagrantfile
+++ b/Vagrantfile
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ END
 end
 
 # The number of minions to provision
-$num_minion = (ENV['NUM_MINIONS'] || 1).to_i
+$num_minion = (ENV['NUM_NODES'] || 1).to_i
 
 # ip configuration
 $master_ip = ENV['MASTER_IP']
diff --git a/cluster/aws/config-default.sh b/cluster/aws/config-default.sh
index 99cea744bf1..95f9eb4f9d4 100644
--- a/cluster/aws/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/aws/config-default.sh
@@ -17,13 +17,13 @@
 ZONE=${KUBE_AWS_ZONE:-us-west-2a}
 MASTER_SIZE=${MASTER_SIZE:-}
 NODE_SIZE=${NODE_SIZE:-}
-NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-4}
+NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-4}
 
 # Dynamically set node sizes so that Heapster has enough space to run
 if [[ -z ${NODE_SIZE} ]]; then
-  if (( ${NUM_MINIONS} < 50 )); then
+  if (( ${NUM_NODES} < 50 )); then
     NODE_SIZE="t2.micro"
-  elif (( ${NUM_MINIONS} < 150 )); then
+  elif (( ${NUM_NODES} < 150 )); then
     NODE_SIZE="t2.small"
   else
     NODE_SIZE="t2.medium"
@@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ fi
 # Dynamically set the master size by the number of nodes, these are guesses
 # TODO: gather some data
 if [[ -z ${MASTER_SIZE} ]]; then
-  if (( ${NUM_MINIONS} < 50 )); then
+  if (( ${NUM_NODES} < 50 )); then
     MASTER_SIZE="t2.micro"
-  elif (( ${NUM_MINIONS} < 150 )); then
+  elif (( ${NUM_NODES} < 150 )); then
     MASTER_SIZE="t2.small"
   else
     MASTER_SIZE="t2.medium"
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER="${KUBE_ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER:-false}"
 if [[ "${ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER}" == "true" ]]; then
   # TODO: actually configure ASG or similar
   AUTOSCALER_MIN_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MIN_NODES:-1}"
-  AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES:-${NUM_MINIONS}}"
+  AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES:-${NUM_NODES}}"
   TARGET_NODE_UTILIZATION="${KUBE_TARGET_NODE_UTILIZATION:-0.7}"
 fi
 
diff --git a/cluster/aws/config-test.sh b/cluster/aws/config-test.sh
index 250955b5e6d..2512c8dbeff 100755
--- a/cluster/aws/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/aws/config-test.sh
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ ZONE=${KUBE_AWS_ZONE:-us-west-2a}
 
 MASTER_SIZE=${MASTER_SIZE:-}
 NODE_SIZE=${NODE_SIZE:-}
-NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-2}
+NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-2}
 
 # Dynamically set node sizes so that Heapster has enough space to run
 if [[ -z ${NODE_SIZE} ]]; then
-  if (( ${NUM_MINIONS} < 50 )); then
+  if (( ${NUM_NODES} < 50 )); then
     NODE_SIZE="t2.micro"
-  elif (( ${NUM_MINIONS} < 150 )); then
+  elif (( ${NUM_NODES} < 150 )); then
     NODE_SIZE="t2.small"
   else
     NODE_SIZE="t2.medium"
@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@ fi
 # Dynamically set the master size by the number of nodes, these are guesses
 # TODO: gather some data
 if [[ -z ${MASTER_SIZE} ]]; then
-  if (( ${NUM_MINIONS} < 50 )); then
+  if (( ${NUM_NODES} < 50 )); then
     MASTER_SIZE="t2.micro"
-  elif (( ${NUM_MINIONS} < 150 )); then
+  elif (( ${NUM_NODES} < 150 )); then
     MASTER_SIZE="t2.small"
   else
     MASTER_SIZE="t2.medium"
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER="${KUBE_ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER:-false}"
 if [[ "${ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER}" == "true" ]]; then
   # TODO: actually configure ASG or similar
   AUTOSCALER_MIN_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MIN_NODES:-1}"
-  AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES:-${NUM_MINIONS}}"
+  AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES:-${NUM_NODES}}"
   TARGET_NODE_UTILIZATION="${KUBE_TARGET_NODE_UTILIZATION:-0.7}"
 fi
 
