diff --git a/tests/integration-tests/configs/tmp_test.yaml b/tests/integration-tests/configs/tmp_test.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..647f9b0bbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration-tests/configs/tmp_test.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{%- import 'common.jinja2' as common with context -%}
+{{- common.OSS_COMMERCIAL_ARM.append("centos7") or "" -}}
+{{- common.OSS_COMMERCIAL_X86.append("rocky8") or "" -}}
+{{- common.OSS_COMMERCIAL_X86.append("rocky9") or "" -}}
+---
+test-suites:
+  proxy:
+    test_proxy.py::test_proxy:
+      dimensions:
+        - regions: ["us-east-1"]
+          instances: {{ common.INSTANCES_DEFAULT_X86 }}
+          oss: ["ubuntu2004"]
+          schedulers: ["slurm"]
diff --git a/tests/integration-tests/remote_command_executor.py b/tests/integration-tests/remote_command_executor.py
index 8c314fc3a8..e58e8d5529 100644
--- a/tests/integration-tests/remote_command_executor.py
+++ b/tests/integration-tests/remote_command_executor.py
@@ -29,7 +29,14 @@ class RemoteCommandExecutor:
     """Execute remote commands on the cluster head node."""
 
     def __init__(
-        self, cluster, compute_node_ip=None, username=None, bastion=None, alternate_ssh_key=None, use_login_node=False
+        self,
+        cluster,
+        compute_node_ip=None,
+        username=None,
+        bastion=None,
+        alternate_ssh_key=None,
+        use_login_node=False,
+        connection_timeout=None,
     ):
         """
         Initiate SSH connection
@@ -61,6 +68,7 @@ def __init__(
             "host": node_ip,
             "user": username,
             "forward_agent": False,
+            "inline_ssh_env": True,
             "connect_kwargs": {
                 "key_filename": [alternate_ssh_key if alternate_ssh_key else cluster.ssh_key],
                 "look_for_keys": False,
@@ -68,12 +76,18 @@ def __init__(
         }
         if bastion:
             # Need to execute simple ssh command before using Connection to avoid Paramiko _check_banner error
-            run_command(
-                f"ssh -i {cluster.ssh_key} -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no {bastion} hostname", timeout=30, shell=True
+            ssh_command_result = run_command(
+                f"ssh -i {cluster.ssh_key} -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no {bastion} hostname",
+                timeout=30,
+                shell=True,
             )
+            logging.info(f"Command output: {ssh_command_result}")
             connection_kwargs["gateway"] = f"ssh -W %h:%p -A {bastion}"
             connection_kwargs["forward_agent"] = True
-            connection_kwargs["connect_kwargs"]["banner_timeout"] = 60
+            connection_kwargs["connect_kwargs"]["banner_timeout"] = 1800
+            if connection_timeout:
+                connection_kwargs["connect_kwargs"]["timeout"] = connection_timeout
+                logging.info(f"set timeout to {connection_timeout}")
         logging.info(
             f"Connecting to {connection_kwargs['host']} as {connection_kwargs['user']} with "
             f"{connection_kwargs['connect_kwargs']['key_filename']}"
diff --git a/tests/integration-tests/tests/proxy/test_proxy.py b/tests/integration-tests/tests/proxy/test_proxy.py
index 7e310dab5d..45b998ba1b 100644
--- a/tests/integration-tests/tests/proxy/test_proxy.py
+++ b/tests/integration-tests/tests/proxy/test_proxy.py
@@ -10,13 +10,14 @@
 # This file is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
 import logging
+import os
 
 import boto3
 import pytest
 from assertpy import assert_that
 from cfn_stacks_factory import CfnStack
 from remote_command_executor import RemoteCommandExecutor
-from utils import generate_stack_name
+from utils import generate_stack_name, run_command
 
 from tests.common.schedulers_common import SlurmCommands
 
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ def get_instance_public_ip(instance_id, region):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("region", "os", "instance", "scheduler")
-def test_proxy(pcluster_config_reader, clusters_factory, proxy_stack_factory, scheduler_commands_factory):
+def test_proxy(pcluster_config_reader, request, proxy_stack_factory, scheduler_commands_factory, clusters_factory):
     """
     Test the creation and functionality of a Cluster using a proxy environment.
 
