diff --git a/ds-collector-tests/cluster-dse-k8s.make b/ds-collector-tests/cluster-dse-k8s.make
index d8375ab..d8b83fb 100755
--- a/ds-collector-tests/cluster-dse-k8s.make
+++ b/ds-collector-tests/cluster-dse-k8s.make
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ ${TESTS}: test_%:
 	./collector/ds-collector -T -p -f /tmp/datastax/test-collector-dse-k8s.conf -n cluster2-dc1-default-sts-0
 	./collector/ds-collector -X -f /tmp/datastax/test-collector-dse-k8s.conf -n cluster2-dc1-default-sts-0
 	if ! ls /tmp/datastax/ | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the K8s cluster "; ls -l /tmp/datastax/ ; exit 1 ; fi
-	for f in $(ls /tmp/datastax/*.tar.gz) ; do if ! tar -xf $f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $f in the K8s cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
+	for f in $$(ls /tmp/datastax/ | grep ".tar.gz") ; do if ! tar -xf /tmp/datastax/$$f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $$f in the k8s cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
 
 
 setup:
diff --git a/ds-collector-tests/cluster-one-node-vanilla-ssh-docker.make b/ds-collector-tests/cluster-one-node-vanilla-ssh-docker.make
index 6850b55..3a4c8b1 100755
--- a/ds-collector-tests/cluster-one-node-vanilla-ssh-docker.make
+++ b/ds-collector-tests/cluster-one-node-vanilla-ssh-docker.make
@@ -17,14 +17,16 @@ ${TESTS_SSH}: test_ssh_%:
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -T -p -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -X -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	# test archives exist
-	if ! ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls /tmp/datastax/ ) | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the SSH cluster" ; ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls /tmp/datastax/ ) ; exit 1 ; fi
+	if ! ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/ ) | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the SSH cluster" ; ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls $$
+	for f in $$(ls $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax") | grep ".tar.gz") ; do if ! tar -xf $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/$$f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $$f in the ssh cluster" ; exit 1 ; fi ; done(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/ ) ; exit 1 ; fi
 	# ds-collector over SSH with verbose mode
 	@echo "\n  Testing SSH verbose $* \n"
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -v -T -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -v -T -p -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -v -X -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	# test archives exist
-	if ! ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls /tmp/datastax/ ) | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the SSH cluster" ; ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls /tmp/datastax/ ) ; exit 1 ; fi
+	if ! ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/ ) | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the SSH cluster" ; ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/ ) ; exit 1 ; fi
+	for f in $$(ls $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax") | grep ".tar.gz") ; do if ! tar -xf $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/$$f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $$f in the ssh cluster" ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
 	
 ${TESTS_DOCKER}: test_docker_%:
 	# ds-collector over docker
@@ -38,6 +40,8 @@ ${TESTS_DOCKER}: test_docker_%:
 	./collector/ds-collector -X -f $* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	# test archives exist
 	if ! ls /tmp/datastax/ | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the docker cluster " ; ls -l /tmp/datastax/ ; exit 1 ; fi
+	# a non-root user on the host might not be able to untar special files, so just list the tarfile contents instead
+	for f in $$(ls /tmp/datastax/ | grep ".tar.gz") ; do if ! tar -xf /tmp/datastax/$$f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $f in the docker cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
 	
 
 setup:
diff --git a/ds-collector-tests/cluster-vanilla-k8s.make b/ds-collector-tests/cluster-vanilla-k8s.make
index 0074631..84a7b93 100755
--- a/ds-collector-tests/cluster-vanilla-k8s.make
+++ b/ds-collector-tests/cluster-vanilla-k8s.make
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ ${TESTS}: test_%:
 	./collector/ds-collector -T -p -f /tmp/datastax/test-collector-k8s.conf -n cluster1-dc1-default-sts-0
 	./collector/ds-collector -X -f /tmp/datastax/test-collector-k8s.conf -n cluster1-dc1-default-sts-0
 	if ! ls /tmp/datastax/ | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the K8s cluster " ; ls -l /tmp/datastax/ ; exit 1 ; fi
-	for f in $(ls /tmp/datastax/*.tar.gz) ; do if ! tar -xf $f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $f in the K8s cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
+	for f in $$(ls /tmp/datastax/ | grep ".tar.gz") ; do if ! tar -xf /tmp/datastax/$$f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $$f in the k8s cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
 
