diff --git a/examples/local/101_initial_cluster.sh b/examples/local/101_initial_cluster.sh
index 3d5b7221efa..5d42d908f6e 100755
--- a/examples/local/101_initial_cluster.sh
+++ b/examples/local/101_initial_cluster.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ source ./env.sh
 
 # start topo server
 if [ "${TOPO}" = "zk2" ]; then
- CELL=zone1 ./scripts/zk-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/zk-up.sh
 elif [ "${TOPO}" = "k8s" ]; then
- CELL=zone1 ./scripts/k3s-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/k3s-up.sh
 else
- CELL=zone1 ./scripts/etcd-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/etcd-up.sh
 fi
 
 # start vtctld
@@ -33,18 +33,18 @@ CELL=zone1 ./scripts/vtctld-up.sh
 
 # start vttablets for keyspace commerce
 for i in 100 101 102; do
- CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=commerce TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=commerce TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 # set one of the replicas to master
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 InitShardMaster -force commerce/0 zone1-100
+vtctlclient InitShardMaster -force commerce/0 zone1-100
 
 # create the schema
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 ApplySchema -sql-file create_commerce_schema.sql commerce
+vtctlclient ApplySchema -sql-file create_commerce_schema.sql commerce
 
 # create the vschema
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 ApplyVSchema -vschema_file vschema_commerce_initial.json commerce
+vtctlclient ApplyVSchema -vschema_file vschema_commerce_initial.json commerce
 
 # start vtgate
 CELL=zone1 ./scripts/vtgate-up.sh
diff --git a/examples/local/201_customer_tablets.sh b/examples/local/201_customer_tablets.sh
index ec7dcbd80f0..b53ffb6cd16 100755
--- a/examples/local/201_customer_tablets.sh
+++ b/examples/local/201_customer_tablets.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2020 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -21,11 +21,8 @@
 source ./env.sh
 
 for i in 200 201 202; do
- CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 InitShardMaster -force customer/0 zone1-200
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 ApplyVSchema -vschema '{ "tables": { "product": {} } }' commerce
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 ApplyVSchema -vschema '{ "tables": { "customer": {}, "corder": {} } }' customer
-
+vtctlclient InitShardMaster -force customer/0 zone1-200
diff --git a/examples/local/202_move_tables.sh b/examples/local/202_move_tables.sh
index b7ffd9699bf..8bf69cf95dd 100755
--- a/examples/local/202_move_tables.sh
+++ b/examples/local/202_move_tables.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2020 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -19,12 +19,4 @@
 
 source ./env.sh
 
-vtctlclient \
-    -server localhost:15999 \
-    -log_dir "$VTDATAROOT"/tmp \
-    -alsologtostderr \
-    MoveTables \
-    -workflow=commerce2customer \
-    commerce customer customer,corder
-
-sleep 2
+vtctlclient MoveTables -workflow=commerce2customer commerce customer '{"customer":{}, "corder":{}}'
diff --git a/examples/local/203_switch_reads.sh b/examples/local/203_switch_reads.sh
index 4027267713d..93b4a31b76c 100755
--- a/examples/local/203_switch_reads.sh
+++ b/examples/local/203_switch_reads.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2020 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -17,20 +17,7 @@
 # this script migrates traffic for the new customer keyspace to the new
 # tablets of types rdonly and replica
 
+source ./env.sh
 
-vtctlclient \
- -server localhost:15999 \
- -log_dir "$VTDATAROOT"/tmp \
- -alsologtostderr \
- SwitchReads \
- -tablet_type=rdonly \
- customer.commerce2customer
-
-vtctlclient \
- -server localhost:15999 \
- -log_dir "$VTDATAROOT"/tmp \
- -alsologtostderr \
- SwitchReads \
- -tablet_type=replica \
- customer.commerce2customer
-
+vtctlclient SwitchReads -tablet_type=rdonly customer.commerce2customer
+vtctlclient SwitchReads -tablet_type=replica customer.commerce2customer
diff --git a/examples/local/204_switch_writes.sh b/examples/local/204_switch_writes.sh
index a0d5d3c31b5..b2a6434ad17 100755
--- a/examples/local/204_switch_writes.sh
+++ b/examples/local/204_switch_writes.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2020 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -17,9 +17,6 @@
 # this script migrates master traffic for the customer keyspace to the
 # new master tablet
 