diff --git a/cluster/aws/options.md b/cluster/aws/options.md
index 139a055efc0..ee1a77db31d 100644
--- a/cluster/aws/options.md
+++ b/cluster/aws/options.md
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ export MASTER_SIZE=c4.large
 export NODE_SIZE=r3.large
 ```
 
-If you don't specify master and minion sizes, the scripts will attempt to guess the correct size of the master and worker nodes based on `${NUM_MINIONS}`.
+If you don't specify master and minion sizes, the scripts will attempt to guess the correct size of the master and worker nodes based on `${NUM_NODES}`.
 In particular for clusters less than 50 nodes it will 
 use a `t2.micro` for clusters between 50 and 150 nodes it will use a `t2.small` and for clusters with greater than 150 nodes it will use a `t2.medium`.
 
diff --git a/cluster/aws/templates/create-dynamic-salt-files.sh b/cluster/aws/templates/create-dynamic-salt-files.sh
index 54c81dfc442..e14693019b3 100644
--- a/cluster/aws/templates/create-dynamic-salt-files.sh
+++ b/cluster/aws/templates/create-dynamic-salt-files.sh
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ network_provider: '$(echo "$NETWORK_PROVIDER")'
 opencontrail_tag: '$(echo "$OPENCONTRAIL_TAG")'
 opencontrail_kubernetes_tag: '$(echo "$OPENCONTRAIL_KUBERNETES_TAG")'
 opencontrail_public_subnet: '$(echo "$OPENCONTRAIL_PUBLIC_SUBNET")'
-num_nodes: $(echo "${NUM_MINIONS}")
+num_nodes: $(echo "${NUM_NODES}")
 e2e_storage_test_environment: '$(echo "$E2E_STORAGE_TEST_ENVIRONMENT" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 EOF
 
diff --git a/cluster/aws/util.sh b/cluster/aws/util.sh
index ed2905e1ffa..b3dd3ffa421 100755
--- a/cluster/aws/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/aws/util.sh
@@ -1010,8 +1010,8 @@ function start-minions() {
   ${AWS_ASG_CMD} create-auto-scaling-group \
       --auto-scaling-group-name ${ASG_NAME} \
       --launch-configuration-name ${ASG_NAME} \
-      --min-size ${NUM_MINIONS} \
-      --max-size ${NUM_MINIONS} \
+      --min-size ${NUM_NODES} \
+      --max-size ${NUM_NODES} \
       --vpc-zone-identifier ${SUBNET_ID} \
       --tags ResourceId=${ASG_NAME},ResourceType=auto-scaling-group,Key=Name,Value=${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX} \
              ResourceId=${ASG_NAME},ResourceType=auto-scaling-group,Key=Role,Value=${NODE_TAG} \
@@ -1022,7 +1022,7 @@ function start-minions() {
   attempt=0
   while true; do
     find-running-minions > $LOG
-    if [[ ${#NODE_IDS[@]} == ${NUM_MINIONS} ]]; then
+    if [[ ${#NODE_IDS[@]} == ${NUM_NODES} ]]; then
       echo -e " ${color_green}${#NODE_IDS[@]} minions started; ready${color_norm}"
       break
     fi
diff --git a/cluster/centos/config-default.sh b/cluster/centos/config-default.sh
index df04bb4f6bc..116e6f4617c 100755
--- a/cluster/centos/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/centos/config-default.sh
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ export NODES=${NODES:-"centos@172.10.0.12 centos@172.10.0.13"}
 # Number of nodes in your cluster.
 export NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-2}
 
-# Should be removed when NUM_MINIONS is deprecated in validate-cluster.sh
-export NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_NODES}
+# Should be removed when NUM_NODES is deprecated in validate-cluster.sh
+export NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES}
 
 # By default, the cluster will use the etcd installed on master.
 export ETCD_SERVERS=${ETCD_SERVERS:-"http://$MASTER_IP:4001"}
diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
index d55c106f013..316c177b1dd 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-default.sh
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ GCLOUD=gcloud
 ZONE=${KUBE_GCE_ZONE:-us-central1-b}
 MASTER_SIZE=${MASTER_SIZE:-n1-standard-2}
 NODE_SIZE=${NODE_SIZE:-n1-standard-2}
-NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-3}
+NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-3}
 MASTER_DISK_TYPE=pd-ssd
 MASTER_DISK_SIZE=${MASTER_DISK_SIZE:-20GB}
 NODE_DISK_TYPE=${NODE_DISK_TYPE:-pd-standard}
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI="${KUBE_ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI:-true}"
 ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER="${KUBE_ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER:-false}"
 if [[ "${ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER}" == "true" ]]; then
   AUTOSCALER_MIN_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MIN_NODES:-1}"
-  AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES:-${NUM_MINIONS}}"
+  AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES:-${NUM_NODES}}"
   TARGET_NODE_UTILIZATION="${KUBE_TARGET_NODE_UTILIZATION:-0.7}"
   ENABLE_CLUSTER_MONITORING=googleinfluxdb
 fi
diff --git a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
index 5bc3487dce2..6f3274b534b 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/config-test.sh
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ GCLOUD=gcloud
 ZONE=${KUBE_GCE_ZONE:-us-central1-b}
 MASTER_SIZE=${MASTER_SIZE:-n1-standard-2}
 NODE_SIZE=${NODE_SIZE:-n1-standard-2}
-NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-3}
+NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-3}
 MASTER_DISK_TYPE=pd-ssd
 MASTER_DISK_SIZE=${MASTER_DISK_SIZE:-20GB}
 NODE_DISK_TYPE=${NODE_DISK_TYPE:-pd-standard}
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI="${KUBE_ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI:-true}"
 ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER="${KUBE_ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER:-false}"
 if [[ "${ENABLE_NODE_AUTOSCALER}" == "true" ]]; then
   AUTOSCALER_MIN_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MIN_NODES:-1}"
-  AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES:-${NUM_MINIONS}}"
+  AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES="${KUBE_AUTOSCALER_MAX_NODES:-${NUM_NODES}}"
   TARGET_NODE_UTILIZATION="${KUBE_TARGET_NODE_UTILIZATION:-0.7}"
 fi
 
diff --git a/cluster/gce/configure-vm.sh b/cluster/gce/configure-vm.sh
index fab6f6527bb..c71f6fae881 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/configure-vm.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/configure-vm.sh
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ opencontrail_public_subnet: '$(echo "$OPENCONTRAIL_PUBLIC_SUBNET")'
 enable_manifest_url: '$(echo "$ENABLE_MANIFEST_URL" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 manifest_url: '$(echo "$MANIFEST_URL" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 manifest_url_header: '$(echo "$MANIFEST_URL_HEADER" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
-num_nodes: $(echo "${NUM_MINIONS}")
+num_nodes: $(echo "${NUM_NODES}")
 e2e_storage_test_environment: '$(echo "$E2E_STORAGE_TEST_ENVIRONMENT" | sed -e "s/'/''/g")'
 EOF
 
diff --git a/cluster/gce/util.sh b/cluster/gce/util.sh
index 7a9a8b56e21..aed1742c2cb 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/util.sh
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ function kube-up {
       --project "${PROJECT}" \
       --zone "${ZONE}" \
       --base-instance-name "${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}" \
-      --size "${NUM_MINIONS}" \
+      --size "${NUM_NODES}" \
       --template "$template_name" || true;
   gcloud compute instance-groups managed wait-until-stable \
       "${NODE_INSTANCE_PREFIX}-group" \
@@ -1333,7 +1333,7 @@ KUBELET_APISERVER: $(yaml-quote ${KUBELET_APISERVER:-})
 ENABLE_MANIFEST_URL: $(yaml-quote ${ENABLE_MANIFEST_URL:-false})
 MANIFEST_URL: $(yaml-quote ${MANIFEST_URL:-})
 MANIFEST_URL_HEADER: $(yaml-quote ${MANIFEST_URL_HEADER:-})
-NUM_MINIONS: $(yaml-quote ${NUM_MINIONS})
+NUM_NODES: $(yaml-quote ${NUM_NODES})
 EOF
     if [ -n "${APISERVER_TEST_ARGS:-}" ]; then
       cat >>$file <<EOF
diff --git a/cluster/gke/config-common.sh b/cluster/gke/config-common.sh
index 4d1aa16088e..5bf138c24bf 100644
--- a/cluster/gke/config-common.sh
+++ b/cluster/gke/config-common.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 # - CLUSTER_NAME  (the name of the cluster)
 
 ZONE="${ZONE:-us-central1-f}"
-NUM_MINIONS="${NUM_MINIONS:-3}"
+NUM_NODES="${NUM_NODES:-3}"
 CLUSTER_API_VERSION="${CLUSTER_API_VERSION:-}"
 NETWORK="${NETWORK:-default}"
 NETWORK_RANGE="${NETWORK_RANGE:-10.240.0.0/16}"
diff --git a/cluster/gke/util.sh b/cluster/gke/util.sh
index 03addc27acd..8f7bc2d9a7f 100755
--- a/cluster/gke/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/gke/util.sh
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ function verify-prereqs() {
 #   CLUSTER_NAME
 #   ZONE
 #   CLUSTER_API_VERSION (optional)
-#   NUM_MINIONS
+#   NUM_NODES
 #   NODE_SCOPES
 #   MACHINE_TYPE
 function kube-up() {
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ function kube-up() {
   local create_args=(
     "--zone=${ZONE}"
     "--project=${PROJECT}"
-    "--num-nodes=${NUM_MINIONS}"
+    "--num-nodes=${NUM_NODES}"
     "--network=${NETWORK}"
     "--scopes=${NODE_SCOPES}"
     "--cluster-version=${CLUSTER_API_VERSION}"
diff --git a/cluster/juju/config-test.sh b/cluster/juju/config-test.sh
index 7f7ad16b1f0..7bda9c8cbcc 100644
--- a/cluster/juju/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/juju/config-test.sh
@@ -14,4 +14,4 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-2}
+NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-2}
diff --git a/cluster/juju/util.sh b/cluster/juju/util.sh
index faa9c4e20ac..031c3cc0717 100755
--- a/cluster/juju/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/juju/util.sh
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ function detect-minions() {
     # Strip out the IP addresses
     export KUBE_NODE_IP_ADDRESSES=($(${JUJU_PATH}/return-node-ips.py "${ipoutput}"))
     # echo "Kubernetes minions: " ${KUBE_NODE_IP_ADDRESSES[@]} 1>&2
-    export NUM_MINIONS=${#KUBE_NODE_IP_ADDRESSES[@]}
+    export NUM_NODES=${#KUBE_NODE_IP_ADDRESSES[@]}
 }
 
 function get-password() {
diff --git a/cluster/kubemark/config-default.sh b/cluster/kubemark/config-default.sh
index babcdd6c4c3..f97df8dfece 100644
--- a/cluster/kubemark/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/kubemark/config-default.sh
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 GCLOUD=gcloud
 ZONE=${KUBE_GCE_ZONE:-us-central1-b}
 MASTER_SIZE=${MASTER_SIZE:-n1-standard-4}
-NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-100}
+NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-100}
 MASTER_DISK_TYPE=pd-ssd
 MASTER_DISK_SIZE=${MASTER_DISK_SIZE:-20GB}
 REGISTER_MASTER_KUBELET=${REGISTER_MASTER:-false}
diff --git a/cluster/libvirt-coreos/config-default.sh b/cluster/libvirt-coreos/config-default.sh
index d03fbe47067..93197d064fb 100644
--- a/cluster/libvirt-coreos/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/libvirt-coreos/config-default.sh
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@
 ## Contains configuration values for interacting with the libvirt CoreOS cluster
 
 # Number of minions in the cluster
-NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-3}
-export NUM_MINIONS
+NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-3}
+export NUM_NODES
 
 # The IP of the master
 export MASTER_IP="192.168.10.1"
@@ -33,18 +33,18 @@ MASTER_CONTAINER_NETMASK="255.255.255.0"
 MASTER_CONTAINER_ADDR="${NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNET_BASE}.0.1"
 MASTER_CONTAINER_SUBNET="${NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNET_BASE}.0.1/24"
 CONTAINER_SUBNET="${NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNET_BASE}.0.0/16"
-if [[ "$NUM_MINIONS" -gt 253 ]]; then
+if [[ "$NUM_NODES" -gt 253 ]]; then
   echo "ERROR: Because of how IPs are allocated in ${BASH_SOURCE}, you cannot create more than 253 nodes"
   exit 1
 fi
-for ((i=0; i < NUM_MINIONS; i++)) do
+for ((i=0; i < NUM_NODES; i++)) do
   NODE_IPS[$i]="${NODE_IP_BASE}$((i+2))"
   NODE_NAMES[$i]="${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-node-$((i+1))"
   NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNETS[$i]="${NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNET_BASE}.$((i+1)).1/24"
   NODE_CONTAINER_ADDRS[$i]="${NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNET_BASE}.$((i+1)).1"
   NODE_CONTAINER_NETMASKS[$i]="255.255.255.0"
 done
-NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNETS[$NUM_MINIONS]=$MASTER_CONTAINER_SUBNET
+NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNETS[$NUM_NODES]=$MASTER_CONTAINER_SUBNET
 
 SERVICE_CLUSTER_IP_RANGE=10.11.0.0/16  # formerly PORTAL_NET
 
diff --git a/cluster/libvirt-coreos/util.sh b/cluster/libvirt-coreos/util.sh
index 4a1c74be1b1..76dea254afb 100644
--- a/cluster/libvirt-coreos/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/libvirt-coreos/util.sh
@@ -167,8 +167,8 @@ function wait-cluster-readiness {
   local timeout=120
   while [[ $timeout -ne 0 ]]; do
     nb_ready_nodes=$("${kubectl}" get nodes -o go-template="{{range.items}}{{range.status.conditions}}{{.type}}{{end}}:{{end}}" --api-version=v1 2>/dev/null | tr ':' '\n' | grep -c Ready || true)
-    echo "Nb ready nodes: $nb_ready_nodes / $NUM_MINIONS"
-    if [[ "$nb_ready_nodes" -eq "$NUM_MINIONS" ]]; then
+    echo "Nb ready nodes: $nb_ready_nodes / $NUM_NODES"
+    if [[ "$nb_ready_nodes" -eq "$NUM_NODES" ]]; then
         return 0
     fi
 
@@ -191,8 +191,8 @@ function kube-up {
   readonly kubernetes_dir="$POOL_PATH/kubernetes"
 
   local i
-  for (( i = 0 ; i <= $NUM_MINIONS ; i++ )); do
