diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index ae2e9c0ff..ed91af9c0 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -15,16 +15,15 @@ python:
     - "3.7"
 env:
   matrix:
-    - DB=postgres TEST=pulp
-    - DB=postgres TEST=docs
-    - DB=postgres TEST=bindings
-
+    - TEST=pulp
+    - TEST=docs
+    - TEST=bindings
 matrix:
   exclude:
     - python: '3.7'
-      env: DB=postgres TEST=bindings
+      env: TEST=bindings
     - python: '3.6'
-      env: DB=postgres TEST=docs
+      env: TEST=docs
   fast_finish: true
 services:
     - postgresql
@@ -53,25 +52,21 @@ jobs:
   - stage: publish-daily-client-gem
     script: PULP_SETTINGS=/etc/pulp/settings.py bash .travis/publish_client_gem.sh
     env:
-      - DB=postgres
       - TEST=bindings
     if: type = cron
   - stage: publish-daily-client-pypi
     script: PULP_SETTINGS=/etc/pulp/settings.py bash .travis/publish_client_pypi.sh
     env:
-      - DB=postgres
       - TEST=bindings
     if: type = cron
   - stage: publish-client-gem
     script: PULP_SETTINGS=/etc/pulp/settings.py bash .travis/publish_client_gem.sh
     env:
-      - DB=postgres
       - TEST=bindings
     if: tag IS present
   - stage: publish-client-pypi
     script: PULP_SETTINGS=/etc/pulp/settings.py bash .travis/publish_client_pypi.sh
     env:
-      - DB=postgres
       - TEST=bindings
     if: tag IS present
 
diff --git a/.travis/ansible_playbook.yml b/.travis/ansible_playbook.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index e560db0d1..000000000
--- a/.travis/ansible_playbook.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
----
-- hosts: all
-  pre_tasks:
-    - name: Load DB variables
-      include_vars: '{{ pulp_db_type }}.yml'
-  vars:
-    pulp_default_admin_password: admin
-    pulp_source_dir: '{{ ansible_env.TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR | dirname }}/pulpcore/'
-    pulp_plugin_source_dir: "{{ ansible_env.TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR | dirname }}/pulpcore-plugin"
-    pulp_install_plugins:
-      pulp-ansible:
-        app_label: "ansible"
-        source_dir: "$TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR"
-    ansible_python_interpreter: '/opt/pyenv/shims/python3'
-    pulp_user: 'travis'
-    pulp_group: 'travis'
-    developer_user: 'travis'
-    pulp_install_db: false
-    pulp_preq_packages: []
-    pulp_settings:
-      secret_key: 'secret'
-      databases:
-        default:
-          ENGINE: "{{ pulp_db_backend }}"
-          USER: 'travis'
-          PASSWORD: ''
-  environment:
-    DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE: pulpcore.app.settings
-  roles:
-    - pulp-database
-    - pulp-workers
-    - pulp-resource-manager
-    - pulp-webserver
-    - pulp-content
diff --git a/.travis/before_install.sh b/.travis/before_install.sh
index e5040b5d1..1d06637ea 100755
--- a/.travis/before_install.sh
+++ b/.travis/before_install.sh
@@ -19,13 +19,28 @@ if [ -f $PRE_BEFORE_INSTALL ]; then
     $PRE_BEFORE_INSTALL
 fi
 
