diff --git a/salt/modules/virt.py b/salt/modules/virt.py
index dedcf8cb6f5..0f62856f5c5 100644
--- a/salt/modules/virt.py
+++ b/salt/modules/virt.py
@@ -106,6 +106,8 @@
 import salt.utils.validate.net
 import salt.utils.versions
 import salt.utils.yaml
+
+from salt.utils.virt import check_remote, download_remote
 from salt.exceptions import CommandExecutionError, SaltInvocationError
 from salt.ext import six
 from salt.ext.six.moves import range  # pylint: disable=import-error,redefined-builtin
@@ -119,6 +121,8 @@
     )
 )
 
+CACHE_DIR = '/var/lib/libvirt/saltinst'
+
 VIRT_STATE_NAME_MAP = {0: 'running',
                        1: 'running',
                        2: 'running',
@@ -532,6 +536,7 @@ def _gen_xml(name,
              os_type,
              arch,
              graphics=None,
+             boot=None,
              **kwargs):
     '''
     Generate the XML string to define a libvirt VM
@@ -568,11 +573,15 @@ def _gen_xml(name,
     else:
         context['boot_dev'] = ['hd']
 
+    context['boot'] = boot if boot else {}
+
     if os_type == 'xen':
         # Compute the Xen PV boot method
         if __grains__['os_family'] == 'Suse':
-            context['kernel'] = '/usr/lib/grub2/x86_64-xen/grub.xen'
-            context['boot_dev'] = []
+            if not boot or not boot.get('kernel', None):
+                context['boot']['kernel'] = \
+                        '/usr/lib/grub2/x86_64-xen/grub.xen'
+                context['boot_dev'] = []
 
     if 'serial_type' in kwargs:
         context['serial_type'] = kwargs['serial_type']
@@ -1115,6 +1124,34 @@ def _get_merged_nics(hypervisor, profile, interfaces=None, dmac=None):
     return nicp
 
 
+def _handle_remote_boot_params(orig_boot):
+    """
+    Checks if the boot parameters contain a remote path. If so, it will copy
+    the parameters, download the files specified in the remote path, and return
+    a new dictionary with updated paths containing the canonical path to the
+    kernel and/or initrd
+
+    :param orig_boot: The original boot parameters passed to the init or update
+    functions.
+    """
+    saltinst_dir = None
+    new_boot = orig_boot.copy()
+
+    try:
+        for key in ['kernel', 'initrd']:
+            if check_remote(orig_boot.get(key)):
+                if saltinst_dir is None:
+                    os.makedirs(CACHE_DIR)
+                    saltinst_dir = CACHE_DIR
+
+                new_boot[key] = download_remote(orig_boot.get(key),
+                                                saltinst_dir)
+
+        return new_boot
+    except Exception as err:
+        raise err
+
+
 def init(name,
          cpu,
          mem,
@@ -1136,6 +1173,7 @@ def init(name,
          graphics=None,
          os_type=None,
          arch=None,
+         boot=None,
          **kwargs):
     '''
     Initialize a new vm
@@ -1266,6 +1304,22 @@ def init(name,
     :param password: password to connect with, overriding defaults
 
                      .. versionadded:: 2019.2.0
+    :param boot:
+        Specifies kernel for the virtual machine, as well as boot parameters
+        for the virtual machine. This is an optionl parameter, and all of the
+        keys are optional within the dictionary. If a remote path is provided
+        to kernel or initrd, salt will handle the downloading of the specified
+        remote fild, and will modify the XML accordingly.
+
+        .. code-block:: python
+
+            {
+                'kernel': '/root/f8-i386-vmlinuz',
+                'initrd': '/root/f8-i386-initrd',
+                'cmdline': 'console=ttyS0 ks=http://example.com/f8-i386/os/'
+            }
+
+        .. versionadded:: neon
 
     .. _init-nic-def:
 
@@ -1513,7 +1567,11 @@ def init(name,
     if arch is None:
         arch = 'x86_64' if 'x86_64' in arches else arches[0]
 
