diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8a2c64d..3eded4d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ At [Puppet Labs](http://puppetlabs.com) we run acceptance tests on hundreds of d
 vmpooler requires the following Ruby gems be installed:
 
 - [json](http://rubygems.org/gems/json)
+- [net/scp](http://rubygems.org/gems/net-scp)
 - [rbvmomi](http://rubygems.org/gems/rbvmomi)
 - [redis](http://rubygems.org/gems/redis)
 - [sinatra](http://rubygems.org/gems/sinatra)
diff --git a/lib/vmpooler.rb b/lib/vmpooler.rb
index ef820da..5f0aa2c 100644
--- a/lib/vmpooler.rb
+++ b/lib/vmpooler.rb
@@ -2,10 +2,12 @@ require 'rubygems' unless defined?(Gem)
 
 module Vmpooler
   require 'json'
+  require 'net/scp'
   require 'open-uri'
   require 'rbvmomi'
   require 'redis'
   require 'sinatra/base'
+  require 'stringio'
   require 'time'
   require 'timeout'
   require 'yaml'
diff --git a/lib/vmpooler/api.rb b/lib/vmpooler/api.rb
index 40c9156..360c664 100644
--- a/lib/vmpooler/api.rb
+++ b/lib/vmpooler/api.rb
@@ -189,8 +189,12 @@ module Vmpooler
 
           jdata = JSON.parse(request.body.read)
 
-          jdata.each do |template, count|
-            if ( $redis.scard('vmpooler__ready__'+template) < count.to_i )
+          jdata.each do |key, val|
+            if (key == 'key')
+              result['key'] = val
+            end
+
+            if ( $redis.scard('vmpooler__ready__'+key) < val.to_i )
               available = 0
             end
           end
@@ -198,30 +202,41 @@ module Vmpooler
           if ( available == 1 )
             result['ok'] = true
 
-            jdata.each do |template, count|
-              result[template] ||= {}
+            jdata.each do |key, val|
+              if (key == 'key')
+                next
+              end
 
-              result[template]['ok'] = true ##
+              result[key] ||= {}
 
-              count.to_i.times do |i|
-                vm = $redis.spop('vmpooler__ready__'+template)
+              result[key]['ok'] = true ##
+
+              val.to_i.times do |i|
+                vm = $redis.spop('vmpooler__ready__'+key)
 
                 unless (vm.nil?)
-                  $redis.sadd('vmpooler__running__'+template, vm)
-                  $redis.hset('vmpooler__active__'+template, vm, Time.now)
+                  $redis.sadd('vmpooler__running__'+key, vm)
+                  $redis.hset('vmpooler__active__'+key, vm, Time.now)
 
-                  result[template] ||= {}
+                  result[key] ||= {}
 
-                  result[template]['ok'] = true ##
+                  result[key]['ok'] = true ##
 
-                  if ( result[template]['hostname'] )
-                    result[template]['hostname'] = [result[template]['hostname']] if ! result[template]['hostname'].is_a?(Array)
-                    result[template]['hostname'].push(vm)
+                  if ( result['key'] and $config[:config]['ssh_key'] )
+                    Net::SCP.upload!(
+                      vm, 'root', StringIO.new(result['key']), '/root/.ssh/authorized_keys',
+                      :ssh => { :keys => [ $config[:config]['ssh_key'] ] }
+                    )
+                  end
+
+                  if ( result[key]['hostname'] )
+                    result[key]['hostname'] = [result[key]['hostname']] if ! result[key]['hostname'].is_a?(Array)
+                    result[key]['hostname'].push(vm)
                   else
-                    result[template]['hostname'] = vm
+                    result[key]['hostname'] = vm
                   end
                 else
-                  result[template]['ok'] = false ##
+                  result[key]['ok'] = false ##
 
                   result['ok'] = false
                 end
diff --git a/vmpooler.yaml.example b/vmpooler.yaml.example
index a8ffc8c..87b2ddc 100644
--- a/vmpooler.yaml.example
+++ b/vmpooler.yaml.example
@@ -101,6 +101,11 @@
 #
 #   - domain
 #     If set, returns a top-level 'domain' JSON key in POST requests
+#
+#   - ssh_key
+#     The path to a private key able to log into pooled VMs.  If set, allows a
+#     'key' parameter to be passed in POST requests to '/vm', overriding root's
+#     default authorized_keys file
 
 # Example:
 
@@ -111,6 +116,7 @@
   vm_checktime: 15
   vm_lifetime: 12
   domain: 'company.com'
+  ssh_key: '/root/.ssh/id_rsa'
 
 # :pools:
 #