diff --git a/x-pack/build_chromium/README.md b/x-pack/build_chromium/README.md
index ce7e110a5f91..51c034e51002 100644
--- a/x-pack/build_chromium/README.md
+++ b/x-pack/build_chromium/README.md
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 # Chromium build
 
-We ship our own headless build of Chromium which is significantly smaller than the standard binaries shipped by Google. The scripts in this folder can be used to initialize the build environments and run the build on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
+We ship our own headless build of Chromium which is significantly smaller than
+the standard binaries shipped by Google. The scripts in this folder can be used
+to accept a commit hash from the Chromium repository, and initialize the build
+environments and run the build on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
 
-The official Chromium build process is poorly documented, and seems to have breaking changes fairly regularly. The build pre-requisites, and the build flags change over time, so it is likely that the scripts in this directory will be out of date by the time we have to do another Chromium build.
-
-This document is an attempt to note all of the gotchas we've come across while building, so that the next time we have to tinker here, we'll have a good starting point.
-
-# Before you begin
-You'll need access to our GCP account, which is where we have two machines provisioned for the Linux and Windows builds. Mac builds can be achieved locally, and are a great place to start to gain familiarity.
+## Before you begin
+If you wish to use a remote VM to build, you'll need access to our GCP account,
+which is where we have two machines provisioned for the Linux and Windows
+builds. Mac builds can be achieved locally, and are a great place to start to
+gain familiarity.
 
 1. Login to our GCP instance [here using your okta credentials](https://console.cloud.google.com/).
 2. Click the "Compute Engine" tab.
@@ -15,21 +17,89 @@ You'll need access to our GCP account, which is where we have two machines provi
 4. If #3 fails, you'll have to spin up new instances. Generally, these need `n1-standard-8` types or 8 vCPUs/30 GB memory.
 5. Ensure that there's enough room left on the disk. `ncdu` is a good linux util to verify what's claming space.
 
+## Usage
+
+```
+# Create a dedicated working directory for this directory of Python scripts.
+mkdir ~/chromium && cd ~/chromium
+# Copy the scripts from the Kibana repo to use them conveniently in the working directory
+cp -r ~/path/to/kibana/x-pack/build_chromium .
+# Install the OS packages, configure the environment, download the chromium source
+python ./build_chromium/init.sh [arch_name]
+
+# Run the build script with the path to the chromium src directory, the git commit id
+python ./build_chromium/build.py <commit_id>
+
+# You can add an architecture flag for ARM
+python ./build_chromium/build.py <commit_id> arm64
+```
+
+## Getting the Commit ID
+Getting `<commit_id>` can be tricky. The best technique seems to be:
+1. Create a temporary working directory and intialize yarn
+2. `yarn add puppeteer # install latest puppeter`
+3. Look through puppeteer's node module files to find the "chromium revision" (a custom versioning convention for Chromium).
+4. Use `https://crrev.com` and look up the revision and find the git commit info.
+
+The official Chromium build process is poorly documented, and seems to have
+breaking changes fairly regularly. The build pre-requisites, and the build
+flags change over time, so it is likely that the scripts in this directory will
+be out of date by the time we have to do another Chromium build.
+
+This document is an attempt to note all of the gotchas we've come across while
+building, so that the next time we have to tinker here, we'll have a good
+starting point.
+
 ## Build args
 
-Chromium is built via a build tool called "ninja". The build can be configured by specifying build flags either in an "args.gn" file or via commandline args. We have an "args.gn" file per platform:
+A good how-to on building Chromium from source is
+[here](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/docs/get_the_code.md).
 
-- mac: darwin/args.gn
-- linux 64bit: linux-x64/args.gn
+There are documents for each OS that will explain how to customize arguments
+for the build using the `gn` tool. Those instructions do not apply for the
+Kibana Chromium build. Our `build.py` script ensure the correct `args.gn`
+file gets used for build arguments.
+
+We have an `args.gn` file per platform:
+
+- mac: `darwin/args.gn`
+- linux 64bit: `linux-x64/args.gn`
+- windows: `windows/args.gn`
 - ARM 64bit: linux-aarch64/args.gn
-- windows: windows/args.gn
 
-The various build flags are not well documented. Some are documented [here](https://www.chromium.org/developers/gn-build-configuration). Some, such as `enable_basic_printing = false`, I only found by poking through 3rd party build scripts.
+To get a list of the build arguments that are enabled, install `depot_tools` and run
+`gn args out/headless --list`. It prints out all of the flags and their
+settings, including the defaults.
 
