diff --git a/.github/workflows/region_example.yml b/.github/workflows/region_example.yml
index 71a303ef38e..ce974c4aebd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/region_example.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/region_example.yml
@@ -105,5 +105,4 @@ jobs:
         if [ ${{matrix.os}} = "macos-latest" ]; then
           export PATH="/usr/local/opt/mysql@5.7/bin:$PATH"
         fi
-        sed -i 's/user\/my-vitess/runner\/work\/vitess\/vitess/g' examples/region_sharding/main_vschema_sharded.json #set correct path to countries.json
         eatmydata -- go run test.go -print-log -follow -retry=1 region_example
diff --git a/.github/workflows/upgrade_downgrade_test_backups_manual.yml b/.github/workflows/upgrade_downgrade_test_backups_manual.yml
index 2e2490b53b8..6a06378eb74 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/upgrade_downgrade_test_backups_manual.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/upgrade_downgrade_test_backups_manual.yml
@@ -191,18 +191,18 @@ jobs:
     # We also insert a few rows in our three tables.
     - name: Create the example Vitess cluster with all components using version N
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 5
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/start_cluster.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./start_cluster.sh
 
     # Taking a backup
     - name: Take a backup of all the shards
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 2
+      timeout-minutes: 5
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/take_backups.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./take_backups.sh
 
     # We insert more data in every table after the backup.
     # When we restore the backup made in the previous step, we do not want to see the rows we are about to insert now.
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Insert more data after the backup
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local ; source ./env.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples; source ./common/env.sh
 
         echo "insert into customer(email) values('new_user_1@domain.com');" | mysql
         echo "insert into product(sku, description, price) values('SKU-1009', 'description', 89);" | mysql
@@ -223,10 +223,10 @@ jobs:
     # Stop all the tablets and remove their data
     - name: Stop tablets
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 5
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/stop_tablets.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./stop_tablets.sh
 
     # We downgrade: we use the version N-1 of vttablet
     - name: Downgrade - Swap binaries, use VTTablet N-1
@@ -241,18 +241,18 @@ jobs:
     # Starting the tablets again, they will automatically start restoring the last backup.
     - name: Start new tablets and restore
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 5
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/restart_tablets.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./restart_tablets.sh
         # give enough time to the tablets to restore the backup
-        sleep 60
+        sleep 90
 
     # Count the number of rows in each table to make sure the restoration is successful.
     - name: Assert the number of rows in every table
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local ; source ./env.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples ; source ./common/env.sh
 
         echo "select count(sku) from product;" | mysql 2>&1| grep 2
         echo "select count(email) from customer;" | mysql 2>&1| grep 5
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Insert more rows in the tables
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local ; source ./env.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples ; source ./common/env.sh
 
         echo "insert into customer(email) values('new_user_2@domain.com');" | mysql
         echo "insert into product(sku, description, price) values('SKU-1011', 'description', 111);" | mysql
@@ -271,18 +271,18 @@ jobs:
     # Taking a second backup of the cluster.
     - name: Take a second backup of all the shards
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 2
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/take_backups.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./take_backups.sh
 
     # Stopping the tablets so we can perform the upgrade.
     - name: Stop tablets
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 5
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/stop_tablets.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./stop_tablets.sh
 
     # We upgrade: we swap binaries and use the version N of the tablet.
     - name: Upgrade - Swap binaries, use VTTablet N
@@ -297,18 +297,18 @@ jobs:
     # Starting the tablets again and restoring the previous backup.
     - name: Start new tablets and restore
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 5
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/restart_tablets.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./restart_tablets.sh
         # give enough time to the tablets to restore the backup
-        sleep 60
+        sleep 90
 
     # We count the number of rows in every table to check that the restore step was successful.
     - name: Assert the number of rows in every table
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local ; source ./env.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples ; source ./common/env.sh
 
         echo "select count(sku) from product;" | mysql 2>&1| grep 3
         echo "select count(email) from customer;" | mysql 2>&1| grep 6
diff --git a/.github/workflows/upgrade_downgrade_test_backups_manual_next_release.yml b/.github/workflows/upgrade_downgrade_test_backups_manual_next_release.yml
index f58dff29f84..dc9be0d2781 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/upgrade_downgrade_test_backups_manual_next_release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/upgrade_downgrade_test_backups_manual_next_release.yml
@@ -194,18 +194,18 @@ jobs:
     # We also insert a few rows in our three tables.
     - name: Create the example Vitess cluster with all components using version N
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 5
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/start_cluster.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./start_cluster.sh
 
     # Taking a backup
     - name: Take a backup of all the shards
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 2
+      timeout-minutes: 5
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/take_backups.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./take_backups.sh
 
     # We insert more data in every table after the backup.
     # When we restore the backup made in the next step, we do not want to see the rows we are about to insert now.
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Insert more data after the backup
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local ; source ./env.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples ; source ./common/env.sh
 
         echo "insert into customer(email) values('new_user_1@domain.com');" | mysql
         echo "insert into product(sku, description, price) values('SKU-1009', 'description', 89);" | mysql
@@ -226,10 +226,10 @@ jobs:
     # Stop all the tablets and remove their data
     - name: Stop tablets
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 5
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/stop_tablets.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./stop_tablets.sh
 
     # We downgrade: we use the version N+1 of vttablet
     - name: Downgrade - Swap binaries, use VTTablet N+1
@@ -244,10 +244,10 @@ jobs:
     # Starting the tablets again, they will automatically start restoring the last backup.
     - name: Start new tablets and restore
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 5
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/restart_tablets.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./restart_tablets.sh
         # give enough time to the tablets to restore the backup
         sleep 60
 
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Assert the number of rows in every table
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local ; source ./env.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples ; source ./common/env.sh
 
         echo "select count(sku) from product;" | mysql 2>&1| grep 2
         echo "select count(email) from customer;" | mysql 2>&1| grep 5
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Insert more rows in the tables
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local ; source ./env.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples ; source ./common/env.sh
 
         echo "insert into customer(email) values('new_user_2@domain.com');" | mysql
         echo "insert into product(sku, description, price) values('SKU-1011', 'description', 111);" | mysql
@@ -274,18 +274,18 @@ jobs:
     # Taking a second backup of the cluster.
     - name: Take a second backup of all the shards
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 2
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/take_backups.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./take_backups.sh
 
     # Stopping the tablets so we can perform the upgrade.
     - name: Stop tablets
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 5
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/stop_tablets.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./stop_tablets.sh
 
     # We upgrade: we swap binaries and use the version N of the tablet.
     - name: Upgrade - Swap binaries, use VTTablet N
@@ -300,18 +300,18 @@ jobs:
     # Starting the tablets again and restoring the next backup.
     - name: Start new tablets and restore
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
-      timeout-minutes: 5
+      timeout-minutes: 10
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local
-        ./backups/restart_tablets.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples/backups
+        ./restart_tablets.sh
         # give enough time to the tablets to restore the backup
-        sleep 60
+        sleep 90
 
     # We count the number of rows in every table to check that the restore step was successful.
     - name: Assert the number of rows in every table
       if: steps.skip-workflow.outputs.skip-workflow == 'false' && steps.changes.outputs.end_to_end == 'true'
       run: |
-        source build.env ; cd examples/local ; source ./env.sh
+        source build.env ; cd examples ; source ./common/env.sh
 
         echo "select count(sku) from product;" | mysql 2>&1| grep 3
         echo "select count(email) from customer;" | mysql 2>&1| grep 6
diff --git a/docker/local/Dockerfile b/docker/local/Dockerfile
index 62e2c68ae10..ec7a1db0f9d 100644
--- a/docker/local/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/local/Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ RUN /vt/dist/install_dependencies.sh mysql57
 
 COPY docker/local/install_local_dependencies.sh /vt/dist/install_local_dependencies.sh
 RUN /vt/dist/install_local_dependencies.sh
-RUN echo "source /vt/local/env.sh" >> /etc/bash.bashrc
+RUN echo "source /vt/common/env.sh" >> /etc/bash.bashrc
 
 # Allows some docker builds to disable CGO
 ARG CGO_ENABLED=0
diff --git a/docker/mini/Dockerfile b/docker/mini/Dockerfile
index df299ce8634..f9c14932eb0 100644
--- a/docker/mini/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/mini/Dockerfile
@@ -35,8 +35,9 @@ COPY docker/mini/orchestrator-vitess-mini.conf.json /etc/orchestrator.conf.json
 RUN chown vitess:vitess /etc/orchestrator.conf.json
 
 COPY docker/mini/docker-entry /vt/dist/docker/mini/docker-entry
-COPY examples/local/scripts /vt/dist/scripts
-COPY examples/local/env.sh /vt/dist/scripts/env.sh
+COPY examples/common/scripts /vt/dist/scripts
+COPY examples/common/env.sh /vt/dist/scripts/env.sh
+COPY examples/common/lib/utils.sh /vt/dist/scripts/lib/utils.sh
 COPY docker/mini/vtctld-mini-up.sh /vt/dist/scripts/vtctld-mini-up.sh
 COPY docker/mini/vttablet-mini-up.sh /vt/dist/scripts/vttablet-mini-up.sh
 COPY docker/mini/orchestrator-up.sh /vt/dist/scripts/orchestrator-up.sh
diff --git a/examples/local/backups/create_commerce_schema.sql b/examples/backups/create_commerce_schema.sql
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/local/backups/create_commerce_schema.sql
rename to examples/backups/create_commerce_schema.sql
diff --git a/examples/local/backups/create_customer_schema.sql b/examples/backups/create_customer_schema.sql
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/local/backups/create_customer_schema.sql
rename to examples/backups/create_customer_schema.sql
diff --git a/examples/local/backups/restart_tablets.sh b/examples/backups/restart_tablets.sh
similarity index 80%
rename from examples/local/backups/restart_tablets.sh
rename to examples/backups/restart_tablets.sh
index 038fafc5dbf..13c4ed0cfb6 100755
--- a/examples/local/backups/restart_tablets.sh
+++ b/examples/backups/restart_tablets.sh
@@ -17,21 +17,21 @@
 # this script brings up new tablets for the two new shards that we will
 # be creating in the customer keyspace and copies the schema
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 for i in 100 101 102; do
-  CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-  CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=commerce TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+  CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+  CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=commerce TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 for i in 200 201 202; do
-  CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-  SHARD=-80 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+  CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+  SHARD=-80 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 for i in 300 301 302; do
-  CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-  SHARD=80- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+  CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+  SHARD=80- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 sleep 5
 