@@ -84,6 +85,33 @@ def test_proxy(pcluster_config_reader, clusters_factory, proxy_stack_factory, sc
     3. Submit a sleep job to the cluster and verify it completes successfully.
     4. Check Internet access by trying to access google.com
     """
+    # Start ssh-agent and capture the output
+    ssh_agent_result = run_command("ssh-agent -s", shell=True)
+    logging.info(f"SSH agent started with output: {ssh_agent_result.stdout}")
+
+    # Parse the ssh-agent output to set environment variables
+    for line in ssh_agent_result.stdout.splitlines():
+        if line.startswith("SSH_AUTH_SOCK"):
+            key, value = line.split(";")[0].split("=")
+            os.environ[key] = value
+        elif line.startswith("SSH_AGENT_PID"):
+            key, value = line.split(";")[0].split("=")
+            os.environ[key] = value
+
+    logging.info("Environment variables are: %s", dict(os.environ))
+
+    # Verify that the environment variables are set correctly
+    logging.info(f"SSH_AUTH_SOCK: {os.environ.get('SSH_AUTH_SOCK')}")
+    logging.info(f"SSH_AGENT_PID: {os.environ.get('SSH_AGENT_PID')}")
+
+    # Add the SSH key using the ssh-add command, passing the environment variables
+    ssh_add_result = run_command(f'ssh-add {request.config.getoption("key_path")}', shell=True)
+    logging.info(f"SSH key add result: {ssh_add_result.stderr}")
+
+    # Confirm that the key has been added
+    added_keys = run_command("ssh-add -l", shell=True)
+    logging.info(f"SSH keys added: {added_keys.stdout}")
+
     proxy_address = proxy_stack_factory.cfn_outputs["ProxyAddress"]
     subnet_with_proxy = proxy_stack_factory.cfn_outputs["PrivateSubnet"]
     proxy_instance_id = proxy_stack_factory.cfn_resources.get("Proxy")
@@ -96,21 +124,39 @@ def test_proxy(pcluster_config_reader, clusters_factory, proxy_stack_factory, sc
 
     bastion = f"ubuntu@{proxy_public_ip}"
 
-    remote_command_executor = RemoteCommandExecutor(cluster=cluster, bastion=bastion)
-    slurm_commands = SlurmCommands(remote_command_executor)
+    env_vars = {
+        "SSH_AUTH_SOCK": os.environ.get("SSH_AUTH_SOCK"),
+        "SSH_AGENT_PID": os.environ.get("SSH_AGENT_PID"),
+    }
+    env_prefix = " && ".join([f"export {key}={value}" for key, value in env_vars.items()])
 
-    _check_internet_access(remote_command_executor)
+    headnode_instance_ip = cluster.head_node_ip
 
-    job_id = slurm_commands.submit_command_and_assert_job_accepted(
-        submit_command_args={"command": "srun sleep 1", "nodes": 1}
+    ssh_command_result = run_command(
+        f"ssh -i {cluster.ssh_key} -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no {bastion} hostname",
+        timeout=30,
+        shell=True,
     )
-    slurm_commands.wait_job_completed(job_id)
-    slurm_commands.assert_job_succeeded(job_id)
+    logging.info(f"Command output: {ssh_command_result}")
+
+    ssh_gateway_result = run_command(f"ssh -W {headnode_instance_ip}:22 -A {bastion} -vvv", shell=True, raise_on_error=False)
+    logging.info(f"SSH command output: {ssh_gateway_result}")
+
+    remote_command_executor = RemoteCommandExecutor(cluster=cluster, bastion=bastion, connection_timeout=300)
+    # slurm_commands = SlurmCommands(remote_command_executor)
+
+    _check_internet_access(remote_command_executor, env_prefix)
+
+    # job_id = slurm_commands.submit_command_and_assert_job_accepted(
+    #     submit_command_args={"command": "srun sleep 1", "nodes": 1}
+    # )
+    # slurm_commands.wait_job_completed(job_id)
+    # slurm_commands.assert_job_succeeded(job_id)
 
 
-def _check_internet_access(remote_command_executor):
+def _check_internet_access(remote_command_executor, env_prefix):
     logging.info("Checking cluster has Internet access by trying to access google.com")
     internet_result = remote_command_executor.run_remote_command(
-        "curl --connect-timeout 10 -I https://google.com", raise_on_error=False
+        f"{env_prefix} && curl --connect-timeout 10 -I https://google.com", raise_on_error=False
     )
     assert_that(internet_result.failed).is_false()
diff --git a/tests/integration-tests/tests/proxy/test_proxy/test_proxy/pcluster.config.yaml b/tests/integration-tests/tests/proxy/test_proxy/test_proxy/pcluster.config.yaml
index 4ab0a63a59..0e6e722ab2 100644
--- a/tests/integration-tests/tests/proxy/test_proxy/test_proxy/pcluster.config.yaml
+++ b/tests/integration-tests/tests/proxy/test_proxy/test_proxy/pcluster.config.yaml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ HeadNode:
   InstanceType: {{ instance }}
   Ssh:
     KeyName: {{ key_name }}
+    AllowedIps: 0.0.0.0/0
   Networking:
     SubnetId: {{ subnet_with_proxy }}
     Proxy:
diff --git a/tests/integration-tests/utils.py b/tests/integration-tests/utils.py
index 9a92998c85..46159ec8fb 100644
--- a/tests/integration-tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/integration-tests/utils.py
@@ -187,6 +187,9 @@ def run_command(
         command = shlex.split(command)
     log_command = command if isinstance(command, str) else " ".join(str(arg) for arg in command)
     logging.info("Executing command: {}".format(log_command))
+
+    env = env if env is not None else os.environ.copy()
+
     try:
         result = subprocess.run(
             command,