-    vm_xml = _gen_xml(name, cpu, mem, diskp, nicp, hypervisor, os_type, arch, graphics, **kwargs)
+    if boot is not None:
+        boot = _handle_remote_boot_params(boot)
+
+    vm_xml = _gen_xml(name, cpu, mem, diskp, nicp, hypervisor, os_type, arch,
+                      graphics, boot, **kwargs)
     conn = __get_conn(**kwargs)
     try:
         conn.defineXML(vm_xml)
@@ -1692,6 +1750,7 @@ def update(name,
            interfaces=None,
            graphics=None,
            live=True,
+           boot=None,
            **kwargs):
     '''
     Update the definition of an existing domain.
@@ -1727,6 +1786,23 @@ def update(name,
     :param username: username to connect with, overriding defaults
     :param password: password to connect with, overriding defaults
 
+    :param boot:
+        Specifies kernel for the virtual machine, as well as boot parameters
+        for the virtual machine. This is an optionl parameter, and all of the
+        keys are optional within the dictionary. If a remote path is provided
+        to kernel or initrd, salt will handle the downloading of the specified
+        remote fild, and will modify the XML accordingly.
+
+        .. code-block:: python
+
+            {
+                'kernel': '/root/f8-i386-vmlinuz',
+                'initrd': '/root/f8-i386-initrd',
+                'cmdline': 'console=ttyS0 ks=http://example.com/f8-i386/os/'
+            }
+
+        .. versionadded:: neon
+
     :return:
 
         Returns a dictionary indicating the status of what has been done. It is structured in
@@ -1767,6 +1843,10 @@ def update(name,
     # Compute the XML to get the disks, interfaces and graphics
     hypervisor = desc.get('type')
     all_disks = _disk_profile(disk_profile, hypervisor, disks, name, **kwargs)
+
+    if boot is not None:
+        boot = _handle_remote_boot_params(boot)
+
     new_desc = ElementTree.fromstring(_gen_xml(name,
                                                cpu,
                                                mem,
@@ -1776,6 +1856,7 @@ def update(name,
                                                domain.OSType(),
                                                desc.find('.//os/type').get('arch'),
                                                graphics,
+                                               boot,
                                                **kwargs))
 
     # Update the cpu
@@ -1785,6 +1866,48 @@ def update(name,
         cpu_node.set('current', six.text_type(cpu))
         need_update = True
 
+    # Update the kernel boot parameters
+    boot_tags = ['kernel', 'initrd', 'cmdline']
+    parent_tag = desc.find('os')
+
+    # We need to search for each possible subelement, and update it.
+    for tag in boot_tags:
+        # The Existing Tag...
+        found_tag = desc.find(tag)
+
+        # The new value
+        boot_tag_value = boot.get(tag, None) if boot else None
+
+        # Existing tag is found and values don't match
+        if found_tag and found_tag.text != boot_tag_value:
+
+            # If the existing tag is found, but the new value is None
+            # remove it. If the existing tag is found, and the new value
+            # doesn't match update it. In either case, mark for update.
+            if boot_tag_value is None \
+               and boot is not None   \
+               and parent_tag is not None:
+                ElementTree.remove(parent_tag, tag)
+            else:
+                found_tag.text = boot_tag_value
+
+            need_update = True
+
+        # Existing tag is not found, but value is not None
+        elif found_tag is None and boot_tag_value is not None:
+
+            # Need to check for parent tag, and add it if it does not exist.
+            # Add a subelement and set the value to the new value, and then
+            # mark for update.
+            if parent_tag is not None:
+                child_tag = ElementTree.SubElement(parent_tag, tag)
+            else:
+                new_parent_tag = ElementTree.Element('os')
+                child_tag = ElementTree.SubElement(new_parent_tag, tag)
+
+            child_tag.text = boot_tag_value
+            need_update = True
+
     # Update the memory, note that libvirt outputs all memory sizes in KiB
     for mem_node_name in ['memory', 'currentMemory']:
         mem_node = desc.find(mem_node_name)
diff --git a/salt/states/virt.py b/salt/states/virt.py
index 68e9ac6fb6a..c700cae849f 100644
--- a/salt/states/virt.py
+++ b/salt/states/virt.py
@@ -264,7 +264,8 @@ def running(name,
             username=None,
             password=None,
             os_type=None,
-            arch=None):
+            arch=None,
+            boot=None):
     '''
     Starts an existing guest, or defines and starts a new VM with specified arguments.
 
