diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.groovy
index 746ac646eec4c..0b0c55b53cd6a 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.groovy
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ import org.elasticsearch.gradle.Version
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.VersionProperties
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.dependencies.CompileOnlyResolvePlugin
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.info.BuildParams
-import org.elasticsearch.gradle.test.RestIntegTestTask
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.test.RestTestBasePlugin
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.testclusters.RunTask
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.util.Util
@@ -60,16 +59,7 @@ class PluginBuildPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
         boolean isXPackModule = project.path.startsWith(':x-pack:plugin')
         boolean isModule = project.path.startsWith(':modules:') || isXPackModule
 
-        createIntegTestTask(project)
         createBundleTasks(project, extension)
-        project.tasks.named("integTest").configure {
-            it.dependsOn(project.tasks.named("bundlePlugin"))
-        }
-        if (isModule) {
-            project.testClusters.integTest.module(project.tasks.bundlePlugin.archiveFile)
-        } else {
-            project.testClusters.integTest.plugin(project.tasks.bundlePlugin.archiveFile)
-        }
 
         project.afterEvaluate {
             project.extensions.getByType(PluginPropertiesExtension).extendedPlugins.each { pluginName ->
@@ -116,14 +106,6 @@ class PluginBuildPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
             }
         }
 
-        //disable integTest task if project has been converted to use yaml or java rest test plugin
-        project.pluginManager.withPlugin("elasticsearch.yaml-rest-test") {
-            project.tasks.integTest.enabled = false
-        }
-        project.pluginManager.withPlugin("elasticsearch.java-rest-test") {
-            project.tasks.integTest.enabled = false
-        }
-
         project.tasks.named('testingConventions').configure {
             naming.clear()
             naming {
@@ -142,7 +124,6 @@ class PluginBuildPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
         // allow running ES with this plugin in the foreground of a build
         project.tasks.register('run', RunTask) {
             dependsOn(project.tasks.bundlePlugin)
-            useCluster project.testClusters.integTest
         }
     }
 
@@ -172,13 +153,6 @@ class PluginBuildPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
         }
     }
 
-    /** Adds an integTest task which runs rest tests */
-    private static void createIntegTestTask(Project project) {
-        RestIntegTestTask integTest = project.tasks.create('integTest', RestIntegTestTask.class)
-        integTest.mustRunAfter('precommit', 'test')
-        project.check.dependsOn(integTest)
-    }
-
     /**
      * Adds a bundlePlugin task which builds the zip containing the plugin jars,
      * metadata, properties, and packaging files
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPluginTests.java b/buildSrc/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPluginTests.java
index bb5d3ddd6714f..1ec0ad93dfa45 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPluginTests.java
+++ b/buildSrc/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPluginTests.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public void testApply() {
         );
         assertNotNull("plugin extensions has the right type", project.getExtensions().findByType(PluginPropertiesExtension.class));
 
-        assertNotNull("plugin created an integTest class", project.getTasks().findByName("integTest"));
+        assertNull("plugin should not create the integTest task", project.getTasks().findByName("integTest"));
     }
 
     @Ignore("https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/47123")
diff --git a/client/client-benchmark-noop-api-plugin/build.gradle b/client/client-benchmark-noop-api-plugin/build.gradle
index b22a220005244..6882dc0d780fc 100644
--- a/client/client-benchmark-noop-api-plugin/build.gradle
+++ b/client/client-benchmark-noop-api-plugin/build.gradle
@@ -35,4 +35,3 @@ dependenciesInfo.enabled = false
 
 // no unit tests
 test.enabled = false
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/distribution/build.gradle b/distribution/build.gradle
index 359217d731065..9c87014ba8adf 100644
--- a/distribution/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/build.gradle
@@ -253,10 +253,6 @@ project.rootProject.subprojects.findAll { it.parent.path == ':modules' }.each {
   copyLog4jProperties(buildOssLog4jConfig, module)
   copyLog4jProperties(buildDefaultLog4jConfig, module)
 
