diff --git a/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/Dockerfile_vllm b/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/Dockerfile_vllm
index 3b08756ca..ec71eeb76 100644
--- a/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/Dockerfile_vllm
+++ b/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/Dockerfile_vllm
@@ -21,3 +21,4 @@ RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
 COPY model-engine /workspace/model-engine
 RUN pip install -e /workspace/model-engine
 COPY model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/vllm_batch.py /workspace/vllm_batch.py
+COPY model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/init_ray.py /workspace/init_ray.py
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/build_and_upload_image.sh b/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/build_and_upload_image.sh
index 2bd519ed2..a82e581e4 100755
--- a/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/build_and_upload_image.sh
+++ b/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/build_and_upload_image.sh
@@ -14,8 +14,14 @@ if [ -z "$2" ]; then
   exit 1;
 fi
 
+if [ -z "$3" ]; then
+  echo "Must supply the repo name"
+  exit 1;
+fi
+
+REPO_NAME=$3
 IMAGE_TAG=$2
 ACCOUNT=$1
 aws ecr get-login-password --region us-west-2 | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin $ACCOUNT.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
-DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build -t $ACCOUNT.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/llm-engine/batch-infer-vllm:$IMAGE_TAG -f Dockerfile_vllm ../../../../
-docker push $ACCOUNT.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/llm-engine/batch-infer-vllm:$IMAGE_TAG
+DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build -t $ACCOUNT.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/$REPO_NAME:$IMAGE_TAG -f Dockerfile_vllm ../../../../
+docker push $ACCOUNT.dkr.ecr.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/$REPO_NAME:$IMAGE_TAG
diff --git a/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/init_ray.py b/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/init_ray.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fe6cc13f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/init_ray.py
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+# TODO this should initialize multinode and ray. Should look similar to the set up for multinode online serving.
+# TODO a few things differ here, we need to look at a bunch of env vars to determine if 1. we're leader, 2. ray address, port, cluster_size, own_address.
+# In one case, we have JOB_COMPLETION_INDEX, NUM_INSTANCES, MASTER_ADDR, MASTER_PORT as available env vars.
+# (May) need to get own_address from somewhere. In serving, it's from a few env vars, and is a k8s dns name.
+
+import argparse
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import time
+
+RAY_INIT_TIMEOUT = 1200
+
+
+def start_worker(ray_address, ray_port, ray_init_timeout):
+    for i in range(0, ray_init_timeout, 5):
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            [
+                "ray",
+                "start",
+                "--address",
+                f"{ray_address}:{ray_port}",
+                "--block",
+                # "--node-ip-address",
+                # own_address,
+            ],
+            capture_output=True,
+        )
+        if result.returncode == 0:
+            print(f"Worker: Ray runtime started with head address {ray_address}:{ray_port}")
+            sys.exit(0)
+        print(result.returncode)
+        print("Waiting until the ray worker is active...")
+        time.sleep(5)
+    print(f"Ray worker starts timeout, head address: {ray_address}:{ray_port}")
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+
+def start_leader(ray_port, ray_cluster_size, ray_init_timeout):
+    subprocess.run(
+        ["ray", "start", "--head", "--port", str(ray_port)]  # , "--node-ip-address", own_address]
+    )
+    for i in range(0, ray_init_timeout, 5):
+        active_nodes = subprocess.run(
+            [
+                "python3",
+                "-c",
+                'import ray; ray.init(); print(sum(node["Alive"] for node in ray.nodes()))',
+            ],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+        )
+        active_nodes = int(active_nodes.stdout.strip())
+        if active_nodes == ray_cluster_size:
+            print("All ray workers are active and the ray cluster is initialized successfully.")
+            sys.exit(0)
+        print(f"Wait for all ray workers to be active. {active_nodes}/{ray_cluster_size} is active")
+        time.sleep(5)
+    print("Waiting for all ray workers to be active timed out.")
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Ray cluster initialization script")
+    parser.add_argument("--ray_init_timeout", type=int, default=RAY_INIT_TIMEOUT)
+
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    is_leader = os.getenv("JOB_COMPLETION_INDEX") == "0"
+    ray_address = os.getenv("MASTER_ADDR")
+    ray_port = os.getenv("MASTER_PORT")
+    ray_cluster_size = os.getenv("NUM_INSTANCES")
+
+    if is_leader:
+        start_leader(ray_port, ray_cluster_size, args.ray_init_timeout)
+    else:
+        start_worker(ray_address, ray_port, args.ray_init_timeout)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/vllm_batch.py b/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/vllm_batch.py
index 7881e182d..c1ab8ce08 100644
--- a/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/vllm_batch.py
+++ b/model-engine/model_engine_server/inference/batch_inference/vllm_batch.py
@@ -312,12 +312,14 @@ def tool_func(text: str, past_context: Optional[str]):
 
 
 async def batch_inference():
-    job_index = int(os.getenv("JOB_COMPLETION_INDEX", 0))
+    job_index = int(os.getenv("JOB_COMPLETION_INDEX", 0))  # TODO this conflicts with multinode
 
     request = CreateBatchCompletionsEngineRequest.parse_file(CONFIG_FILE)
 
     if request.model_cfg.checkpoint_path is not None:
-        download_model(request.model_cfg.checkpoint_path, MODEL_WEIGHTS_FOLDER)
+        download_model(
+            request.model_cfg.checkpoint_path, MODEL_WEIGHTS_FOLDER
+        )  # TODO move this out
 
     content = request.content
     if content is None: