diff --git a/doc/source/faq.rst b/doc/source/faq.rst
index 0db8932..3562bfa 100644
--- a/doc/source/faq.rst
+++ b/doc/source/faq.rst
@@ -124,24 +124,30 @@
 
         enable_service q-svc
 
-How do I run a specific OpenStack milestone?
+How do I run a specific OpenStack release?
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-OpenStack milestones have tags set in the git repo. Set the
-appropriate tag in the ``*_BRANCH`` variables in ``local.conf``.
-Swift is on its own release schedule so pick a tag in the Swift repo
-that is just before the milestone release. For example:
+DevStack master tracks the upstream master of all the projects. If you
+would like to run a stable branch of OpenStack, you should use the
+corresponding stable branch of DevStack as well. For instance the
+``stable/kilo`` version of DevStack will already default to all the
+projects running at ``stable/kilo`` levels.
 
-    ::
+Note: it's also possible to manually adjust the ``*_BRANCH`` variables
+further if you would like to test specific milestones, or even custom
+out of tree branches. This is done with entries like the following in
+your ``local.conf``
+
+::
 
         [[local|localrc]]
-        GLANCE_BRANCH=stable/kilo
-        HORIZON_BRANCH=stable/kilo
-        KEYSTONE_BRANCH=stable/kilo
-        NOVA_BRANCH=stable/kilo
-        GLANCE_BRANCH=stable/kilo
-        NEUTRON_BRANCH=stable/kilo
-        SWIFT_BRANCH=2.3.0
+        GLANCE_BRANCH=11.0.0.0rc1
+        NOVA_BRANCH=12.0.0.0.rc1
+
+
+Upstream DevStack is only tested with master and stable
+branches. Setting custom BRANCH definitions is not guarunteed to
+produce working results.
 
 What can I do about RabbitMQ not wanting to start on my fresh new VM?
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/doc/source/guides/neutron.rst b/doc/source/guides/neutron.rst
index 2973eb6..4248445 100644
--- a/doc/source/guides/neutron.rst
+++ b/doc/source/guides/neutron.rst
@@ -125,39 +125,6 @@
 
 
 
-Disabling Next Generation Firewall Tools
-========================================
-
-DevStack does not properly operate with modern firewall tools.  Specifically
-it will appear as if the guest VM can access the external network via ICMP,
-but UDP and TCP packets will not be delivered to the guest VM.  The root cause
-of the issue is that both ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall) and firewalld (Fedora's
-firewall manager) apply firewall rules to all interfaces in the system, rather
-then per-device.  One solution to this problem is to revert to iptables
-functionality.
-
-To get a functional firewall configuration for Fedora do the following:
-
-::
-
-         sudo service iptables save
-         sudo systemctl disable firewalld
-         sudo systemctl enable iptables
-         sudo systemctl stop firewalld
-         sudo systemctl start iptables
-
-
-To get a functional firewall configuration for distributions containing ufw,
-disable ufw.  Note ufw is generally not enabled by default in Ubuntu.  To
-disable ufw if it was enabled, do the following:
-
-::
-
-        sudo service iptables save
-        sudo ufw disable
-
-
-
 
 Neutron Networking with Open vSwitch
 ====================================
@@ -301,3 +268,41 @@
 created, named `br-ex` which is managed by Open vSwitch, and the
 second interface on the compute node, `eth1` is attached to the
 bridge, to forward traffic sent by guest VMs.
+
+Miscellaneous Tips
+==================
+
+
+Disabling Next Generation Firewall Tools
+----------------------------------------
+
+DevStack does not properly operate with modern firewall tools.  Specifically
+it will appear as if the guest VM can access the external network via ICMP,
+but UDP and TCP packets will not be delivered to the guest VM.  The root cause
+of the issue is that both ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall) and firewalld (Fedora's
+firewall manager) apply firewall rules to all interfaces in the system, rather
+then per-device.  One solution to this problem is to revert to iptables
+functionality.
+
+To get a functional firewall configuration for Fedora do the following:
+
+::
+
+         sudo service iptables save
+         sudo systemctl disable firewalld
+         sudo systemctl enable iptables
+         sudo systemctl stop firewalld
+         sudo systemctl start iptables
+
+
+To get a functional firewall configuration for distributions containing ufw,
+disable ufw.  Note ufw is generally not enabled by default in Ubuntu.  To
+disable ufw if it was enabled, do the following:
+
+::
+
+        sudo service iptables save
+        sudo ufw disable
+
+
+
diff --git a/functions-common b/functions-common
index a7fec41..cfe0c8d 100644
--- a/functions-common
+++ b/functions-common
@@ -1476,6 +1476,22 @@
         # Kill via pid if we have one available
         if [[ -r $SERVICE_DIR/$SCREEN_NAME/$service.pid ]]; then
             pkill -g $(cat $SERVICE_DIR/$SCREEN_NAME/$service.pid)
+            # oslo.service tends to stop actually shutting down
+            # reliably in between releases because someone believes it
+            # is dying too early due to some inflight work they
+            # have. This is a tension. It happens often enough we're
+            # going to just account for it in devstack and assume it
+            # doesn't work.
+            #
+            # Set OSLO_SERVICE_WORKS=True to skip this block
+            if [[ -z "$OSLO_SERVICE_WORKS" ]]; then
+                # TODO(danms): Remove this double-kill when we have
+                # this fixed in all services:
+                # https://bugs.launchpad.net/oslo-incubator/+bug/1446583
+                sleep 1
+                # /bin/true becakse pkill on a non existant process returns an error
+                pkill -g $(cat $SERVICE_DIR/$SCREEN_NAME/$service.pid) || /bin/true
+            fi
             rm $SERVICE_DIR/$SCREEN_NAME/$service.pid
         fi
         if [[ "$USE_SCREEN" = "True" ]]; then
diff --git a/stack.sh b/stack.sh
index cd8a11e..c2eeaee 100755
--- a/stack.sh
+++ b/stack.sh
@@ -727,6 +727,8 @@
 
 if is_service_enabled $DATABASE_BACKENDS; then
     install_database
+fi
+if [ -n "$DATABASE_TYPE" ]; then
     install_database_python
 fi