-    if [[ $i -eq $NUM_MINIONS ]]; then
+  for (( i = 0 ; i <= $NUM_NODES ; i++ )); do
+    if [[ $i -eq $NUM_NODES ]]; then
         etcd2_initial_cluster[$i]="${MASTER_NAME}=http://${MASTER_IP}:2380"
     else
         etcd2_initial_cluster[$i]="${NODE_NAMES[$i]}=http://${NODE_IPS[$i]}:2380"
@@ -201,8 +201,8 @@ function kube-up {
   etcd2_initial_cluster=$(join , "${etcd2_initial_cluster[@]}")
   readonly machines=$(join , "${KUBE_NODE_IP_ADDRESSES[@]}")
 
-  for (( i = 0 ; i <= $NUM_MINIONS ; i++ )); do
-    if [[ $i -eq $NUM_MINIONS ]]; then
+  for (( i = 0 ; i <= $NUM_NODES ; i++ )); do
+    if [[ $i -eq $NUM_NODES ]]; then
         type=master
         name=$MASTER_NAME
         public_ip=$MASTER_IP
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ function upload-server-tars {
 function kube-push {
   kube-push-internal
   ssh-to-node "$MASTER_NAME" "sudo systemctl restart kube-apiserver kube-controller-manager kube-scheduler"
-  for ((i=0; i < NUM_MINIONS; i++)); do
+  for ((i=0; i < NUM_NODES; i++)); do
     ssh-to-node "${NODE_NAMES[$i]}" "sudo systemctl restart kubelet kube-proxy"
   done
   wait-cluster-readiness
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ function ssh-to-node {
   elif [[ "$node" == "$MASTER_NAME" ]]; then
       machine="$MASTER_IP"
   else
-    for ((i=0; i < NUM_MINIONS; i++)); do
+    for ((i=0; i < NUM_NODES; i++)); do
         if [[ "$node" == "${NODE_NAMES[$i]}" ]]; then
             machine="${NODE_IPS[$i]}"
             break
diff --git a/cluster/mesos/docker/config-default.sh b/cluster/mesos/docker/config-default.sh
index 2fee7df3537..45f45f9a548 100755
--- a/cluster/mesos/docker/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/mesos/docker/config-default.sh
@@ -16,10 +16,10 @@
 
 ## Contains configuration values for interacting with the mesos/docker cluster
 
-NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-2}
+NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-2}
 INSTANCE_PREFIX="${INSTANCE_PREFIX:-kubernetes}"
 MASTER_NAME="${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-master"
-NODE_NAMES=($(eval echo ${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion-{1..${NUM_MINIONS}}))
+NODE_NAMES=($(eval echo ${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion-{1..${NUM_NODES}}))
 
 SERVICE_CLUSTER_IP_RANGE=10.10.10.0/24
 
diff --git a/cluster/mesos/docker/config-test.sh b/cluster/mesos/docker/config-test.sh
index 4e6261bb4bd..13ab3994f7b 100644
--- a/cluster/mesos/docker/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/mesos/docker/config-test.sh
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 ## Contains configuration values for interacting with the docker-compose cluster in test mode
-#Set NUM_MINIONS to minimum required for testing.
-NUM_MINIONS=2
+#Set NUM_NODES to minimum required for testing.
+NUM_NODES=2
 
 KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/../../..
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/${KUBERNETES_PROVIDER}/config-default.sh"
diff --git a/cluster/mesos/docker/util.sh b/cluster/mesos/docker/util.sh
index 20f8f32df44..38d58991235 100644
--- a/cluster/mesos/docker/util.sh
+++ b/cluster/mesos/docker/util.sh
@@ -283,8 +283,8 @@ function kube-up {
 
   echo "Starting ${KUBERNETES_PROVIDER} cluster" 1>&2
   cluster::mesos::docker::docker_compose up -d
-  echo "Scaling ${KUBERNETES_PROVIDER} cluster to ${NUM_MINIONS} slaves"
-  cluster::mesos::docker::docker_compose scale mesosslave=${NUM_MINIONS}
+  echo "Scaling ${KUBERNETES_PROVIDER} cluster to ${NUM_NODES} slaves"
+  cluster::mesos::docker::docker_compose scale mesosslave=${NUM_NODES}
 
   # await-health-check requires GNU timeout
   # apiserver hostname resolved by docker
diff --git a/cluster/options.md b/cluster/options.md
index 726941e8a3b..3b2fa150fbb 100644
--- a/cluster/options.md
+++ b/cluster/options.md
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ These options apply across providers.  There are additional documents for option
 
 This is a work-in-progress; not all options are documented yet!
 
-**NUM_MINIONS**
+**NUM_NODES**
 
 The number of minion instances to create.  Most providers default this to 4.
 
diff --git a/cluster/rackspace/config-default.sh b/cluster/rackspace/config-default.sh
index 96652ad059d..e383ebc9726 100755
--- a/cluster/rackspace/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/rackspace/config-default.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # Sane defaults for dev environments. The following variables can be easily overriden
 # by setting each as a ENV variable ahead of time:
-# KUBE_IMAGE, KUBE_MASTER_FLAVOR, KUBE_NODE_FLAVOR, NUM_MINIONS, NOVA_NETWORK and SSH_KEY_NAME
+# KUBE_IMAGE, KUBE_MASTER_FLAVOR, KUBE_NODE_FLAVOR, NUM_NODES, NOVA_NETWORK and SSH_KEY_NAME
 
 # Shared
 KUBE_IMAGE="${KUBE_IMAGE-f2a71670-ced3-4274-80b6-0efcd0f8f91b}" # CoreOS(Beta)
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ MASTER_TAG="tags=${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-master"
 
 # Node
 KUBE_NODE_FLAVOR="${KUBE_NODE_FLAVOR-general1-2}"
-NUM_MINIONS="${NUM_MINIONS-4}"
+NUM_NODES="${NUM_NODES-4}"
 NODE_TAG="tags=${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-node"
-NODE_NAMES=($(eval echo ${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-node-{1..${NUM_MINIONS}}))
+NODE_NAMES=($(eval echo ${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-node-{1..${NUM_NODES}}))
 KUBE_NETWORK="10.240.0.0/16"
 SERVICE_CLUSTER_IP_RANGE="10.0.0.0/16"  # formerly PORTAL_NET
 
diff --git a/cluster/ubuntu/config-default.sh b/cluster/ubuntu/config-default.sh
index 680157b033b..16b6c65bad5 100755
--- a/cluster/ubuntu/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/ubuntu/config-default.sh
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ role=${role:-"ai i i"}
 export roles=($role)
 
 # Define minion numbers
-export NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-3}
+export NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-3}
 # define the IP range used for service cluster IPs.
 # according to rfc 1918 ref: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1918 choose a private ip range here.
 export SERVICE_CLUSTER_IP_RANGE=${SERVICE_CLUSTER_IP_RANGE:-192.168.3.0/24}  # formerly PORTAL_NET
diff --git a/cluster/vagrant/config-default.sh b/cluster/vagrant/config-default.sh
index 86301b7b4b8..d7acde8f18f 100755
--- a/cluster/vagrant/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/vagrant/config-default.sh
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@
 ## Contains configuration values for interacting with the Vagrant cluster
 
 # Number of minions in the cluster
-NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS-"1"}
-export NUM_MINIONS
+NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES-"1"}
+export NUM_NODES
 
 # The IP of the master
 export MASTER_IP=${MASTER_IP-"10.245.1.2"}
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ MASTER_CONTAINER_NETMASK="255.255.255.0"
 MASTER_CONTAINER_ADDR="${NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNET_BASE}.0.1"
 MASTER_CONTAINER_SUBNET="${NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNET_BASE}.0.1/24"
 CONTAINER_SUBNET="${NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNET_BASE}.0.0/16"
-for ((i=0; i < NUM_MINIONS; i++)) do
+for ((i=0; i < NUM_NODES; i++)) do
   NODE_IPS[$i]="${NODE_IP_BASE}$((i+3))"
   NODE_NAMES[$i]="${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion-$((i+1))"
   NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNETS[$i]="${NODE_CONTAINER_SUBNET_BASE}.$((i+1)).1/24"
diff --git a/cluster/vagrant/config-test.sh b/cluster/vagrant/config-test.sh
index 8998b533905..e9919743ffd 100644
--- a/cluster/vagrant/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/vagrant/config-test.sh
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 ## Contains configuration values for interacting with the Vagrant cluster in test mode
-#Set NUM_MINIONS to minimum required for testing.
-NUM_MINIONS=2
+#Set NUM_NODES to minimum required for testing.
+NUM_NODES=2
 
 KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/../..
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/vagrant/config-default.sh"
diff --git a/cluster/vagrant/pod-ip-test.sh b/cluster/vagrant/pod-ip-test.sh
index 23031482576..f397ab8c438 100755
--- a/cluster/vagrant/pod-ip-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/vagrant/pod-ip-test.sh
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ cd "${KUBE_ROOT}"
 echo All verbose output will be redirected to $logfile, use --logfile option to change.
 
 printf "Start the cluster with 2 minions .. "
-export NUM_MINIONS=2
+export NUM_NODES=2
 export KUBERNETES_PROVIDER=vagrant
 
 (cluster/kube-up.sh >>"$logfile" 2>&1) || true
diff --git a/cluster/validate-cluster.sh b/cluster/validate-cluster.sh
index e3682b219d9..7867d0f1581 100755
--- a/cluster/validate-cluster.sh
+++ b/cluster/validate-cluster.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/kube-env.sh"
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/kube-util.sh"
 
-EXPECTED_NUM_NODES="${NUM_MINIONS}"
+EXPECTED_NUM_NODES="${NUM_NODES}"
 if [[ "${REGISTER_MASTER_KUBELET:-}" == "true" ]]; then
   EXPECTED_NUM_NODES=$((EXPECTED_NUM_NODES+1))
 fi
diff --git a/cluster/vsphere/config-default.sh b/cluster/vsphere/config-default.sh
index 6ef11a521bf..a1b8ac2107d 100755
--- a/cluster/vsphere/config-default.sh
+++ b/cluster/vsphere/config-default.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-NUM_MINIONS=4
+NUM_NODES=4
 DISK=./kube/kube.vmdk
 GUEST_ID=debian7_64Guest
 
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ MASTER_NAME="${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-master"
 MASTER_MEMORY_MB=1024
 MASTER_CPU=1
 
-NODE_NAMES=($(eval echo ${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion-{1..${NUM_MINIONS}}))
-NODE_IP_RANGES=($(eval echo "10.244.{1..${NUM_MINIONS}}.0/24"))
+NODE_NAMES=($(eval echo ${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion-{1..${NUM_NODES}}))
+NODE_IP_RANGES=($(eval echo "10.244.{1..${NUM_NODES}}.0/24"))
 NODE_MEMORY_MB=2048
 NODE_CPU=1
 
diff --git a/cluster/vsphere/config-test.sh b/cluster/vsphere/config-test.sh
index e2d65854a19..0a7013fa5d2 100755
--- a/cluster/vsphere/config-test.sh
+++ b/cluster/vsphere/config-test.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-NUM_MINIONS=2
+NUM_NODES=2
 DISK=./kube/kube.vmdk
 GUEST_ID=debian7_64Guest
 
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ MASTER_NAME="${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-master"
 MASTER_MEMORY_MB=1024
 MASTER_CPU=1
 
-NODE_NAMES=($(eval echo ${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion-{1..${NUM_MINIONS}}))
-NODE_IP_RANGES=($(eval echo "10.244.{1..${NUM_MINIONS}}.0/24"))
+NODE_NAMES=($(eval echo ${INSTANCE_PREFIX}-minion-{1..${NUM_NODES}}))
+NODE_IP_RANGES=($(eval echo "10.244.{1..${NUM_NODES}}.0/24"))
 NODE_MEMORY_MB=1024
 NODE_CPU=1
 
diff --git a/docs/admin/cluster-large.md b/docs/admin/cluster-large.md
index 350da95e9e8..ceb51ff8dfe 100644
--- a/docs/admin/cluster-large.md
+++ b/docs/admin/cluster-large.md
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ At v1.0, Kubernetes supports clusters up to 100 nodes with 30 pods per node and
 
 A cluster is a set of nodes (physical or virtual machines) running Kubernetes agents, managed by a "master" (the cluster-level control plane).
 
-Normally the number of nodes in a cluster is controlled by the the value `NUM_MINIONS` in the platform-specific `config-default.sh` file (for example, see [GCE's `config-default.sh`](http://releases.k8s.io/HEAD/cluster/gce/config-default.sh)).
+Normally the number of nodes in a cluster is controlled by the the value `NUM_NODES` in the platform-specific `config-default.sh` file (for example, see [GCE's `config-default.sh`](http://releases.k8s.io/HEAD/cluster/gce/config-default.sh)).
 
 Simply changing that value to something very large, however, may cause the setup script to fail for many cloud providers. A GCE deployment, for example, will run in to quota issues and fail to bring the cluster up.
 
diff --git a/docs/design/aws_under_the_hood.md b/docs/design/aws_under_the_hood.md
index 9fe46d6f288..a55c09e31e5 100644
--- a/docs/design/aws_under_the_hood.md
+++ b/docs/design/aws_under_the_hood.md
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ cross-AZ-clusters are more convenient.
 * For auto-scaling, on each nodes it creates a launch configuration and group.
   The name for both is <*KUBE_AWS_INSTANCE_PREFIX*>-minion-group. The default
   name is kubernetes-minion-group. The auto-scaling group has a min and max size
-  that are both set to NUM_MINIONS. You can change the size of the auto-scaling
+  that are both set to NUM_NODES. You can change the size of the auto-scaling
   group to add or remove the total number of nodes from within the AWS API or
   Console. Each nodes self-configures, meaning that they come up; run Salt with
   the stored configuration; connect to the master; are assigned an internal CIDR;
diff --git a/docs/devel/developer-guides/vagrant.md b/docs/devel/developer-guides/vagrant.md
index 291b85bc37c..2d628abb736 100644
--- a/docs/devel/developer-guides/vagrant.md
+++ b/docs/devel/developer-guides/vagrant.md
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ Congratulations!
 The following will run all of the end-to-end testing scenarios assuming you set your environment in `cluster/kube-env.sh`:
 
