diff --git a/tools/docker/sawtooth-testnet/sawtooth-default.yaml b/tools/docker/sawtooth-testnet/sawtooth-default.yaml
index 56d3b864c8..c2ffabe5bc 100644
--- a/tools/docker/sawtooth-testnet/sawtooth-default.yaml
+++ b/tools/docker/sawtooth-testnet/sawtooth-default.yaml
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       - validator
     entrypoint: settings-tp -vv -C tcp://validator:4004
+    networks:
+      - sawtooth_net
 
   intkey-tp-python:
     image: hyperledger/sawtooth-intkey-tp-python:nightly
@@ -30,6 +32,8 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       - validator
     entrypoint: intkey-tp-python -vv -C tcp://validator:4004
+    networks:
+      - sawtooth_net
 
   xo-tp-python:
     image: hyperledger/sawtooth-xo-tp-python:nightly
@@ -37,6 +41,8 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       - validator
     entrypoint: xo-tp-python -vv -C tcp://validator:4004
+    networks:
+      - sawtooth_net
 
   validator:
     image: hyperledger/sawtooth-validator:nightly
@@ -62,6 +68,8 @@ services:
           --bind network:tcp://eth0:8800 \
           --bind consensus:tcp://eth0:5050 \
         \""
+    networks:
+      - sawtooth_net
 
   devmode-engine:
     image: hyperledger/sawtooth-devmode-engine-rust:nightly
@@ -69,6 +77,8 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       - validator
     entrypoint: devmode-engine-rust -C tcp://validator:5050
+    networks:
+      - sawtooth_net
 
   rest-api:
     image: hyperledger/sawtooth-rest-api:nightly
@@ -78,6 +88,8 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       - validator
     entrypoint: sawtooth-rest-api -C tcp://validator:4004 --bind rest-api:8008
+    networks:
+      - sawtooth_net
 
   shell:
     image: hyperledger/sawtooth-shell:nightly
@@ -88,3 +100,9 @@ services:
         sawtooth keygen && \
         tail -f /dev/null \
         \""
+    networks:
+      - sawtooth_net
+
+networks:
+  sawtooth_net:
+    external: true
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tools/docker/sawtooth-testnet/script-start-docker.sh b/tools/docker/sawtooth-testnet/script-start-docker.sh
index 555708ba31..345178e786 100755
--- a/tools/docker/sawtooth-testnet/script-start-docker.sh
+++ b/tools/docker/sawtooth-testnet/script-start-docker.sh
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 echo "[process] start docker environment for Sawtooth testnet"
+docker network create sawtooth_net
 docker-compose -f sawtooth-default.yaml up -d
\ No newline at end of file