 
 setup:
diff --git a/ds-collector-tests/cluster-vanilla-ssh-docker.make b/ds-collector-tests/cluster-vanilla-ssh-docker.make
index fb5848a..4d47152 100755
--- a/ds-collector-tests/cluster-vanilla-ssh-docker.make
+++ b/ds-collector-tests/cluster-vanilla-ssh-docker.make
@@ -16,17 +16,17 @@ ${TESTS_SSH}: test_ssh_%:
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -T -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -T -p -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -X -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
-	# test archives exist
-	if ! ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls /tmp/datastax/ ) | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the SSH cluster" ; ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls /tmp/datastax/ ) ; exit 1 ; fi
-	for f in $(ls /tmp/datastax/*.tar.gz) ; do if ! tar -xf $f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $f in the ssh cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
+	# test ssh archives exist
+	if ! ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/ ) | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the SSH cluster" ; ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/ ) ; exit 1 ; fi
+	for f in $$(ls $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax") | grep ".tar.gz") ; do if ! tar -xf $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/$$f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $$f in the ssh cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
 	# ds-collector over SSH with verbose mode
 	@echo "\n  Testing SSH verbose $* \n"
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -v -T -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -v -T -p -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	docker exec -t ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 /collector/ds-collector -v -X -f /ds-collector-tests/$* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
-	# test archives exist
-	if ! ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls /tmp/datastax/ ) | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the SSH cluster" ; ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls /tmp/datastax/ ) ; exit 1 ; fi
-	for f in $(ls /tmp/datastax/*.tar.gz) ; do if ! tar -xf $f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $f in the ssh cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
+	# test ssh verbose archives exist
+	if ! ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/ ) | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the SSH cluster" ; ( docker exec ds-collector-tests_bastion_1 ls $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/ ) ; exit 1 ; fi
+	for f in $$(ls $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax") | grep ".tar.gz") ; do if ! tar -xf $$(grep -oP '^bastionBaseDir="\K[^"]+' $* || echo "/tmp/datastax")/$$f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $$f in the ssh cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
 
 ${TESTS_DOCKER}: test_docker_%:
 	# ds-collector over docker
@@ -38,9 +38,10 @@ ${TESTS_DOCKER}: test_docker_%:
 	./collector/ds-collector -T -f $* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	./collector/ds-collector -T -p -f $* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
 	./collector/ds-collector -X -f $* -n ds-collector-tests_cassandra-00_1
-	# test archives exist
+	# test docker archives exist
 	if ! ls /tmp/datastax/ | grep -q ".tar.gz" ; then echo "Failed to generate artefacts in the docker cluster " ; ls -l /tmp/datastax/ ; exit 1 ; fi
-	for f in $(ls /tmp/datastax/*.tar.gz) ; do if ! tar -xf $f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $f in the ssh cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
+	# a non-root user on the host might not be able to untar special files, so just list the tarfile contents instead
+	for f in $$(ls /tmp/datastax/ | grep ".tar.gz") ; do if ! tar -tf  /tmp/datastax/$$f ; then echo "Failed to untar artefact $$f in the docker cluster " ; exit 1 ; fi ; done
 	
 
 setup:
diff --git a/ds-collector-tests/integration-bastion.docker b/ds-collector-tests/integration-bastion.docker
index c43dd44..d2bc602 100644
--- a/ds-collector-tests/integration-bastion.docker
+++ b/ds-collector-tests/integration-bastion.docker
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 FROM ubuntu:latest
 
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y openssh-server locales sshpass procps ethtool netcat-traditional net-tools sysstat pciutils ntp ntpstat numactl lvm2 curl xxd iproute2
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git openssh-server locales sshpass procps ethtool netcat-traditional net-tools sysstat pciutils ntp ntpstat numactl lvm2 curl xxd iproute2
 
 
 RUN mkdir /var/run/sshd
@@ -17,4 +17,4 @@ ENV LANG en_US.UTF-8
 ENV LANGUAGE en_US.UTF-8
 ENV LC_ALL en_US.UTF-8
 
-CMD ["sleep", "infinity"]
\ No newline at end of file
+CMD ["sleep", "infinity"]
diff --git a/ds-collector-tests/test-collector-ssh-baseDirs.conf b/ds-collector-tests/test-collector-ssh-baseDirs.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d565aef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ds-collector-tests/test-collector-ssh-baseDirs.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+#
+# tlp_collector configuration file
+#
+#
+
+# base cassandra log and configuration directories
+# update if you aren't using the default directory
+#
+#logHome="/var/log/cassandra"
+#configHome="/etc/cassandra"
+
+# When the Cassandra nodes are inside docker containers
+# Use docker commands to connect to nodes instead of ssh
+# hostFile and hostName settings then need to use docker container IDs
+#
+# It is typical to also `skipSudo=true` (see below) on docker containers.
+#
+#use_docker="true"
+
+# When the Cassandra nodes are inside kubernetes pods
+# Use kubectl commands to connect to nodes instead of ssh
+# hostFile and hostName settings then need to use k8s pod names
+#
+# It is typical to also `skipSudo=true` (see below)
+#
+#use_k8s="true"
+#k8s_namespace="default"
+
+# base ssh options, do not override defaults
+# without completing a connection test
+#
+#sshOptionHostkeyCheck="false"
+#sshOptionAgentForwarding="true"
+#sshOptionVerbose="false"
+#sshOptionConnectTimeout="true"
+#sshOptionConnectAttempts="true"
+
+# if an identity file to authenticate to the target nodes
+# is needed, specify it in sshIdentity
+#
+#sshIdentity=""
+
+# if using password authentication for ssh and scp, specify
+# it in sshPassword (requires sshpass command)
+#
+sshPassword="root"
+
+# add additional binary path if needed
+#
+addPath="/opt/java/openjdk/bin"
+
+# specify additional ssh options as needed for your environment
+# complete a connection test before adding extra options
+#
+sshArgs="-tt"
+#scpArgs="-tt"
+
+# if you want to specify a file containing a list of hosts
+# use the qualified path to the list in hostFile
+#
+#hostFile=""
+
+# if you only have a single target node you want to collect from
+# you can enter the connection details here
+# setting a hostFile above will take precedence
+#
+#hostName=""
+
+# the user name to use when connecting to the target nodes(),
+# the user should have sudo access.
+# commenting userName will set the default to root
+#
+#userName="ubuntu"
+
+# the provided issue id to reference the artifacts
+# a generic issueId will be generated if not provided here
+#
+issueId="TEST_DS_COLLECTOR-000"
+
+# the JMX port to connect to when when gathering metrics via JMX
+# this will be the value that JMX_PORT is set to in the cassandra-env.sh file
+#
+#jmxPort="7199"
+#jmxUsername=""
+#jmxPassword=""
+
+# skip iostat and vmstat collection
+#
+#skipStat="true"
+
+# skip any calls that require sudo
+#
+#skipSudo="true"
+
+# skip pushing artifacts to s3
+#
+skipS3="true"
+
+# uploads are encrypted by default
+#
+encrypt_uploads="false"
+
+# skip deleting artifact from central host after successful push to s3
+# this will keep a local copy of the artifact on the central host
+#
+keepArtifact="true"
+
+# s3 key
+# default key provided, only use to override
+#
+#keyId=""
+#keySecret=""
+
+# s3 auth
+# default is to use s3Auth to upload
+#
+
+# cqlsh authentication
+# Used to extract the schema
+#cqlshUsername=""
+#cqlshPassword=""
+
+# cqlsh SSL encryption
+#
+#$cqlshSSL="false"
+
+baseDir="/tmp/datastax-different-directory"
+bastionBaseDir="/tmp/datastax-yet-different-directory"
diff --git a/ds-collector/collector.conf.in b/ds-collector/collector.conf.in
index eb5d39f..de27bff 100644
--- a/ds-collector/collector.conf.in
+++ b/ds-collector/collector.conf.in
@@ -190,6 +190,12 @@ cqlsh_port=9042
 # Note, unreachable nodes are automatically ignored.
 #skipNodes=""
 
+# Where will collection tarballs (and log file) be saved on the bastion
+#bastionBaseDir="/tmp/datastax"
+
+# Where will collector be copied to and the collection tarball be saved on each node
+#baseDir="/tmp/datastax"
+
 