-export PULP_PR_NUMBER=$(echo $COMMIT_MSG | grep -oP 'Required\ PR:\ https\:\/\/github\.com\/pulp\/pulpcore\/pull\/(\d+)' | awk -F'/' '{print $7}')
-export PULP_PLUGIN_PR_NUMBER=$(echo $COMMIT_MSG | grep -oP 'Required\ PR:\ https\:\/\/github\.com\/pulp\/pulpcore-plugin\/pull\/(\d+)' | awk -F'/' '{print $7}')
-export PULP_SMASH_PR_NUMBER=$(echo $COMMIT_MSG | grep -oP 'Required\ PR:\ https\:\/\/github\.com\/PulpQE\/pulp-smash\/pull\/(\d+)' | awk -F'/' '{print $7}')
-export PULP_ROLES_PR_NUMBER=$(echo $COMMIT_MSG | grep -oP 'Required\ PR:\ https\:\/\/github\.com\/pulp\/ansible-pulp\/pull\/(\d+)' | awk -F'/' '{print $7}')
-export PULP_BINDINGS_PR_NUMBER=$(echo $COMMIT_MSG | grep -oP 'Required\ PR:\ https\:\/\/github\.com\/pulp\/pulp-openapi-generator\/pull\/(\d+)' | awk -F'/' '{print $7}')
+if [[ -n $(echo -e $COMMIT_MSG | grep -P "Required PR:.*" | grep -v "https") ]]; then
+  echo "Invalid Required PR link detected in commit message. Please use the full https url."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" != "false" ] || [ -z "$TRAVIS_TAG" -a "$TRAVIS_BRANCH" != "master"]
+then
+  export PULP_PR_NUMBER=$(echo $COMMIT_MSG | grep -oP 'Required\ PR:\ https\:\/\/github\.com\/pulp\/pulpcore\/pull\/(\d+)' | awk -F'/' '{print $7}')
+  export PULP_SMASH_PR_NUMBER=$(echo $COMMIT_MSG | grep -oP 'Required\ PR:\ https\:\/\/github\.com\/PulpQE\/pulp-smash\/pull\/(\d+)' | awk -F'/' '{print $7}')
+  export PULP_ROLES_PR_NUMBER=$(echo $COMMIT_MSG | grep -oP 'Required\ PR:\ https\:\/\/github\.com\/pulp\/ansible-pulp\/pull\/(\d+)' | awk -F'/' '{print $7}')
+  export PULP_BINDINGS_PR_NUMBER=$(echo $COMMIT_MSG | grep -oP 'Required\ PR:\ https\:\/\/github\.com\/pulp\/pulp-openapi-generator\/pull\/(\d+)' | awk -F'/' '{print $7}')
+  export PULP_OPERATOR_PR_NUMBER=$(echo $COMMIT_MSG | grep -oP 'Required\ PR:\ https\:\/\/github\.com\/pulp\/pulp-operator\/pull\/(\d+)' | awk -F'/' '{print $7}')
+else
+  export PULP_PR_NUMBER=
+  export PULP_SMASH_PR_NUMBER=
+  export PULP_ROLES_PR_NUMBER=
+  export PULP_BINDINGS_PR_NUMBER=
+  export PULP_OPERATOR_PR_NUMBER=
+fi
 
-# dev_requirements should not be needed for testing; don't install them to make sure
+# test_requirements contains tools needed for flake8, etc.
+# So install them here rather than in install.sh
 pip install -r test_requirements.txt
 
 # check the commit message
@@ -39,48 +54,49 @@ flake8 --config flake8.cfg
 
 cd ..
 git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/pulp/ansible-pulp.git
-if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" != "false" ]; then
-  if [ -n "$PULP_ROLES_PR_NUMBER" ]; then
-    cd ansible-pulp
-    git fetch --depth=1 origin +refs/pull/$PULP_ROLES_PR_NUMBER/merge
-    git checkout FETCH_HEAD
-    cd ..
-  fi
+if [ -n "$PULP_ROLES_PR_NUMBER" ]; then
+  cd ansible-pulp
+  git fetch --depth=1 origin +refs/pull/$PULP_ROLES_PR_NUMBER/merge
+  git checkout FETCH_HEAD
+  cd ..
 fi
 
