diff --git a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 987e8c33d5..6361999b7a 100644
--- a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ You need the Dotnet SDK to compile the main server and command line programs. In
 
 The recommended IDE is visual studio 2017 which has installation options for both of these.
 
+In order to run the integration tests you must have the environment variables `TGS4_TEST_DATABASE_TYPE` set to `MySql` or `SqlServer` and `TGS4_TEST_CONNECTION_STRING` set appropriately
+
 ## Meet the Team
 
 **Headcoder**
diff --git a/tests/Tgstation.Server.Tests/IntegrationTest.cs b/tests/Tgstation.Server.Tests/IntegrationTest.cs
index 018cd8d897..054414d29f 100644
--- a/tests/Tgstation.Server.Tests/IntegrationTest.cs
+++ b/tests/Tgstation.Server.Tests/IntegrationTest.cs
@@ -27,7 +27,26 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Tests
 				var serverTask = server.RunAsync(cancellationToken);
 				try
 				{
-					using (var adminClient = await clientFactory.CreateServerClient(server.Url, User.AdminName, User.DefaultAdminPassword).ConfigureAwait(false))
+					IServerClient adminClient;
+
+					var giveUpAt = DateTimeOffset.Now.AddSeconds(30);
+					do
+					{
+						try
+						{
+							adminClient = await clientFactory.CreateServerClient(server.Url, User.AdminName, User.DefaultAdminPassword).ConfigureAwait(false);
+							break;
+						}
+						catch (ServiceUnavailableException)
+						{
+							//migrating, to be expected
+							if (DateTimeOffset.Now > giveUpAt)
+								throw;
+							await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1), cancellationToken);
+						}
+					} while (true);
+
+					using (adminClient)
 					{
 						var serverInfo = await adminClient.Version(default).ConfigureAwait(false);
 
diff --git a/tests/Tgstation.Server.Tests/TestingServer.cs b/tests/Tgstation.Server.Tests/TestingServer.cs
index 4e1df5f740..1b1b3905f5 100644
--- a/tests/Tgstation.Server.Tests/TestingServer.cs
+++ b/tests/Tgstation.Server.Tests/TestingServer.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-using System;
+using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+using System;
 using System.Globalization;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Threading;
@@ -15,21 +16,32 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Tests
 		public bool RestartRequested => realServer.RestartRequested;
 
 		readonly IServer realServer;
-		readonly string databasePath;
 
 		public TestingServer()
 		{
 			Directory = Path.GetTempFileName();
 			File.Delete(Directory);
 			System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(Directory);
-			databasePath = Path.Combine(Directory, "TGS.db3");
 			Url = new Uri("http://localhost:5001");
+
+			//so we need a db
+			//we have to rely on env vars
+			var databaseType = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("TGS4_TEST_DATABASE_TYPE");
+			var connectionString = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("TGS4_TEST_CONNECTION_STRING");
+
+			if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(databaseType))
+				Assert.Fail("No database type configured in env var TGS4_TEST_DATABASE_TYPE!");
+
+			if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(connectionString))
+				Assert.Fail("No connection string configured in env var TGS4_TEST_CONNECTION_STRING!");
+
 			realServer = new ServerFactory().CreateServer(new string[]
 			{
 				"--urls",
 				Url.ToString(),
-				"Database:DatabaseType=Sqlite",
-				String.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "Database:ConnectionString=Data Source={0}", databasePath)
+				String.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "Database:DatabaseType={0}", databaseType),
+				String.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "Database:ConnectionString={0}", connectionString),
+				"Database:DropDatabase=true"
 				,"Database:NoMigrations=true"	//TODO: remove this when migrations are added
 			}, null);
 		}