diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 78f749dbc..2d2e2416f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ Fluxion requires an installed flux-core package.  Instructions
 for installing flux-core can be found in [the flux-core
 README](https://github.com/flux-framework/flux-core/blob/master/README.md).
 
+To install our other dependencies on a dnf, apk or apt-using distro you should
+be able to use ./scripts/install-deps.sh to install all necessary dependencies.
+
 <!-- A collapsible section with markdown -->
 <details>
   <summary>Click to expand and see our full dependency table</summary>
@@ -60,15 +63,6 @@ libedit-devel             | libedit-dev             | >= 3.0            |
 python3-pyyaml            | python3-yaml            | >= 3.10           |
 yaml-cpp-devel            | libyaml-cpp-dev         | >= 0.5.1          |
 
-*Note 1 - Boost package versions 1.54-1.58 contain a bug that
-leads to compilation error.*
-
-The following optional dependencies enable additional testing:
-
-**redhat**        | **ubuntu**        | **version**
-----------        | ----------        | -----------
-valgrind-devel    | valgrind          |
-jq                | jq                |
 </details>
 
 ##### Installing RedHat/CentOS Packages
@@ -156,7 +150,7 @@ from the source directory or use the usual ctest options to filter by regex:
 
 ```bash
 $ cd build/t
-$ ../../t/t9001-golang-basic.t 
+$ ../../t/t9001-golang-basic.t
 ok 1 - match allocate 1 slot: 1 socket: 1 core (pol=default)
 ok 2 - match allocate 2 slots: 2 sockets: 5 cores 1 gpu 6 memory
 # passed all 2 test(s)
diff --git a/scripts/add_docker_user.sh b/scripts/add_docker_user.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..dd8f6002b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/add_docker_user.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+if test "$USER" != "flux"; then
+    sudo groupadd -g $UID $USER
+    sudo useradd -g $USER -u $UID -d /home/$USER -m $USER
+    sudo sh -c "printf \"$USER ALL= NOPASSWD: ALL\\n\" >> /etc/sudoers"
+    case "$ID" in
+        ubuntu|debian)
+            sudo adduser $USER sudo
+            ;;
+        fedora|rocky|alma|rhel|centos|alpine)
+            sudo usermod -G wheel $USER
+            ;;
+    esac
+fi
diff --git a/scripts/install-deps.sh b/scripts/install-deps.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..e85353898
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/install-deps.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+if [ -z "$ID" ] ; then
+	while IFS== read -r key value; do
+		value="${value%\"}"
+		value="${value#\"}"
+		export "$key"="$value"
+	done </etc/os-release
+fi
+
+PM=""
+case "$ID" in
+	ubuntu|debian)
+		PM=apt
+		DEV_SUFFIX="-dev"
+		DEV_SUFFIX_APT="-dev"
+		PY3_PREFIX="python3-"
+		LIB_PREFIX="lib"
+		;;
+	fedora|rocky|alma|rhel|centos)
+		PM=dnf
+		DEV_SUFFIX="-devel"
+		PY3_PREFIX="python3-"
+		LIB_PREFIX=""
+		;;
+	alpine)
+		PM=apk
+		DEV_SUFFIX="-dev"
+		PY3_PREFIX="py3-"
+		LIB_PREFIX=""
+		;;
+esac
+
+[ -z "$PM" ] && echo Package manager for $ID is unknown && exit 1
+
+pkglist="
+${LIB_PREFIX}boost${DEV_SUFFIX}
+${LIB_PREFIX}boost-graph${DEV_SUFFIX_APT}
+libedit${DEV_SUFFIX}
+${LIB_PREFIX}hwloc${DEV_SUFFIX}
+${PY3_PREFIX}yaml
+${LIB_PREFIX}yaml-cpp${DEV_SUFFIX}
+ninja-build
+cmake
+curl
+bash
+jq
+valgrind
+"
+
+case $PM in
+	apt)
+		CMD="apt install ${@} ${pkglist}"