-git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/pulp/pulpcore.git
 
-if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" != "false" ]; then
-  if [ -n "$PULP_PR_NUMBER" ]; then
-    cd pulpcore
-    git fetch --depth=1 origin +refs/pull/$PULP_PR_NUMBER/merge
-    git checkout FETCH_HEAD
-    cd ..
-  fi
+git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/pulp/pulp-operator.git
+if [ -n "$PULP_OPERATOR_PR_NUMBER" ]; then
+  cd pulp-operator
+  git fetch --depth=1 origin +refs/pull/$PULP_OPERATOR_PR_NUMBER/merge
+  git checkout FETCH_HEAD
+  RELEASE_VERSION=v0.9.0
+  curl -LO https://github.com/operator-framework/operator-sdk/releases/download/${RELEASE_VERSION}/operator-sdk-${RELEASE_VERSION}-x86_64-linux-gnu
+  chmod +x operator-sdk-${RELEASE_VERSION}-x86_64-linux-gnu && sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin/ && sudo cp operator-sdk-${RELEASE_VERSION}-x86_64-linux-gnu /usr/local/bin/operator-sdk && rm operator-sdk-${RELEASE_VERSION}-x86_64-linux-gnu
+  sudo operator-sdk build --image-builder=docker quay.io/pulp/pulp-operator:latest
+  cd ..
 fi
 
 
-git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/pulp/pulpcore-plugin.git
+git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/pulp/pulpcore.git
 
-if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" != "false" ]; then
-  if [ -n "$PULP_PLUGIN_PR_NUMBER" ]; then
-    cd pulpcore-plugin
-    git fetch --depth=1 origin +refs/pull/$PULP_PLUGIN_PR_NUMBER/merge
-    git checkout FETCH_HEAD
-    cd ..
-  fi
+if [ -n "$PULP_PR_NUMBER" ]; then
+  cd pulpcore
+  git fetch --depth=1 origin +refs/pull/$PULP_PR_NUMBER/merge
+  git checkout FETCH_HEAD
+  cd ..
 fi
 
 
-git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/PulpQE/pulp-smash.git
+# When building a (release) tag, we don't need the development modules for the
+# build (they will be installed as dependencies of the plugin).
+if [ -z "$TRAVIS_TAG" ]; then
+  git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/PulpQE/pulp-smash.git
 
-if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" != "false" ]; then
   if [ -n "$PULP_SMASH_PR_NUMBER" ]; then
     cd pulp-smash
     git fetch --depth=1 origin +refs/pull/$PULP_SMASH_PR_NUMBER/merge
     git checkout FETCH_HEAD
     cd ..
   fi
+
   # pulp-smash already got installed via test_requirements.txt
   pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall ./pulp-smash
 fi
@@ -89,7 +105,6 @@ psql -c 'CREATE DATABASE pulp OWNER travis;'
 
 pip install ansible
 cp pulp_ansible/.travis/playbook.yml ansible-pulp/playbook.yml
-cp pulp_ansible/.travis/postgres.yml ansible-pulp/postgres.yml
 
 cd pulp_ansible
 
diff --git a/.travis/check_commit.sh b/.travis/check_commit.sh
index 86e6407cf..cda7e60f2 100755
--- a/.travis/check_commit.sh
+++ b/.travis/check_commit.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 #
 # For more info visit https://github.com/pulp/plugin_template
 
+set -euv
+
 # skip this check for everything but PRs
 if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" = "false" ]; then
   exit 0
@@ -18,7 +20,7 @@ elif [ "$TRAVIS_COMMIT" != "" ]; then
   RANGE=$TRAVIS_COMMIT
 fi
 
-# Travis sends the ranges with 3 dots. Git only wants one.
+# Travis sends the ranges with 3 dots. Git only wants two.
 if [[ "$RANGE" == *...* ]]; then
   RANGE=`echo $TRAVIS_COMMIT_RANGE | sed 's/\.\.\./../'`
 else
diff --git a/.travis/install.sh b/.travis/install.sh
index e1f6b1bd6..8c8142cb1 100755
--- a/.travis/install.sh
+++ b/.travis/install.sh
@@ -20,5 +20,4 @@ cd ../ansible-pulp
 ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml
 