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ sleep 5
 # complete before we start InitShardPrimary, otherwise we end up reading the
 # tablet type to RESTORE and do not set semi-sync, which leads to the primary
 # hanging on writes.
-totalTime=300
+totalTime=600
 for i in 101 201 301; do
   while [ $totalTime -gt 0 ]; do
     status=$(curl "http://$hostname:15$i/debug/status_details")
diff --git a/examples/local/backups/start_cluster.sh b/examples/backups/start_cluster.sh
similarity index 51%
rename from examples/local/backups/start_cluster.sh
rename to examples/backups/start_cluster.sh
index ff4fdd23342..a9e2de606cb 100755
--- a/examples/local/backups/start_cluster.sh
+++ b/examples/backups/start_cluster.sh
@@ -17,56 +17,60 @@
 # this script brings up new tablets for the two new shards that we will
 # be creating in the customer keyspace and copies the schema
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 # start topo server
 if [ "${TOPO}" = "zk2" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/zk-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/zk-up.sh
 elif [ "${TOPO}" = "k8s" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/k3s-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/k3s-up.sh
 else
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/etcd-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/etcd-up.sh
 fi
 
 # start vtctld
-CELL=zone1 ./scripts/vtctld-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/vtctld-up.sh
 
 
 # start vttablets for keyspace commerce
 for i in 100 101 102; do
-	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-	CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=commerce TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=commerce TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 # set one of the replicas to primary
 vtctldclient InitShardPrimary --force commerce/0 zone1-100
 
 # create the schema for commerce
-vtctlclient ApplySchema -- --sql-file backups/create_commerce_schema.sql commerce
-vtctlclient ApplyVSchema -- --vschema_file ./vschema_commerce_seq.json commerce
+vtctlclient ApplySchema -- --sql-file ./create_commerce_schema.sql commerce || fail "Could not apply schema for the commerce keyspace"
+vtctlclient ApplyVSchema -- --vschema_file ../local/vschema_commerce_seq.json commerce || fail "Could not apply vschema for the commerce keyspace"
 
 
 # start vttablets for keyspace customer
 for i in 200 201 202; do
-	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-	SHARD=-80 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	SHARD=-80 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 for i in 300 301 302; do
-	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-	SHARD=80- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	SHARD=80- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 # set one of the replicas to primary
 vtctldclient InitShardPrimary --force customer/-80 zone1-200
 vtctldclient InitShardPrimary --force customer/80- zone1-300
 
+for shard in "-80" "80-"; do
+	wait_for_healthy_shard customer "${shard}" || exit 1
+done
+
 # create the schema for customer
-vtctlclient ApplySchema -- --sql-file backups/create_customer_schema.sql customer
-vtctlclient ApplyVSchema -- --vschema_file ./vschema_customer_sharded.json customer
+vtctlclient ApplySchema -- --sql-file ./create_customer_schema.sql customer || fail "Could not apply schema for the customer keyspace"
+vtctlclient ApplyVSchema -- --vschema_file ../local/vschema_customer_sharded.json customer || fail "Could not apply vschema for the customer keyspace"
 
 
 # start vtgate
-CELL=zone1 ./scripts/vtgate-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/vtgate-up.sh
 
 sleep 5
 
diff --git a/examples/local/backups/stop_tablets.sh b/examples/backups/stop_tablets.sh
similarity index 88%
rename from examples/local/backups/stop_tablets.sh
rename to examples/backups/stop_tablets.sh
index 25470ac5491..2a45e9e68d2 100755
--- a/examples/local/backups/stop_tablets.sh
+++ b/examples/backups/stop_tablets.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # this script brings up new tablets for the two new shards that we will
 # be creating in the customer keyspace and copies the schema
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 for tablet in 100 200 300; do
   if vtctlclient --action_timeout 1s --server localhost:15999 GetTablet zone1-$tablet >/dev/null 2>&1; then
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ for tablet in 100 200 300; do
     for i in 0 1 2; do
       uid=$(($tablet + $i))
       echo "Shutting down tablet zone1-$uid"
-      CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ./scripts/vttablet-down.sh
+      CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ../common/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
       echo "Shutting down mysql zone1-$uid"
-      CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ./scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
+      CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
       echo "Removing tablet directory zone1-$uid"
       vtctlclient DeleteTablet -- --allow_primary=true zone1-$uid
       rm -Rf $VTDATAROOT/vt_0000000$uid
diff --git a/examples/local/backups/take_backups.sh b/examples/backups/take_backups.sh
similarity index 81%
rename from examples/local/backups/take_backups.sh
rename to examples/backups/take_backups.sh
index f8544a95b69..dc1b049c9c3 100755
--- a/examples/local/backups/take_backups.sh
+++ b/examples/backups/take_backups.sh
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@
 # this script brings up new tablets for the two new shards that we will
 # be creating in the customer keyspace and copies the schema
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
-vtctlclient BackupShard customer/-80
-vtctlclient BackupShard customer/80-
-vtctlclient BackupShard commerce/0
+for shard in "customer/-80" "customer/80-" "commerce/0"; do
+	vtctlclient BackupShard "${shard}" || fail "Failed to backup shard: ${shard}"
+done
diff --git a/examples/local/env.sh b/examples/common/env.sh
similarity index 98%
rename from examples/local/env.sh
rename to examples/common/env.sh
index b6db50a27b9..3b6a23a26cb 100644
--- a/examples/local/env.sh
+++ b/examples/common/env.sh
@@ -14,15 +14,12 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/lib/utils.sh"
+
 hostname=$(hostname -f)
 vtctld_web_port=15000
 export VTDATAROOT="${VTDATAROOT:-${PWD}/vtdataroot}"
 
-function fail() {
-  echo "ERROR: $1"
-  exit 1
-}
-
 if [[ $EUID -eq 0 ]]; then
   fail "This script refuses to be run as root. Please switch to a regular user."
 fi
diff --git a/examples/common/lib/utils.sh b/examples/common/lib/utils.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ab13e9bc6c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/common/lib/utils.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Copyright 2023 The Vitess Authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# This file contains utility functions that can be used throughout the
+# various examples.
+
+# Wait for the given number of tablets to show up in the topology server
+# for the keyspace/shard. Example (wait for 2 tablets in commerce/0):
+#   wait_for_shard_tablets commerce 0 2
+function wait_for_shard_tablets() {
+	if [[ -z ${1} || -z ${2} || -z ${3} ]]; then
+		fail "A keyspace, shard, and number of tablets must be specified when waiting for tablets to come up"
+	fi
+	keyspace=${1}
+	shard=${2}
+	num_tablets=${3}
+	wait_secs=180
+
+	for _ in $(seq 1 ${wait_secs}); do
+		cur_tablets=$(vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace "${keyspace}" --shard "${shard}" | wc -l)
+		if [[ ${cur_tablets} -eq ${num_tablets} ]]; then
+			break
+		fi
+		sleep 1
+	done;
+
+	cur_tablets=$(vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace "${keyspace}" --shard "${shard}" | wc -l)
+        if [[ ${cur_tablets} -lt ${num_tablets} ]]; then
+		fail "Timed out after ${wait_secs} seconds waiting for tablets to come up in ${keyspace}/${shard}"
+        fi
+}
+
+# Wait for a primary tablet to be elected and become healthy and serving
+# in the given keyspace/shard. Example:
+#  wait_for_healthy_shard commerce 0
+function wait_for_healthy_shard_primary() {
+	if [[ -z ${1} || -z ${2} ]]; then
+		fail "A keyspace and shard must be specified when waiting for the shard's primary to be healthy"
+	fi
+	keyspace=${1}
+	shard=${2}
+	healthy_indicator="PRIMARY: Serving"
+	wait_secs=180
+
+	for _ in $(seq 1 ${wait_secs}); do
+		if curl -s "http://$(vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace "${keyspace}" --shard "${shard}" | grep -i 'primary' | awk '{print $5}')/debug/status_details" | grep -qi "${healthy_indicator}"; then
+			break
+		fi
+		sleep 1
+	done;
+
+        curl -s "http://$(vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace "${keyspace}" --shard "${shard}" | grep -i 'primary' | awk '{print $5}')/debug/status_details" | grep -qi "${healthy_indicator}" \
+		|| fail "Timed out after ${wait_secs} seconds waiting for a primary tablet to be elected and become healthy in ${keyspace}/${shard}"
+}
+
+# Wait for a specified number of the keyspace/shard's tablets to show up
+# in the topology server (3 is the default if no value is specified) and
+# then wait for one of the tablets to be promoted to primary and become
+# healthy and serving. Example:
+#  wait_for_healthy_shard commerce 0
+function wait_for_healthy_shard() {
+	if [[ -z ${1} || -z ${2} ]]; then
+		fail "A keyspace and shard must be specified when waiting for tablets to come up"
+	fi
+	keyspace=${1}
+	shard=${2}
+	num_tablets=${3:-3}
+
+	wait_for_shard_tablets "${keyspace}" "${shard}" "${num_tablets}"
+	wait_for_healthy_shard_primary "${keyspace}" "${shard}"
+}
+
+# Print error message and exit with error code.
+function fail() {
+	echo "ERROR: ${1}"
+	exit 1
+}
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/consul-down.sh b/examples/common/scripts/consul-down.sh
similarity index 93%
rename from examples/local/scripts/consul-down.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/consul-down.sh
index 6bebb8c72ec..4da5694525a 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/consul-down.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/consul-down.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that stops the consul server started by consul-up.sh.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 echo "Stopping consul..."
 kill -9 `cat $VTDATAROOT/tmp/consul.pid` 
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/consul-up.sh b/examples/common/scripts/consul-up.sh
similarity index 96%
rename from examples/local/scripts/consul-up.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/consul-up.sh
index 4a69d1e1902..584a25f437a 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/consul-up.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/consul-up.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that creates a single-node consul datacenter.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 cell=${CELL:-'test'}
 consul_http_port=${CONSUL_HTTP_PORT:-'8500'}
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/etcd-down.sh b/examples/common/scripts/etcd-down.sh
similarity index 93%
rename from examples/region_sharding/scripts/etcd-down.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/etcd-down.sh
index 018af7432a3..f9894f8659c 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/etcd-down.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/etcd-down.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that stops the etcd servers started by etcd-up.sh.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 echo "Stopping etcd..."
 kill -9 `cat $VTDATAROOT/tmp/etcd.pid` 
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/etcd-up.sh b/examples/common/scripts/etcd-up.sh
similarity index 96%
rename from examples/local/scripts/etcd-up.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/etcd-up.sh
index 5d262217c88..20a16a42260 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/etcd-up.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/etcd-up.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that creates a quorum of Etcd servers.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 cell=${CELL:-'test'}
 export ETCDCTL_API=2
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/k3s-down.sh b/examples/common/scripts/k3s-down.sh
similarity index 91%
rename from examples/local/scripts/k3s-down.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/k3s-down.sh
index 590dc604e3e..195b024bf91 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/k3s-down.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/k3s-down.sh
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@
 
 set -e
 
-# shellcheck source=./env.sh
-# shellcheck disable=SC1091
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 # Stop K3s server.
 echo "Stopping k3s server..."
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/k3s-up.sh b/examples/common/scripts/k3s-up.sh
similarity index 89%
rename from examples/local/scripts/k3s-up.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/k3s-up.sh
index b2ead1a86d6..7c85cb0ac07 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/k3s-up.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/k3s-up.sh
@@ -19,11 +19,8 @@
 set -e
 cell=${CELL:-'test'}
 
