diff --git a/netci.groovy b/netci.groovy
index 4dba3547e..d58fe924f 100644
--- a/netci.groovy
+++ b/netci.groovy
@@ -7,11 +7,12 @@ import jobs.generation.Utilities;
 
 def project = GithubProject
 
-def osList = ['Ubuntu', 'OSX', 'Windows_NT']
+def osList = ['Ubuntu', 'OSX', 'Windows_NT', 'CentOS7.1']
 
 def machineLabelMap = ['Ubuntu':'ubuntu-doc',
                        'OSX':'mac',
-                       'Windows_NT':'windows']
+                       'Windows_NT':'windows',
+                       'CentOS7.1' : 'centos-71']
 
 def static getBuildJobName(def configuration, def os) {
     return configuration.toLowerCase() + '_' + os.toLowerCase()
diff --git a/scripts/_common.sh b/scripts/_common.sh
index ff2a2bc24..1f34df645 100644
--- a/scripts/_common.sh
+++ b/scripts/_common.sh
@@ -77,16 +77,14 @@ if [ -z "$RID" ]; then
     if [ "$UNAME" == "Darwin" ]; then
         export OSNAME=osx
         export RID=osx.10.10-x64
-        export DNX_FLAVOR="dnx-coreclr-darwin-x64"
     elif [ "$UNAME" == "Linux" ]; then
         # Detect Distro
         if [ "$(cat /etc/*-release | grep -cim1 ubuntu)" -eq 1 ]; then
             export OSNAME=ubuntu
             export RID=ubuntu.14.04-x64
-            export DNX_FLAVOR="dnx-coreclr-linux-x64"
         elif [ "$(cat /etc/*-release | grep -cim1 centos)" -eq 1 ]; then
             export OSNAME=centos
-            export RID=centos.7-x64
+            export RID=centos.7.1-x64
         else
             error "unknown Linux Distro" 1>&2
         fi
@@ -96,11 +94,8 @@ if [ -z "$RID" ]; then
     fi
 fi
 
-export DNX_VERSION="1.0.0-rc1-update1"
-
 export REPOROOT=$(cd $COMMONDIR/.. && pwd)
 export OUTPUT_ROOT=$REPOROOT/artifacts/$RID
-export DNX_DIR=$OUTPUT_ROOT/dnx
 export STAGE1_DIR=$OUTPUT_ROOT/stage1
 export STAGE2_DIR=$OUTPUT_ROOT/stage2
 export HOST_DIR=$OUTPUT_ROOT/corehost
diff --git a/scripts/compile.sh b/scripts/compile.sh
index 1c2f0f88b..cc9d376b1 100755
--- a/scripts/compile.sh
+++ b/scripts/compile.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,37 @@ DIR="$( cd -P "$( dirname "$SOURCE" )" && pwd )"
 
 source "$DIR/_common.sh"
 
+getDnx()
+{
+    DNX_FEED="https://api.nuget.org/packages"
+    DNX_VERSION="1.0.0-rc1-update1"
+    DNX_DIR=$OUTPUT_ROOT/dnx
+
+    if [ "$OSNAME" == "osx" ]; then
+        DNX_FLAVOR="dnx-coreclr-darwin-x64"
+    elif [ "$OSNAME" == "ubuntu" ]; then
+        DNX_FLAVOR="dnx-coreclr-linux-x64"
+    elif [ "$OSNAME" == "centos"  ]; then
+        # No support dnx on redhat yet.
+        # using patched dnx
+        DNX_FEED="https://dotnetcli.blob.core.windows.net/dotnet/redhat_dnx"
+        DNX_VERSION="1.0.0-rc2-15000"
+        DNX_FLAVOR="dnx-coreclr-redhat-x64"
+    else
+        error "unknown OS: $OSNAME" 1>&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    header "Downloading DNX $DNX_VERSION"
+    DNX_URL="$DNX_FEED/$DNX_FLAVOR.$DNX_VERSION.nupkg"
+    DNX_ROOT="$DNX_DIR/bin"
+    rm -rf $DNX_DIR
+    mkdir -p $DNX_DIR
+    curl -o $DNX_DIR/dnx.zip $DNX_URL --silent
+    unzip -qq $DNX_DIR/dnx.zip -d $DNX_DIR
+    chmod a+x $DNX_ROOT/dnu $DNX_ROOT/dnx
+}
+
 if ! type -p cmake >/dev/null; then
     error "cmake is required to build the native host 'corehost'"
     error "OS X w/Homebrew: 'brew install cmake'"
@@ -26,14 +57,8 @@ fi
 [ -z "$CONFIGURATION" ] && export CONFIGURATION=Debug
 
