diff --git a/deployment/check/common/data-model-options.nix b/deployment/check/common/data-model-options.nix
index fb43cc54..94c924e8 100644
--- a/deployment/check/common/data-model-options.nix
+++ b/deployment/check/common/data-model-options.nix
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ in
       description = "environment variables to configure the TF HTTP back-end, see <https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/language/backend/http#configuration-variables>";
       type = types.attrsOf (types.either types.str types.int);
     };
+    key-file = mkOption {
+      type = types.str;
+      default = "";
+    };
     proxmox-user = mkOption {
       description = "The ProxmoX user to use.";
       type = types.str;
diff --git a/deployment/check/common/data-model.nix b/deployment/check/common/data-model.nix
index e6d7e807..ece0d87e 100644
--- a/deployment/check/common/data-model.nix
+++ b/deployment/check/common/data-model.nix
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ let
     pathToRoot
     targetSystem
     sshOpts
+    key-file
     httpBackend
     proxmox-user
     proxmox-password
@@ -262,8 +263,7 @@ let
                     ssh = {
                       username = "root";
                       host = nodeName;
-                      key-file = null;
-                      inherit sshOpts;
+                      inherit key-file sshOpts;
                     };
                     module = self;
                     inherit args deployment-name;
@@ -312,8 +312,7 @@ let
                     ssh = {
                       username = "root";
                       host = nodeName;
-                      key-file = null;
-                      inherit sshOpts;
+                      inherit key-file sshOpts;
                     };
                     module = self;
                     inherit args deployment-name httpBackend;
@@ -338,8 +337,7 @@ let
                     ssh = {
                       username = "root";
                       host = nodeName;
-                      key-file = null;
-                      inherit sshOpts;
+                      inherit key-file sshOpts;
                     };
                     module = self;
                     inherit
diff --git a/deployment/check/data-model-tf-proxmox/nixosTest.nix b/deployment/check/data-model-tf-proxmox/nixosTest.nix
index 21da9375..23d95657 100644
--- a/deployment/check/data-model-tf-proxmox/nixosTest.nix
+++ b/deployment/check/data-model-tf-proxmox/nixosTest.nix
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ let
     nodeName = "pve";
     targetSystem = system;
     sshOpts = [ ];
+    key-file = "/root/.ssh/id_ed25519";
     proxmox-user = "root@pam";
     proxmox-password = "mytestpw";
     node-name = "pve";
diff --git a/deployment/run/tf-proxmox/main.tf b/deployment/run/tf-proxmox/main.tf
index 777a29fe..e17fe058 100644
--- a/deployment/run/tf-proxmox/main.tf
+++ b/deployment/run/tf-proxmox/main.tf
@@ -178,8 +178,14 @@ resource "null_resource" "wait_for_ssh" {
   ]
   provisioner "local-exec" {
     command = <<-EOT
-      for i in $(seq 1 30); do
-        if ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o ConnectTimeout=5 root@${proxmox_virtual_environment_vm.nix_vm.ipv4_addresses[1][0]} "true" 2>/dev/null; then
+      for i in $(seq 1 10); do
+        if ssh \
+        -i "${var.key_file}" \
+        -o BatchMode=yes \
+        -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no \
+        -o ConnectTimeout=1 \
+        -o ServerAliveInterval=1 \
+        root@${proxmox_virtual_environment_vm.nix_vm.ipv4_addresses[1][0]} "true"; then
           exit 0
         fi
         echo "Waiting for SSH (attempt #$i)..."
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 54d993fb..d1935840 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@
                         name = "root";
                       };
                       sshOpts = [ ];
+                      key-file = "";
                       proxmox-user = "kiara@ProcoliX";
                       proxmox-password = "";
                       node-name = "node051";