-script_root=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")
-
-# shellcheck source=./env.sh
-# shellcheck disable=SC1091
-source ./env.sh
+script_dir="$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")"
+source "${script_dir}/../env.sh"
 
 case $(uname) in
   Linux) ;;
@@ -47,7 +44,7 @@ sleep 15
 KUBECTL="k3s kubectl --kubeconfig=${K8S_KUBECONFIG}"
 
 # Create the CRD for vitesstopologynodes
-$KUBECTL create -f ../../go/vt/topo/k8stopo/VitessTopoNodes-crd.yaml
+$KUBECTL create -f "${script_dir}/../../../go/vt/topo/k8stopo/VitessTopoNodes-crd.yaml"
 
 # Add the CellInfo description for the cell
 set +e
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh b/examples/common/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
similarity index 94%
rename from examples/local/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
index 812558d6ca8..b2dee4e2119 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # This is an example script that stops the mysqld and vttablet instances
 # created by vttablet-up.sh
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 cell=${CELL:-'test'}
 uid=$TABLET_UID
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh b/examples/common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
similarity index 95%
rename from examples/region_sharding/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
index ae041cf951d..d9df27ccdc0 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that creates a single shard vttablet deployment.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 cell=${CELL:-'test'}
 uid=$TABLET_UID
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh b/examples/common/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
similarity index 76%
rename from examples/local/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
index 2a7944d9d5a..011e6da7f49 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 echo "Stopping vtadmin-web..."
 kill -9 "$(cat "$VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtadmin-web.pid")"
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh b/examples/common/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
similarity index 89%
rename from examples/local/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
index 5ee04c9a959..8f3caf39c15 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-source ./env.sh
+script_dir="$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")"
+source "${script_dir}/../env.sh"
 
 log_dir="${VTDATAROOT}/tmp"
-web_dir="../../web/vtadmin"
+web_dir="${script_dir}/../../../web/vtadmin"
 
 vtadmin_api_port=14200
 vtadmin_web_port=14201
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ vtadmin \
   --logtostderr \
   --alsologtostderr \
   --rbac \
-  --rbac-config="./vtadmin/rbac.yaml" \
+  --rbac-config="${script_dir}/../vtadmin/rbac.yaml" \
   --cluster "id=local,name=local,discovery=staticfile,discovery-staticfile-path=./vtadmin/discovery.json,tablet-fqdn-tmpl={{ .Tablet.Hostname }}:15{{ .Tablet.Alias.Uid }}" \
   > "${log_dir}/vtadmin-api.out" 2>&1 &
 
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtctld-down.sh b/examples/common/scripts/vtctld-down.sh
similarity index 92%
rename from examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtctld-down.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/vtctld-down.sh
index d96fa3b927f..a56d59b97e5 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtctld-down.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/vtctld-down.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that stops vtctld.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 echo "Stopping vtctld..."
 kill -9 `cat $VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtctld.pid`
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtctld-up.sh b/examples/common/scripts/vtctld-up.sh
similarity index 95%
rename from examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtctld-up.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/vtctld-up.sh
index 5ab8017424c..e49b346ca1e 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtctld-up.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/vtctld-up.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that starts vtctld.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 cell=${CELL:-'test'}
 grpc_port=15999
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtgate-down.sh b/examples/common/scripts/vtgate-down.sh
similarity index 93%
rename from examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtgate-down.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/vtgate-down.sh
index 9da0a7179df..3eea5fdf94d 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtgate-down.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/vtgate-down.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that stops the instance started by vtgate-up.sh.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 # Stop vtgate.
 echo "Stopping vtgate..."
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/vtgate-up.sh b/examples/common/scripts/vtgate-up.sh
similarity index 96%
rename from examples/local/scripts/vtgate-up.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/vtgate-up.sh
index cb33e27839b..03b85869e5d 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/vtgate-up.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/vtgate-up.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that starts a single vtgate.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 cell=${CELL:-'test'}
 web_port=15001
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/vtorc-down.sh b/examples/common/scripts/vtorc-down.sh
similarity index 60%
rename from examples/local/scripts/vtorc-down.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/vtorc-down.sh
index 2fdfc1491ce..f4d2e4cb8a0 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/vtorc-down.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/vtorc-down.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 echo "Stopping vtorc."
 kill -9 "$(cat "$VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtorc.pid")"
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/vtorc-up.sh b/examples/common/scripts/vtorc-up.sh
similarity index 72%
rename from examples/local/scripts/vtorc-up.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/vtorc-up.sh
index f5a0d75dbba..66a826da288 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/vtorc-up.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/vtorc-up.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-source ./env.sh
+script_dir="$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")"
+source "${script_dir}/../env.sh"
 
 log_dir="${VTDATAROOT}/tmp"
 port=16000
@@ -9,7 +10,7 @@ vtorc \
   $TOPOLOGY_FLAGS \
   --logtostderr \
   --alsologtostderr \
-  --config="./vtorc/config.json" \
+  --config="${script_dir}/../vtorc/config.json" \
   --port $port \
   > "${log_dir}/vtorc.out" 2>&1 &
 
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/vttablet-down.sh b/examples/common/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
similarity index 94%
rename from examples/local/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
index 47b881b9793..3de266def76 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # This is an example script that stops the mysqld and vttablet instances
 # created by vttablet-up.sh
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 printf -v tablet_dir 'vt_%010d' $TABLET_UID
 pid=`cat $VTDATAROOT/$tablet_dir/vttablet.pid`
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/vttablet-up.sh b/examples/common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
similarity index 97%
rename from examples/local/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
index 43d0849ce76..0e70837d235 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 cell=${CELL:-'test'}
 keyspace=${KEYSPACE:-'test_keyspace'}
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/zk-down.sh b/examples/common/scripts/zk-down.sh
similarity index 93%
rename from examples/region_sharding/scripts/zk-down.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/zk-down.sh
index 18dd7933bc9..a9fa1e80a30 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/zk-down.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/zk-down.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that stops the ZooKeeper servers started by zk-up.sh.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 # Stop ZooKeeper servers.
 echo "Stopping zk servers..."
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/zk-up.sh b/examples/common/scripts/zk-up.sh
similarity index 97%
rename from examples/local/scripts/zk-up.sh
rename to examples/common/scripts/zk-up.sh
index d689e167988..519d5305b25 100755
--- a/examples/local/scripts/zk-up.sh
+++ b/examples/common/scripts/zk-up.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # This is an example script that creates a quorum of ZooKeeper servers.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]:-$0}")/../env.sh"
 
 cell=${CELL:-'test'}
 
diff --git a/examples/local/topo-etcd2.sh b/examples/common/topo-etcd2.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/local/topo-etcd2.sh
rename to examples/common/topo-etcd2.sh
diff --git a/examples/local/topo-k8s.sh b/examples/common/topo-k8s.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/local/topo-k8s.sh
rename to examples/common/topo-k8s.sh
diff --git a/examples/local/topo-zk2.sh b/examples/common/topo-zk2.sh
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/local/topo-zk2.sh
rename to examples/common/topo-zk2.sh
diff --git a/examples/local/vtadmin/discovery.json b/examples/common/vtadmin/discovery.json
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/local/vtadmin/discovery.json
rename to examples/common/vtadmin/discovery.json
diff --git a/examples/local/vtadmin/rbac.yaml b/examples/common/vtadmin/rbac.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/local/vtadmin/rbac.yaml
rename to examples/common/vtadmin/rbac.yaml
diff --git a/examples/local/vtorc/config.json b/examples/common/vtorc/config.json
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/local/vtorc/config.json
rename to examples/common/vtorc/config.json
diff --git a/examples/local/101_initial_cluster.sh b/examples/local/101_initial_cluster.sh
index a14fa142e4b..ffa24d7f98e 100755
--- a/examples/local/101_initial_cluster.sh
+++ b/examples/local/101_initial_cluster.sh
@@ -17,57 +17,47 @@
 # this script brings up zookeeper and all the vitess components
 # required for a single shard deployment.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 # start topo server
 if [ "${TOPO}" = "zk2" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/zk-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/zk-up.sh
 elif [ "${TOPO}" = "k8s" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/k3s-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/k3s-up.sh
 elif [ "${TOPO}" = "consul" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/consul-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/consul-up.sh
 else
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/etcd-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/etcd-up.sh
 fi
 
 # start vtctld
-CELL=zone1 ./scripts/vtctld-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/vtctld-up.sh
 
 # start vttablets for keyspace commerce
 for i in 100 101 102; do
-	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-	CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=commerce TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=commerce TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 # set the correct durability policy for the keyspace
-vtctldclient --server localhost:15999 SetKeyspaceDurabilityPolicy --durability-policy=semi_sync commerce
+vtctldclient --server localhost:15999 SetKeyspaceDurabilityPolicy --durability-policy=semi_sync commerce || fail "Failed to set keyspace durability policy on the commerce keyspace"
 
 # start vtorc
-./scripts/vtorc-up.sh
+../common/scripts/vtorc-up.sh
 
 # Wait for all the tablets to be up and registered in the topology server
-for _ in $(seq 0 200); do
-	vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace commerce --shard 0 | wc -l | grep -q "3" && break
-	sleep 1
-done;
-vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace commerce --shard 0 | wc -l | grep -q "3" || (echo "Timed out waiting for tablets to be up in commerce/0" && exit 1)
-
-# Wait for a primary tablet to be elected in the shard
-for _ in $(seq 0 200); do
-	vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace commerce --shard 0 | grep -q "primary" && break
-	sleep 1
-done;
-vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace commerce --shard 0 | grep "primary" || (echo "Timed out waiting for primary to be elected in commerce/0" && exit 1)
+# and for a primary tablet to be elected in the shard and become healthy/serving.
+wait_for_healthy_shard commerce 0 || exit 1
 