-vtctlclient \
- -server localhost:15999 \
- -log_dir "$VTDATAROOT"/tmp \
- -alsologtostderr \
- SwitchWrites \
- customer.commerce2customer
+source ./env.sh
+
+vtctlclient SwitchWrites customer.commerce2customer
diff --git a/examples/local/205_clean_commerce.sh b/examples/local/205_clean_commerce.sh
index 8bccbe99b97..f01fa2429af 100755
--- a/examples/local/205_clean_commerce.sh
+++ b/examples/local/205_clean_commerce.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2020 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@
 # this script removes the customer and corder tables from the commerce
 # keyspace
 
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 ApplySchema -sql-file drop_commerce_tables.sql commerce
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 SetShardTabletControl -blacklisted_tables=customer,corder -remove commerce/0 rdonly
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 SetShardTabletControl -blacklisted_tables=customer,corder -remove commerce/0 replica
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 SetShardTabletControl -blacklisted_tables=customer,corder -remove commerce/0 master
+source ./env.sh
+
+vtctlclient SetShardTabletControl -blacklisted_tables=customer,corder -remove commerce/0 rdonly
+vtctlclient SetShardTabletControl -blacklisted_tables=customer,corder -remove commerce/0 replica
+vtctlclient SetShardTabletControl -blacklisted_tables=customer,corder -remove commerce/0 master
+vtctlclient ApplyRoutingRules -rules='{}'
diff --git a/examples/local/301_customer_sharded.sh b/examples/local/301_customer_sharded.sh
index 5335a0e7392..033b219ed0b 100755
--- a/examples/local/301_customer_sharded.sh
+++ b/examples/local/301_customer_sharded.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@
 # it also changes the customer vschema from unsharded to sharded and
 # sets up the necessary vindexes
 
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 ApplySchema -sql-file create_commerce_seq.sql commerce
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 ApplyVSchema -vschema_file vschema_commerce_seq.json commerce
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 ApplySchema -sql-file create_customer_sharded.sql customer
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 ApplyVSchema -vschema_file vschema_customer_sharded.json customer
+source ./env.sh
+
+vtctlclient ApplySchema -sql-file create_commerce_seq.sql commerce
+vtctlclient ApplyVSchema -vschema_file vschema_commerce_seq.json commerce
+vtctlclient ApplySchema -sql-file create_customer_sharded.sql customer
+vtctlclient ApplyVSchema -vschema_file vschema_customer_sharded.json customer
diff --git a/examples/local/302_new_shards.sh b/examples/local/302_new_shards.sh
index c6400bd0762..33f2ec294e1 100755
--- a/examples/local/302_new_shards.sh
+++ b/examples/local/302_new_shards.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -15,19 +15,19 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 # this script brings up new tablets for the two new shards that we will
-# be creating in the customer keyspace and copies the schema 
+# be creating in the customer keyspace and copies the schema
 
 source ./env.sh
 
 for i in 300 301 302; do
- CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
- SHARD=-80 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	SHARD=-80 CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
 for i in 400 401 402; do
- CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
- SHARD=80- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-up.sh
+	SHARD=80- CELL=zone1 KEYSPACE=customer TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-up.sh
 done
 
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 InitShardMaster -force customer/-80 zone1-300
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 InitShardMaster -force customer/80- zone1-400
+vtctlclient InitShardMaster -force customer/-80 zone1-300
+vtctlclient InitShardMaster -force customer/80- zone1-400
diff --git a/examples/local/303_reshard.sh b/examples/local/303_reshard.sh
index 227ea3296b2..2e980a8fee7 100755
--- a/examples/local/303_reshard.sh
+++ b/examples/local/303_reshard.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2020 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -19,11 +19,4 @@
 
 source ./env.sh
 
-vtctlclient \
-    -server localhost:15999 \
-    -log_dir "$VTDATAROOT"/tmp \
-    -alsologtostderr \
-    Reshard \
-    customer.cust2cust "0" "-80,80-"
-
-sleep 2
\ No newline at end of file
+vtctlclient Reshard customer.cust2cust '0' '-80,80-'
diff --git a/examples/local/304_switch_reads.sh b/examples/local/304_switch_reads.sh
index aed6e6adada..041d4206048 100755
--- a/examples/local/304_switch_reads.sh
+++ b/examples/local/304_switch_reads.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2020 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -16,18 +16,7 @@
 
 # this script migrates traffic for the rdonly and replica tablets
 
-vtctlclient \
- -server localhost:15999 \
- -log_dir "$VTDATAROOT"/tmp \
- -alsologtostderr \
- SwitchReads \
- -tablet_type=rdonly \
- customer.cust2cust
+source ./env.sh
 