 ```sh
-NUM_MINIONS=3 hack/e2e-test.sh
+NUM_NODES=3 hack/e2e-test.sh
 ```
 
 ### Troubleshooting
@@ -350,10 +350,10 @@ Are you sure you built a release first? Did you install `net-tools`? For more cl
 
 #### I want to change the number of nodes!
 
-You can control the number of nodes that are instantiated via the environment variable `NUM_MINIONS` on your host machine.  If you plan to work with replicas, we strongly encourage you to work with enough nodes to satisfy your largest intended replica size.  If you do not plan to work with replicas, you can save some system resources by running with a single node. You do this, by setting `NUM_MINIONS` to 1 like so:
+You can control the number of nodes that are instantiated via the environment variable `NUM_NODES` on your host machine.  If you plan to work with replicas, we strongly encourage you to work with enough nodes to satisfy your largest intended replica size.  If you do not plan to work with replicas, you can save some system resources by running with a single node. You do this, by setting `NUM_NODES` to 1 like so:
 
 ```sh
-export NUM_MINIONS=1
+export NUM_NODES=1
 ```
 
 #### I want my VMs to have more memory!
diff --git a/docs/devel/kubemark-guide.md b/docs/devel/kubemark-guide.md
index 758963dec7d..df0ecb96271 100644
--- a/docs/devel/kubemark-guide.md
+++ b/docs/devel/kubemark-guide.md
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ To start a Kubemark cluster on GCE you need to create an external cluster (it ca
 `make quick-release`) and run `test/kubemark/start-kubemark.sh` script. This script will create a VM for master components, Pods for HollowNodes and do all the setup necessary
 to let them talk to each other. It will use the configuration stored in `cluster/kubemark/config-default.sh` - you can tweak it however you want, but note that some features
 may not be implemented yet, as implementation of Hollow components/mocks will probably be lagging behind ‘real’ one. For performance tests interesting variables are
-`NUM_MINIONS` and `MASTER_SIZE`. After start-kubemark script is finished you’ll have a ready Kubemark cluster, a kubeconfig file for talking to the Kubemark
+`NUM_NODES` and `MASTER_SIZE`. After start-kubemark script is finished you’ll have a ready Kubemark cluster, a kubeconfig file for talking to the Kubemark
 cluster is stored in `test/kubemark/kubeconfig.loc`.
 
 Currently we're running HollowNode with limit of 0.05 a CPU core and ~60MB or memory, which taking into account default cluster addons and fluentD running on an 'external'
diff --git a/docs/getting-started-guides/aws.md b/docs/getting-started-guides/aws.md
index 7c7aab9fb67..3e36cfaa8a8 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started-guides/aws.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started-guides/aws.md
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ You can override the variables defined in [config-default.sh](http://releases.k8
 
