diff --git a/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-console.yaml b/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-console.yaml
index 579624ff23575..43fd2b63f8382 100644
--- a/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-console.yaml
+++ b/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-console.yaml
@@ -192,6 +192,8 @@ objects:
         value: ${NAMESPACE}-${JOB_NAME_HASH}
       - name: BASE_DOMAIN
         value: ${BASE_DOMAIN}
+      - name: SSH_PRIV_KEY_PATH
+        value: /etc/openshift-installer/ssh-privatekey
       - name: SSH_PUB_KEY_PATH
         value: /etc/openshift-installer/ssh-publickey
       - name: PULL_SECRET_PATH
@@ -229,6 +231,10 @@ objects:
         export SSH_PUB_KEY=$(cat "${SSH_PUB_KEY_PATH}")
         export PULL_SECRET=$(cat "${PULL_SECRET_PATH}")
 
+        ## move private key to ~/.ssh/ so that installer can use it to gather logs on bootstrap failure
+        mkdir -p ~/.ssh
+        cp "${SSH_PRIV_KEY_PATH}" ~/.ssh/
+
         if [[ "${CLUSTER_TYPE}" == "aws" ]]; then
             cat > /tmp/artifacts/installer/install-config.yaml << EOF
         apiVersion: v1beta4
diff --git a/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-e2e.yaml b/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-e2e.yaml
index 381592b81b937..620fcbb85d5cc 100644
--- a/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-e2e.yaml
+++ b/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-e2e.yaml
@@ -542,6 +542,8 @@ objects:
         value: ${NAMESPACE}-${JOB_NAME_HASH}
       - name: BASE_DOMAIN
         value: ${BASE_DOMAIN}
+      - name: SSH_PRIV_KEY_PATH
+        value: /etc/openshift-installer/ssh-privatekey
       - name: SSH_PUB_KEY_PATH
         value: /etc/openshift-installer/ssh-publickey
       - name: PULL_SECRET_PATH
@@ -576,6 +578,10 @@ objects:
         export SSH_PUB_KEY=$(cat "${SSH_PUB_KEY_PATH}")
         export PULL_SECRET=$(cat "${PULL_SECRET_PATH}")
 
+        ## move private key to ~/.ssh/ so that installer can use it to gather logs on bootstrap failure
+        mkdir -p ~/.ssh
+        cp "${SSH_PRIV_KEY_PATH}" ~/.ssh/
+
         if [[ "${CLUSTER_TYPE}" == "aws" ]]; then
             cat > /tmp/artifacts/installer/install-config.yaml << EOF
         apiVersion: v1
diff --git a/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-src.yaml b/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-src.yaml
index 1a7f484280cbc..89be03b2ea3ff 100644
--- a/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-src.yaml
+++ b/ci-operator/templates/openshift/installer/cluster-launch-installer-src.yaml
@@ -198,6 +198,8 @@ objects:
         value: ${NAMESPACE}-${JOB_NAME_HASH}
       - name: BASE_DOMAIN
         value: ${BASE_DOMAIN}
+      - name: SSH_PRIV_KEY_PATH
+        value: /etc/openshift-installer/ssh-privatekey
       - name: SSH_PUB_KEY_PATH
         value: /etc/openshift-installer/ssh-publickey
       - name: PULL_SECRET_PATH
@@ -235,6 +237,10 @@ objects:
         export SSH_PUB_KEY=$(cat "${SSH_PUB_KEY_PATH}")
         export PULL_SECRET=$(cat "${PULL_SECRET_PATH}")
 
+        ## move private key to ~/.ssh/ so that installer can use it to gather logs on bootstrap failure
+        mkdir -p ~/.ssh
+        cp "${SSH_PRIV_KEY_PATH}" ~/.ssh/
+
         if [[ "${CLUSTER_TYPE}" == "aws" ]]; then
             cat > /tmp/artifacts/installer/install-config.yaml << EOF
         apiVersion: v1