-vtctlclient \
- -server localhost:15999 \
- -log_dir "$VTDATAROOT"/tmp \
- -alsologtostderr \
- SwitchReads \
- -tablet_type=replica \
- customer.cust2cust
+vtctlclient SwitchReads -tablet_type=rdonly customer.cust2cust
+vtctlclient SwitchReads -tablet_type=replica customer.cust2cust
diff --git a/examples/local/305_switch_writes.sh b/examples/local/305_switch_writes.sh
index 34dde1f971e..94a276e3867 100755
--- a/examples/local/305_switch_writes.sh
+++ b/examples/local/305_switch_writes.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2020 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -16,12 +16,6 @@
 
 # this script migrates traffic for the master tablet
 
-vtctlclient \
- -server localhost:15999 \
- -log_dir "$VTDATAROOT"/tmp \
- -alsologtostderr \
- SwitchWrites \
- customer.cust2cust
-
-# data has been copied over to shards, and databases for the new shards are now available
+source ./env.sh
 
+vtctlclient SwitchWrites customer.cust2cust
diff --git a/examples/local/306_down_shard_0.sh b/examples/local/306_down_shard_0.sh
index 25c23ab2111..9b6a0ed8180 100755
--- a/examples/local/306_down_shard_0.sh
+++ b/examples/local/306_down_shard_0.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -15,8 +15,9 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 # this script brings down the tablets for customer/0 keyspace
 
+source ./env.sh
+
 for i in 200 201 202; do
- CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-down.sh
- CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/vttablet-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$i ./scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
 done
-
diff --git a/examples/local/307_delete_shard_0.sh b/examples/local/307_delete_shard_0.sh
index 662bb7cdfe9..12fdba72c8a 100755
--- a/examples/local/307_delete_shard_0.sh
+++ b/examples/local/307_delete_shard_0.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -16,4 +16,6 @@
 
 # this script deletes the old shard 0 which has been replaced by 2 shards
 
-vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 DeleteShard -recursive customer/0
+source ./env.sh
+
+vtctlclient DeleteShard -recursive customer/0
diff --git a/examples/local/401_teardown.sh b/examples/local/401_teardown.sh
index 5c6e279fb0b..ccca63bab0d 100755
--- a/examples/local/401_teardown.sh
+++ b/examples/local/401_teardown.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # Copyright 2019 The Vitess Authors.
-# 
+#
 # Licensed 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.
@@ -22,41 +22,41 @@ source ./env.sh
 ./scripts/vtgate-down.sh
 
 for tablet in 100 200 300 400; do
- if vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 GetTablet zone1-$tablet >/dev/null 2>&1 ; then
-  # The zero tablet is up. Try to shutdown 0-2 tablet + mysqlctl
-  for i in 0 1 2; do
-   uid=$[$tablet + $i]
-   echo "Shutting down tablet zone1-$uid"
-   CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ./scripts/vttablet-down.sh
-   echo "Shutting down mysql zone1-$uid"
-   CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ./scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
-  done
- fi
+	if vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 GetTablet zone1-$tablet >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		# The zero tablet is up. Try to shutdown 0-2 tablet + mysqlctl
+		for i in 0 1 2; do
+			uid=$(($tablet + $i))
+			echo "Shutting down tablet zone1-$uid"
+			CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ./scripts/vttablet-down.sh
+			echo "Shutting down mysql zone1-$uid"
+			CELL=zone1 TABLET_UID=$uid ./scripts/mysqlctl-down.sh
+		done
+	fi
 done
 
 ./scripts/vtctld-down.sh
 
 if [ "${TOPO}" = "zk2" ]; then
-    CELL=zone1 ./scripts/zk-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/zk-down.sh
 elif [ "${TOPO}" = "k8s" ]; then
-    CELL=zone1 ./scripts/k3s-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/k3s-down.sh
 else
-    CELL=zone1 ./scripts/etcd-down.sh
+	CELL=zone1 ./scripts/etcd-down.sh
 fi
 
 # pedantic check: grep for any remaining processes
 
 if [ ! -z "$VTDATAROOT" ]; then
 
- if pgrep -f -l "$VTDATAROOT" > /dev/null; then
-  echo "ERROR: Stale processes detected! It is recommended to manuallly kill them:"
-  pgrep -f -l "$VTDATAROOT"
- else
-  echo "All good! It looks like every process has shut down"
- fi
+	if pgrep -f -l "$VTDATAROOT" >/dev/null; then
+		echo "ERROR: Stale processes detected! It is recommended to manuallly kill them:"
+		pgrep -f -l "$VTDATAROOT"
+	else
+		echo "All good! It looks like every process has shut down"
+	fi
 