 ```bash
 export KUBE_AWS_ZONE=eu-west-1c
-export NUM_MINIONS=2
+export NUM_NODES=2
 export NODE_SIZE=m3.medium
 export AWS_S3_REGION=eu-west-1
 export AWS_S3_BUCKET=mycompany-kubernetes-artifacts
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ export INSTANCE_PREFIX=k8s
 ...
 ```
 
-The scripts will attempt to guess the correct size of the master and worker nodes based on `${NUM_MINIONS}`, in particular for clusters less than 50 nodes it will
+The scripts will attempt to guess the correct size of the master and worker nodes based on `${NUM_NODES}`, in particular for clusters less than 50 nodes it will
 use a `t2.micro` for clusters between 50 and 150 nodes it will use a `t2.small` and for clusters with greater than 150 nodes it will use a `t2.medium`.
 
 It will also try to create or reuse a keypair called "kubernetes", and IAM profiles called "kubernetes-master" and "kubernetes-minion".
diff --git a/docs/getting-started-guides/libvirt-coreos.md b/docs/getting-started-guides/libvirt-coreos.md
index 7d73a560491..2d3ec2ad050 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started-guides/libvirt-coreos.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started-guides/libvirt-coreos.md
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ cluster/kube-up.sh
 
 The `KUBERNETES_PROVIDER` environment variable tells all of the various cluster management scripts which variant to use.  If you forget to set this, the assumption is you are running on Google Compute Engine.
 
-The `NUM_MINIONS` environment variable may be set to specify the number of nodes to start. If it is not set, the number of nodes defaults to 3.
+The `NUM_NODES` environment variable may be set to specify the number of nodes to start. If it is not set, the number of nodes defaults to 3.
 
 The `KUBE_PUSH` environment variable may be set to specify which Kubernetes binaries must be deployed on the cluster. Its possible values are:
 
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ export KUBERNETES_PROVIDER=libvirt-coreos
 Bring up a libvirt-CoreOS cluster of 5 nodes
 