-  // make sure the module's integration tests run after the integ-test-zip (ie rest tests)
-  module.afterEvaluate({
-    module.integTest.mustRunAfter(':distribution:archives:integ-test-zip:integTest')
-  })
   restTestExpansions['expected.modules.count'] += 1
 }
 
diff --git a/modules/lang-expression/build.gradle b/modules/lang-expression/build.gradle
index 3b8c42fea93e6..f46e22da6d646 100644
--- a/modules/lang-expression/build.gradle
+++ b/modules/lang-expression/build.gradle
@@ -37,8 +37,6 @@ restResources {
   }
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 tasks.named("dependencyLicenses").configure {
   mapping from: /lucene-.*/, to: 'lucene'
   mapping from: /asm-.*/, to: 'asm'
diff --git a/modules/lang-painless/build.gradle b/modules/lang-painless/build.gradle
index 4f8aced4ff0cc..12d18b84f7733 100644
--- a/modules/lang-painless/build.gradle
+++ b/modules/lang-painless/build.gradle
@@ -54,8 +54,6 @@ restResources {
   }
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 tasks.named("test").configure {
   // in WhenThingsGoWrongTests we intentionally generate an out of memory error, this prevents the heap from being dumped to disk
   jvmArgs '-XX:-OmitStackTraceInFastThrow', '-XX:-HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError'
diff --git a/modules/systemd/build.gradle b/modules/systemd/build.gradle
index 2863846801c3f..78589ff954156 100644
--- a/modules/systemd/build.gradle
+++ b/modules/systemd/build.gradle
@@ -22,4 +22,3 @@ esplugin {
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.systemd.SystemdPlugin'
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/plugins/repository-hdfs/build.gradle b/plugins/repository-hdfs/build.gradle
index 2b9aceb4962ad..aef22833b413a 100644
--- a/plugins/repository-hdfs/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/repository-hdfs/build.gradle
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import static org.elasticsearch.gradle.PropertyNormalization.IGNORE_VALUE
 
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.test.fixtures'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.rest-resources'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.rest-test'
 
 esplugin {
   description 'The HDFS repository plugin adds support for Hadoop Distributed File-System (HDFS) repositories.'
@@ -94,6 +95,14 @@ tasks.named("dependencyLicenses").configure {
   mapping from: /hadoop-.*/, to: 'hadoop'
 }
 
+tasks.named("integTest").configure {
+  it.dependsOn(project.tasks.named("bundlePlugin"))
+}
+
+testClusters.integTest {
+  plugin(project.tasks.bundlePlugin.archiveFile)
+}
+
 String realm = "BUILD.ELASTIC.CO"
 String krb5conf = project(':test:fixtures:krb5kdc-fixture').ext.krb5Conf("hdfs")
 
diff --git a/plugins/transport-nio/build.gradle b/plugins/transport-nio/build.gradle
index 464f2760876f8..1cd5249674620 100644
--- a/plugins/transport-nio/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/transport-nio/build.gradle
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ esplugin {
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.transport.nio.NioTransportPlugin'
 }
 
-// integTest have been converted to internalClusterTest 
-integTest.enabled = false
 dependencies {
   api project(':libs:elasticsearch-nio')
 
diff --git a/qa/die-with-dignity/build.gradle b/qa/die-with-dignity/build.gradle
index 23edc2ed85293..6c2faef271293 100644
--- a/qa/die-with-dignity/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/die-with-dignity/build.gradle
@@ -1,25 +1,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.info.BuildParams
 
-/*
- * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor
- * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
- * this work for additional information regarding copyright
- * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under
- * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
- * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.testclusters'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.java-rest-test'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 
 esplugin {
@@ -27,17 +8,21 @@ esplugin {
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.DieWithDignityPlugin'
 }
 
