diff --git a/cmd/action/ci/ci.go b/cmd/action/ci/ci.go
index 027657ae..f56bb411 100644
--- a/cmd/action/ci/ci.go
+++ b/cmd/action/ci/ci.go
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ const (
 	cacheFile  = "/github/workspace/.cache/holodeck.yaml"
 	kubeconfig = "/github/workspace/kubeconfig"
 	sshKeyFile = "/github/workspace/.cache/key"
+	// Default EC2 instance UserName for ubuntu AMI's
+	username = "ubuntu"
 )
 
 func Run(log *logger.FunLogger) error {
diff --git a/cmd/action/ci/entrypoint.go b/cmd/action/ci/entrypoint.go
index dc025ac9..612f1c4e 100644
--- a/cmd/action/ci/entrypoint.go
+++ b/cmd/action/ci/entrypoint.go
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ func entrypoint(log *logger.FunLogger) error {
 
 	// Set auth.PrivateKey
 	cfg.Spec.Auth.PrivateKey = sshKeyFile
+	cfg.Spec.Auth.Username = username
 
 	// If no containerruntime is specified, default to none
 	if cfg.Spec.ContainerRuntime.Name == "" {
@@ -111,9 +112,6 @@ func entrypoint(log *logger.FunLogger) error {
 	}
 
 	var hostUrl string
-
-	log.Info("Provisioning \u2699")
-
 	for _, p := range cache.Status.Properties {
 		if p.Name == aws.PublicDnsName {
 			hostUrl = p.Value
@@ -121,11 +119,12 @@ func entrypoint(log *logger.FunLogger) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	p, err := provisioner.New(log, cfg.Spec.Auth.PrivateKey, cfg.Spec.Auth.Username, hostUrl)
+	p, err := provisioner.New(log, sshKeyFile, username, hostUrl)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	log.Info("Provisioning \u2699")
 	if err = p.Run(cfg); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to run provisioner: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/logger/logger.go b/internal/logger/logger.go
index 8d9d11ae..609f4ba1 100644
--- a/internal/logger/logger.go
+++ b/internal/logger/logger.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ const (
 	warningSign = "\u26A0"
 
 	// Unicode character for the loading emoji
-	loadingEmoji = "\u231B"
+	loadingEmoji = "\U0001f300"
 )
 
 // NewLogger creates a new instance of FunLogger.
diff --git a/pkg/provisioner/provisioner.go b/pkg/provisioner/provisioner.go
index 5c18b514..f134e0a5 100644
--- a/pkg/provisioner/provisioner.go
+++ b/pkg/provisioner/provisioner.go
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Run(env v1alpha1.Environment) error {
 		}
 		// Reset the connection, this step is needed to make sure some configuration changes take effect
 		// e.g after installing docker, the user needs to be added to the docker group
-		if err := p.resetConnection(env.Spec.Auth.PrivateKey, p.HostUrl); err != nil {
+		if err := p.resetConnection(); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to reset connection: %v", err)
 		}
 		// Clear the template buffer
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func (p *Provisioner) Run(env v1alpha1.Environment) error {
 }
 
 // resetConnection resets the ssh connection, and retries if it fails to connect
-func (p *Provisioner) resetConnection(keyPath, hostUrl string) error {
+func (p *Provisioner) resetConnection() error {
 	// Close the current ssh connection
 	if err := p.Client.Close(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to close ssh client: %v", err)