diff --git a/zproject/local_settings.py b/zproject/local_settings.py
index c970f200ae..abac6bd77a 100644
--- a/zproject/local_settings.py
+++ b/zproject/local_settings.py
@@ -36,11 +36,6 @@ NOREPLY_EMAIL_ADDRESS = "noreply@zulip.com"
 
 SESSION_SERIALIZER = "django.contrib.sessions.serializers.PickleSerializer"
 
-if DEPLOYED:
-    EXTERNAL_URI_SCHEME = "https://"
-else:
-    EXTERNAL_URI_SCHEME = "http://"
-
 if TESTING_DEPLOYED:
     EXTERNAL_HOST = platform.node()
 elif STAGING_DEPLOYED:
@@ -48,8 +43,7 @@ elif STAGING_DEPLOYED:
 elif DEPLOYED:
     EXTERNAL_HOST = 'zulip.com'
     EXTERNAL_API_PATH = 'api.zulip.com'
-else:
-    EXTERNAL_HOST = 'localhost:9991'
+
 
 # For now, ENTERPRISE is only testing, so write to our test buckets
 if DEPLOYED and not ENTERPRISE:
@@ -89,8 +83,6 @@ if STAGING_DEPLOYED:
     EMAIL_GATEWAY_PATTERN = "%s@streams.staging.zulip.com"
 elif DEPLOYED:
     EMAIL_GATEWAY_PATTERN = "%s@streams.zulip.com"
-else:
-    EMAIL_GATEWAY_PATTERN = "%s@" + EXTERNAL_HOST
 
 # Email mirror configuration
 # The email of the Zulip bot that the email gateway should post as.
@@ -99,14 +91,8 @@ EMAIL_GATEWAY_BOT = "emailgateway@zulip.com"
 
 SSO_APPEND_DOMAIN = None
 
-if DEPLOYED:
-    AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = ('zproject.backends.EmailAuthBackend',
-                               'zproject.backends.GoogleMobileOauth2Backend')
-else:
-    ## WARNING: ENABLING DevAuthBackend WILL ENABLE
-    ## ANYONE TO LOG IN AS ANY USER.
-    AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = ('zproject.backends.DevAuthBackend',)
-
+AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = ('zproject.backends.EmailAuthBackend',
+                           'zproject.backends.GoogleMobileOauth2Backend')
 
 
 JWT_AUTH_KEYS = {}
diff --git a/zproject/settings.py b/zproject/settings.py
index 0844ba9b95..7e228f1c4e 100644
--- a/zproject/settings.py
+++ b/zproject/settings.py
@@ -42,10 +42,6 @@ def get_secret(key):
         return secrets_file.get('secrets', key)
     return None
 
-# Import variables like secrets from the local_settings file
-# Import local_settings after determining the deployment/machine type
-from local_settings import *
-
 # Make this unique, and don't share it with anybody.
 SECRET_KEY = get_secret("secret_key")
 
@@ -82,6 +78,28 @@ TEST_SUITE = False
 # The new user tutorial is enabled by default, but disabled for client tests.
 TUTORIAL_ENABLED = True
 
+# Import variables like secrets from the local_settings file
+# Import local_settings after determining the deployment/machine type
+if DEPLOYED:
+    from local_settings import *
+else:
+    # For the Dev VM environment, we use the same settings as the
+    # sample local_settings.py file, with a few exceptions.
+    from local_settings_template import *
+    EXTERNAL_HOST = 'localhost:9991'
+    AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = ('zproject.backends.DevAuthBackend',)
+    # Add some of the below if you're testing other backends
+    # AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = ('zproject.backends.EmailAuthBackend',
+    #                            'zproject.backends.GoogleMobileOauth2Backend',
+    #                            'zproject.backends.GoogleBackend')
+    EXTERNAL_URI_SCHEME = "http://"
+    EMAIL_GATEWAY_PATTERN = "%s@" + EXTERNAL_HOST
+    ADMIN_DOMAIN = "zulip.com"
+    NOTIFICATION_BOT = "notification-bot@zulip.com"
+    ERROR_BOT = "error-bot@zulip.com"
+    NEW_USER_BOT = "new-user-bot@zulip.com"
+    EMAIL_GATEWAY_BOT = "emailgateway@zulip.com"
+
 ########################################################################
 # STANDARD DJANGO SETTINGS
 ########################################################################
diff --git a/zproject/test_settings.py b/zproject/test_settings.py
index 6b4e6c8309..c1234e3971 100644
--- a/zproject/test_settings.py
+++ b/zproject/test_settings.py
@@ -53,4 +53,5 @@ CACHES['database'] = {
 LOGGING['loggers']['zulip.requests']['level'] = 'CRITICAL'
 LOGGING['loggers']['zulip.management']['level'] = 'CRITICAL'
 
+CAMO_URI = 'https://external-content.zulipcdn.net/'
 CAMO_KEY = 'dummy'