diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8818e2c..302e48d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
    * update to Consul 0.5.2
    * update to Terraform 0.6.1
    * update to Packer 0.8.2
+   * update to Docker 1.7.1
  * plugin updates:
    * update to vagrant-cachier 1.2.1 (with chef-zero support)
    * update to vagrant-proxyconf 1.5.1
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dda047c..bb316a8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ The main tools for cooking with Chef / Vagrant:
 * [Terraform](http://terraform.io/) 0.6.1
 * [Packer](http://packer.io/) 0.8.2
 * [Consul](http://consul.io/) 0.5.2
-* [Docker](http://docker.io/) 1.6.2 (using boot2docker)
+* [Docker](http://docker.io/) 1.7.1 (using boot2docker)
 
 ### Plugins
 
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 23007c5..785b51a 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -116,8 +116,8 @@ end
 
 def download_tools
   [
-    %w{ github.com/boot2docker/boot2docker-cli/releases/download/v1.6.2/boot2docker-v1.6.2-windows-amd64.exe  docker/boot2docker.exe },
-    %w{ get.docker.com/builds/Windows/x86_64/docker-1.6.2.exe                                                 docker/docker.exe },
+    %w{ github.com/boot2docker/boot2docker-cli/releases/download/v1.7.1/boot2docker-v1.7.1-windows-amd64.exe  docker/boot2docker.exe },
+    %w{ get.docker.com/builds/Windows/x86_64/docker-1.7.1.exe                                                 docker/docker.exe },
     %w{ github.com/Maximus5/ConEmu/releases/download/v15.07.28/ConEmuPack.150728.7z                         conemu },
     %w{ github.com/mridgers/clink/releases/download/0.4.4/clink_0.4.4_setup.exe                             clink },
     %w{ github.com/atom/atom/releases/download/v1.0.4/atom-windows.zip                                      atom },
diff --git a/files/tools/scripts/b2d-start.bat b/files/tools/scripts/b2d-start.bat
index d974723..3b81c7b 100644
--- a/files/tools/scripts/b2d-start.bat
+++ b/files/tools/scripts/b2d-start.bat
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 :: check if we have the .iso file (if we don't have it, the VM won't start!)
 if not exist %HOME%\.boot2docker\boot2docker.iso (
-  echo boot2docker.iso not found in %HOME%\.boot2docker\, downloading it...
-  boot2docker download
+  echo boot2docker.iso not found in %HOME%\.boot2docker\, downloading version 1.7.1...
+  curl -L -o %HOME%\.boot2docker\boot2docker.iso https://github.com/boot2docker/boot2docker/releases/download/v1.7.1/boot2docker.iso
 )
 
 :: check if "boot2docker-vm" exists already
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ for /f "usebackq tokens=*" %%l in (`VBoxManage list --long vms`) do (
 
 :init
 echo No existing boot2docker-vm found in VirtualBox, initializing...
-boot2docker init
+boot2docker init --memory=2048
 
 :check
 :: check if boot2docker is running
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ set BK_ROOT_CYGPATH=%BK_ROOT_DRIVE%
 echo Adding shared folder "billskitchen" for hostpath %BK_ROOT%
 VBoxManage sharedfolder add "boot2docker-vm" --name "billskitchen" --hostpath %BK_ROOT%
 
+:: echo the config for debugging
+::boot2docker config
+
 :: bring it up
 echo Bringing up the boot2docker VM...
 boot2docker up
@@ -73,8 +76,23 @@ if "%BK_USE_PROXY%" == "1" (
   boot2docker ssh "sudo rm -rf /var/lib/boot2docker/profile"
 )
 boot2docker ssh "sudo /etc/init.d/docker restart > /dev/null"
+boot2docker ssh "sudo /etc/init.d/docker status"
 
 
 ENDLOCAL
 
+
+
+:: update the DOCKER_HOST as the ip address might change
+for /f "usebackq tokens=*" %%s in (`boot2docker ip`) do set b2d_ip=%%s
+echo updating DOCKER_HOST env var to "tcp://%b2d_ip%:2376"...
+set DOCKER_HOST=tcp://%b2d_ip%:2376
+
+:: echo the boot2docker / docker client versions
+echo boot2docker version:
+boot2docker ssh "docker -v"
+echo docker client version:
+docker -v
+
+
 :end
diff --git a/spec/integration/bills_kitchen_spec.rb b/spec/integration/bills_kitchen_spec.rb
index e4923d6..ca0e9c8 100644
--- a/spec/integration/bills_kitchen_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/bills_kitchen_spec.rb
@@ -51,11 +51,11 @@
     it "installs apm 1.0.1" do
       run_cmd("#{BUILD_DIR}/tools/atom/Atom/resources/app/apm/bin/apm.cmd -v").should match('1.0.1')
     end
-    it "installs docker 1.6.2" do
-      run_cmd("docker -v").should match('Docker version 1.6.2')
+    it "installs docker 1.7.1" do
+      run_cmd("docker -v").should match('Docker version 1.7.1')
     end
-    it "installs boot2docker-cli 1.6.2" do
-      run_cmd("boot2docker version").should match('Boot2Docker-cli version: v1.6.2')
+    it "installs boot2docker-cli 1.7.1" do
+      run_cmd("boot2docker version").should match('Boot2Docker-cli version: v1.7.1')
     end
   end