@@ -349,6 +350,23 @@ def running(name,
 
         .. versionadded:: Neon
 
+    :param boot:
+        Specifies kernel for the virtual machine, as well as boot parameters
+        for the virtual machine. This is an optionl parameter, and all of the
+        keys are optional within the dictionary. If a remote path is provided
+        to kernel or initrd, salt will handle the downloading of the specified
+        remote fild, and will modify the XML accordingly.
+
+        .. code-block:: python
+
+            {
+                'kernel': '/root/f8-i386-vmlinuz',
+                'initrd': '/root/f8-i386-initrd',
+                'cmdline': 'console=ttyS0 ks=http://example.com/f8-i386/os/'
+            }
+
+        .. versionadded:: neon
+
     .. rubric:: Example States
 
     Make sure an already-defined virtual machine called ``domain_name`` is running:
@@ -413,7 +431,8 @@ def running(name,
                                                      live=False,
                                                      connection=connection,
                                                      username=username,
-                                                     password=password)
+                                                     password=password,
+                                                     boot=boot)
                     if status['definition']:
                         action_msg = 'updated and started'
                 __salt__['virt.start'](name)
@@ -431,7 +450,8 @@ def running(name,
                                                      graphics=graphics,
                                                      connection=connection,
                                                      username=username,
-                                                     password=password)
+                                                     password=password,
+                                                     boot=boot)
                     ret['changes'][name] = status
                     if status.get('errors', None):
                         ret['comment'] = 'Domain {0} updated, but some live update(s) failed'.format(name)
@@ -466,7 +486,8 @@ def running(name,
                                   priv_key=priv_key,
                                   connection=connection,
                                   username=username,
-                                  password=password)
+                                  password=password,
+                                  boot=boot)
             ret['changes'][name] = 'Domain defined and started'
             ret['comment'] = 'Domain {0} defined and started'.format(name)
     except libvirt.libvirtError as err:
diff --git a/salt/templates/virt/libvirt_domain.jinja b/salt/templates/virt/libvirt_domain.jinja
index 0b4c3fc2d6e..fdaea168f2b 100644
--- a/salt/templates/virt/libvirt_domain.jinja
+++ b/salt/templates/virt/libvirt_domain.jinja
@@ -5,7 +5,17 @@
         <currentMemory unit='KiB'>{{ mem }}</currentMemory>
         <os>
                 <type arch='{{ arch }}'>{{ os_type }}</type>
-                {% if kernel %}<kernel>{{ kernel }}</kernel>{% endif %}
+                {% if boot %}
+                  {% if 'kernel' in boot %}
+                    <kernel>{{ boot.kernel }}</kernel>
+                  {% endif %}
+                  {% if 'initrd' in boot %}
+                    <initrd>{{ boot.initrd }}</initrd>
+                  {% endif %}
+                  {% if 'cmdline' in boot %}
+                    <cmdline>{{ boot.cmdline }}</cmdline>
+                  {% endif %}
+                {% endif %}
                 {% for dev in boot_dev %}
                 <boot dev='{{ dev }}' />
                 {% endfor %}
diff --git a/salt/utils/virt.py b/salt/utils/virt.py
index 9dad849c0e2..b36adba81c3 100644
--- a/salt/utils/virt.py
+++ b/salt/utils/virt.py
@@ -6,16 +6,59 @@
 
 # Import python libs
 import os
+import re
 import time
 import logging
+import hashlib
+
+# pylint: disable=E0611
+from salt.ext.six.moves.urllib.parse import urlparse
+from salt.ext.six.moves.urllib import request
 