 ansible-playbook --connection=local --inventory 127.0.0.1, playbook.yml --extra-vars \
-  "pulp_python_interpreter=$VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/python, pulp_install_dir=$VIRTUAL_ENV \
-  pulp_db_type=$DB"
+  "pulp_python_interpreter=$VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/python, pulp_install_dir=$VIRTUAL_ENV"
diff --git a/.travis/mariadb.yml b/.travis/mariadb.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index b26bda83b..000000000
--- a/.travis/mariadb.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-# WARNING: DO NOT EDIT!
-#
-# This file was generated by plugin_template, and is managed by bootstrap.py. Please use
-# bootstrap.py to update this file.
-#
-# For more info visit https://github.com/pulp/plugin_template
-
----
-pulp_db_backend: django.db.backends.mysql
diff --git a/.travis/playbook.yml b/.travis/playbook.yml
index 63bae7269..3fcdda822 100644
--- a/.travis/playbook.yml
+++ b/.travis/playbook.yml
@@ -7,9 +7,6 @@
 
 ---
 - hosts: all
-  pre_tasks:
-    - name: Load DB variables
-      include_vars: '{{ pulp_db_type }}.yml'
   vars:
     pulp_default_admin_password: admin
     pulp_source_dir: '{{ ansible_env.TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR | dirname }}/pulpcore/'
@@ -29,7 +26,7 @@
       secret_key: 'secret'
       databases:
         default:
-          ENGINE: "{{ pulp_db_backend }}"
+          ENGINE: "django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2"
           USER: 'travis'
           PASSWORD: ''
   environment:
diff --git a/.travis/post_before_install.sh b/.travis/post_before_install.sh
index e6a2a3a7d..8b521768d 100755
--- a/.travis/post_before_install.sh
+++ b/.travis/post_before_install.sh
@@ -1 +1 @@
-cp .travis/ansible_playbook.yml ../ansible-pulp/playbook.yml
+cp .travis/playbook.yml ../ansible-pulp/playbook.yml
diff --git a/.travis/postgres.yml b/.travis/postgres.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 295bd570f..000000000
--- a/.travis/postgres.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-# WARNING: DO NOT EDIT!
-#
-# This file was generated by plugin_template, and is managed by bootstrap.py. Please use
-# bootstrap.py to update this file.
-#
-# For more info visit https://github.com/pulp/plugin_template
-
----
-pulp_db_backend: django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2
diff --git a/CHANGES/5580.misc b/CHANGES/5580.misc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c53f440cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES/5580.misc
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Depend on pulpcore, directly, instead of pulpcore-plugin.
+
diff --git a/template_config.yml b/template_config.yml
index ca1e9b82c..6413e6695 100644
--- a/template_config.yml
+++ b/template_config.yml
@@ -1,37 +1,38 @@
 # This config represents the latest values used when running the plugin-template. Any settings that
 # were not present before running plugin-template have been added with their default values.
 
-all: False
-bootstrap: False
-docs: False
+additional_plugins: []
+all: false
+black: true
+bootstrap: false
+check_commit_message: true
+coverage: false
+deploy_client_to_pypi: true
+deploy_client_to_rubygems: true
+deploy_daily_client_to_pypi: true
+deploy_daily_client_to_rubygems: true
+deploy_to_pypi: true
+docs: false
+docs_test: true
+plugin_app_label: ansible
 plugin_camel: PulpAnsible
 plugin_camel_short: Ansible
 plugin_caps: PULP_ANSIBLE
 plugin_caps_short: ANSIBLE
 plugin_dash: pulp-ansible
 plugin_dash_short: ansible
-plugin_name: ansible
+plugin_name: pulp_ansible
 plugin_snake: pulp_ansible
 plugin_snake_short: ansible
+pydocstyle: true
 pypi_username: pulp
-test: False
-black: True
-check_commit_message: True
-coverage: False
-deploy_client_to_pypi: True
-deploy_client_to_rubygems: True
-deploy_daily_client_to_pypi: True
-deploy_daily_client_to_rubygems: True
-deploy_to_pypi: True
-docs_test: True
-pydocstyle: True
-test_bindings: True
-plugin_app_label: ansible
+test: false
+test_bindings: true
+test_performance: false
 travis_notifications:
   irc:
     channels:
-    - "chat.freenode.net#pulp-ansible"
-    on_success: change
+    - chat.freenode.net#pulp-ansible
     on_failure: always
-
+    on_success: change