-integTest {
+dependencies {
+  // let the javaRestTest see the classpath of main
+  javaRestTestImplementation project.sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+}
+
+javaRestTest {
   systemProperty 'tests.security.manager', 'false'
   systemProperty 'tests.system_call_filter', 'false'
-  nonInputProperties.systemProperty 'log', "${-> testClusters.integTest.singleNode().getServerLog()}"
+  nonInputProperties.systemProperty 'log', "${-> testClusters.javaRestTest.singleNode().getServerLog()}"
   systemProperty 'runtime.java.home', BuildParams.runtimeJavaHome
 }
 
-testClusters.integTest {
+testClusters.javaRestTest {
   systemProperty "die.with.dignity.test", "whatever"
 }
 
 test.enabled = false
 
-check.dependsOn integTest
diff --git a/qa/die-with-dignity/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/qa/die_with_dignity/DieWithDignityIT.java b/qa/die-with-dignity/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/qa/die_with_dignity/DieWithDignityIT.java
similarity index 96%
rename from qa/die-with-dignity/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/qa/die_with_dignity/DieWithDignityIT.java
rename to qa/die-with-dignity/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/qa/die_with_dignity/DieWithDignityIT.java
index a6f272dbd5940..9be60841c668e 100644
--- a/qa/die-with-dignity/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/qa/die_with_dignity/DieWithDignityIT.java
+++ b/qa/die-with-dignity/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/qa/die_with_dignity/DieWithDignityIT.java
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * You may obtain a copy of the License at
  *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
  *
  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
  * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
@@ -63,13 +63,13 @@ public void testDieWithDignity() throws Exception {
         try {
             while (it.hasNext() && (fatalError == false || fatalErrorInThreadExiting == false)) {
                 final String line = it.next();
-                if (containsAll(line, ".*ERROR.*", ".*ExceptionsHelper.*", ".*integTest-0.*", ".*fatal error.*")) {
+                if (containsAll(line, ".*ERROR.*", ".*ExceptionsHelper.*", ".*javaRestTest-0.*", ".*fatal error.*")) {
                     fatalError = true;
                 } else if (containsAll(
                     line,
                     ".*ERROR.*",
                     ".*ElasticsearchUncaughtExceptionHandler.*",
-                    ".*integTest-0.*",
+                    ".*javaRestTest-0.*",
                     ".*fatal error in thread \\[Thread-\\d+\\], exiting.*",
                     ".*java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: die with dignity.*"
                 )) {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/analytics/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/analytics/build.gradle
index b1ac9c87415ed..d0998aa12d757 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/analytics/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/analytics/build.gradle
@@ -20,4 +20,3 @@ dependencies {
   api 'org.apache.commons:commons-math3:3.2'
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/async-search/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/async-search/build.gradle
index 6a2f2b1b7a929..3b7e7b05e8036 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/async-search/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/async-search/build.gradle
@@ -29,5 +29,4 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('async'))
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/async/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/async/build.gradle
index eb52faf0e2bde..d2c5dea299514 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/async/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/async/build.gradle
@@ -21,5 +21,5 @@ dependencyLicenses {
 tasks.named("test").configure {
   enabled = false
 }
-integTest.enabled = false
+
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/autoscaling/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/autoscaling/build.gradle
index 588225fe31ed7..acab0d4202362 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/autoscaling/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/autoscaling/build.gradle
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@ esplugin {
 }
 archivesBaseName = 'x-pack-autoscaling'
 
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 tasks.named('internalClusterTest').configure {
   if (BuildParams.isSnapshotBuild() == false) {
     systemProperty 'es.autoscaling_feature_flag_registered', 'true'
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/build.gradle
index 6de7a6137d534..0fd91f9fb0a9e 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/build.gradle
@@ -1,29 +1,35 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.info.BuildParams
 