 # Import salt libs
 import salt.utils.files
 
-
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+def download_remote(url, dir):
+    """
+    Attempts to download a file specified by 'url'
+
+    :param url: The full remote path of the file which should be downloaded.
+    :param dir: The path the file should be downloaded to.
+    """
+
+    try:
+        rand = hashlib.md5(os.urandom(32)).hexdigest()
+        remote_filename = urlparse(url).path.split('/')[-1]
+        full_directory = \
+            os.path.join(dir, "{}-{}".format(rand, remote_filename))
+        with salt.utils.files.fopen(full_directory, 'wb') as file,\
+                request.urlopen(url) as response:
+            file.write(response.rease())
+
+        return full_directory
+
+    except Exception as err:
+        raise err
+
+
+def check_remote(cmdline_path):
+    """
+    Checks to see if the path provided contains ftp, http, or https. Returns
+    the full path if it is found.
+
+    :param cmdline_path: The path to the initrd image or the kernel
+    """
+    regex = re.compile('^(ht|f)tps?\\b')
+
+    if regex.match(urlparse(cmdline_path).scheme):
+        return True
+
+    return False
+
+
 class VirtKey(object):
     '''
     Used to manage key signing requests.
diff --git a/tests/unit/modules/test_virt.py b/tests/unit/modules/test_virt.py
index 6f594a8ff34..4bdb933a2d0 100644
--- a/tests/unit/modules/test_virt.py
+++ b/tests/unit/modules/test_virt.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import os
 import re
 import datetime
+import shutil
 
 # Import Salt Testing libs
 from tests.support.mixins import LoaderModuleMockMixin
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@
 from salt._compat import ElementTree as ET
 import salt.config
 import salt.syspaths
+import tempfile
 from salt.exceptions import CommandExecutionError
 
 # Import third party libs
@@ -30,7 +32,6 @@
 # pylint: disable=import-error
 from salt.ext.six.moves import range  # pylint: disable=redefined-builtin
 
-
 # pylint: disable=invalid-name,protected-access,attribute-defined-outside-init,too-many-public-methods,unused-argument
 
 
@@ -610,6 +611,7 @@ def test_gen_xml_for_xen_default_profile(self):
                 'xen',
                 'xen',
                 'x86_64',
+                boot=None
                 )
             root = ET.fromstring(xml_data)
             self.assertEqual(root.attrib['type'], 'xen')
@@ -1123,6 +1125,67 @@ def test_init(self):
                 self.assertFalse('<interface' in definition)
                 self.assertFalse('<disk' in definition)
 
+                # Ensure the init() function allows creating VM without NIC and
+                # disk but with boot parameters.
+
+                defineMock.reset_mock()
+                mock_run.reset_mock()
+                boot = {
+                    'kernel': '/root/f8-i386-vmlinuz',
+                    'initrd': '/root/f8-i386-initrd',
+                    'cmdline':
+                        'console=ttyS0 ks=http://example.com/f8-i386/os/'
+                }
+                retval = virt.init('test vm boot params',
+                                   2,
+                                   1234,
+                                   nic=None,
+                                   disk=None,
+                                   seed=False,
+                                   start=False,
+                                   boot=boot)
+                definition = defineMock.call_args_list[0][0][0]
+                self.assertEqual('<kernel' in definition, True)
+                self.assertEqual('<initrd' in definition, True)
+                self.assertEqual('<cmdline' in definition, True)
+                self.assertEqual(retval, True)
+
+                # Verify that remote paths are downloaded and the xml has been
+                # modified
+                mock_response = MagicMock()
+                mock_response.read = MagicMock(return_value='filecontent')
+                cache_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+
+                with patch.dict(virt.__dict__, {'CACHE_DIR': cache_dir}):
+                    with patch('salt.ext.six.moves.urllib.request.urlopen',
+                               MagicMock(return_value=mock_response)):
+                        with patch('salt.utils.files.fopen',
+                                   return_value=mock_response):
+
+                            defineMock.reset_mock()
+                            mock_run.reset_mock()
+                            boot = {
+                                'kernel':
+                                    'https://www.example.com/download/vmlinuz',
+                                'initrd': '',
+                                'cmdline':
+                                    'console=ttyS0 '
+                                    'ks=http://example.com/f8-i386/os/'
+                            }
+
+                            retval = virt.init('test remote vm boot params',
+                                               2,
+                                               1234,
+                                               nic=None,
+                                               disk=None,
+                                               seed=False,
+                                               start=False,
+                                               boot=boot)
+                            definition = defineMock.call_args_list[0][0][0]
+                            self.assertEqual(cache_dir in definition, True)
+
+                    shutil.rmtree(cache_dir)
+
                 # Test case creating disks
                 defineMock.reset_mock()
                 mock_run.reset_mock()
@@ -1222,6 +1285,20 @@ def test_update(self):
         self.assertEqual(setxml.find('vcpu').text, '2')
         self.assertEqual(setvcpus_mock.call_args[0][0], 2)
 