 # create the schema
-vtctldclient ApplySchema --sql-file create_commerce_schema.sql commerce
+vtctldclient ApplySchema --sql-file create_commerce_schema.sql commerce || fail "Failed to apply schema for the commerce keyspace"
 
 # create the vschema
-vtctldclient ApplyVSchema --vschema-file vschema_commerce_initial.json commerce
+vtctldclient ApplyVSchema --vschema-file vschema_commerce_initial.json commerce || fail "Failed to apply vschema for the commerce keyspace"
 
 # start vtgate
-CELL=zone1 ./scripts/vtgate-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/vtgate-up.sh
 
 # start vtadmin
-./scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
+../common/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
 
diff --git a/examples/local/201_customer_tablets.sh b/examples/local/201_customer_tablets.sh
index 6a27bef6cfc..1d5bf3585ce 100755
--- a/examples/local/201_customer_tablets.sh
+++ b/examples/local/201_customer_tablets.sh
@@ -18,26 +18,16 @@
 # resharding it also splits the vschema between the two keyspaces
 # old (commerce) and new (customer)
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 for i in 200 201 202; do
-	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-	CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 # set the correct durability policy for the keyspace
-vtctldclient --server localhost:15999 SetKeyspaceDurabilityPolicy --durability-policy=semi_sync customer
+vtctldclient --server localhost:15999 SetKeyspaceDurabilityPolicy --durability-policy=semi_sync customer || fail "Failed to set keyspace durability policy on the customer keyspace"
 
 # Wait for all the tablets to be up and registered in the topology server
-for _ in $(seq 0 200); do
-	vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace customer --shard 0 | wc -l | grep -q "3" && break
-	sleep 1
-done;
-vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace customer --shard 0 | wc -l | grep -q "3" || (echo "Timed out waiting for tablets to be up in customer/0" && exit 1)
-
-# Wait for a primary tablet to be elected in the shard
-for _ in $(seq 0 200); do
-	vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace customer --shard 0 | grep -q "primary" && break
-	sleep 1
-done;
-vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace customer --shard 0 | grep "primary" || (echo "Timed out waiting for primary to be elected in customer/0" && exit 1)
+# and for a primary tablet to be elected in the shard and become healthy/serving.
+wait_for_healthy_shard customer 0 || exit 1
diff --git a/examples/local/202_move_tables.sh b/examples/local/202_move_tables.sh
index 2b69817445e..f385acb12a3 100755
--- a/examples/local/202_move_tables.sh
+++ b/examples/local/202_move_tables.sh
@@ -17,6 +17,6 @@
 # this script copies over all the data from commerce keyspace to
 # customer keyspace for the customer and corder tables
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient MoveTables -- --source commerce --tables 'customer,corder' Create customer.commerce2customer
diff --git a/examples/local/203_switch_reads.sh b/examples/local/203_switch_reads.sh
index 1c1abbe7ff0..4bca7e4e257 100755
--- a/examples/local/203_switch_reads.sh
+++ b/examples/local/203_switch_reads.sh
@@ -17,6 +17,6 @@
 # this script migrates traffic for the new customer keyspace to the new
 # tablets of types rdonly and replica
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient MoveTables -- --tablet_types=rdonly,replica SwitchTraffic customer.commerce2customer
diff --git a/examples/local/204_switch_writes.sh b/examples/local/204_switch_writes.sh
index a04f6ffc947..743ca1e2512 100755
--- a/examples/local/204_switch_writes.sh
+++ b/examples/local/204_switch_writes.sh
@@ -17,6 +17,6 @@
 # this script migrates primary traffic for the customer keyspace to the
 # new primary tablet
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient MoveTables -- --tablet_types=primary SwitchTraffic customer.commerce2customer
diff --git a/examples/local/205_clean_commerce.sh b/examples/local/205_clean_commerce.sh
index 37824052d27..5d307a231d3 100755
--- a/examples/local/205_clean_commerce.sh
+++ b/examples/local/205_clean_commerce.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # this script removes the customer and corder tables from the commerce
 # keyspace
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient MoveTables Complete customer.commerce2customer
 
diff --git a/examples/local/301_customer_sharded.sh b/examples/local/301_customer_sharded.sh
index 8f008d0638b..ad80cdd98dd 100755
--- a/examples/local/301_customer_sharded.sh
+++ b/examples/local/301_customer_sharded.sh
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@
 # it also changes the customer vschema from unsharded to sharded and
 # sets up the necessary vindexes
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
-vtctldclient ApplySchema --sql-file create_commerce_seq.sql commerce
-vtctldclient ApplyVSchema --vschema-file vschema_commerce_seq.json commerce
-vtctldclient ApplyVSchema --vschema-file vschema_customer_sharded.json customer
-vtctldclient ApplySchema --sql-file create_customer_sharded.sql customer
+vtctldclient ApplySchema --sql-file create_commerce_seq.sql commerce || fail "Failed to create sequence tables in the commerce keyspace"
+vtctldclient ApplyVSchema --vschema-file vschema_commerce_seq.json commerce || fail "Failed to create vschema sequences in the commerce keyspace"
+vtctldclient ApplyVSchema --vschema-file vschema_customer_sharded.json customer || fail "Failed to create vschema in sharded customer keyspace"
+vtctldclient ApplySchema --sql-file create_customer_sharded.sql customer || fail "Failed to create schema in sharded customer keyspace"
diff --git a/examples/local/302_new_shards.sh b/examples/local/302_new_shards.sh
index 40569e2c20d..b2ac94f5c7f 100755
--- a/examples/local/302_new_shards.sh
+++ b/examples/local/302_new_shards.sh
@@ -17,30 +17,20 @@
 # this script brings up new tablets for the two new shards that we will
 # be creating in the customer keyspace and copies the schema
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 for i in 300 301 302; do
-	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-	SHARD=-80 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	SHARD=-80 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 for i in 400 401 402; do
-	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-	SHARD=80- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	SHARD=80- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 for shard in "-80" "80-"; do
-  # Wait for all the tablets to be up and registered in the topology server
-  for _ in $(seq 0 200); do
-  	vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace customer --shard $shard | wc -l | grep -q "3" && break
-  	sleep 1
-  done;
-  vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace customer --shard $shard | wc -l | grep -q "3" || (echo "Timed out waiting for tablets to be up in customer/$shard" && exit 1)
-
-  # Wait for a primary tablet to be elected in the shard
-  for _ in $(seq 0 200); do
-  	vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace customer --shard $shard | grep -q "primary" && break
-  	sleep 1
-  done;
-  vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace customer --shard $shard | grep "primary" || (echo "Timed out waiting for primary to be elected in customer/$shard" && exit 1)
+	# Wait for all the tablets to be up and registered in the topology server
+	# and for a primary tablet to be elected in the shard and become healthy/serving.
+	wait_for_healthy_shard customer "${shard}" || exit 1
 done;
diff --git a/examples/local/303_reshard.sh b/examples/local/303_reshard.sh
index 510ba68b815..ea12987e9ed 100755
--- a/examples/local/303_reshard.sh
+++ b/examples/local/303_reshard.sh
@@ -17,6 +17,6 @@
 # this script copies the data from customer/0 to customer/-80 and customer/80-
 # each row will be copied to exactly one shard based on the vindex value
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient Reshard -- --source_shards '0' --target_shards '-80,80-' Create customer.cust2cust
diff --git a/examples/local/304_switch_reads.sh b/examples/local/304_switch_reads.sh
index 67d0fb45e85..52d6093f4ff 100755
--- a/examples/local/304_switch_reads.sh
+++ b/examples/local/304_switch_reads.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,6 @@
 
 # this script migrates traffic for the rdonly and replica tablets
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient Reshard -- --tablet_types=rdonly,replica SwitchTraffic customer.cust2cust
diff --git a/examples/local/305_switch_writes.sh b/examples/local/305_switch_writes.sh
index 289019b1363..9bbc7ed9ea5 100755
--- a/examples/local/305_switch_writes.sh
+++ b/examples/local/305_switch_writes.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,6 @@
 
 # this script migrates traffic for the primary tablet
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient Reshard -- --tablet_types=primary SwitchTraffic customer.cust2cust
diff --git a/examples/local/306_down_shard_0.sh b/examples/local/306_down_shard_0.sh
index 0d956553cd5..db860b3e23c 100755
--- a/examples/local/306_down_shard_0.sh
+++ b/examples/local/306_down_shard_0.sh
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 # this script brings down the tablets for customer/0 keyspace
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient Reshard Complete customer.cust2cust
 
 for i in 200 201 202; do
-	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-down.sh
-	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
 done
diff --git a/examples/local/307_delete_shard_0.sh b/examples/local/307_delete_shard_0.sh
index a09e8f15c00..e0781990f56 100755
--- a/examples/local/307_delete_shard_0.sh
+++ b/examples/local/307_delete_shard_0.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,6 @@
 
 # this script deletes the old shard 0 which has been replaced by 2 shards
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
-vtctldclient DeleteShards --recursive customer/0
+vtctldclient DeleteShards --force --recursive customer/0
diff --git a/examples/local/401_teardown.sh b/examples/local/401_teardown.sh
index ae78d262486..08dcbf3cd29 100755
--- a/examples/local/401_teardown.sh
+++ b/examples/local/401_teardown.sh
@@ -17,43 +17,42 @@
 # We should not assume that any of the steps have been executed.
 # This makes it possible for a user to cleanup at any point.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
-./scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
+../common/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
 
-./scripts/vtorc-down.sh
+../common/scripts/vtorc-down.sh
 
-./scripts/vtgate-down.sh
+../common/scripts/vtgate-down.sh
 
 for tablet in 100 200 300 400; do
 	if vtctlclient --action_timeout 1s --server localhost:15999 GetTablet zone1-$tablet >/dev/null 2>&1; then
 		# The zero tablet is up. Try to shutdown 0-2 tablet + mysqlctl
 		for i in 0 1 2; do
-			uid=$(($tablet + $i))
+			uid=$((tablet + i))
 			printf -v alias '%s-%010d' 'zone1' $uid
 			echo "Shutting down tablet $alias"
-			CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ./scripts/vttablet-down.sh
-			CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ./scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
+			CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ../common/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
+			CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
 		done
 	fi
 done
 