-As of this writing, there is an officially supported headless Chromium build args file for Linux: `build/args/headless.gn`. This does not work on Windows or Mac, so we have taken that as our starting point, and modified it until the Windows / Mac builds succeeded.
+The various build flags are not well documented. Some are documented
+[here](https://www.chromium.org/developers/gn-build-configuration). 
+
+As of this writing, there is an officially supported headless Chromium build
+args file for Linux: `build/args/headless.gn`. This does not work on Windows or
+Mac, so we have taken that as our starting point, and modified it until the
+Windows / Mac builds succeeded.
 
 **NOTE:** Please, make sure you consult @elastic/kibana-security before you change, remove or add any of the build flags.
 
+## Building locally
+
+You can skip the step of running `<os_name>/init.sh` for your OS if you already
+have your environment set up, and the chromium source cloned.
+
+To get the Chromium code, refer to the [documentation](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/docs/get_the_code.md).
+Install `depot_tools` as suggested, since it comes with useful scripts. Use the
+`fetch` command to clone the chromium repository. To set up and run the build,
+use the Kibana `build.py` script (in this directory).
+
+It's recommended that you create a working directory for the chromium source
+code and all the build tools, and run the commands from there:
+```
+mkdir ~/chromium && cd ~/chromium
+cp -r ~/path/to/kibana/x-pack/build_chromium .
+python ./build_chromium/init.sh [arch_name]
+python ./build_chromium/build.py <commit_id>
+```
+
 ## VMs
 
 I ran Linux and Windows VMs in GCP with the following specs:
@@ -57,7 +127,8 @@ The more cores the better, as the build makes effective use of each. For Linux,
 
 ## Initializing each VM / environment
 
-You only need to initialize each environment once. NOTE: on Mac OS you'll need to install XCode and accept the license agreement.
+In a VM, you'll want to use the init scripts to to initialize each environment.
+On Mac OS you'll need to install XCode and accept the license agreement.
 
 Create the build folder:
 
@@ -86,16 +157,6 @@ In windows, at least, you will need to do a number of extra steps:
 
 ## Building
 
-Find the sha of the Chromium commit you wish to build. Most likely, you want to build the Chromium revision that is tied to the version of puppeteer that we're using.
-
-Find the Chromium revision (run in kibana's working directory):
-
-- `cat node_modules/puppeteer-core/package.json | grep chromium_revision`
-- Take the revision number from that, and tack it to the end of this URL: https://crrev.com
-  - (For example, puppeteer@1.19.0 has rev (674921): https://crrev.com/674921)
-- Grab the SHA from there
-  - (For example, rev 674921 has sha 312d84c8ce62810976feda0d3457108a6dfff9e6)
-
 Note: In Linux, you should run the build command in tmux so that if your ssh session disconnects, the build can keep going. To do this, just type `tmux` into your terminal to hop into a tmux session. If you get disconnected, you can hop back in like so:
 
 - SSH into the server
diff --git a/x-pack/build_chromium/build.py b/x-pack/build_chromium/build.py
index 52ba325d6f72..8622f4a9d4c0 100644
--- a/x-pack/build_chromium/build.py
+++ b/x-pack/build_chromium/build.py
@@ -1,55 +1,80 @@
-import subprocess, os, sys, platform, zipfile, hashlib, shutil
-from build_util import runcmd, mkdir, md5_file, script_dir, root_dir, configure_environment
+import os, subprocess, sys, platform, zipfile, hashlib, shutil
+from os import path
+from build_util import (
+  runcmd,
+  runcmdsilent,
+  mkdir,
+  md5_file,
+  configure_environment,
+)
 