+		;;
+	apk)
+		CMD="apk add ${@} ${pkglist}"
+		;;
+	dnf)
+		CMD="dnf install ${@} ${pkglist}"
+		;;
+esac
+echo will run "'$CMD'"
+if [ $(id -u) -ne 0 ]
+  then echo command will not work without root, re-run as root
+  exit 1
+fi
+$CMD
diff --git a/src/test/docker/alpine/Dockerfile b/src/test/docker/alpine/Dockerfile
index 257d5d24f..6f3621a7c 100644
--- a/src/test/docker/alpine/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/test/docker/alpine/Dockerfile
@@ -5,25 +5,12 @@ ARG UID=1000
 USER root
 
 # Install extra buildrequires for flux-sched:
-RUN sudo apk add \
-	boost-dev \
-	py3-yaml \
-	yaml-cpp-dev \
-	libedit-dev \
-	ninja-build \
-	cmake \
-	bash \
-	curl
+COPY scripts/ /scripts
+RUN sudo /scripts/install-deps.sh
 
 # Add configured user to image with sudo access:
 #
-RUN \
- if test "$USER" != "flux"; then  \
-      sudo groupadd -g $UID $USER \
-   && sudo useradd -g $USER -u $UID -d /home/$USER -m $USER \
-   && sudo sh -c "printf \"$USER ALL= NOPASSWD: ALL\\n\" >> /etc/sudoers" \
-   && sudo usermod -G wheel $USER; \
- fi
+RUN /scripts/add_docker_user.sh
 
 USER $USER
 WORKDIR /home/$USER
diff --git a/src/test/docker/bookworm/Dockerfile b/src/test/docker/bookworm/Dockerfile
index b28a1803b..bb31df984 100644
--- a/src/test/docker/bookworm/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/test/docker/bookworm/Dockerfile
@@ -4,27 +4,16 @@ ARG USER=flux
 ARG UID=1000
 USER root
 
+# copy scripts into image
+COPY scripts/ /scripts
 # Install extra buildrequires for flux-sched:
-RUN apt-get update
-RUN apt-get -qq install -y --no-install-recommends \
-	libboost-graph-dev \
-	libboost-system-dev \
-	libboost-filesystem-dev \
-	libboost-regex-dev \
-	libyaml-cpp-dev \
-	libedit-dev \
-	ninja-build \
-	python3-yaml
+RUN sudo apt update \
+ && sudo /scripts/install-deps.sh -y \
+ && sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Add configured user to image with sudo access:
 #
-RUN \
- if test "$USER" != "flux"; then  \
-      groupadd -g $UID $USER \
-   && useradd -g $USER -u $UID -d /home/$USER -m $USER \
-   && sh -c "printf \"$USER ALL= NOPASSWD: ALL\\n\" >> /etc/sudoers" \
-   && adduser $USER sudo ; \
- fi
+RUN /scripts/add_docker_user.sh
 
 USER $USER
 WORKDIR /home/$USER
diff --git a/src/test/docker/el9/Dockerfile b/src/test/docker/el9/Dockerfile
index 109a4a8e7..85709878d 100644
--- a/src/test/docker/el9/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/test/docker/el9/Dockerfile
@@ -4,32 +4,15 @@ ARG USER=flux
 ARG UID=1000
 USER root
 
+# copy scripts into image
+COPY scripts/ /scripts
 # Install extra buildrequires for flux-sched:
-RUN sudo dnf -y install \
-	# We need this to allow curl or others to upgrade base packages
-	--allowerasing \
-	boost-devel \
-	boost-graph \
-	boost-system \
-	boost-filesystem \
-	boost-regex \
-	python3-pyyaml \
-	yaml-cpp-devel \
-	libedit-devel \
-	ninja-build \
-	gcc-toolset-13-{gcc,gcc-c++,gdb} \
-	cmake \
-	curl
+RUN sudo /scripts/install-deps.sh -y --allowerasing gcc-toolset-13-{gcc,gcc-c++,gdb} \
+ && sudo dnf clean all
 
 # Add configured user to image with sudo access:
 #
-RUN \
- if test "$USER" != "flux"; then  \
-      sudo groupadd -g $UID $USER \
-   && sudo useradd -g $USER -u $UID -d /home/$USER -m $USER \
-   && sudo sh -c "printf \"$USER ALL= NOPASSWD: ALL\\n\" >> /etc/sudoers" \
-   && sudo usermod -G wheel $USER; \
- fi
+RUN /scripts/add_docker_user.sh
 