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.testclusters'
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.standalone-rest-test'
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.rest-test'
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.rest-resources'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.java-rest-test'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.yaml-rest-test'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.validate-rest-spec'
 
 archivesBaseName = 'x-pack'
 
 dependencies {
-  testImplementation project(xpackModule('core')) // this redundant dependency is here to make IntelliJ happy
-  testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
+  yamlRestTestImplementation project(xpackModule('core')) // this redundant dependency is here to make IntelliJ happy
+  yamlRestTestImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
+  javaRestTestImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
 configurations {
   testArtifacts.extendsFrom testRuntime
   testArtifacts.extendsFrom testImplementation
+  testArtifacts.extendsFrom yamlRestTestImplementation
+  testArtifacts.extendsFrom javaRestTestImplementation
 }
 
 restResources {
   restApi {
     includeCore '*'
+    includeXpack '*'
+  }
+  restTests {
+    includeXpack '*'
   }
 }
 
+//The api and tests need to stay at src/test/... since some external tooling depends on that exact file path.
 artifacts {
   restXpackSpecs(new File(projectDir, "src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/api"))
   restXpackTests(new File(projectDir, "src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test"))
@@ -31,7 +37,10 @@ artifacts {
 
 def testJar = tasks.register("testJar", Jar) {
   appendix 'test'
+  duplicatesStrategy = DuplicatesStrategy.INCLUDE
   from sourceSets.test.output
+  from sourceSets.yamlRestTest.output
+  from sourceSets.javaRestTest.output
   /*
    * Stick the license and notice file in the jar. This isn't strictly
    * needed because we don't publish it but it makes our super-paranoid
@@ -68,10 +77,10 @@ tasks.register("copyKeyCerts", Copy) {
   into keystoreDir
 }
 // Add keystores to test classpath: it expects it there
-sourceSets.test.resources.srcDir(keystoreDir)
-processTestResources.dependsOn("copyKeyCerts")
+sourceSets.yamlRestTest.resources.srcDir(keystoreDir)
+processYamlRestTestResources.dependsOn("copyKeyCerts")
 
-integTest {
+yamlRestTest {
   /*
    * We have to disable setting the number of available processors as tests in the same JVM randomize processors and will step on each
    * other if we allow them to set the number of available processors as it's set-once in Netty.
@@ -91,7 +100,7 @@ integTest {
   dependsOn copyKeyCerts
 }
 
-testClusters.integTest {
+testClusters.all {
   testDistribution = 'DEFAULT' // this is important since we use the reindex module in ML
   setting 'xpack.ml.enabled', 'true'
   setting 'xpack.security.enabled', 'true'
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/build.gradle
index 8481a6b18c94a..82678441c48a3 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ccr/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ccr/build.gradle
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@ esplugin {
 }
 archivesBaseName = 'x-pack-ccr'
 
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 // Integration Test classes that cannot run with the security manager
 String[] noSecurityManagerITClasses = ["**/CloseFollowerIndexIT.class"]
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/data-streams/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/data-streams/build.gradle
index a31c7a4d61b10..d4c74add727aa 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/data-streams/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/data-streams/build.gradle
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ esplugin {
   extendedPlugins = ['x-pack-core']
 }
 archivesBaseName = 'x-pack-data-streams'
-integTest.enabled = false
 
 dependencies {
   compileOnly project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'default')
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/deprecation/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/deprecation/build.gradle
index 8e5ceabd3db4f..01b2b70d3c537 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/deprecation/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/deprecation/build.gradle
@@ -21,4 +21,3 @@ dependencies {
   compileOnly project(":x-pack:plugin:core")
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/enrich/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/enrich/build.gradle
index db1ed24004727..fea9a96242f48 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/enrich/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/enrich/build.gradle
@@ -17,9 +17,6 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('monitoring'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
-// No real integ tests in the module:
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 // add all sub-projects of the qa sub-project
 gradle.projectsEvaluated {
   project.subprojects
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/eql/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/eql/build.gradle
index 0e17197f586f8..f7db59047d9b7 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/eql/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/eql/build.gradle
@@ -15,9 +15,6 @@ ext {
 
 archivesBaseName = 'x-pack-eql'
 