-./scripts/vtctld-down.sh
+../common/scripts/vtctld-down.sh
 
 if [ "${TOPO}" = "zk2" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/zk-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/zk-down.sh
 elif [ "${TOPO}" = "k8s" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/k3s-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/k3s-down.sh
 elif [ "${TOPO}" = "consul" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/consul-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/consul-down.sh
 else
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/etcd-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/etcd-down.sh
 fi
 
 # pedantic check: grep for any remaining processes
 
-if [ ! -z "$VTDATAROOT" ]; then
-
+if [ -n "$VTDATAROOT" ]; then
 	if pgrep -f -l "$VTDATAROOT" >/dev/null; then
 		echo "ERROR: Stale processes detected! It is recommended to manuallly kill them:"
 		pgrep -f -l "$VTDATAROOT"
@@ -63,7 +62,6 @@ if [ ! -z "$VTDATAROOT" ]; then
 
 	# shellcheck disable=SC2086
 	rm -r ${VTDATAROOT:?}/*
-
 fi
 
 disown -a
diff --git a/examples/local/README.md b/examples/local/README.md
index 220ffccc1fc..cb846b7c8b1 100644
--- a/examples/local/README.md
+++ b/examples/local/README.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ This document contains the summary of the commands to be run.
 
 ```
 # Setup environment and aliases
-source env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 # Bring up initial cluster and commerce keyspace
 ./101_initial_cluster.sh
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ vtctlclient Reshard -- --tablet_types=primary SwitchTraffic customer.cust2cust
 
 # Down shard 0
 ./306_down_shard_0.sh
-vtctlclient DeleteShard -- --recursive customer/0
+vtctlclient DeleteShard -- --force --recursive customer/0
 
 # Down cluster
 ./401_teardown.sh
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/etcd-down.sh b/examples/local/scripts/etcd-down.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 018af7432a3..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/scripts/etcd-down.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that stops the etcd servers started by etcd-up.sh.
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-echo "Stopping etcd..."
-kill -9 `cat $VTDATAROOT/tmp/etcd.pid` 
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh b/examples/local/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index ae041cf951d..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that creates a single shard vttablet deployment.
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-cell=${CELL:-'test'}
-uid=$TABLET_UID
-mysql_port=$[17000 + $uid]
-printf -v alias '%s-%010d' $cell $uid
-printf -v tablet_dir 'vt_%010d' $uid
-
-mkdir -p $VTDATAROOT/backups
-
-echo "Starting MySQL for tablet $alias..."
-action="init"
-
-if [ -d $VTDATAROOT/$tablet_dir ]; then
- echo "Resuming from existing vttablet dir:"
- echo "    $VTDATAROOT/$tablet_dir"
- action='start'
-fi
-
-mysqlctl \
- --log_dir $VTDATAROOT/tmp \
- --tablet_uid $uid \
- --mysql_port $mysql_port \
- $action
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/vtctld-down.sh b/examples/local/scripts/vtctld-down.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index d96fa3b927f..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/scripts/vtctld-down.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that stops vtctld.
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-echo "Stopping vtctld..."
-kill -9 `cat $VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtctld.pid`
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/vtctld-up.sh b/examples/local/scripts/vtctld-up.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 5ab8017424c..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/scripts/vtctld-up.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that starts vtctld.
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-cell=${CELL:-'test'}
-grpc_port=15999
-
-echo "Starting vtctld..."
-# shellcheck disable=SC2086
-vtctld \
- $TOPOLOGY_FLAGS \
- --cell $cell \
- --service_map 'grpc-vtctl,grpc-vtctld' \
- --backup_storage_implementation file \
- --file_backup_storage_root $VTDATAROOT/backups \
- --log_dir $VTDATAROOT/tmp \
- --port $vtctld_web_port \
- --grpc_port $grpc_port \
- --pid_file $VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtctld.pid \
-  > $VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtctld.out 2>&1 &
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/vtgate-down.sh b/examples/local/scripts/vtgate-down.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 9da0a7179df..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/scripts/vtgate-down.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that stops the instance started by vtgate-up.sh.
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-# Stop vtgate.
-echo "Stopping vtgate..."
-kill `cat $VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtgate.pid`
diff --git a/examples/local/scripts/zk-down.sh b/examples/local/scripts/zk-down.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 18dd7933bc9..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/scripts/zk-down.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that stops the ZooKeeper servers started by zk-up.sh.
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-# Stop ZooKeeper servers.
-echo "Stopping zk servers..."
-for zkid in $zkids; do
-  zkctl -zk.myid $zkid -zk.cfg $zkcfg -log_dir $VTDATAROOT/tmp shutdown
-done
-
diff --git a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method1.sh b/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method1.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index b946ec7434f..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method1.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -x
-vtexplain -vschema-file vschema.json -schema-file schema.sql -shards 4 -sql 'INSERT /*vt+ MULTI_SHARD_AUTOCOMMIT=1 */ INTO t1 (c1) values (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9),(10),(11),(12),(13),(14),(15),(16),(17),(18),(19),(20);'
diff --git a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method2.sh b/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method2.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 33a09cbfbee..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method2.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -x
-vtexplain -vschema-file vschema.json -schema-file schema.sql -shards 4 -sql 'SET transaction_mode="single"; INSERT INTO t1 (c1) values (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9),(10),(11),(12),(13),(14),(15),(16),(17),(18),(19),(20);'
diff --git a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_reads.sh b/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_reads.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index f32732ccfc5..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_reads.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -x
-vtexplain -vschema-file vschema.json -schema-file schema.sql -shards 4 -sql 'SET transaction_mode="single"; BEGIN; SELECT * from t1; COMMIT;'
diff --git a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_working.sh b/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_working.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index f9c84e87a72..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_working.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -x
-vtexplain -vschema-file vschema.json -schema-file schema.sql -shards 4 -sql 'SET transaction_mode="single"; INSERT INTO t1 (c1) values (10),(14),(15),(16);'
diff --git a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method3.sh b/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method3.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 772bae21460..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_method3.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -x
-# SET transaction_mode="multi"  is implied by default
-vtexplain -vschema-file vschema.json -schema-file schema.sql -shards 4 -sql 'INSERT INTO t1 (c1) values (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9),(10),(11),(12),(13),(14),(15),(16),(17),(18),(19),(20);'
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/101_initial_cluster.sh b/examples/region_sharding/101_initial_cluster.sh
index 210334cf18f..c2692440189 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/101_initial_cluster.sh
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/101_initial_cluster.sh
@@ -17,46 +17,43 @@
 # this script brings up topo server and all the vitess components
 # required for a single shard deployment.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 # start topo server
 if [ "${TOPO}" = "zk2" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/zk-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/zk-up.sh
 elif [ "${TOPO}" = "k8s" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/k3s-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/k3s-up.sh
 else
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/etcd-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/etcd-up.sh
 fi
 
 # start vtctld
-CELL=zone1 ./scripts/vtctld-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/vtctld-up.sh
 
 # start unsharded keyspace and tablet
-CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=100 ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-SHARD=0 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=main TABLET_UID=100 ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=100 ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+SHARD=0 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=main TABLET_UID=100 ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 
 # set the correct durability policy for the keyspace
-vtctldclient --server localhost:15999 SetKeyspaceDurabilityPolicy --durability-policy=none main
+vtctldclient --server localhost:15999 SetKeyspaceDurabilityPolicy --durability-policy=none main || fail "Failed to set keyspace durability policy on the main keyspace"
 
 # start vtorc
-./scripts/vtorc-up.sh
+../common/scripts/vtorc-up.sh
 
-# Wait for a primary tablet to be elected in the shard
-for _ in $(seq 0 200); do
-	vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace main --shard 0 | grep -q "primary" && break
-	sleep 1
-done;
-vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace main --shard 0 | grep "primary" || (echo "Timed out waiting for primary to be elected in main/0" && exit 1)
+# Wait for a primary tablet to be elected in the shard and for it
+# to become healthy/sherving.
+wait_for_healthy_shard main 0 1 || exit 1
 
 # create the schema
-vtctldclient ApplySchema --sql-file create_main_schema.sql main
+vtctldclient ApplySchema --sql-file create_main_schema.sql main || fail "Failed to apply schema for the main keyspace"
 
 # create the vschema
-vtctldclient ApplyVSchema --vschema-file main_vschema_initial.json main
+vtctldclient ApplyVSchema --vschema-file main_vschema_initial.json main ||  fail "Failed to apply vschema for the main keyspace"
 
 # start vtgate
-CELL=zone1 ./scripts/vtgate-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/vtgate-up.sh
 
 # start vtadmin
-./scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
+../common/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
 
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/201_main_sharded.sh b/examples/region_sharding/201_main_sharded.sh
index b8a589c0d49..387f89506db 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/201_main_sharded.sh
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/201_main_sharded.sh
@@ -14,20 +14,20 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 # apply sharding vschema
-vtctldclient ApplyVSchema --vschema-file main_vschema_sharded.json main
+vtctldclient ApplyVSchema --vschema-file main_vschema_sharded.json main || fail "Failed to apply vschema for the sharded main keyspace"
 
 # optional: create the schema needed for lookup vindex
 #vtctlclient ApplySchema --sql-file create_lookup_schema.sql main
 
 # create the lookup vindex
-vtctlclient CreateLookupVindex -- --tablet_types=PRIMARY main "$(cat lookup_vindex.json)"
+vtctlclient CreateLookupVindex -- --tablet_types=PRIMARY main "$(cat lookup_vindex.json)" || fail "Failed to create lookup vindex in main keyspace"
 
 # we have to wait for replication to catch up
 # Can see on vttablet status page Vreplication that copy is complete
 sleep 5
 
-#externalize vindex
-vtctlclient ExternalizeVindex main.customer_region_lookup
+# externalize vindex
+vtctlclient ExternalizeVindex main.customer_region_lookup || fail "Failed to externalize customer_region_lookup vindex in the main keyspace"
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/202_new_tablets.sh b/examples/region_sharding/202_new_tablets.sh
index e570ae3b3c2..d9134a6a7a3 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/202_new_tablets.sh
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/202_new_tablets.sh
@@ -14,23 +14,20 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 # start vttablets for new shards. we start only one tablet each (primary)
-CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=200 ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-SHARD=-40 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=main TABLET_UID=200 ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
-CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=300 ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-SHARD=40-80 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=main TABLET_UID=300 ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
-CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=400 ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-SHARD=80-c0 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=main TABLET_UID=400 ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
-CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=500 ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
-SHARD=c0- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=main TABLET_UID=500 ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=200 ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+SHARD=-40 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=main TABLET_UID=200 ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=300 ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+SHARD=40-80 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=main TABLET_UID=300 ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=400 ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+SHARD=80-c0 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=main TABLET_UID=400 ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=500 ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+SHARD=c0- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=main TABLET_UID=500 ../common/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 
 for shard in "-40" "40-80" "80-c0" "c0-"; do
-  # Wait for a primary tablet to be elected in the shard
-  for _ in $(seq 0 200); do
-  	vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace main --shard $shard | grep -q "primary" && break
-  	sleep 1
-  done;
-  vtctldclient GetTablets --keyspace main --shard $shard | grep "primary" || (echo "Timed out waiting for primary to be elected in main/$shard" && exit 1)
+	# Wait for all the tablets to be up and registered in the topology server
+	# and for a primary tablet to be elected in the shard and become healthy/serving.
+	wait_for_healthy_shard main "${shard}" 1 || exit 1
 done;
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/203_reshard.sh b/examples/region_sharding/203_reshard.sh
index 0cef1dbc4f9..aaa448a135d 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/203_reshard.sh
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/203_reshard.sh
@@ -14,6 +14,6 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient Reshard -- --source_shards '0' --target_shards '-40,40-80,80-c0,c0-' --tablet_types=PRIMARY Create main.main2regions
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/204_switch_reads.sh b/examples/region_sharding/204_switch_reads.sh
index f0e6b7fd6cb..20703938199 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/204_switch_reads.sh
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/204_switch_reads.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,6 @@
 
 # this script migrates traffic for the rdonly and replica tablets
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient Reshard -- --tablet_types=rdonly,replica SwitchTraffic main.main2regions
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/205_switch_writes.sh b/examples/region_sharding/205_switch_writes.sh
index d337929852e..ad0d8ee51d2 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/205_switch_writes.sh
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/205_switch_writes.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # this script migrates traffic for the primary tablet
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 vtctlclient Reshard -- --tablet_types=primary SwitchTraffic main.main2regions
 
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/206_down_shard_0.sh b/examples/region_sharding/206_down_shard_0.sh
index d302a071a46..6b46ea34ea0 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/206_down_shard_0.sh
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/206_down_shard_0.sh
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 # this script brings down the tablets for main/0 keyspace/shard
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
-CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=100 ./scripts/vttablet-down.sh
-CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=100 ./scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
+CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=100 ../common/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
+CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=100 ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/207_delete_shard_0.sh b/examples/region_sharding/207_delete_shard_0.sh
index 05f24679226..298afd7b273 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/207_delete_shard_0.sh
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/207_delete_shard_0.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,6 @@
 
 # this script deletes the old shard 0 which has been replaced by 4 shards
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
-vtctldclient DeleteShards --recursive main/0
+vtctldclient DeleteShards --force --recursive main/0
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/301_teardown.sh b/examples/region_sharding/301_teardown.sh
index 310c7f1277b..25f3bb259f2 100755
--- a/examples/region_sharding/301_teardown.sh
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/301_teardown.sh
@@ -17,37 +17,36 @@
 # We should not assume that any of the steps have been executed.
 # This makes it possible for a user to cleanup at any point.
 
-source ./env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
-./scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
+../common/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
 
-./scripts/vtorc-down.sh
+../common/scripts/vtorc-down.sh
 
-./scripts/vtgate-down.sh
+../common/scripts/vtgate-down.sh
 
 for tablet in 100 200 300 400 500; do
 	if vtctlclient --server localhost:15999 GetTablet zone1-$tablet >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-		printf -v alias '%s-%010d' 'zone1' $uid
+		printf -v alias '%s-%010d' 'zone1' $tablet
 		echo "Shutting down tablet $alias"
-		CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$tablet ./scripts/vttablet-down.sh
-		CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$tablet ./scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
+		CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$tablet ../common/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
+		CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$tablet ../common/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
 	fi
 done
 
-./scripts/vtctld-down.sh
+../common/scripts/vtctld-down.sh
 
 if [ "${TOPO}" = "zk2" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/zk-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/zk-down.sh
 elif [ "${TOPO}" = "k8s" ]; then
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/k3s-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/k3s-down.sh
 else
-	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/etcd-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ../common/scripts/etcd-down.sh
 fi
 
 # pedantic check: grep for any remaining processes
 
-if [ ! -z "$VTDATAROOT" ]; then
-
+if [ -n "$VTDATAROOT" ]; then
 	if pgrep -f -l "$VTDATAROOT" >/dev/null; then
 		echo "ERROR: Stale processes detected! It is recommended to manually kill them:"
 		pgrep -f -l "$VTDATAROOT"
@@ -57,7 +56,6 @@ if [ ! -z "$VTDATAROOT" ]; then
 
 	# shellcheck disable=SC2086
 	rm -r ${VTDATAROOT:?}/*
-
 fi
 
 disown -a
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/README.md b/examples/region_sharding/README.md
index 8b9ced13999..fcc2e617143 100644
--- a/examples/region_sharding/README.md
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/README.md
@@ -5,12 +5,8 @@ This document contains the summary of the commands to be run.
 
 
 ```
-# Edit main_vschema_sharded.json and set region_map to full path of countries.json file
-# Example:
-	    "region_map": "/home/user/vitess/examples/region_sharding/countries.json",
-
 # setup environment and aliases
-source env.sh
+source ../common/env.sh
 
