diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2c62ee1..fb44163 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -57,3 +57,6 @@ docs/_build/
 *COMMIT_MSG
 
 .qbcache/
+
+.idea/
+
diff --git a/agent_packager/cli.py b/agent_packager/cli.py
index a9361c8..12c92c2 100644
--- a/agent_packager/cli.py
+++ b/agent_packager/cli.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 """Script to run Cloudify's Agent Packager via command line
 
 Usage:
-    cfy-ap [--config=<path> --force --dryrun --no-validation -v]
+    cfy-ap [--config=<path> --force --dryrun --no-validation -v --env=<env_path>]
     cfy-ap --version
 
 Options:
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     -f --force                  Forces deletion and creation of venv and tar file.
     -d --dryrun                 Prints out the modules to be installed without actually installing them.
     -n --no-validation          Does not validate that all modules were installed correctly.
+    -e --env=<env_path>         Virtualenv to use (defaults to a temporary directory)
     -v --verbose                verbose level logging
     --version                   Display current version
 """
@@ -47,7 +48,8 @@ def _run(test_options=None):
         force=options.get('--force'),
         dryrun=options.get('--dryrun'),
         no_validate=options.get('--no-validation'),
-        verbose=options.get('--verbose')
+        verbose=options.get('--verbose'),
+        virtualenv=options.get('--env')
         )
 
 def main():
diff --git a/agent_packager/packager.py b/agent_packager/packager.py
index 54209f2..16daa64 100644
--- a/agent_packager/packager.py
+++ b/agent_packager/packager.py
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@
 import shutil
 import os
 import sys
+import tempfile
 
 import utils
 import codes
 
 DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE = 'config.yaml'
 DEFAULT_OUTPUT_TAR_PATH = '{0}-{1}-agent.tar.gz'
-DEFAULT_VENV_PATH = 'cloudify/env'
 
 PREINSTALL_MODULES = [
     'setuptools==36.8.0'
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ def _import_config(config_file=DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE):
 
     :param string config_file: path to config file
     """
+    config_file = os.path.expanduser(config_file)
     lgr.debug('Importing config: {0}...'.format(config_file))
     try:
         with open(config_file, 'r') as c:
@@ -332,7 +333,7 @@ def _name_archive(distro, release, version, milestone, build):
 
 
 def create(config=None, config_file=None, force=False, dryrun=False,
-           no_validate=False, verbose=True):
+           no_validate=False, verbose=True, virtualenv=None):
     """Creates an agent package (tar.gz)
 
     This will try to identify the distribution of the host you're running on.
@@ -340,8 +341,6 @@ def create(config=None, config_file=None, force=False, dryrun=False,
     `distribution` (e.g. Ubuntu) config object in the config.yaml.
     The same goes for the `release` (e.g. Trusty).
 
-    A virtualenv will be created under cloudify/env.
-
     The order of the modules' installation is as follows:
     cloudify-rest-service
     cloudify-plugins-common
@@ -385,7 +384,7 @@ def create(config=None, config_file=None, force=False, dryrun=False,
             '({0})'.format(ex.message))
         sys.exit(codes.errors['could_not_identify_distribution'])
     python = config.get('python_path', '/usr/bin/python')
-    venv = DEFAULT_VENV_PATH
+    venv = virtualenv or tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='agent-packager')
     venv_already_exists = utils.is_virtualenv(venv)
     destination_tar = config.get('output_tar', _name_archive(**name_params))