 # This file builds Chromium headless on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
 
 # Verify that we have an argument, and if not print instructions
 if (len(sys.argv) < 2):
   print('Usage:')
-  print('python build.py {chromium_version}')
+  print('python build.py {chromium_version} [arch_name]')
   print('Example:')
   print('python build.py 68.0.3440.106')
   print('python build.py 4747cc23ae334a57a35ed3c8e6adcdbc8a50d479')
+  print('python build.py 4747cc23ae334a57a35ed3c8e6adcdbc8a50d479 arm64 # build for ARM architecture')
+  print
   sys.exit(1)
 
+src_path = path.abspath(path.join(os.curdir, 'chromium', 'src'))
+build_path = path.abspath(path.join(src_path, '..', '..'))
+build_chromium_path = path.abspath(path.dirname(__file__))
+argsgn_file = path.join(build_chromium_path, platform.system().lower(), 'args.gn')
+
 # The version of Chromium we wish to build. This can be any valid git
 # commit, tag, or branch, so: 68.0.3440.106 or
 # 4747cc23ae334a57a35ed3c8e6adcdbc8a50d479
 source_version = sys.argv[1]
+base_version = source_version[:7].strip('.')
 
 # Set to "arm" to build for ARM on Linux
 arch_name = sys.argv[2] if len(sys.argv) >= 3 else 'x64'
 
-print('Building Chromium ' + source_version + ' for ' + arch_name)
+if arch_name != 'x64' and arch_name != 'arm64':
+  raise Exception('Unexpected architecture: ' + arch_name)
 
-# Set the environment variables required by the build tools
-print('Configuring the build environment')
-configure_environment()
+print('Building Chromium ' + source_version + ' for ' + arch_name + ' from ' + src_path)
+print('src path: ' + src_path)
+print('depot_tools path: ' + path.join(build_path, 'depot_tools'))
+print('build_chromium_path: ' + build_chromium_path)
+print('args.gn file: ' + argsgn_file)
+print
 
-# Sync the codebase to the correct version, syncing master first
-# to ensure that we actually have all the versions we may refer to
-print('Syncing source code')
+# Sync the codebase to the correct version
+print('Setting local tracking branch')
+print(' > cd ' + src_path)
+os.chdir(src_path)
 
-os.chdir(os.path.join(root_dir, 'chromium/src'))
+checked_out = runcmdsilent('git checkout build-' + base_version)
+if checked_out != 0:
+  print('Syncing remote version')
+  runcmd('git fetch origin ' + source_version)
+  print('Creating a new branch for tracking the source version')
+  runcmd('git checkout -b build-' + base_version + ' ' + source_version)
 
-runcmd('git checkout master')
-runcmd('git fetch origin')
-runcmd('gclient sync --with_branch_heads --with_tags --jobs 16')
-runcmd('git checkout ' + source_version)
-runcmd('gclient sync --with_branch_heads --with_tags --jobs 16')
-runcmd('gclient runhooks')
+depot_tools_path = os.path.join(build_path, 'depot_tools')
+path_value = depot_tools_path + os.pathsep + os.environ['PATH']
+print('Updating PATH for depot_tools: ' + path_value)
+os.environ['PATH'] = path_value
+print('Updating all modules')
+runcmd('gclient sync')
 
 # Copy build args/{Linux | Darwin | Windows}.gn from the root of our directory to out/headless/args.gn,
-platform_build_args = os.path.join(script_dir, platform.system().lower(), 'args.gn')
+argsgn_destination = path.abspath('out/headless/args.gn')
 print('Generating platform-specific args')
-print('Copying build args: ' + platform_build_args + ' to out/headless/args.gn')
 mkdir('out/headless')
-shutil.copyfile(platform_build_args, 'out/headless/args.gn')
+print(' > cp ' + argsgn_file + ' ' + argsgn_destination)
+shutil.copyfile(argsgn_file, argsgn_destination)
 
 print('Adding target_cpu to args')
 
 f = open('out/headless/args.gn', 'a')
-f.write('\rtarget_cpu = "' + arch_name + '"')
+f.write('\rtarget_cpu = "' + arch_name + '"\r')
 f.close()
 
 runcmd('gn gen out/headless')
@@ -67,37 +92,38 @@ if platform.system() != 'Windows' and arch_name != 'arm64':
 
 # Create the zip and generate the md5 hash using filenames like:
 # chromium-4747cc2-linux_x64.zip
-base_filename = 'out/headless/chromium-' + source_version[:7].strip('.') + '-' + platform.system().lower() + '_' + arch_name
+base_filename = 'out/headless/chromium-' + base_version + '-' + platform.system().lower() + '_' + arch_name
 zip_filename = base_filename + '.zip'
 md5_filename = base_filename + '.md5'
 
-print('Creating ' + zip_filename)
+print('Creating '  + path.join(src_path, zip_filename))
 archive = zipfile.ZipFile(zip_filename, mode='w', compression=zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED)
 
 def archive_file(name):
   """A little helper function to write individual files to the zip file"""
-  from_path = os.path.join('out/headless', name)
-  to_path = os.path.join('headless_shell-' + platform.system().lower() + '_' + arch_name, name)
+  from_path = path.join('out/headless', name)
+  to_path = path.join('headless_shell-' + platform.system().lower() + '_' + arch_name, name)
   archive.write(from_path, to_path)
+  return to_path
 
 # Each platform has slightly different requirements for what dependencies
 # must be bundled with the Chromium executable.
 if platform.system() == 'Linux':
   archive_file('headless_shell')
-  archive_file(os.path.join('swiftshader', 'libEGL.so'))
-  archive_file(os.path.join('swiftshader', 'libGLESv2.so'))
+  archive_file(path.join('swiftshader', 'libEGL.so'))
+  archive_file(path.join('swiftshader', 'libGLESv2.so'))
 
   if arch_name == 'arm64':
-    archive_file(os.path.join('swiftshader', 'libEGL.so'))
+    archive_file(path.join('swiftshader', 'libEGL.so'))
 
 elif platform.system() == 'Windows':
   archive_file('headless_shell.exe')
   archive_file('dbghelp.dll')
   archive_file('icudtl.dat')
-  archive_file(os.path.join('swiftshader', 'libEGL.dll'))
-  archive_file(os.path.join('swiftshader', 'libEGL.dll.lib'))
-  archive_file(os.path.join('swiftshader', 'libGLESv2.dll'))
-  archive_file(os.path.join('swiftshader', 'libGLESv2.dll.lib'))
+  archive_file(path.join('swiftshader', 'libEGL.dll'))
+  archive_file(path.join('swiftshader', 'libEGL.dll.lib'))
+  archive_file(path.join('swiftshader', 'libGLESv2.dll'))
+  archive_file(path.join('swiftshader', 'libGLESv2.dll.lib'))
 
 elif platform.system() == 'Darwin':
   archive_file('headless_shell')
@@ -107,6 +133,6 @@ elif platform.system() == 'Darwin':
 
 archive.close()
 
-print('Creating ' + md5_filename)
+print('Creating ' + path.join(src_path, md5_filename))
 with open (md5_filename, 'w') as f:
   f.write(md5_file(zip_filename))
diff --git a/x-pack/build_chromium/build_util.py b/x-pack/build_chromium/build_util.py
index 00ca13d32dba..eaa94e5170d5 100644
--- a/x-pack/build_chromium/build_util.py
+++ b/x-pack/build_chromium/build_util.py
@@ -1,33 +1,45 @@
-import os, hashlib
+import os, hashlib, platform, sys
 
 # This file contains various utility functions used by the init and build scripts
 
-# Compute the root build and script directory as relative to this file
-script_dir = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(__file__, '..'))
-root_dir = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(script_dir, '..'))
+def runcmdsilent(cmd):
+  """Executes a string command in the shell"""
+  print(' > ' + cmd)
+  return os.system(cmd)
 
 def runcmd(cmd):
   """Executes a string command in the shell"""
-  print(cmd)
+  print(' > ' + cmd)
   result = os.system(cmd)
   if result != 0:
     raise Exception(cmd + ' returned ' + str(result))
 
 def mkdir(dir):
+  print(' > mkdir -p ' + dir)
   """Makes a directory if it doesn't exist"""
   if not os.path.exists(dir):
-    print('mkdir -p ' + dir)
     return os.makedirs(dir)
 
 def md5_file(filename):
   """Builds a hex md5 hash of the given file"""
   md5 = hashlib.md5()
-  with open(filename, 'rb') as f: 
-    for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(128 * md5.block_size), b''): 
+  with open(filename, 'rb') as f:
+    for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(128 * md5.block_size), b''):
       md5.update(chunk)
   return md5.hexdigest()
 