-// All integration tests live in qa modules
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 dependencies {
   compileOnly project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'default')
   compileOnly(project(':modules:lang-painless')) {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/frozen-indices/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/frozen-indices/build.gradle
index 7e8108b6616f5..afd26009e0cea 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/frozen-indices/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/frozen-indices/build.gradle
@@ -12,8 +12,3 @@ dependencies {
   compileOnly project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'default')
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
-
-// xpack modules are installed in real clusters as the meta plugin, so
-// installing them as individual plugins for integ tests doesn't make sense,
-// so we disable integ tests
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/graph/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/graph/build.gradle
index 336d6e8104984..8e894d365b535 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/graph/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/graph/build.gradle
@@ -22,4 +22,3 @@ gradle.projectsEvaluated {
     .each { check.dependsOn it.check }
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/identity-provider/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/identity-provider/build.gradle
index fdda23372b28f..c3d312b288609 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/identity-provider/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/identity-provider/build.gradle
@@ -358,11 +358,6 @@ internalClusterTest {
 }
 
 
-// xpack modules are installed in real clusters as the meta plugin, so
-// installing them as individual plugins for integ tests doesn't make sense,
-// so we disable integ tests
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 // add all sub-projects of the qa sub-project
 gradle.projectsEvaluated {
   project.subprojects
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/build.gradle
index e049ac7f2a2c3..aa8f3902064ce 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ilm/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ilm/build.gradle
@@ -25,4 +25,3 @@ gradle.projectsEvaluated {
     .each { check.dependsOn it.check }
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/logstash/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/logstash/build.gradle
index 344fccd59f803..3f872950c1a50 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/logstash/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/logstash/build.gradle
@@ -12,4 +12,3 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/mapper-constant-keyword/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/mapper-constant-keyword/build.gradle
index 85109dbf0a22d..b451e82e30c0d 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/mapper-constant-keyword/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/mapper-constant-keyword/build.gradle
@@ -14,4 +14,3 @@ dependencies {
   internalClusterTestImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/mapper-flattened/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/mapper-flattened/build.gradle
index 46e83d5275cf0..d24e37aa32001 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/mapper-flattened/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/mapper-flattened/build.gradle
@@ -14,4 +14,3 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ml/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/ml/build.gradle
index 915cc0f4e5001..c104f94770db3 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ml/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ml/build.gradle
@@ -97,13 +97,6 @@ project.afterEvaluate {
   }
 }
 
-// xpack modules are installed in real clusters as the meta plugin, so
-// installing them as individual plugins for integ tests doesn't make sense,
-// so we disable integ tests
-tasks.named("integTest").configure {
-  enabled = false
-}
-
 def checkTask = tasks.named("check")
 // add all sub-projects of the qa sub-project
 gradle.projectsEvaluated {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/build.gradle
index e7b9bad788ff0..aeed0d89ffd8b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/monitoring/build.gradle
@@ -40,8 +40,3 @@ tasks.named("dependencyLicenses").configure {
   mapping from: /http.*/, to: 'httpclient' // pulled in by rest client
   mapping from: /commons-.*/, to: 'commons' // pulled in by rest client
 }
-
-// xpack modules are installed in real clusters as the meta plugin, so
-// installing them as individual plugins for integ tests doesn't make sense,
-// so we disable integ tests
-tasks.named("integTest").configure { enabled = false }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ql/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/ql/build.gradle
index 9a3d984a2d4a8..37140dda1ecf7 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ql/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ql/build.gradle
@@ -29,8 +29,3 @@ artifacts {
   archives tasks.named("jar")
   testArtifacts testJar
 }
-
-// disable integration tests for now
-tasks.named("integTest").configure {
-  enabled = false
-}
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/repositories-metering-api/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/repositories-metering-api/build.gradle
index 23c911c15c760..f0ec7269764ac 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/repositories-metering-api/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/repositories-metering-api/build.gradle
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-evaluationDependsOn(xpackModule('core'))
-
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 esplugin {
   name 'repositories-metering-api'
@@ -14,11 +12,6 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
-// xpack modules are installed in real clusters as the meta plugin, so
-// installing them as individual plugins for integ tests doesn't make sense,
-// so we disable integ tests
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 // add all sub-projects of the qa sub-project
 gradle.projectsEvaluated {
   project.subprojects
@@ -41,6 +34,3 @@ task testJar(type: Jar) {
 artifacts {
   testArtifacts testJar
 }
-
-test {
-}
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/rollup/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/rollup/build.gradle
index e954533d2872f..d7815ee6be717 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/rollup/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/rollup/build.gradle
@@ -14,4 +14,3 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/build.gradle
index 1f44b5c019e55..6e1f92b112225 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/build.gradle
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-evaluationDependsOn(xpackModule('core'))
-
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 
 esplugin {
@@ -23,4 +21,3 @@ dependencyLicenses {
   ignoreSha 'x-pack-core'
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/qa/with-security/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/qa/with-security/build.gradle
index 8442e1aa7b0c2..0f622a8c44f63 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/qa/with-security/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/qa/with-security/build.gradle
@@ -1,20 +1,18 @@
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.testclusters'
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.standalone-rest-test'
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.rest-test'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.java-rest-test'
 