 # Download DNX to copy into stage2
-header "Downloading DNX $DNX_VERSION"
-DNX_URL="https://api.nuget.org/packages/$DNX_FLAVOR.$DNX_VERSION.nupkg"
-DNX_ROOT="$DNX_DIR/bin"
-rm -rf $DNX_DIR
-mkdir -p $DNX_DIR
-curl -o $DNX_DIR/dnx.zip $DNX_URL --silent
-unzip -qq $DNX_DIR/dnx.zip -d $DNX_DIR
-chmod a+x $DNX_ROOT/dnu $DNX_ROOT/dnx
+getDnx
+
 
 # Ensure the latest stage0 is installed
 $DIR/install.sh
@@ -103,9 +128,13 @@ cp -R $DNX_ROOT $STAGE2_DIR/bin/dnx
 cp $DIR/dotnet-restore.sh $STAGE2_DIR/bin/dotnet-restore
 chmod a+x $STAGE2_DIR/bin/dotnet-restore
 
-# Copy in AppDeps
-header "Acquiring Native App Dependencies"
-DOTNET_HOME=$STAGE2_DIR DOTNET_TOOLS=$STAGE2_DIR $REPOROOT/scripts/build/build_appdeps.sh "$STAGE2_DIR/bin"
+# No compile native support in centos yet
+# https://github.com/dotnet/cli/issues/453
+if [ "$OSNAME" != "centos"  ]; then
+    # Copy in AppDeps
+    header "Acquiring Native App Dependencies"
+    DOTNET_HOME=$STAGE2_DIR DOTNET_TOOLS=$STAGE2_DIR $REPOROOT/scripts/build/build_appdeps.sh "$STAGE2_DIR/bin"
+fi
 
 # Stamp the output with the commit metadata
 COMMIT_ID=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
@@ -115,9 +144,13 @@ echo $COMMIT_ID > $STAGE2_DIR/.commit
 header "Testing stage2 ..."
 DOTNET_HOME=$STAGE2_DIR DOTNET_TOOLS=$STAGE2_DIR $DIR/test/smoke-test.sh
 
-# E2E test on the output
-header "Testing stage2 End to End ..."
-DOTNET_HOME=$STAGE2_DIR DOTNET_TOOLS=$STAGE2_DIR $DIR/test/e2e-test.sh
+# Skipping E2E tests for centos
+# tracked by issue - https://github.com/dotnet/corefx/issues/5066
+if [ "$OSNAME" != "centos"  ]; then
+    # E2E test on the output
+    header "Testing stage2 End to End ..."
+    DOTNET_HOME=$STAGE2_DIR DOTNET_TOOLS=$STAGE2_DIR $DIR/test/e2e-test.sh
+fi
 
 # Run Validation for Project.json dependencies
 dotnet publish "$REPOROOT/tools/MultiProjectValidator" -o "$STAGE2_DIR/../tools"
diff --git a/scripts/test/smoke-test.sh b/scripts/test/smoke-test.sh
index 91f35b9d5..8625475aa 100755
--- a/scripts/test/smoke-test.sh
+++ b/scripts/test/smoke-test.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ REPOROOT="$( cd -P "$DIR/../.." && pwd )"
 source "$DIR/../_common.sh"
 
 rm "$REPOROOT/test/TestApp/project.lock.json"
-dotnet restore "$REPOROOT/test/TestApp" --runtime "osx.10.10-x64" --runtime "ubuntu.14.04-x64" --runtime "win7-x64"
+dotnet restore "$REPOROOT/test/TestApp" --runtime "$RID"
 dotnet compile "$REPOROOT/test/TestApp" --output "$REPOROOT/artifacts/$RID/smoketest"
 
 # set -e will abort if the exit code of this is non-zero
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/RuntimeIdentifier.cs b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/RuntimeIdentifier.cs
index 7e0d0f200..43e250083 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/RuntimeIdentifier.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/RuntimeIdentifier.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // Copyright (c) .NET Foundation and contributors. All rights reserved.
 // Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
 
+using System;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
 
 namespace Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel
@@ -18,13 +20,50 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel
             }
             else if (RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.Linux))
             {
-                return "ubuntu.14.04-x64";
+                if(IsCentOS())
+                {
+                    return "centos.7.1-x64";
+                }
+                else if(IsUbuntu())
+                {
+                    return "ubuntu.14.04-x64";
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    // unknown distro. Lets fail fast
+                    throw new InvalidOperationException("Current linux distro is not supported.");
+                }
             }
             else if (RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.OSX))
             {
                 return "osx.10.10-x64";
             }
-            return "unknown";
+
+            throw new InvalidOperationException("Current operating system is not supported.");
+        }
+
+        private static bool IsCentOS()
+        {
+            return IsLinuxDistro("centos");
+        }
+
+        private static bool IsUbuntu()
+        {
+            return IsLinuxDistro("ubuntu");
+        }
+
+        private static bool IsLinuxDistro(string distro)
+        {
+            // HACK - A file which can be found in most linux distros
+            // Did not test in non-en distros
+            const string OSIDFILE = "/etc/os-release";
+
+            if(!File.Exists(OSIDFILE))
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            return File.ReadAllText(OSIDFILE).ToLower().Contains(distro);
         }
     }
 }