diff --git a/docs/development/core/development-functional-tests.asciidoc b/docs/development/core/development-functional-tests.asciidoc
index 936593ae5873f..32f27df4e0401 100644
--- a/docs/development/core/development-functional-tests.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/development/core/development-functional-tests.asciidoc
@@ -36,6 +36,17 @@ There are three ways to run the tests depending on your goals:
 +
 ["source","shell"]
 ----------
+export TEST_KIBANA_URL=https://kibana:password@my-kibana-instance.internal.net:443
+
+export TEST_ES_URL=https://elastic:password@my-es-cluster.internal.net:9200
+node scripts/functional_test_runner
+----------
+
+
+** Or you can override any or all of these individual parts of the URL and leave the others to the default values.
++
+["source","shell"]
+----------
 export TEST_KIBANA_PROTOCOL=https
 export TEST_KIBANA_HOSTNAME=my-kibana-instance.internal.net
 export TEST_KIBANA_PORT=443
@@ -405,4 +416,4 @@ const log = getService(‘log’);
 
 // log.debug only writes when using the `--debug` or `--verbose` flag.
 log.debug(‘done clicking menu’);
------------
\ No newline at end of file
+-----------
diff --git a/src/test_utils/es/es_test_config.js b/src/test_utils/es/es_test_config.js
index ca8f043057ee8..46a3cd63be20f 100644
--- a/src/test_utils/es/es_test_config.js
+++ b/src/test_utils/es/es_test_config.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { format as formatUrl } from 'url';
+import url, {  format as formatUrl } from 'url';
 import pkg from '../../../package.json';
 import { admin } from '../../../test/shield';
 
@@ -20,13 +20,32 @@ export const esTestConfig = new class EsTestConfig {
   }
 
   getUrlParts() {
+    // Allow setting one complete TEST_ES_URL for Es like https://elastic:changeme@myCloudInstance:9200
+    if (process.env.TEST_ES_URL) {
+      const testEsUrl = url.parse(process.env.TEST_ES_URL);
+      return {
+        // have to remove the ":" off protocol
+        protocol: testEsUrl.protocol.slice(0, -1),
+        hostname: testEsUrl.hostname,
+        port: parseInt(testEsUrl.port, 10),
+        username: testEsUrl.auth.split(':')[0],
+        password: testEsUrl.auth.split(':')[1],
+        auth: testEsUrl.auth
+      };
+    }
+
+    const username = process.env.TEST_KIBANA_USERNAME || admin.username;
+    const password = process.env.TEST_KIBANA_PASSWORD || admin.password;
     return {
+      // Allow setting any individual component(s) of the URL,
+      // or use default values (username and password from shield.js)
       protocol: process.env.TEST_ES_PROTOCOL || 'http',
       hostname: process.env.TEST_ES_HOSTNAME || 'localhost',
       port: parseInt(process.env.TEST_ES_PORT, 10) || 9220,
-      auth: admin.username + ':' + admin.password,
-      username: admin.username,
-      password: admin.password,
+      auth: `${username}:${password}`,
+      username: username,
+      password: password,
     };
+
   }
 };
diff --git a/test/functional/apps/console/_console.js b/test/functional/apps/console/_console.js
index dfd739567300b..ee46905a08199 100644
--- a/test/functional/apps/console/_console.js
+++ b/test/functional/apps/console/_console.js
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export default function ({ getService, getPageObjects }) {
       return PageObjects.common.navigateToApp('console');
     });
 
-    it('should show the default *%^$# @ ! ~ request', function () {
+    it('should show the default request', function () {
       // collapse the help pane because we only get the VISIBLE TEXT, not the part that is scrolled
       return PageObjects.console.collapseHelp()
         .then(function () {
diff --git a/test/kibana_test_server_url_parts.js b/test/kibana_test_server_url_parts.js
index ca25f2fa9a7d6..e8d8a48d1a778 100644
--- a/test/kibana_test_server_url_parts.js
+++ b/test/kibana_test_server_url_parts.js
@@ -1,10 +1,30 @@
 import { kibanaUser } from './shield';
+import url from 'url';
 
-export const kibanaTestServerUrlParts = {
-  protocol: process.env.TEST_KIBANA_PROTOCOL || 'http',
-  hostname: process.env.TEST_KIBANA_HOSTNAME || 'localhost',
-  port: parseInt(process.env.TEST_KIBANA_PORT, 10) || 5620,
-  auth: kibanaUser.username + ':' + kibanaUser.password,
-  username: kibanaUser.username,
-  password: kibanaUser.password,
-};
+function getUrlParts() {
+  // allow setting one complete TEST_KIBANA_URL for ES like https://elastic:changeme@example.com:9200
+  if (process.env.TEST_KIBANA_URL) {
+    const testKibanaUrl = url.parse(process.env.TEST_KIBANA_URL);
+    return {
+      protocol: testKibanaUrl.protocol.slice(0, -1),
+      hostname: testKibanaUrl.hostname,
+      port: parseInt(testKibanaUrl.port, 10),
+      auth: testKibanaUrl.auth,
+      username: testKibanaUrl.auth.split(':')[0],
+      password: testKibanaUrl.auth.split(':')[1]
+    };
+  }
+
+  const username = process.env.TEST_KIBANA_USERNAME || kibanaUser.username;
+  const password = process.env.TEST_KIBANA_PASSWORD || kibanaUser.password;
+  return {
+    protocol: process.env.TEST_KIBANA_PROTOCOL || 'http',
+    hostname: process.env.TEST_KIBANA_HOSTNAME || 'localhost',
+    port: parseInt(process.env.TEST_KIBANA_PORT, 10) || 5620,
+    auth: `${username}:${password}`,
+    username,
+    password,
+  };
+}
+
+export const kibanaTestServerUrlParts = getUrlParts();