 ```sh
-NUM_MINIONS=5 cluster/kube-up.sh
+NUM_NODES=5 cluster/kube-up.sh
 ```
 
 Destroy the libvirt-CoreOS cluster
diff --git a/docs/getting-started-guides/rackspace.md b/docs/getting-started-guides/rackspace.md
index 7ad434b4c81..25188d8e347 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started-guides/rackspace.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started-guides/rackspace.md
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ There is a specific `cluster/rackspace` directory with the scripts for the follo
   - flanneld uses this network for next hop routing. These routes allow the containers running on each node to communicate with one another on this private network.
 2. A SSH key will be created and uploaded if needed. This key must be used to ssh into the machines (we do not capture the password).
 3. The master server and additional nodes will be created via the `nova` CLI. A `cloud-config.yaml` is generated and provided as user-data with the entire configuration for the systems.
-4. We then boot as many nodes as defined via `$NUM_MINIONS`.
+4. We then boot as many nodes as defined via `$NUM_NODES`.
 
 ## Some notes
 
diff --git a/docs/getting-started-guides/ubuntu.md b/docs/getting-started-guides/ubuntu.md
index 0b0041714b3..9c5151a1b65 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started-guides/ubuntu.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started-guides/ubuntu.md
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ export nodes="vcap@10.10.103.250 vcap@10.10.103.162 vcap@10.10.103.223"
 
 export role="ai i i"
 
-export NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-3}
+export NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-3}
 
 export SERVICE_CLUSTER_IP_RANGE=192.168.3.0/24
 
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ separated with blank space like `<user_1@ip_1> <user_2@ip_2> <user_3@ip_3> `
 Then the `role` variable defines the role of above machine in the same order, "ai" stands for machine
 acts as both master and node, "a" stands for master, "i" stands for node.
 
-The `NUM_MINIONS` variable defines the total number of nodes.
+The `NUM_NODES` variable defines the total number of nodes.
 
 The `SERVICE_CLUSTER_IP_RANGE` variable defines the kubernetes service IP range. Please make sure
 that you do have a valid private ip range defined here, because some IaaS provider may reserve private ips.
diff --git a/docs/getting-started-guides/vagrant.md b/docs/getting-started-guides/vagrant.md
index 5e48b7b1fc4..055070dd1d1 100644
--- a/docs/getting-started-guides/vagrant.md
+++ b/docs/getting-started-guides/vagrant.md
@@ -389,10 +389,10 @@ Log on to one of the nodes (`vagrant ssh node-1`) and inspect the salt minion lo
 
 #### I want to change the number of nodes!
 
-You can control the number of nodes that are instantiated via the environment variable `NUM_MINIONS` on your host machine.  If you plan to work with replicas, we strongly encourage you to work with enough nodes to satisfy your largest intended replica size.  If you do not plan to work with replicas, you can save some system resources by running with a single node. You do this, by setting `NUM_MINIONS` to 1 like so:
+You can control the number of nodes that are instantiated via the environment variable `NUM_NODES` on your host machine.  If you plan to work with replicas, we strongly encourage you to work with enough nodes to satisfy your largest intended replica size.  If you do not plan to work with replicas, you can save some system resources by running with a single node. You do this, by setting `NUM_NODES` to 1 like so:
 
 ```sh
-export NUM_MINIONS=1
+export NUM_NODES=1
 ```
 
 #### I want my VMs to have more memory!
diff --git a/examples/celery-rabbitmq/README.md b/examples/celery-rabbitmq/README.md
index d508e460701..5349acea795 100644
--- a/examples/celery-rabbitmq/README.md
+++ b/examples/celery-rabbitmq/README.md
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ At the end of the example, we will have:
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-You should already have turned up a Kubernetes cluster. To get the most of this example, ensure that Kubernetes will create more than one node (e.g. by setting your `NUM_MINIONS` environment variable to 2 or more).
+You should already have turned up a Kubernetes cluster. To get the most of this example, ensure that Kubernetes will create more than one node (e.g. by setting your `NUM_NODES` environment variable to 2 or more).
 
 
 ## Step 1: Start the RabbitMQ service
diff --git a/examples/runtime-constraints/README.md b/examples/runtime-constraints/README.md
index 410988e172a..35112f9ac12 100644
--- a/examples/runtime-constraints/README.md
+++ b/examples/runtime-constraints/README.md
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ of compute resources easier to follow by starting with an empty cluster.
 
 ```
 $ export KUBERNETES_PROVIDER=vagrant
-$ export NUM_MINIONS=1
+$ export NUM_NODES=1
 $ export KUBE_ENABLE_CLUSTER_MONITORING=none
 $ export KUBE_ENABLE_CLUSTER_DNS=false
 $ export KUBE_ENABLE_CLUSTER_UI=false
diff --git a/hack/conformance-test.sh b/hack/conformance-test.sh
index 60fd725cfb6..ee16a6bb1ae 100755
--- a/hack/conformance-test.sh
+++ b/hack/conformance-test.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 # supports key features for Kubernetes version 1.0.
 
 # Instructions:
-#  - Setup a Kubernetes cluster with $NUM_MINIONS nodes (defined below).
+#  - Setup a Kubernetes cluster with $NUM_NODES nodes (defined below).
 #  - Provide a Kubeconfig file whose current context is set to the
 #    cluster to be tested, and with suitable auth setting.
 #  - Specify the location of that kubeconfig with, e.g.:
@@ -78,10 +78,10 @@ echo "Conformance test checking conformance with Kubernetes version 1.0"
 # somewhere in the description (i.e. either in the Describe part or the It part).
 # The list of tagged conformance tests can be retrieved by:
 #
-# NUM_MINIONS=4 KUBERNETES_CONFORMANCE_TEST="y" \
+# NUM_NODES=4 KUBERNETES_CONFORMANCE_TEST="y" \
 # hack/ginkgo-e2e.sh -ginkgo.focus='\[Conformance\]' -ginkgo.dryRun=true
 
 declare -x KUBERNETES_CONFORMANCE_TEST="y"
-declare -x NUM_MINIONS=4
+declare -x NUM_NODES=4
 hack/ginkgo-e2e.sh -ginkgo.focus='\[Conformance\]' -ginkgo.skip='\[Skipped\]'
 exit $?
diff --git a/hack/ginkgo-e2e.sh b/hack/ginkgo-e2e.sh
index 3cffaab44af..00069250390 100755
--- a/hack/ginkgo-e2e.sh
+++ b/hack/ginkgo-e2e.sh
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ export PATH=$(dirname "${e2e_test}"):"${PATH}"
   --cluster-tag="${CLUSTER_ID:-}" \
   --repo-root="${KUBE_VERSION_ROOT}" \
   --node-instance-group="${NODE_INSTANCE_GROUP:-}" \
-  --num-nodes="${NUM_MINIONS:-}" \
+  --num-nodes="${NUM_NODES:-}" \
   --prefix="${KUBE_GCE_INSTANCE_PREFIX:-e2e}" \
   ${E2E_CLEAN_START:+"--clean-start=true"} \
   ${E2E_MIN_STARTUP_PODS:+"--minStartupPods=${E2E_MIN_STARTUP_PODS}"} \
diff --git a/hack/jenkins/e2e.sh b/hack/jenkins/e2e.sh
index 100258d565a..b2c36bb7d21 100755
--- a/hack/jenkins/e2e.sh
+++ b/hack/jenkins/e2e.sh
@@ -102,12 +102,12 @@ fi
 if [[ "${KUBERNETES_PROVIDER}" == "aws" ]]; then
   if [[ "${PERFORMANCE:-}" == "true" ]]; then
     : ${MASTER_SIZE:="m3.xlarge"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:="100"}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:="100"}
     : ${GINKGO_TEST_ARGS:="--ginkgo.focus=\[Performance\]"}
   else
     : ${MASTER_SIZE:="m3.large"}
     : ${NODE_SIZE:="m3.large"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:="3"}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:="3"}
   fi
 fi
 
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${PROJECT:="kubernetes-jenkins-pull"}
     : ${ENABLE_DEPLOYMENTS:=true}
     # Override GCE defaults
-    NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_NODES_PARALLEL}
+    NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES_PARALLEL}
     ;;
 
   # Runs all non-flaky tests on GCE in parallel.
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${PROJECT:="kubernetes-jenkins"}
     : ${ENABLE_DEPLOYMENTS:=true}
     # Override GCE defaults
-    NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_NODES_PARALLEL}
+    NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES_PARALLEL}
     ;;
 
   # Runs all non-flaky tests on AWS in parallel.
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
           )"}
     : ${ENABLE_DEPLOYMENTS:=true}
     # Override AWS defaults.
-    NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_NODES_PARALLEL}
+    NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES_PARALLEL}
     ;;
 
   # Runs the flaky tests on GCE in parallel.
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${PROJECT:="k8s-jkns-e2e-gce-prl-flaky"}
     : ${FAIL_ON_GCP_RESOURCE_LEAK:="true"}
     # Override GCE defaults.
-    NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_NODES_PARALLEL}
+    NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES_PARALLEL}
     ;;
 
   # Runs only the reboot tests on GCE.
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     MASTER_SIZE="n1-standard-4"
     NODE_SIZE="n1-standard-2"
     NODE_DISK_SIZE="50GB"
-    NUM_MINIONS="100"
+    NUM_NODES="100"
     # Reduce logs verbosity
     TEST_CLUSTER_LOG_LEVEL="--v=2"
     # Increase resync period to simulate production
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     MASTER_SIZE="n1-standard-4"
     NODE_SIZE="n1-standard-2"
     NODE_DISK_SIZE="50GB"
-    NUM_MINIONS="100"
+    NUM_NODES="100"
     # Reduce logs verbosity
     TEST_CLUSTER_LOG_LEVEL="--v=2"
     # Increase resync period to simulate production
@@ -1195,7 +1195,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${E2E_UP:="true"}
     : ${E2E_TEST:="false"}
     : ${E2E_DOWN:="false"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     ;;
 
   kubernetes-upgrade-gce-step2-upgrade-master)
@@ -1208,7 +1208,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${E2E_TEST:="true"}
     : ${E2E_DOWN:="false"}
     : ${GINKGO_TEST_ARGS:="--ginkgo.focus=Cluster\sUpgrade.*upgrade-master"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     : ${KUBE_ENABLE_DEPLOYMENTS:=true}
     : ${KUBE_ENABLE_DAEMONSETS:=true}
     ;;
@@ -1230,7 +1230,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
           ${GCE_DEFAULT_SKIP_TESTS[@]:+${GCE_DEFAULT_SKIP_TESTS[@]}} \
           ${GCE_FLAKY_TESTS[@]:+${GCE_FLAKY_TESTS[@]}} \
           )"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     ;;
 
   kubernetes-upgrade-gce-step4-upgrade-cluster)
@@ -1243,7 +1243,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${E2E_TEST:="true"}
     : ${E2E_DOWN:="false"}
     : ${GINKGO_TEST_ARGS:="--ginkgo.focus=Cluster\sUpgrade.*upgrade-cluster"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     : ${KUBE_ENABLE_DEPLOYMENTS:=true}
     : ${KUBE_ENABLE_DAEMONSETS:=true}
     ;;
@@ -1263,7 +1263,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
           ${GCE_DEFAULT_SKIP_TESTS[@]:+${GCE_DEFAULT_SKIP_TESTS[@]}} \
           ${GCE_FLAKY_TESTS[@]:+${GCE_FLAKY_TESTS[@]}} \
           )"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     ;;
 
   kubernetes-upgrade-gce-step6-e2e-new)
@@ -1282,7 +1282,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
           ${GCE_FLAKY_TESTS[@]:+${GCE_FLAKY_TESTS[@]}} \
           ${GCE_SLOW_TESTS[@]:+${GCE_SLOW_TESTS[@]}} \
           )"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     ;;
 
   # kubernetes-upgrade-gce-1.0-current-release
@@ -1305,7 +1305,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${E2E_TEST:="false"}
     : ${E2E_DOWN:="false"}
     : ${KUBE_GCE_INSTANCE_PREFIX:="e2e-upgrade-1-0"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     ;;
 
   kubernetes-upgrade-1.0-current-release-gce-step2-upgrade-master)
@@ -1321,7 +1321,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${E2E_DOWN:="false"}
     : ${GINKGO_TEST_ARGS:="--ginkgo.focus=Cluster\sUpgrade.*upgrade-master --upgrade-target=${CURRENT_RELEASE_PUBLISHED_VERSION}"}
     : ${KUBE_GCE_INSTANCE_PREFIX:="e2e-upgrade-1-0"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     : ${KUBE_ENABLE_DEPLOYMENTS:=true}
     : ${KUBE_ENABLE_DAEMONSETS:=true}
     ;;
@@ -1342,7 +1342,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
           ${GCE_FLAKY_TESTS[@]:+${GCE_FLAKY_TESTS[@]}} \
           )"}
     : ${KUBE_GCE_INSTANCE_PREFIX:="e2e-upgrade-1-0"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     ;;
 
   kubernetes-upgrade-1.0-current-release-gce-step4-upgrade-cluster)
@@ -1358,7 +1358,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${E2E_DOWN:="false"}
     : ${GINKGO_TEST_ARGS:="--ginkgo.focus=Cluster\sUpgrade.*upgrade-cluster --upgrade-target=${CURRENT_RELEASE_PUBLISHED_VERSION}"}
     : ${KUBE_GCE_INSTANCE_PREFIX:="e2e-upgrade-1-0"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     : ${KUBE_ENABLE_DEPLOYMENTS:=true}
     : ${KUBE_ENABLE_DAEMONSETS:=true}
     ;;
@@ -1379,7 +1379,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
           ${GCE_FLAKY_TESTS[@]:+${GCE_FLAKY_TESTS[@]}} \
           )"}
     : ${KUBE_GCE_INSTANCE_PREFIX:="e2e-upgrade-1-0"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     ;;
 
   kubernetes-upgrade-1.0-current-release-gce-step6-e2e-new)
@@ -1400,7 +1400,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
           ${GCE_SLOW_TESTS[@]:+${GCE_SLOW_TESTS[@]}} \
           )"}
     : ${KUBE_GCE_INSTANCE_PREFIX:="e2e-upgrade-1-0"}
-    : ${NUM_MINIONS:=5}
+    : ${NUM_NODES:=5}
     ;;
 
   # Run Kubemark test on a fake 100 node cluster to have a comparison
@@ -1415,7 +1415,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${USE_KUBEMARK:="true"}
     # Override defaults to be indpendent from GCE defaults and set kubemark parameters
     KUBE_GCE_INSTANCE_PREFIX="kubemark100"
-    NUM_MINIONS="10"
+    NUM_NODES="10"
     MASTER_SIZE="n1-standard-2"
     NODE_SIZE="n1-standard-1"
     KUBEMARK_MASTER_SIZE="n1-standard-4"
@@ -1433,7 +1433,7 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${E2E_TEST:="false"}
     : ${USE_KUBEMARK:="true"}
     # Override defaults to be indpendent from GCE defaults and set kubemark parameters
-    NUM_MINIONS="6"
+    NUM_NODES="6"
     MASTER_SIZE="n1-standard-4"
     NODE_SIZE="n1-standard-8"
     KUBE_GCE_INSTANCE_PREFIX="kubemark500"
@@ -1453,10 +1453,10 @@ case ${JOB_NAME} in
     : ${USE_KUBEMARK:="true"}
     # Override defaults to be indpendent from GCE defaults and set kubemark parameters
     # We need 11 so that we won't hit max-pods limit (set to 100). TODO: do it in a nicer way.
-    NUM_MINIONS="11"
+    NUM_NODES="11"
     MASTER_SIZE="n1-standard-4"
     NODE_SIZE="n1-standard-8"   # Note: can fit about 17 hollow nodes per core
-    #                                     so NUM_MINIONS x cores_per_minion should
+    #                                     so NUM_NODES x cores_per_minion should
     #                                     be set accordingly.
     KUBE_GCE_INSTANCE_PREFIX="kubemark1000"
     E2E_ZONE="asia-east1-a"
@@ -1502,7 +1502,7 @@ export KUBE_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_API=${ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_API:-}
 export MASTER_SIZE=${MASTER_SIZE:-}
 export NODE_SIZE=${NODE_SIZE:-}
 export NODE_DISK_SIZE=${NODE_DISK_SIZE:-}
-export NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_MINIONS:-}
+export NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES:-}
 export TEST_CLUSTER_LOG_LEVEL=${TEST_CLUSTER_LOG_LEVEL:-}
 export TEST_CLUSTER_RESYNC_PERIOD=${TEST_CLUSTER_RESYNC_PERIOD:-}
 export PROJECT=${PROJECT:-}
@@ -1715,15 +1715,15 @@ fi
 ### Start Kubemark ###
 if [[ "${USE_KUBEMARK:-}" == "true" ]]; then
   export RUN_FROM_DISTRO=true
-  NUM_NODES_BKP=${NUM_MINIONS}
+  NUM_NODES_BKP=${NUM_NODES}
   MASTER_SIZE_BKP=${MASTER_SIZE}
   ./test/kubemark/stop-kubemark.sh
-  NUM_MINIONS=${KUBEMARK_NUM_NODES:-$NUM_MINIONS}
+  NUM_NODES=${KUBEMARK_NUM_NODES:-$NUM_NODES}
   MASTER_SIZE=${KUBEMARK_MASTER_SIZE:-$MASTER_SIZE}
   ./test/kubemark/start-kubemark.sh
   ./test/kubemark/run-e2e-tests.sh --ginkgo.focus="should\sallow\sstarting\s30\spods\sper\snode" --delete-namespace="false" --gather-resource-usage="false"
   ./test/kubemark/stop-kubemark.sh
-  NUM_MINIONS=${NUM_NODES_BKP}
+  NUM_NODES=${NUM_NODES_BKP}
   MASTER_SIZE=${MASTER_SIZE_BKP}
   unset RUN_FROM_DISTRO
   unset NUM_NODES_BKP
diff --git a/test/kubemark/start-kubemark.sh b/test/kubemark/start-kubemark.sh
index ddcbf65f0dd..6db0c5f378a 100755
--- a/test/kubemark/start-kubemark.sh
+++ b/test/kubemark/start-kubemark.sh
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ contexts:
 current-context: kubemark-context
 EOF
 
-sed "s/##numreplicas##/${NUM_MINIONS:-10}/g" ${KUBE_ROOT}/test/kubemark/hollow-node_template.json > ${KUBE_ROOT}/test/kubemark/hollow-node.json
+sed "s/##numreplicas##/${NUM_NODES:-10}/g" ${KUBE_ROOT}/test/kubemark/hollow-node_template.json > ${KUBE_ROOT}/test/kubemark/hollow-node.json
 sed -i'' -e "s/##project##/${PROJECT}/g" ${KUBE_ROOT}/test/kubemark/hollow-node.json
 kubectl create -f ${KUBE_ROOT}/test/kubemark/kubemark-ns.json
 kubectl create -f ${KUBECONFIG_SECRET} --namespace="kubemark"
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ rm ${KUBECONFIG_SECRET}
 
 echo "Waiting for all HollowNodes to become Running..."
 echo "This can loop forever if something crashed."
-until [[ "$(kubectl --kubeconfig=${KUBE_ROOT}/test/kubemark/kubeconfig.loc get node | grep Ready | wc -l)" == "${NUM_MINIONS}" ]]; do
+until [[ "$(kubectl --kubeconfig=${KUBE_ROOT}/test/kubemark/kubeconfig.loc get node | grep Ready | wc -l)" == "${NUM_NODES}" ]]; do
   echo -n .
   sleep 1
 done