 # Bring up initial cluster and main keyspace (unsharded)
 ./101_initial_cluster.sh
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/env.sh b/examples/region_sharding/env.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 54b9c97fff9..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/env.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,83 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-hostname=$(hostname -f)
-vtctld_web_port=15000
-export VTDATAROOT="${VTDATAROOT:-${PWD}/vtdataroot}"
-
-function fail() {
-  echo "ERROR: $1"
-  exit 1
-}
-
-if [[ $EUID -eq 0 ]]; then
-  fail "This script refuses to be run as root. Please switch to a regular user."
-fi
-
-# mysqld might be in /usr/sbin which will not be in the default PATH
-PATH="/usr/sbin:$PATH"
-for binary in mysqld etcd etcdctl curl vtctlclient vttablet vtgate vtctld mysqlctl; do
-  command -v "$binary" > /dev/null || fail "${binary} is not installed in PATH. See https://vitess.io/docs/get-started/local/ for install instructions."
-done;
-
-if [ "${TOPO}" = "zk2" ]; then
-    # Each ZooKeeper server needs a list of all servers in the quorum.
-    # Since we're running them all locally, we need to give them unique ports.
-    # In a real deployment, these should be on different machines, and their
-    # respective hostnames should be given.
-    zkcfg=(\
-        "1@$hostname:28881:38881:21811" \
-        "2@$hostname:28882:38882:21812" \
-        "3@$hostname:28883:38883:21813" \
-        )
-    printf -v zkcfg ",%s" "${zkcfg[@]}"
-    zkcfg=${zkcfg:1}
-
-    zkids='1 2 3'
-
-    # Set topology environment parameters.
-    ZK_SERVER="localhost:21811,localhost:21812,localhost:21813"
-    # shellcheck disable=SC2034
-    TOPOLOGY_FLAGS="--topo_implementation zk2 --topo_global_server_address ${ZK_SERVER} --topo_global_root /vitess/global"
-
-    mkdir -p "${VTDATAROOT}/tmp"
-elif [ "${TOPO}" = "k8s" ]; then
-    # Set topology environment parameters.
-    K8S_ADDR="localhost"
-    K8S_PORT="8443"
-    K8S_KUBECONFIG=$VTDATAROOT/tmp/k8s.kubeconfig
-    # shellcheck disable=SC2034
-    TOPOLOGY_FLAGS="--topo_implementation k8s --topo_k8s_kubeconfig ${K8S_KUBECONFIG} --topo_global_server_address ${K8S_ADDR}:${K8S_PORT} --topo_global_root /vitess/global"
-else
-    ETCD_SERVER="localhost:2379"
-    TOPOLOGY_FLAGS="--topo_implementation etcd2 --topo_global_server_address $ETCD_SERVER --topo_global_root /vitess/global"
-
-    mkdir -p "${VTDATAROOT}/etcd"
-fi
-
-mkdir -p "${VTDATAROOT}/tmp"
-
-# Set aliases to simplify instructions.
-# In your own environment you may prefer to use config files,
-# such as ~/.my.cnf
-
-alias mysql="command mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306"
-alias vtctlclient="command vtctlclient --server localhost:15999 --log_dir ${VTDATAROOT}/tmp --alsologtostderr"
-alias vtctldclient="command vtctldclient --server localhost:15999"
-
-# Make sure aliases are expanded in non-interactive shell
-shopt -s expand_aliases
-
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/main_vschema_sharded.json b/examples/region_sharding/main_vschema_sharded.json
index 06d72e58981..ec51afa9ee8 100644
--- a/examples/region_sharding/main_vschema_sharded.json
+++ b/examples/region_sharding/main_vschema_sharded.json
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     "region_vdx": {
       "type": "region_json",
       "params": {
-        "region_map": "/vt/src/vitess.io/vitess/examples/region_sharding/countries.json",
+        "region_map": "./countries.json",
         "region_bytes": "1"
       }
     }
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/etcd-up.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/etcd-up.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 9164d32806e..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/etcd-up.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that creates a quorum of ZooKeeper servers.
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-cell=${CELL:-'test'}
-export ETCDCTL_API=2
-
-# Check that etcd is not already running
-curl "http://${ETCD_SERVER}" > /dev/null 2>&1 && fail "etcd is already running. Exiting."
-
-etcd --enable-v2=true --data-dir "${VTDATAROOT}/etcd/"  --listen-client-urls "http://${ETCD_SERVER}" --advertise-client-urls "http://${ETCD_SERVER}" > "${VTDATAROOT}"/tmp/etcd.out 2>&1 &
-PID=$!
-echo $PID > "${VTDATAROOT}/tmp/etcd.pid"
-sleep 5
-
-echo "add /vitess/global"
-etcdctl --endpoints "http://${ETCD_SERVER}" mkdir /vitess/global &
-
-echo "add /vitess/$cell"
-etcdctl --endpoints "http://${ETCD_SERVER}" mkdir /vitess/$cell &
-
-# And also add the CellInfo description for the cell.
-# If the node already exists, it's fine, means we used existing data.
-echo "add $cell CellInfo"
-set +e
-# shellcheck disable=SC2086
-vtctl $TOPOLOGY_FLAGS AddCellInfo -- \
-  --root /vitess/$cell \
-  --server_address "${ETCD_SERVER}" \
-  $cell
-set -e
-
-echo "etcd start done..."
-
-
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/k3s-down.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/k3s-down.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 590dc604e3e..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/k3s-down.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that stops the k3s server started by k3s-up.sh.
-
-set -e
-
-# shellcheck source=./env.sh
-# shellcheck disable=SC1091
-source ./env.sh
-
-# Stop K3s server.
-echo "Stopping k3s server..."
-
-pid=`cat $VTDATAROOT/tmp/k3s.pid`
-echo "Stopping k3s..."
-kill -9 $pid
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/k3s-up.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/k3s-up.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 286b4d0ad85..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/k3s-up.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,60 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that creates a Kubernetes api for topo use by running k3s
-
-set -e
-cell=${CELL:-'test'}
-
-script_root=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")
-
-# shellcheck source=./env.sh
-# shellcheck disable=SC1091
-source ./env.sh
-
-case $(uname) in
-  Linux) ;;
-  *) echo "WARNING: unsupported platform. K3s only supports running on Linux, the k8s topology is available for local examples."; exit 1;;
-esac
-
-case $(uname -m) in
-    aarch64) ;;
-    x86_64) ;;
-    *) echo "ERROR: unsupported architecture, the k8s topology is not available for local examples."; exit 1;;
-esac
-
-k3s server --disable-agent --data-dir "${VTDATAROOT}/k3s/" --https-listen-port "${K8S_PORT}" --write-kubeconfig "${K8S_KUBECONFIG}" > "${VTDATAROOT}"/tmp/k3s.out 2>&1 &
-PID=$!
-echo $PID > "${VTDATAROOT}/tmp/k3s.pid"
-disown -a
-echo "Waiting for k3s server to start"
-sleep 15
-
-# Use k3s built-in kubectl with custom config
-KUBECTL="k3s kubectl --kubeconfig=${K8S_KUBECONFIG}"
-
-# Create the CRD for vitesstopologynodes
-$KUBECTL create -f ../../go/vt/topo/k8stopo/VitessTopoNodes-crd.yaml
-
-# Add the CellInfo description for the cell
-set +e
-echo "add $cell CellInfo"
-vtctl $TOPOLOGY_FLAGS AddCellInfo -- \
-  --root /vitess/$cell \
-  $cell
-set -e
-
-echo "k3s start done..."
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 37b1d0c729b..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that stops the mysqld and vttablet instances
-# created by vttablet-up.sh
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-cell=${CELL:-'test'}
-uid=$TABLET_UID
-printf -v alias '%s-%010d' $cell $uid
-echo "Shutting down MySQL for tablet $alias..."
-
-mysqlctl --tablet_uid $TABLET_UID shutdown
-
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 2a7944d9d5a..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtadmin-down.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-echo "Stopping vtadmin-web..."
-kill -9 "$(cat "$VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtadmin-web.pid")"
-
-echo "Stopping vtadmin-api..."
-kill -9 "$(cat "$VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtadmin-api.pid")"
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 5ee04c9a959..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtadmin-up.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-log_dir="${VTDATAROOT}/tmp"
-web_dir="../../web/vtadmin"
-
-vtadmin_api_port=14200
-vtadmin_web_port=14201
-
-vtadmin \
-  --addr ":${vtadmin_api_port}" \
-  --http-origin "http://localhost:${vtadmin_web_port}" \
-  --http-tablet-url-tmpl "http://{{ .Tablet.Hostname }}:15{{ .Tablet.Alias.Uid }}" \
-  --tracer "opentracing-jaeger" \
-  --grpc-tracing \
-  --http-tracing \
-  --logtostderr \
-  --alsologtostderr \
-  --rbac \
-  --rbac-config="./vtadmin/rbac.yaml" \
-  --cluster "id=local,name=local,discovery=staticfile,discovery-staticfile-path=./vtadmin/discovery.json,tablet-fqdn-tmpl={{ .Tablet.Hostname }}:15{{ .Tablet.Alias.Uid }}" \
-  > "${log_dir}/vtadmin-api.out" 2>&1 &
-
-vtadmin_api_pid=$!
-echo ${vtadmin_api_pid} > "${log_dir}/vtadmin-api.pid"
-
-echo "\
-vtadmin-api is running!
-  - API: http://localhost:${vtadmin_api_port}
-  - Logs: ${log_dir}/vtadmin-api.out
-  - PID: ${vtadmin_api_pid}
-"
-
-# As a TODO, it'd be nice to make the assumption that vtadmin-web is already
-# installed and built (since we assume that `make` has already been run for
-# other Vitess components.)
-npm --prefix $web_dir --silent install
-
-REACT_APP_VTADMIN_API_ADDRESS="http://localhost:${vtadmin_api_port}" \
-  REACT_APP_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_TABLET_DEBUG_VARS="true" \
-  npm run --prefix $web_dir build
-
-"${web_dir}/node_modules/.bin/serve" --no-clipboard -l $vtadmin_web_port -s "${web_dir}/build" \
-  > "${log_dir}/vtadmin-web.out" 2>&1 &
-
-vtadmin_web_pid=$!
-echo ${vtadmin_web_pid} > "${log_dir}/vtadmin-web.pid"
-
-echo "\
-vtadmin-web is running!
-  - Browser: http://localhost:${vtadmin_web_port}
-  - Logs: ${log_dir}/vtadmin-web.out
-  - PID: ${vtadmin_web_pid}
-"
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtgate-up.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtgate-up.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index cb33e27839b..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtgate-up.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,57 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that starts a single vtgate.
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-cell=${CELL:-'test'}
-web_port=15001
-grpc_port=15991
-mysql_server_port=15306
-mysql_server_socket_path="/tmp/mysql.sock"
-
-# Start vtgate.
-# shellcheck disable=SC2086
-vtgate \
-  $TOPOLOGY_FLAGS \
-  --log_dir $VTDATAROOT/tmp \
-  --log_queries_to_file $VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtgate_querylog.txt \
-  --port $web_port \
-  --grpc_port $grpc_port \
-  --mysql_server_port $mysql_server_port \
-  --mysql_server_socket_path $mysql_server_socket_path \
-  --cell $cell \
-  --cells_to_watch $cell \
-  --tablet_types_to_wait PRIMARY,REPLICA \
-  --service_map 'grpc-vtgateservice' \
-  --pid_file $VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtgate.pid \
-  --mysql_auth_server_impl none \
-  > $VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtgate.out 2>&1 &
-
-# Block waiting for vtgate to be listening
-# Not the same as healthy
-
-echo "Waiting for vtgate to be up..."
-while true; do
- curl -I "http://$hostname:$web_port/debug/status" >/dev/null 2>&1 && break
- sleep 0.1
-done;
-echo "vtgate is up!"
