diff --git a/tests/e2e/tailscale/Vagrantfile b/tests/e2e/tailscale/Vagrantfile
index 640ced9c6183..725891e97024 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/tailscale/Vagrantfile
+++ b/tests/e2e/tailscale/Vagrantfile
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 ENV['VAGRANT_NO_PARALLEL'] = 'no'
 NODE_ROLES = (ENV['E2E_NODE_ROLES'] ||
-  ["server-0", "agent-0" ])
+  ["server-0", "agent-0", "agent-1" ])
 NODE_BOXES = (ENV['E2E_NODE_BOXES'] ||
-  ['generic/ubuntu2310', 'generic/ubuntu2310'])
+  ['generic/ubuntu2310', 'generic/ubuntu2310', 'generic/ubuntu2310'])
 GITHUB_BRANCH = (ENV['E2E_GITHUB_BRANCH'] || "master")
 RELEASE_VERSION = (ENV['E2E_RELEASE_VERSION'] || "")
 GOCOVER = (ENV['E2E_GOCOVER'] || "")
@@ -45,13 +45,25 @@ def provision(vm, roles, role_num, node_num)
     end
   end
   if roles.include?("agent")
+    vpn_auth = nil
+    vpn_auth_method = nil
+    auth_info = "name=tailscale,joinKey=#{TAILSCALE_KEY}"
+    if role_num == 0
+      vpn_auth_method = "vpn-auth"
+      vpn_auth = auth_info
+    else
+      vpn_auth_method = "vpn-auth-file"
+      File.write("./vpn-auth-file", auth_info)
+      vm.provision "file", source: "./vpn-auth-file", destination: "/home/vagrant/vpn-auth-file"
+      vpn_auth = "/home/vagrant/vpn-auth-file"
+    end
     vm.provision :k3s, run: 'once' do |k3s|
       k3s.config_mode = '0644' # side-step https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/issues/4321
       k3s.args = "agent "
       k3s.config = <<~YAML
         server: https://TAILSCALEIP:6443
         token: vagrant
-        vpn-auth: "name=tailscale,joinKey=#{TAILSCALE_KEY}"
+        #{vpn_auth_method}: #{vpn_auth}
       YAML
       k3s.env = ["K3S_KUBECONFIG_MODE=0644",  "INSTALL_K3S_SKIP_START=true", install_type]
     end
diff --git a/tests/e2e/tailscale/tailscale_test.go b/tests/e2e/tailscale/tailscale_test.go
index 9314cdef4e7b..576be7dab219 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/tailscale/tailscale_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/tailscale/tailscale_test.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import (
 // Valid nodeOS: generic/ubuntu2310, opensuse/Leap-15.3.x86_64
 var nodeOS = flag.String("nodeOS", "generic/ubuntu2310", "VM operating system")
 var serverCount = flag.Int("serverCount", 1, "number of server nodes")
-var agentCount = flag.Int("agentCount", 1, "number of agent nodes")
+var agentCount = flag.Int("agentCount", 2, "number of agent nodes")
 var ci = flag.Bool("ci", false, "running on CI")
 var local = flag.Bool("local", false, "deploy a locally built K3s binary")
 
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Verify Tailscale Configuration", Ordered, func() {
 		Eventually(func(g Gomega) {
 			nodes, err := e2e.ParseNodes(kubeConfigFile, false)
 			g.Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+			g.Expect(len(nodes)).To(Equal(*agentCount + *serverCount))
 			for _, node := range nodes {
 				g.Expect(node.Status).Should(Equal("Ready"))
 			}
diff --git a/tests/e2e/testutils.go b/tests/e2e/testutils.go
index 03035af67daf..8a550da19e95 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/testutils.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/testutils.go
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ func CreateCluster(nodeOS string, serverCount, agentCount int) ([]string, []stri
 	errg, _ := errgroup.WithContext(context.Background())
 	for _, node := range append(serverNodeNames[1:], agentNodeNames...) {
 		cmd := fmt.Sprintf(`%s %s vagrant up %s &>> vagrant.log`, nodeEnvs, testOptions, node)
+		fmt.Println(cmd)
 		errg.Go(func() error {
 			if _, err := RunCommand(cmd); err != nil {
 				return newNodeError(cmd, node, err)