 dependencies {
-  testImplementation project(path: xpackProject('plugin').path, configuration: 'testArtifacts')
+  javaRestTestImplementation project(path: xpackProject('plugin').path, configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
 def clusterCredentials = [username: System.getProperty('tests.rest.cluster.username', 'test_admin'),
                           password: System.getProperty('tests.rest.cluster.password', 'x-pack-test-password')]
 
-integTest {
+javaRestTest {
   systemProperty 'tests.rest.cluster.username', clusterCredentials.username
   systemProperty 'tests.rest.cluster.password', clusterCredentials.password
 }
 
-testClusters.integTest {
+testClusters.all {
   testDistribution = 'DEFAULT'
   setting 'xpack.security.enabled', 'true'
   setting 'xpack.watcher.enabled', 'false'
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/qa/with-security/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/PermissionsIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/qa/with-security/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/PermissionsIT.java
similarity index 100%
rename from x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/qa/with-security/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/PermissionsIT.java
rename to x-pack/plugin/runtime-fields/qa/with-security/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/PermissionsIT.java
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/search-business-rules/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/search-business-rules/build.gradle
index 4a6128c04bf2e..35fabbb7f6b44 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/search-business-rules/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/search-business-rules/build.gradle
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@ esplugin {
 }
 archivesBaseName = 'x-pack-searchbusinessrules'
 
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 dependencies {
   compileOnly project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'default')
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/searchable-snapshots/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/searchable-snapshots/build.gradle
index 34111a37a149d..eb56c86d9066d 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/searchable-snapshots/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/searchable-snapshots/build.gradle
@@ -15,11 +15,6 @@ dependencies {
   internalClusterTestImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
-// xpack modules are installed in real clusters as the meta plugin, so
-// installing them as individual plugins for integ tests doesn't make sense,
-// so we disable integ tests
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 // add all sub-projects of the qa sub-project
 gradle.projectsEvaluated {
   project.subprojects
@@ -43,7 +38,7 @@ artifacts {
   testArtifacts testJar
 }
 
-testClusters.integTest {
+testClusters.all {
   if (BuildParams.isSnapshotBuild() == false) {
     systemProperty 'es.searchable_snapshots_feature_enabled', 'true'
   }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/security/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/security/build.gradle
index b6d750b1ea091..0edb13a9085f8 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/security/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/security/build.gradle
@@ -484,11 +484,6 @@ internalClusterTest {
   systemProperty 'es.transport.buffer.size', '256k'
 }
 