 # Limit collection of log files to those with a modified timestamp newer than $logsMaxAgeDays days
 # By default we collect all log files newer than two months old to ensure thorough discovery analysis of nodes,
@@ -199,4 +205,3 @@ cqlsh_port=9042
 # Some deployments are tens to hundreds of GBs of logs kept on nodes, and this can become unweldly to upload.
 #  When needed set to reduce to manageable size.
 #logsMaxAgeDays=61
-
diff --git a/ds-collector/ds-collector b/ds-collector/ds-collector
index 874b727..46d6819 100755
--- a/ds-collector/ds-collector
+++ b/ds-collector/ds-collector
@@ -167,11 +167,11 @@ list_cassandra_nodes_client() {
 
     # more accurate disk space check
     node_count="${#cassandraNodes[@]}"
-    required_basedir_space="$((${node_count} * 500000))"
+    required_bastionBaseDir_space="$((${node_count} * 500000))"
     # detect if df supports --portability
     DF_OPT=""
     ( ( df --help 2>/dev/null ) | grep -q "\-\-portability" ) && DF_OPT="--portability"
-    [ $(df $DF_OPT "$baseDir" | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $4}') -ge ${required_basedir_space} ] ||  { echo >&2 "A diagnostic collection of ${node_count} nodes requires at least $((${required_basedir_space} / 1000000))GB free at $baseDir"; exit 1; }
+    [ $(df $DF_OPT "${bastionBaseDir}" | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $4}') -ge ${required_bastionBaseDir_space} ] ||  { echo >&2 "A diagnostic collection of ${node_count} nodes requires at least $((${required_bastionBaseDir_space} / 1000000))GB free at ${bastionBaseDir}"; exit 1; }
 
     # also grab the cluster name
     cmd="set -o pipefail ; ${pathCommand} ${nodetoolCmd} -h ${jmxHost} -p ${jmxPort} ${jmxOpts} ${nodetoolCredentials} describecluster"
@@ -277,9 +277,9 @@ node_connect_ssh() {
 bastion_checks() {
   echo "version: ${git_branch} ${git_sha}"
   # pre-conditions
-  mkdir -p $baseDir
+  mkdir -p ${bastionBaseDir}
   if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
-    echo "we couldn't make our working directory: $baseDir...exiting"
+    echo "we couldn't make our working directory: ${bastionBaseDir}...exiting"
     exit 2
   fi
   command -v ip >/dev/null 2>&1 || command -v ifconfig >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "ip or ifconfig needs to be installed"; exit 1; }
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ bastion_checks() {
   # detect if df supports --portability
   DF_OPT=""
   ( ( df --help 2>/dev/null ) | grep -q "\-\-portability" ) && DF_OPT="--portability"
-  [ $(df $DF_OPT "$baseDir" | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $4}') -ge 1000000 ] ||  { echo >&2 "There must be at least 1GB free at $baseDir"; exit 1; }
+  [ $(df $DF_OPT "${bastionBaseDir}" | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $4}') -ge 1000000 ] ||  { echo >&2 "There must be at least 1GB free at ${bastionBaseDir}"; exit 1; }
   # revert the prometheus jarfile from text back to jarfile
   [[ -f "${script_directory}/${prometheus}" ]] || command -v xxd >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "xxd needs to be installed"; exit 1; }
   [[ -f "${script_directory}/${prometheus/jar/txt}" ]] || [[ -f "${script_directory}/${prometheus}" ]] || { echo >&2 "${prometheus/jar/txt} or ${prometheus} needs to be in the collector directory ${script_directory}"; exit 1; }
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ print_status_state() {
 # shellcheck disable=SC2086
 bucket_dump() {
   unset -v artifacts
-  artifacts=($baseDir/*artifacts*.tar.gz)
+  artifacts=(${bastionBaseDir}/*artifacts*.tar.gz)
 
   timestamp=$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H%M%S")
 