+        boot = {
+            'kernel': '/root/f8-i386-vmlinuz',
+            'initrd': '/root/f8-i386-initrd',
+            'cmdline':
+                'console=ttyS0 ks=http://example.com/f8-i386/os/'
+        }
+
+        # Update with boot parameter case
+        self.assertEqual({
+                'definition': True,
+                'disk': {'attached': [], 'detached': []},
+                'interface': {'attached': [], 'detached': []}
+            }, virt.update('my vm', boot=boot))
+
         # Update memory case
         setmem_mock = MagicMock(return_value=0)
         domain_mock.setMemoryFlags = setmem_mock
diff --git a/tests/unit/states/test_virt.py b/tests/unit/states/test_virt.py
index 2af5caca1bb..109faf5fbab 100644
--- a/tests/unit/states/test_virt.py
+++ b/tests/unit/states/test_virt.py
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ def test_running(self):
                                               mem=2048,
                                               image='/path/to/img.qcow2'), ret)
             init_mock.assert_called_with('myvm', cpu=2, mem=2048, image='/path/to/img.qcow2',
-                                         os_type=None, arch=None,
+                                         os_type=None, arch=None, boot=None,
                                          disk=None, disks=None, nic=None, interfaces=None,
                                          graphics=None, hypervisor=None,
                                          seed=True, install=True, pub_key=None, priv_key=None,
@@ -314,6 +314,7 @@ def test_running(self):
                                          graphics=graphics,
                                          hypervisor='qemu',
                                          seed=False,
+                                         boot=None,
                                          install=False,
                                          pub_key='/path/to/key.pub',
                                          priv_key='/path/to/key',
@@ -338,6 +339,22 @@ def test_running(self):
                         'comment': 'Domain myvm updated, restart to fully apply the changes'})
             self.assertDictEqual(virt.running('myvm', update=True, cpu=2), ret)
 
+        # Working update case when running with boot params
+        boot = {
+            'kernel': '/root/f8-i386-vmlinuz',
+            'initrd': '/root/f8-i386-initrd',
+            'cmdline': 'console=ttyS0 ks=http://example.com/f8-i386/os/'
+        }
+
+        with patch.dict(virt.__salt__, {  # pylint: disable=no-member
+                    'virt.vm_state': MagicMock(return_value={'myvm': 'running'}),
+                    'virt.update': MagicMock(return_value={'definition': True, 'cpu': True})
+                }):
+            ret.update({'changes': {'myvm': {'definition': True, 'cpu': True}},
+                        'result': True,
+                        'comment': 'Domain myvm updated, restart to fully apply the changes'})
+            self.assertDictEqual(virt.running('myvm', update=True, boot=boot), ret)
+
         # Working update case when stopped
         with patch.dict(virt.__salt__, {  # pylint: disable=no-member
                     'virt.vm_state': MagicMock(return_value={'myvm': 'stopped'}),