-def configure_environment():
-  """Configures temporary environment variables required by Chromium's build"""
-  depot_tools_path = os.path.join(root_dir, 'depot_tools')
-  os.environ['PATH'] = depot_tools_path + os.pathsep + os.environ['PATH']
+def configure_environment(arch_name, build_path, src_path):
+  """Runs install scripts for deps, and configures temporary environment variables required by Chromium's build"""
+
+  if platform.system() == 'Linux':
+    if arch_name:
+      print('Running sysroot install script...')
+      sysroot_cmd = src_path + '/build/linux/sysroot_scripts/install-sysroot.py --arch=' + arch_name
+      runcmd(sysroot_cmd)
+    print('Running install-build-deps...')
+    runcmd(src_path + '/build/install-build-deps.sh')
+
+  depot_tools_path = os.path.join(build_path, 'depot_tools')
+  full_path = depot_tools_path + os.pathsep + os.environ['PATH']
+  print('Updating PATH for depot_tools: ' + full_path)
+  os.environ['PATH'] = full_path
diff --git a/x-pack/build_chromium/init.py b/x-pack/build_chromium/init.py
index f543922f7653..c0dd60f1cfcb 100644
--- a/x-pack/build_chromium/init.py
+++ b/x-pack/build_chromium/init.py
@@ -1,38 +1,47 @@
 import os, platform, sys
-from build_util import runcmd, mkdir, md5_file, root_dir, configure_environment
+from os import path
+from build_util import runcmd, mkdir, md5_file, configure_environment
 
 # This is a cross-platform initialization script which should only be run
 # once per environment, and isn't intended to be run directly. You should
 # run the appropriate platform init script (e.g. Linux/init.sh) which will
 # call this once the platform-specific initialization has completed.
 
-os.chdir(root_dir)
+# Set to "arm" to build for ARM on Linux
+arch_name = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) >= 2 else 'x64'
+build_path = path.abspath(os.curdir)
+src_path = path.abspath(path.join(build_path, 'chromium', 'src'))
+
+if arch_name != 'x64' and arch_name != 'arm64':
+  raise Exception('Unexpected architecture: ' + arch_name)
 
 # Configure git
+print('Configuring git globals...')
 runcmd('git config --global core.autocrlf false')
 runcmd('git config --global core.filemode false')
 runcmd('git config --global branch.autosetuprebase always')
 
 # Grab Chromium's custom build tools, if they aren't already installed
 # (On Windows, they are installed before this Python script is run)
-if not os.path.isdir('depot_tools'):
-  runcmd('git clone https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/tools/depot_tools.git')
-
 # Put depot_tools on the path so we can properly run the fetch command
-configure_environment()
+if not path.isdir('depot_tools'):
+  print('Installing depot_tools...')
+  runcmd('git clone https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/tools/depot_tools.git')
+else:
+  print('Updating depot_tools...')
+  original_dir = os.curdir
+  os.chdir(path.join(build_path, 'depot_tools'))
+  runcmd('git checkout master')
+  runcmd('git pull origin master')
+  os.chdir(original_dir)
+
+configure_environment(arch_name, build_path, src_path)
 
 # Fetch the Chromium source code
-mkdir('chromium')
-os.chdir('chromium')
-runcmd('fetch chromium')
-
-# Build Linux deps
-if platform.system() == 'Linux':
-  os.chdir('src')
-
-  if len(sys.argv) >= 2:
-    sysroot_cmd = 'build/linux/sysroot_scripts/install-sysroot.py --arch=' + sys.argv[1]
-    print('Running `' + sysroot_cmd + '`')
-    runcmd(sysroot_cmd)
-
-  runcmd('build/install-build-deps.sh')
+chromium_dir = path.join(build_path, 'chromium')
+if not path.isdir(chromium_dir):
+  mkdir(chromium_dir)
+  os.chdir(chromium_dir)
+  runcmd('fetch chromium')
+else:
+  print('Directory exists: ' + chromium_dir + '. Skipping chromium fetch.')