@@ -358,10 +358,10 @@ bucket_dump() {
     baseMessage="processing artifact $artifact"
     encrypt_artifact "${artifact}"
     if [ "$skipS3" != "true" ]; then
-      s3_push_artifact "${baseDir}/${artifact}" "${timestamp}"
+      s3_push_artifact "${bastionBaseDir}/${artifact}" "${timestamp}"
       if [ "$statusState" = "0" ]; then
         if [ "$keepArtifact" != "true" ]; then
-          rm ${baseDir}/${artifact}
+          rm ${bastionBaseDir}/${artifact}
         fi
       else
         echo "upload of ${artifact} failed"
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ create_complete_marker() {
   else
     completeFileName="collector_upload.incomplete"
   fi
-  completeFilePath="${baseDir}/${completeFileName}"
+  completeFilePath="${bastionBaseDir}/${completeFileName}"
   echo "Expected ${artifact_count} artifacts. Cluster has ${node_count} nodes." > "${completeFilePath}"
   echo "----" >> "${completeFilePath}"
   for hostName in ${cassandraNodes} ; do
@@ -872,7 +872,7 @@ discover_jmx() {
 
 archive_artifacts() {
   baseMessage="archiving current artifacts"
-  cd "$baseDir"
+  cd "${baseDir}"
   if [ "$skipSudo" != "true" ]; then
     sudo chown -R "$(whoami)" "$artifactDir"
   fi
@@ -911,7 +911,7 @@ halp() {
     -d                      Run script on a single node only, disabling auto discovery when the -n
                               option specifies a hostname or IP address. Can only be used with
                               Test Mode and Execute Mode.
-    -v                      Verbose mode. Also captures console stdout to a log file under ${baseDir}
+    -v                      Verbose mode. Also captures console stdout to a log file under ${bastionBaseDir}
     -h                      Print this help and exit.
 
     modes:
@@ -1001,21 +1001,21 @@ node_pull() {
 }
 
 node_pull_docker() {
-  docker cp "$hostName:$1" "$baseDir/."
+  docker cp "$hostName:$1" "${bastionBaseDir}/."
   statusState=$?
   print_status_state
   return $statusState
 }
 
 node_pull_k8s() {
-  kubectl -n "$k8s_namespace" cp "$hostName:$1" $k8s_container_name_opt "$baseDir/$(basename $1)"
+  kubectl -n "$k8s_namespace" cp "$hostName:$1" $k8s_container_name_opt "${bastionBaseDir}/$(basename $1)"
   statusState=$?
   print_status_state
   return $statusState
 }
 
 node_pull_ssh() {
-  scp_command="scp $scpArgs $userName@${hostName}:${1} $baseDir/."
+  scp_command="scp $scpArgs $userName@${hostName}:${1} ${bastionBaseDir}/."
   if [ -n "$sshPassword" ]; then
     export SSHPASS="${sshPassword}"
     scp_command="sshpass -e $scp_command"
@@ -1166,7 +1166,7 @@ get_info() {
 script_directory=$( cd -- "$( dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )
 date=$(date -u +'%Y_%m_%d_%H%M_%s')
 baseDir="/tmp/datastax"
-artifactDir="$baseDir/$(hostname)_artifacts_$date"
+bastionBaseDir="/tmp/datastax"
 artifactFile="latest_artifacts.txt"
 
 # 'timeout --foreground' option is not supported on RHEL 6
@@ -1289,6 +1289,8 @@ if [ "$configFile" ]; then
     read_config;
 fi
 
+artifactDir="${baseDir}/$(hostname)_artifacts_$date"
+
 set_ssh_options
 set_scp_options
 
@@ -1304,7 +1306,7 @@ set_scp_options
 
 if [ $verbose ] ; then
   bastion_checks
-  logFile="${baseDir}/ds-collector-$(date -u +'%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%s').log"
+  logFile="${bastionBaseDir}/ds-collector-$(date -u +'%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%s').log"
   echo "debugging to ${logFile}"
   ( exec $0 ${@/-v/-x} )  2>&1  | sed "s/${jmxPassword:-\*\*\*\*}/****/g" | sed "s/${cqlshPassword:-\*\*\*\*}/****/g" | tee "${logFile}"
   exit $?
@@ -1315,7 +1317,7 @@ elif [ $testMode ]; then
 elif [ $executeMode ]; then
   bastion_checks
   # Delete existing artifacts before we generate new ones
-  rm -f $baseDir/*.tar.gz
+  rm -f ${bastionBaseDir}/*.tar.gz
   get_infos
   bucket_dump
   exit $?