diff --git a/hbp_nrp_music_interface/hbp_nrp_music_interface/launch/host/LuganoLauncher.py b/hbp_nrp_music_interface/hbp_nrp_music_interface/launch/host/LuganoLauncher.py
index 3153bc144d1170c709e7c9a1f5a4658c2d367879..39d17a40a49093aa72b5fbef3f3d32d388e4f4a1 100644
--- a/hbp_nrp_music_interface/hbp_nrp_music_interface/launch/host/LuganoLauncher.py
+++ b/hbp_nrp_music_interface/hbp_nrp_music_interface/launch/host/LuganoLauncher.py
@@ -68,19 +68,16 @@ class LuganoLauncher(LuganoVizCluster, LocalLauncher):
         # create a launch script that configures the vizcluster environment properly
         with open(path, 'w') as f:
             f.write('#!/bin/bash\n')
+            f.write('source /opt/rh/python27/enable\n')
 
             # set the terminal type to ensure we get the same behavior as from a backend VM
             # this is also required in the Docker images
             f.write('export TERM=linux\n')
 
-            # environment variable configuration
-            f.write('source /opt/rh/python27/enable\n')
-            f.write('export ENVIRONMENT=%s\n' % environment)
-            if environment == 'staging':
-                with open(os.environ.get('NRP_VARIABLES_PATH')) as f:
-                    content = f.readlines()
-                for version in [x.strip() for x in content if '_VERSION=' in x]:
-                    f.write('%s\n' % version)
+            # set the environment version and any specific module versions to be used, then
+            # override the environment variable to the deployed location on the remote host
+            f.write('source $NRP_MUSIC_DIRECTORY/nrp-variables\n')
+            f.write('export NRP_VARIABLES_PATH=$NRP_MUSIC_DIRECTORY/nrp-variables\n')
 
             # load the environment modules based on the above configuration
             proj_path = '/gpfs/bbp.cscs.ch/project/proj30/neurorobotics/%s/' % environment
@@ -101,6 +98,7 @@ class LuganoLauncher(LuganoVizCluster, LocalLauncher):
             # actually launch the module
             f.write('python -m {module}\n'.format(module=module))
 
+        # ensure the script is executable
         os.chmod(path, stat.S_IRWXU)
 
         # return a relative path to the script, it's guaranteed to be run in the tmpdir
@@ -111,8 +109,15 @@ class LuganoLauncher(LuganoVizCluster, LocalLauncher):
         Copy all configuration files to a temp directory on the remote host. The remote directory
         is created here, so use it to set the launcher interface host tmpdir value.
         """
+
+        # generated configuration files
         for f in os.listdir(self._local_tmpdir):
             self._copy_to_remote(os.path.join(self._local_tmpdir, f))
+
+        # deploy any NRP specific variable/module version configuration
+        self._copy_to_remote(os.environ.get('NRP_VARIABLES_PATH'))
+
+        # set the host tmpdir, slightly different naming convention between interfaces
         self._host_tmpdir = self._tmp_dir
 
     def shutdown(self):
diff --git a/hbp_nrp_music_interface/hbp_nrp_music_interface/tests/launch/host/test_lugano.py b/hbp_nrp_music_interface/hbp_nrp_music_interface/tests/launch/host/test_lugano.py
index c0edb464a60c110515afa3c30f2675541167ca57..f610f9a3fb71234185e74f626f9919f466a05a8d 100644
--- a/hbp_nrp_music_interface/hbp_nrp_music_interface/tests/launch/host/test_lugano.py
+++ b/hbp_nrp_music_interface/hbp_nrp_music_interface/tests/launch/host/test_lugano.py
@@ -54,9 +54,10 @@ class TestLuganoLauncherInterface(unittest.TestCase):
           handle = m()
           self.assertEqual(handle.write.call_args_list,
                            [call('#!/bin/bash\n'),
-                            call('export TERM=linux\n'),
                             call('source /opt/rh/python27/enable\n'),
-                            call('export ENVIRONMENT=dev\n'),
+                            call('export TERM=linux\n'),
+                            call('source $NRP_MUSIC_DIRECTORY/nrp-variables\n'),
+                            call('export NRP_VARIABLES_PATH=$NRP_MUSIC_DIRECTORY/nrp-variables\n'),
                             call('source /gpfs/bbp.cscs.ch/project/proj30/neurorobotics/dev//server-scripts/nrp-services-modules.sh\n'),
                             call('export NRP_MODELS_DIRECTORY=/gpfs/bbp.cscs.ch/project/proj30/neurorobotics/dev//models\n'),
                             call('export NRP_EXPERIMENTS_DIRECTORY=/gpfs/bbp.cscs.ch/project/proj30/neurorobotics/dev//experiments\n'),