diff --git a/sql/sitevars-create.sql b/sql/sitevars-create.sql
index d30079498816c125a1c7e7adb6dfc79e3297ba3c..f5e5f459e018fb78cdd43c3db974d34a1f8aa137 100644
--- a/sql/sitevars-create.sql
+++ b/sql/sitevars-create.sql
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ INSERT INTO sitevariables VALUES ('general/idlepower_idletime',NULL,'3600','Maxi
 INSERT INTO sitevariables VALUES ('general/autoswap_max',NULL,'120','Maximum number of hours for the experiment autoswap limit.',0);
 INSERT INTO sitevariables VALUES ('protogeni/show_sslcertbox','1','1','When set, users see option on join/start project pages to create SSL certificate.',0);
 INSERT INTO sitevariables VALUES ('protogeni/default_osname','','','The default os name used for ProtoGENI slivers when no os is specified on a node.',0);
+INSERT INTO sitevariables VALUES ('images/root_password',NULL,'','The encryption hash of the root password to use in the MFSs.',0);
 
 /*!40103 SET TIME_ZONE=@OLD_TIME_ZONE */;
 
diff --git a/sql/updates/4/282 b/sql/updates/4/282
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bddf09b58132b819d9d8407579b30b38cad793ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sql/updates/4/282
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#
+# Add sitevar. If images/root_password exists and has a value, this will be
+# used as the root password when localizing the MFSs. No value, means leave
+# it alone when doing the localization. You should set a value.
+#
+# NOTE: This is an encryption hash, not a plain text value. 
+#
+use strict;
+use libdb;
+
+sub DoUpdate($$$)
+{
+    my ($dbhandle, $dbname, $version) = @_;
+
+    DBQueryFatal("INSERT INTO sitevariables VALUES ".
+	 " ('images/root_password',NULL,'', ".
+	 "  'The encryption hash of the root password to use in the MFSs.',0)")
+	if (!TBSiteVarExists("images/root_password"));
+
+    return 0;
+}
+1;
+
+# Local Variables:
+# mode:perl
+# End: