diff --git a/cmd/server/main.go b/cmd/server/main.go
index d7391c5a..be9a9ea2 100644
--- a/cmd/server/main.go
+++ b/cmd/server/main.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 
 	"github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/kubernetes-incubator/ocid/server"
@@ -12,6 +13,10 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/api/v1alpha1/runtime"
 )
 
+const (
+	ocidRoot = "/var/lib/ocid"
+)
+
 func main() {
 	app := cli.NewApp()
 	app.Name = "ocid"
@@ -19,14 +24,19 @@ func main() {
 	app.Version = "0.0.1"
 
 	app.Flags = []cli.Flag{
+		cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "root",
+			Value: ocidRoot,
+			Usage: "ocid root dir",
+		},
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "sandboxdir",
-			Value: "/var/lib/ocid/sandboxes",
+			Value: filepath.Join(ocidRoot, "sandboxes"),
 			Usage: "ocid pod sandbox dir",
 		},
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "containerdir",
-			Value: "/var/lib/ocid/containers",
+			Value: filepath.Join(ocidRoot, "containers"),
 			Usage: "ocid container dir",
 		},
 		cli.StringFlag{
@@ -94,7 +104,7 @@ func main() {
 
 		containerDir := c.String("containerdir")
 		sandboxDir := c.String("sandboxdir")
-		service, err := server.New(c.String("runtime"), sandboxDir, containerDir)
+		service, err := server.New(c.String("runtime"), c.String("root"), sandboxDir, containerDir)
 		if err != nil {
 			logrus.Fatal(err)
 		}
diff --git a/server/sandbox.go b/server/sandbox.go
index e762b5d5..54d23f6a 100644
--- a/server/sandbox.go
+++ b/server/sandbox.go
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ func (s *Server) CreatePodSandbox(ctx context.Context, req *pb.CreatePodSandboxR
 	// creates a spec Generator with the default spec.
 	g := generate.New()
 
+	podInfraRootfs := filepath.Join(s.root, "graph/vfs/pause")
 	// setup defaults for the pod sandbox
 	g.SetRootPath(filepath.Join(podInfraRootfs, "rootfs"))
 	g.SetRootReadonly(true)
diff --git a/server/server.go b/server/server.go
index bc3f41c6..5991646a 100644
--- a/server/server.go
+++ b/server/server.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ const (
 
 // Server implements the RuntimeService and ImageService
 type Server struct {
+	root         string
 	runtime      *oci.Runtime
 	sandboxDir   string
 	stateLock    sync.Mutex
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ func (s *Server) reservePodName(id, name string) (string, error) {
 }
 
 // New creates a new Server with options provided
-func New(runtimePath, sandboxDir, containerDir string) (*Server, error) {
+func New(runtimePath, root, sandboxDir, containerDir string) (*Server, error) {
 	// TODO: This will go away later when we have wrapper process or systemd acting as
 	// subreaper.
 	if err := utils.SetSubreaper(1); err != nil {
@@ -130,6 +131,7 @@ func New(runtimePath, sandboxDir, containerDir string) (*Server, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	s := &Server{
+		root:       root,
 		runtime:    r,
 		netPlugin:  netPlugin,
 		sandboxDir: sandboxDir,