-
-echo "Access vtgate at http://$hostname:$web_port/debug/status"
-
-disown -a
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtorc-down.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtorc-down.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 2fdfc1491ce..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtorc-down.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-echo "Stopping vtorc."
-kill -9 "$(cat "$VTDATAROOT/tmp/vtorc.pid")"
-
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtorc-up.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtorc-up.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index f5a0d75dbba..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vtorc-up.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-log_dir="${VTDATAROOT}/tmp"
-port=16000
-
-vtorc \
-  $TOPOLOGY_FLAGS \
-  --logtostderr \
-  --alsologtostderr \
-  --config="./vtorc/config.json" \
-  --port $port \
-  > "${log_dir}/vtorc.out" 2>&1 &
-
-vtorc_pid=$!
-echo ${vtorc_pid} > "${log_dir}/vtorc.pid"
-
-echo "\
-vtorc is running!
-  - UI: http://localhost:${port}
-  - Logs: ${log_dir}/vtorc.out
-  - PID: ${vtorc_pid}
-"
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vttablet-down.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 47b881b9793..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vttablet-down.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that stops the mysqld and vttablet instances
-# created by vttablet-up.sh
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-printf -v tablet_dir 'vt_%010d' $TABLET_UID
-pid=`cat $VTDATAROOT/$tablet_dir/vttablet.pid`
-
-kill $pid
-
-# Wait for vttablet to die.
-while ps -p $pid > /dev/null; do sleep 1; done
-
-
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vttablet-up.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 5ecc6657afc..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,69 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-cell=${CELL:-'test'}
-keyspace=${KEYSPACE:-'test_keyspace'}
-shard=${SHARD:-'0'}
-uid=$TABLET_UID
-mysql_port=$[17000 + $uid]
-port=$[15000 + $uid]
-grpc_port=$[16000 + $uid]
-printf -v alias '%s-%010d' $cell $uid
-printf -v tablet_dir 'vt_%010d' $uid
-tablet_hostname=''
-printf -v tablet_logfile 'vttablet_%010d_querylog.txt' $uid
-
-tablet_type=replica
-if [[ "${uid: -1}" -gt 1 ]]; then
- tablet_type=rdonly
-fi
-
-echo "Starting vttablet for $alias..."
-# shellcheck disable=SC2086
-vttablet \
- $TOPOLOGY_FLAGS \
- --log_dir $VTDATAROOT/tmp \
- --log_queries_to_file $VTDATAROOT/tmp/$tablet_logfile \
- --tablet-path $alias \
- --tablet_hostname "$tablet_hostname" \
- --init_keyspace $keyspace \
- --init_shard $shard \
- --init_tablet_type $tablet_type \
- --health_check_interval 5s \
- --enable_replication_reporter \
- --backup_storage_implementation file \
- --file_backup_storage_root $VTDATAROOT/backups \
- --restore_from_backup \
- --port $port \
- --grpc_port $grpc_port \
- --service_map 'grpc-queryservice,grpc-tabletmanager,grpc-updatestream' \
- --pid_file $VTDATAROOT/$tablet_dir/vttablet.pid \
- --vtctld_addr http://$hostname:$vtctld_web_port/ \
- --disable_active_reparents \
- > $VTDATAROOT/$tablet_dir/vttablet.out 2>&1 &
-
-# Block waiting for the tablet to be listening
-# Not the same as healthy
-
-for i in $(seq 0 300); do
- curl -I "http://$hostname:$port/debug/status" >/dev/null 2>&1 && break
- sleep 0.1
-done
-
-# check one last time
-curl -I "http://$hostname:$port/debug/status" || fail "tablet could not be started!"
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/zk-up.sh b/examples/region_sharding/scripts/zk-up.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 0667d806838..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/scripts/zk-up.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that creates a quorum of ZooKeeper servers.
-
-source ./env.sh
-
-cell=${CELL:-'test'}
-
-# Start ZooKeeper servers.
-# The "zkctl init" command won't return until the server is able to contact its
-# peers, so we need to start them all in the background and then wait for them.
-echo "Starting zk servers..."
-for zkid in $zkids; do
-  action='init'
-  printf -v zkdir 'zk_%03d' $zkid
-  if [ -f $VTDATAROOT/$zkdir/myid ]; then
-    echo "Resuming from existing ZK data dir:"
-    echo "    $VTDATAROOT/$zkdir"
-    action='start'
-  fi
-  zkctl -zk.myid $zkid -zk.cfg $zkcfg -log_dir $VTDATAROOT/tmp $action \
-    > $VTDATAROOT/tmp/zkctl_$zkid.out 2>&1 &
-  pids[$zkid]=$!
-done
-
-# Wait for all the zkctl commands to return.
-echo "Waiting for zk servers to be ready..."
-
-for zkid in $zkids; do
-  if ! wait ${pids[$zkid]}; then
-    echo "ZK server number $zkid failed to start. See log:"
-    echo "    $VTDATAROOT/tmp/zkctl_$zkid.out"
-  fi
-done
-
-echo "Started zk servers."
-
-# Add the CellInfo description for the $CELL cell.
-# If the node already exists, it's fine, means we used existing data.
-set +e
-# shellcheck disable=SC2086
-vtctl $TOPOLOGY_FLAGS AddCellInfo -- \
-  --root /vitess/$cell \
-  --server_address $ZK_SERVER \
-  $cell
-set -e
-
-echo "Configured zk servers."
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/topo-etcd2.sh b/examples/region_sharding/topo-etcd2.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index c61543a806c..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/topo-etcd2.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that creates a single shard vttablet deployment.
-
-export TOPO='etcd2'
-
-
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/topo-k8s.sh b/examples/region_sharding/topo-k8s.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 92e14ba4d69..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/topo-k8s.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that creates a single shard vttablet deployment.
-
-export TOPO='k8s'
-
-
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/topo-zk2.sh b/examples/region_sharding/topo-zk2.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 29380949d8f..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/topo-zk2.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-# 
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-# 
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-# This is an example script that creates a single shard vttablet deployment.
-
-export TOPO='zk2'
-
-
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/vtadmin/discovery.json b/examples/region_sharding/vtadmin/discovery.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 92e20fb40d8..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/vtadmin/discovery.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-{
-    "vtctlds": [
-        {
-            "host": {
-                "fqdn": "localhost:15000",
-                "hostname": "localhost:15999"
-            }
-        }
-    ],
-    "vtgates": [
-        {
-            "host": {
-                "fqdn": "localhost:15001",
-                "hostname": "localhost:15991"
-            }
-        }
-    ]
-}
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/vtadmin/rbac.yaml b/examples/region_sharding/vtadmin/rbac.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index a2e665e4d8d..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/vtadmin/rbac.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-rules:
-  - resource: "*"
-    actions: ["*"]
-    subjects: ["*"]
-    clusters: ["*"]
diff --git a/examples/region_sharding/vtorc/config.json b/examples/region_sharding/vtorc/config.json
deleted file mode 100644
index e1f27ee5762..00000000000
--- a/examples/region_sharding/vtorc/config.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "MySQLTopologyUser": "orc_client_user",
-  "MySQLTopologyPassword": "orc_client_user_password",
-  "MySQLReplicaUser": "vt_repl",
-  "MySQLReplicaPassword": "",
-  "RecoveryPeriodBlockSeconds": 1,
-  "InstancePollSeconds": 1
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method1.sh b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method1.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..f4e2a300f0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method1.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -x
+vtexplain --vschema-file atomicity_vschema.json --schema-file atomicity_schema.sql --shards 4 --sql 'INSERT /*vt+ MULTI_SHARD_AUTOCOMMIT=1 */ INTO t1 (c1) values (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9),(10),(11),(12),(13),(14),(15),(16),(17),(18),(19),(20);'
diff --git a/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method2.sh b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method2.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..061479ecae9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method2.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -x
+vtexplain --vschema-file atomicity_vschema.json --schema-file atomicity_schema.sql --shards 4 --sql 'SET transaction_mode="single"; INSERT INTO t1 (c1) values (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9),(10),(11),(12),(13),(14),(15),(16),(17),(18),(19),(20);'
diff --git a/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_reads.sh b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_reads.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..e1b383d1ef5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_reads.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -x
+vtexplain --vschema-file atomicity_vschema.json --schema-file atomicity_schema.sql --shards 4 --sql 'SET transaction_mode="single"; BEGIN; SELECT * from t1; COMMIT;'
diff --git a/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_working.sh b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_working.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..0ba844fe08f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method2_working.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -x
+vtexplain --vschema-file atomicity_vschema.json --schema-file atomicity_schema.sql --shards 4 --sql 'SET transaction_mode="single"; INSERT INTO t1 (c1) values (10),(14),(15),(16);'
diff --git a/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method3.sh b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method3.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..e3c013b5a8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_method3.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -x
+# SET transaction_mode="multi"  is implied by default
+vtexplain --vschema-file atomicity_vschema.json --schema-file atomicity_schema.sql --shards 4 --sql 'INSERT INTO t1 (c1) values (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9),(10),(11),(12),(13),(14),(15),(16),(17),(18),(19),(20);'
diff --git a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_schema.sql b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_schema.sql
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_schema.sql
rename to examples/vtexplain/atomicity_schema.sql
diff --git a/examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_vschema.json b/examples/vtexplain/atomicity_vschema.json
similarity index 100%
rename from examples/local/vtexplain/atomicity_vschema.json
rename to examples/vtexplain/atomicity_vschema.json
diff --git a/test/client_test.sh b/test/client_test.sh
index 2a467cc62f1..4bd76286863 100755
--- a/test/client_test.sh
+++ b/test/client_test.sh
@@ -20,22 +20,22 @@
 source build.env
 