- # shellcheck disable=SC2086
- rm -r ${VTDATAROOT:?}/*
+	# shellcheck disable=SC2086
+	rm -r ${VTDATAROOT:?}/*
 
 fi
 
diff --git a/examples/local/alias.source b/examples/local/alias.source
deleted file mode 100644
index 7bdc9cb130b..00000000000
--- a/examples/local/alias.source
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-echo "Setting alias mysql to mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306"
-alias mysql="mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306"
-echo "Setting alias vtctlclient to vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 -log_dir $VTDATAROOT/tmp -alsologtostderr"
-alias vtctlclient="vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 -log_dir $VTDATAROOT/tmp -alsologtostderr"
diff --git a/examples/local/env.sh b/examples/local/env.sh
index 74f929692f5..c0b982a3dbe 100644
--- a/examples/local/env.sh
+++ b/examples/local/env.sh
@@ -14,9 +14,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-set -e
-
-hostname=`hostname -f`
+hostname=$(hostname -f)
 vtctld_web_port=15000
 export VTDATAROOT="${VTDATAROOT:-${PWD}/vtdataroot}"
 
@@ -55,7 +53,7 @@ if [ "${TOPO}" = "zk2" ]; then
     # shellcheck disable=SC2034
     TOPOLOGY_FLAGS="-topo_implementation zk2 -topo_global_server_address ${ZK_SERVER} -topo_global_root /vitess/global"
 
-    mkdir -p $VTDATAROOT/tmp
+    mkdir -p "${VTDATAROOT}/tmp"
 elif [ "${TOPO}" = "k8s" ]; then
     # Set topology environment parameters.
     K8S_ADDR="localhost"
@@ -71,3 +69,14 @@ else
 fi
 
 mkdir -p "${VTDATAROOT}/tmp"
+
+# Set aliases to simplify instructions.
+# In your own environment you may prefer to use config files,
+# such as ~/.my.cnf
+
+alias mysql="command mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306"
+alias vtctlclient="command vtctlclient -server localhost:15999 -log_dir ${VTDATAROOT}/tmp -alsologtostderr"
+
+# Make sure aliases are expanded in non-interactive shell
+shopt -s expand_aliases
+
diff --git a/test/local_example.sh b/test/local_example.sh
index ee5cd0142ec..e6a06d62c94 100755
--- a/test/local_example.sh
+++ b/test/local_example.sh
@@ -23,35 +23,40 @@ source build.env
 set -xe
 
 cd "$VTROOT/examples/local"
-
 unset VTROOT # ensure that the examples can run without VTROOT now.
 
+source ./env.sh # Required so that "mysql" works from alias
+
 ./101_initial_cluster.sh
 
-mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306 < ../common/insert_commerce_data.sql
-mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306 --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql
+sleep 1 # Give vtgate a second to really start.
+
+mysql < ../common/insert_commerce_data.sql
+mysql --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql
 
 ./201_customer_tablets.sh
 
 for shard in "customer/0"; do
  while true; do
-  mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306 "$shard" -e 'show tables' && break || echo "waiting for shard: $shard!"
+  mysql "$shard" -e 'show tables' && break || echo "waiting for shard: $shard!"
   sleep 1
  done;
 done;
 
 ./202_move_tables.sh
 
+sleep 3 # required for now
+
 ./203_switch_reads.sh
 
 ./204_switch_writes.sh
 
-mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306 --table < ../common/select_customer0_data.sql
+mysql --table < ../common/select_customer0_data.sql
 # Expected to fail!
-mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306 --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql || echo "Blacklist working as expected"
+mysql --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql || echo "Blacklist working as expected"
 ./205_clean_commerce.sh
 # Expected to fail!
-mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306 --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql || echo "Tables missing as expected"
+mysql --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql || echo "Tables missing as expected"
 
 
 ./301_customer_sharded.sh
@@ -61,18 +66,20 @@ mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306 --table < ../common/select_commerce_data.sql || echo
 # TODO: Eliminate this race in the examples' scripts
 for shard in "customer/-80" "customer/80-"; do
  while true; do
-  mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306 "$shard" -e 'show tables' && break || echo "waiting for shard: $shard!"
+  mysql "$shard" -e 'show tables' && break || echo "waiting for shard: $shard!"
   sleep 1
  done;
 done;
 
 ./303_reshard.sh
 
+sleep 3 # TODO: Required for now!
+
 ./304_switch_reads.sh
 ./305_switch_writes.sh
 
-mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306 --table < ../common/select_customer-80_data.sql
-mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 15306 --table < ../common/select_customer80-_data.sql
+mysql --table < ../common/select_customer-80_data.sql
+mysql --table < ../common/select_customer80-_data.sql
 
 ./401_teardown.sh