-// xpack modules are installed in real clusters as the meta plugin, so
-// installing them as individual plugins for integ tests doesn't make sense,
-// so we disable integ tests
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 // add all sub-projects of the qa sub-project
 gradle.projectsEvaluated {
   project.subprojects
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/sql/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/sql/build.gradle
index dcabc0f403adc..1f8c39c45ccf1 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/sql/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/sql/build.gradle
@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@ configurations {
 
 archivesBaseName = 'x-pack-sql'
 
-// All integration tests live in qa modules
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 dependencies {
   compileOnly project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'default')
   compileOnly(project(':modules:lang-painless')) {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/test/rest/CatIndicesWithSecurityIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/test/rest/CatIndicesWithSecurityIT.java
similarity index 100%
rename from x-pack/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/test/rest/CatIndicesWithSecurityIT.java
rename to x-pack/plugin/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/test/rest/CatIndicesWithSecurityIT.java
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/test/rest/XPackRestIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/src/yamlRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/test/rest/XPackRestIT.java
similarity index 98%
rename from x-pack/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/test/rest/XPackRestIT.java
rename to x-pack/plugin/src/yamlRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/test/rest/XPackRestIT.java
index ec229b9810233..d2474cd9bf824 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/test/rest/XPackRestIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/src/yamlRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/test/rest/XPackRestIT.java
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ public XPackRestIT(ClientYamlTestCandidate testCandidate) {
 
     @ParametersFactory
     public static Iterable<Object[]> parameters() throws Exception {
-        return ESClientYamlSuiteTestCase.createParameters();
+        return createParameters();
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ public void cleanup() throws Exception {
         if (isWaitForPendingTasks()) {
             // This waits for pending tasks to complete, so must go last (otherwise
             // it could be waiting for pending tasks while monitoring is still running).
-            ESRestTestCase.waitForPendingTasks(adminClient(), task -> {
+            waitForPendingTasks(adminClient(), task -> {
                     // Don't check rollup jobs because we clear them in the superclass.
                     return task.contains(RollupJob.NAME);
             });
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/stack/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/stack/build.gradle
index 08b51fb94af3d..ae3aaa6d5357d 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/stack/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/stack/build.gradle
@@ -24,4 +24,3 @@ gradle.projectsEvaluated {
     .each { check.dependsOn it.check }
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/transform/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/transform/build.gradle
index 988d1cf6e9a49..dcd4a79163d48 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/transform/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/transform/build.gradle
@@ -16,11 +16,6 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(path: ':modules:aggs-matrix-stats')
 }
 
-// xpack modules are installed in real clusters as the meta plugin, so
-// installing them as individual plugins for integ tests doesn't make sense,
-// so we disable integ tests
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 // add all sub-projects of the qa sub-project
 gradle.projectsEvaluated {
   project.subprojects
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/vectors/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/vectors/build.gradle
index ffaf25c4945e9..f5e45206d7d03 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/vectors/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/vectors/build.gradle
@@ -15,4 +15,3 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/voting-only-node/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/voting-only-node/build.gradle
index 1bbe42bc426dc..0f80823699639 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/voting-only-node/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/voting-only-node/build.gradle
@@ -11,8 +11,3 @@ dependencies {
   compileOnly project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'default')
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
-
-// xpack modules are installed in real clusters as the meta plugin, so
-// installing them as individual plugins for integ tests doesn't make sense,
-// so we disable integ tests
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/build.gradle
index f889821eb922e..fcca3f6ba4480 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/watcher/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/watcher/build.gradle
@@ -87,11 +87,6 @@ internalClusterTest {
   systemProperty 'es.set.netty.runtime.available.processors', 'false'
 }
 
-// xpack modules are installed in real clusters as the meta plugin, so
-// installing them as individual plugins for integ tests doesn't make sense,
-// so we disable integ tests
-integTest.enabled = false
-
 // add all sub-projects of the qa sub-project
 gradle.projectsEvaluated {
   project.subprojects
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/wildcard/build.gradle b/x-pack/plugin/wildcard/build.gradle
index 5565f36f166d8..814615322707a 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/wildcard/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/wildcard/build.gradle
@@ -13,4 +13,3 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(path: xpackModule('core'), configuration: 'testArtifacts')
 }
 
