diff --git a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng2486TimestampedDependencyVersionInterpolationTest.java b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng2486TimestampedDependencyVersionInterpolationTest.java
index b471d4226c..d0f61c9312 100644
--- a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng2486TimestampedDependencyVersionInterpolationTest.java
+++ b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng2486TimestampedDependencyVersionInterpolationTest.java
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ public class MavenITmng2486TimestampedDependencyVersionInterpolationTest
         verifier.deleteDirectory( "target" );
         // enforce remote resolution
         verifier.deleteArtifacts( "org.apache.maven.its.mng2486" );
+        verifier.filterFile( "settings-template.xml", "settings.xml", "UTF-8", verifier.newDefaultFilterProperties() );
+        verifier.getCliOptions().add( "--settings" );
+        verifier.getCliOptions().add( "settings.xml" );
         verifier.executeGoal( "validate" );
         verifier.verifyErrorFreeLog();
         verifier.resetStreams();
diff --git a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng3052DepRepoAggregationTest.java b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng3052DepRepoAggregationTest.java
index 66fb27af84..6f1eb64e46 100644
--- a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng3052DepRepoAggregationTest.java
+++ b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng3052DepRepoAggregationTest.java
@@ -61,9 +61,11 @@ public class MavenITmng3052DepRepoAggregationTest
         verifier.deleteDirectory( "target" );
         verifier.deleteArtifacts( "org.apache.maven.its.mng3052" );
         Properties filterProps = verifier.newDefaultFilterProperties();
-        verifier.filterFile( "pom-template.xml", "pom.xml", "UTF-8", filterProps );
+        verifier.filterFile( "settings-template.xml", "settings.xml", "UTF-8", filterProps );
         verifier.filterFile( "repo-d/org/apache/maven/its/mng3052/direct/0.1-SNAPSHOT/template.pom", 
             "repo-d/org/apache/maven/its/mng3052/direct/0.1-SNAPSHOT/direct-0.1-20090517.133956-1.pom", "UTF-8", filterProps );
+        verifier.getCliOptions().add( "--settings" );
+        verifier.getCliOptions().add( "settings.xml" );
         verifier.executeGoal( "validate" );
         verifier.verifyErrorFreeLog();
         verifier.resetStreams();
diff --git a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng4400RepositoryOrderTest.java b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng4400RepositoryOrderTest.java
index 9ac525a25d..3777861fb6 100644
--- a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng4400RepositoryOrderTest.java
+++ b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng4400RepositoryOrderTest.java
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ public class MavenITmng4400RepositoryOrderTest
         verifier.setAutoclean( false );
         verifier.deleteArtifacts( "org.apache.maven.its.mng4400" );
         verifier.filterFile( "pom-template.xml", "pom.xml", "UTF-8", verifier.newDefaultFilterProperties() );
+        verifier.getCliOptions().add( "-s" );
+        verifier.getCliOptions().add( "settings.xml" );
         verifier.executeGoal( "validate" );
         verifier.verifyErrorFreeLog();
         verifier.resetStreams();
diff --git a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-2486/test/pom.xml b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-2486/test/pom.xml
index f4f6827727..6e15a75b67 100644
--- a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-2486/test/pom.xml
+++ b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-2486/test/pom.xml
@@ -29,13 +29,6 @@ under the License.
 
   <name>Maven Integration Test :: MNG-2486</name>
 
-  <repositories>
-    <repository>
-      <id>maven-core-it</id>
-      <url>file:///${basedir}/../repo</url>
-    </repository>
-  </repositories>
-
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <!-- In order to resolve the transitive dependency on dep-a:0.1-SNAPHOT, project.version needs to be resolved properly... -->
diff --git a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-2486/test/settings-template.xml b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-2486/test/settings-template.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..642a1eb272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-2486/test/settings-template.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+
+<!--
+Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+distributed with this work for additional information
+regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+"License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+  http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+"AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+specific language governing permissions and limitations
+under the License.
+-->
+
+<settings>
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <id>maven-core-it-repo</id>
+      <repositories>
+        <repository>
+          <id>maven-core-it</id>
+          <url>@baseurl@/../repo</url>
+          <releases>
+            <enabled>false</enabled>
+          </releases>
+          <snapshots>
+            <checksumPolicy>ignore</checksumPolicy>
+          </snapshots>
+        </repository>
+      </repositories>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+  <activeProfiles>
+    <activeProfile>maven-core-it-repo</activeProfile>
+  </activeProfiles>
+</settings>
diff --git a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-3052/pom-template.xml b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-3052/pom.xml
similarity index 86%
rename from its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-3052/pom-template.xml
rename to its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-3052/pom.xml
index 08da295108..ac6f2c61fd 100644
--- a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-3052/pom-template.xml
+++ b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-3052/pom.xml
@@ -40,19 +40,6 @@ under the License.
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 
-  <repositories>
-    <repository>
-      <id>maven-core-it-repo-d</id>
-      <url>@baseurl@/repo-d</url>
-      <releases>
-        <checksumPolicy>ignore</checksumPolicy>
-      </releases>
-      <snapshots>
-        <checksumPolicy>ignore</checksumPolicy>
-      </snapshots>
-    </repository>
-  </repositories>
-
   <build>
     <plugins>
       <plugin>
diff --git a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-3052/settings-template.xml b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-3052/settings-template.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ece41a7bc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-3052/settings-template.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+
+<!--
+Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+distributed with this work for additional information
+regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+"License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+  http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+"AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+specific language governing permissions and limitations
+under the License.
+-->
+
+<settings>
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <id>maven-core-it-repo</id>
+      <repositories>
+        <repository>
+          <id>maven-core-it-repo-d</id>
+          <url>@baseurl@/repo-d</url>
+          <releases>
+            <checksumPolicy>ignore</checksumPolicy>
+          </releases>
+          <snapshots>
+            <checksumPolicy>ignore</checksumPolicy>
+          </snapshots>
+        </repository>
+      </repositories>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+  <activeProfiles>
+    <activeProfile>maven-core-it-repo</activeProfile>
+  </activeProfiles>
+</settings>
diff --git a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-4400/pom/settings.xml b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-4400/pom/settings.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..46ed2c0c61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/resources/mng-4400/pom/settings.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+
+<!--
+Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+distributed with this work for additional information
+regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+"License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+  http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+"AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+specific language governing permissions and limitations
+under the License.
+-->
+
+<settings>
+  <!-- enforce default user settings (e.g. no mirrors) -->
+</settings>