 USER $USER
 WORKDIR /home/$USER
diff --git a/src/test/docker/fedora40/Dockerfile b/src/test/docker/fedora40/Dockerfile
index df18026db..83b657754 100644
--- a/src/test/docker/fedora40/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/test/docker/fedora40/Dockerfile
@@ -5,31 +5,15 @@ LABEL maintainer="Tom Scogland <scogland1@llnl.gov>"
 ARG USER=flux
 ARG UID=1000
 
+# copy scripts into image
+COPY scripts/ /scripts
 #  Install flux-sched dependencies
-RUN sudo dnf -y install \
-	boost-devel \
-	boost-graph \
-	boost-system \
-	boost-filesystem \
-	boost-regex \
-	python3-pyyaml \
-	yaml-cpp-devel \
-	libedit-devel \
-	ninja-build \
-	cmake \
-	clang \
-	lcov \
+RUN sudo /scripts/install-deps.sh -y \
  && sudo dnf clean all
 
 # Add configured user to image with sudo access:
 #
-RUN \
- if test "$USER" != "flux"; then  \
-      sudo groupadd -g $UID $USER \
-   && sudo useradd -g $USER -u $UID -d /home/$USER -m $USER \
-   && sudo sh -c "printf \"$USER ALL= NOPASSWD: ALL\\n\" >> /etc/sudoers" \
-   && sudo usermod -G wheel $USER; \
- fi
+RUN /scripts/add_docker_user.sh
 
 USER $USER
 WORKDIR /home/$USER
diff --git a/src/test/docker/jammy/Dockerfile b/src/test/docker/jammy/Dockerfile
index b8c3e18c2..4b5477f76 100644
--- a/src/test/docker/jammy/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/test/docker/jammy/Dockerfile
@@ -3,27 +3,16 @@ FROM fluxrm/flux-core:jammy
 ARG USER=flux
 ARG UID=1000
 
+# copy scripts into image
+COPY scripts/ /scripts
 # Install extra buildrequires for flux-sched:
-RUN sudo apt-get update
-RUN sudo apt-get -qq install -y --no-install-recommends \
-	libboost-graph-dev \
-	libboost-system-dev \
-	libboost-filesystem-dev \
-	libboost-regex-dev \
-	python3-yaml \
-	libyaml-cpp-dev \
-	libedit-dev \
-	ninja-build
+RUN sudo apt update \
+ && sudo /scripts/install-deps.sh -y \
+ && sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Add configured user to image with sudo access:
 #
-RUN \
- if test "$USER" != "flux"; then  \
-      sudo groupadd -g $UID $USER \
-   && sudo useradd -g $USER -u $UID -d /home/$USER -m $USER \
-   && sudo sh -c "printf \"$USER ALL= NOPASSWD: ALL\\n\" >> /etc/sudoers" \
-   && sudo adduser $USER sudo ; \
- fi
+RUN /scripts/add_docker_user.sh
 
 USER $USER
 WORKDIR /home/$USER
diff --git a/src/test/docker/noble/Dockerfile b/src/test/docker/noble/Dockerfile
index bc1cbd152..10c2f4beb 100644
--- a/src/test/docker/noble/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/test/docker/noble/Dockerfile
@@ -4,28 +4,16 @@ ARG USER=flux
 ARG UID=1000
 USER root
 
+# copy scripts into image
+COPY scripts/ /scripts
 # Install extra buildrequires for flux-sched:
-RUN sudo apt-get update
-RUN sudo apt-get -qq install -y --no-install-recommends \
-	libboost-graph-dev \
-	libboost-system-dev \
-	libboost-filesystem-dev \
-	libboost-regex-dev \
-	python3-yaml \
-	libyaml-cpp-dev \
-	libedit-dev \
-	ninja-build \
+RUN sudo apt update \
+ && sudo /scripts/install-deps.sh -y \
  && sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Add configured user to image with sudo access:
 #
-RUN \
- if test "$USER" != "flux"; then  \
-      sudo groupadd -g $UID $USER \
-   && sudo useradd -g $USER -u $UID -d /home/$USER -m $USER \
-   && sudo sh -c "printf \"$USER ALL= NOPASSWD: ALL\\n\" >> /etc/sudoers" \
-   && sudo adduser $USER sudo ; \
- fi
+RUN /scripts/add_docker_user.sh
 
 USER $USER
 WORKDIR /home/$USER