-integTest.enabled = false
diff --git a/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/build.gradle b/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/build.gradle
index 4b9c9ca070a24..13a544b841df5 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/build.gradle
+++ b/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/build.gradle
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.testclusters'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.java-rest-test'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 
 esplugin {
@@ -10,15 +10,14 @@ esplugin {
 
 dependencies {
   compileOnly project(':x-pack:plugin:core')
-  testImplementation project(':client:rest-high-level')
+  javaRestTestImplementation project(':x-pack:plugin:core')
+  javaRestTestImplementation project(':client:rest-high-level')
+  // let the javaRestTest see the classpath of main
+  javaRestTestImplementation project.sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
 }
 
 
-integTest {
-  dependsOn buildZip
-}
-
-testClusters.integTest {
+testClusters.all {
   // This is important, so that all the modules are available too.
   // There are index templates that use token filters that are in analysis-module and
   // processors are being used that are in ingest-common module.
diff --git a/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/example/realm/CustomRealmIT.java b/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/realm/CustomRealmIT.java
similarity index 100%
rename from x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/example/realm/CustomRealmIT.java
rename to x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/realm/CustomRealmIT.java
diff --git a/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/example/realm/CustomRoleMappingRealmIT.java b/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/realm/CustomRoleMappingRealmIT.java
similarity index 95%
rename from x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/example/realm/CustomRoleMappingRealmIT.java
rename to x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/realm/CustomRoleMappingRealmIT.java
index 4eee89d0d6ce5..cd02d8770d856 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/example/realm/CustomRoleMappingRealmIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/realm/CustomRoleMappingRealmIT.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.concurrent.ThreadContext;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.ESRestTestCase;
+import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
 import org.junit.Before;
 
 import java.util.List;
@@ -18,7 +19,6 @@
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.instanceOf;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 
 /**
  * Integration test to test authentication with the custom role-mapping realm
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public void testUserWithRoleMapping() throws Exception {
 
         final Response response = client().performRequest(request);
         final Map<String, Object> authenticate = entityAsMap(response);
-        assertThat(authenticate.get("username"), is(CustomRoleMappingRealm.USERNAME));
+        assertThat(authenticate.get("username"), Matchers.is(CustomRoleMappingRealm.USERNAME));
         assertThat(authenticate.get("roles"), instanceOf(List.class));
         assertThat(authenticate.get("roles"), equalTo(List.of(expectedRole)));
     }
diff --git a/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/example/role/CustomRolesProviderIT.java b/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/role/CustomRolesProviderIT.java
similarity index 95%
rename from x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/example/role/CustomRolesProviderIT.java
rename to x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/role/CustomRolesProviderIT.java
index 3aab2a36562de..a8930f42c7425 100644
--- a/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/example/role/CustomRolesProviderIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/qa/security-example-spi-extension/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/role/CustomRolesProviderIT.java
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 import static org.elasticsearch.example.role.CustomInMemoryRolesProvider.INDEX;
 import static org.elasticsearch.example.role.CustomInMemoryRolesProvider.ROLE_A;
 import static org.elasticsearch.example.role.CustomInMemoryRolesProvider.ROLE_B;
-import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.security.authc.support.UsernamePasswordToken.basicAuthHeaderValue;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 
 /**
@@ -41,7 +40,7 @@ public class CustomRolesProviderIT extends ESRestTestCase {
     static {
         RequestOptions.Builder options = RequestOptions.DEFAULT.toBuilder();
         options.addHeader(UsernamePasswordToken.BASIC_AUTH_HEADER,
-                basicAuthHeaderValue(TEST_USER, new SecureString(TEST_PWD.toCharArray())));
+                UsernamePasswordToken.basicAuthHeaderValue(TEST_USER, new SecureString(TEST_PWD.toCharArray())));
         AUTH_OPTIONS = options.build();
     }