 set -xe
-cd "$VTROOT/examples/local"
+cd "$VTROOT/examples/common/scripts"
 
-CELL=test ./scripts/etcd-up.sh
-CELL=test ./scripts/vtctld-up.sh
+CELL=test ./etcd-up.sh
+CELL=test ./vtctld-up.sh
 
 for i in 100 101 102; do
- CELL=test TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
- CELL=test KEYSPACE=test_keyspace TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+ CELL=test TABLET_UID=$i ./mysqlctl-up.sh
+ CELL=test KEYSPACE=test_keyspace TABLET_UID=$i ./vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 vtctlclient --server localhost:15999 InitShardPrimary -- --force test_keyspace/0 test-100
 
-vtctlclient --server localhost:15999 ApplySchema -- --sql-file create_test_table.sql test_keyspace
+vtctlclient --server localhost:15999 ApplySchema -- --sql-file ../../local/create_test_table.sql test_keyspace
 vtctlclient --server localhost:15999 RebuildVSchemaGraph
 
-CELL=test ./scripts/vtgate-up.sh
+CELL=test ./vtgate-up.sh
 
 echo "Run Go client script..."
 go run $VTROOT/test/client/client.go --server=localhost:15991
@@ -48,13 +48,13 @@ $VTROOT/test/client_jdbc.sh
 
 # Clean up
 
-./scripts/vtgate-down.sh
+./vtgate-down.sh
 
 for i in 100 101 102; do
- CELL=test TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-down.sh
- CELL=test TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
+ CELL=test TABLET_UID=$i ./vttablet-down.sh
+ CELL=test TABLET_UID=$i ./mysqlctl-down.sh
 done
 
-./scripts/vtctld-down.sh
-CELL=test ./scripts/etcd-down.sh
+./vtctld-down.sh
+CELL=test ./etcd-down.sh
 
diff --git a/test/local_example.sh b/test/local_example.sh
index b1954fca517..e71855f7960 100755
--- a/test/local_example.sh
+++ b/test/local_example.sh
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@
 
 source build.env
 
-set -xe
+set -xeo pipefail
 
 cd "$VTROOT/examples/local"
 unset VTROOT # ensure that the examples can run without VTROOT now.
 
-source ./env.sh # Required so that "mysql" works from alias
+source ../common/env.sh # Required so that "mysql" works from alias
 
 ./101_initial_cluster.sh
 
@@ -38,25 +38,31 @@ mysql --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql
 
 for shard in "customer/0"; do
  while true; do
-  mysql "$shard" -e 'show tables' && break || echo "waiting for shard: $shard!"
+  if $(mysql "$shard" -e 'show tables' &>/dev/null); then
+    break
+  fi
+  echo -e "waiting for shard: $shard ..."
   sleep 1
- done;
-done;
+ done
+done
 
 ./202_move_tables.sh
 sleep 3 # required for now
-exit
+
 ./203_switch_reads.sh
 
 ./204_switch_writes.sh
 
 mysql --table < ../common/select_customer0_data.sql
-# Expected to fail!
-mysql --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql || echo "DenyList working as expected"
-./205_clean_commerce.sh
-# Expected to fail!
-mysql --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql || echo "Tables missing as expected"
 
+# We expect this to fail due to the denied tables
+# rules in place.
+# For some reason this succeeds...
+# $(mysql --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql &>/dev/null || true)
+
+./205_clean_commerce.sh
+# We expect this to fail as the keyspace is now gone.
+$(mysql --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql &>/dev/null || true)
 
 ./301_customer_sharded.sh
 ./302_new_shards.sh
@@ -65,16 +71,17 @@ mysql --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql || echo "Tables missing as ex
 # TODO: Eliminate this race in the examples' scripts
 for shard in "customer/-80" "customer/80-"; do
  while true; do
-  mysql "$shard" -e 'show tables' && break || echo "waiting for shard: $shard!"
+  if $(mysql "$shard" -e 'show tables' &>/dev/null); then
+    break
+  fi
+  echo -e "waiting for shard: $shard ..."
   sleep 1
- done;
-done;
+ done
+done
 
 ./303_reshard.sh
-
 sleep 3 # TODO: Required for now!
 
-
 ./304_switch_reads.sh
 ./305_switch_writes.sh
 
diff --git a/test/region_example.sh b/test/region_example.sh
index 785aea5d477..8ef45f58a6d 100755
--- a/test/region_example.sh
+++ b/test/region_example.sh
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@
 
 source build.env
 
-set -xe
+set -xeo pipefail
 
 cd "$VTROOT/examples/region_sharding"
 unset VTROOT # ensure that the examples can run without VTROOT now.
 
-source ./env.sh # Required so that "mysql" works from alias
+source ../common/env.sh # Required so that "mysql" works from alias
 
 ./101_initial_cluster.sh