diff --git a/roles/slurm/defaults/main.yml b/roles/slurm/defaults/main.yml
index 8de2e61a15d0920a315364db8a83e3762e8fc97c..2b482d25ec92db781dfa5ef8e1b56cc33d47940a 100644
--- a/roles/slurm/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/slurm/defaults/main.yml
@@ -5,4 +5,4 @@ slurmddebug: {}
 slurmschedlog: {} 
 slurmdbdlog: {}
 slurmfairshare: {def: false, val: 10000}
-
+slurmdatadir: "/var/spool/slurm"
diff --git a/roles/slurm/tasks/main.yml b/roles/slurm/tasks/main.yml
index 1cc85b919195ea102c531004c8a67257f59578d6..23d0c682bf984540346bad832f674745de6a61ad 100644
--- a/roles/slurm/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/slurm/tasks/main.yml
@@ -50,13 +50,11 @@
   when: slurm_use_vpn==True
 
 - name: create data directory
-  shell: mkdir -p /var/spool/slurm 
-  args:
-    creates: "/var/spool/slurm"
+  file: path="{{ slurmdatadir }}" state=directory owner=slurm group=slurm mode=644 
   sudo: true
 
 - name: create log directory
-  shell: mkdir -p {{ slurmddebug.log | dirname }} 
+  shell: mkdir -p {{ slurmddebug.log | dirname }}; chown slurm:slurm {{ slurmddebug.log | dirname }} 
   args:
     creates: "{{ slurmddebug.log | dirname }}"
   sudo: true
diff --git a/roles/slurm/templates/slurm.conf.j2 b/roles/slurm/templates/slurm.conf.j2
index 202480a58d9e95975a7dd397bfb992daadd4807d..d389c913844d7123a646cf1ec4f229cbabdf6114 100644
--- a/roles/slurm/templates/slurm.conf.j2
+++ b/roles/slurm/templates/slurm.conf.j2
@@ -15,14 +15,14 @@ ControlMachine={{ slurmctrl }}
 #BackupAddr=
 #
 SlurmUser=slurm
-#SlurmdUser=root
+SlurmdUser=root
 SlurmctldPort=6817
 SlurmdPort=6818
 AuthType=auth/munge
 #JobCredentialPrivateKey=
 #JobCredentialPublicCertificate=
-StateSaveLocation=/var/spool
-SlurmdSpoolDir=/var/spool/slurmd
+StateSaveLocation={{ slurmdatadir }}
+SlurmdSpoolDir={{ slurmdatadir }} 
 SwitchType=switch/none
 MpiDefault=none
 SlurmctldPidFile=/var/run/slurmctld.pid