diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-tests-workflow.yml b/.github/workflows/run-tests-workflow.yml
index 434d3e26..6b1454d2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run-tests-workflow.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-tests-workflow.yml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ jobs:
   unit-tests:
     if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     permissions: write-all
-    runs-on: [self-hosted, vscode-vcast, Linux]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     env:
       ENABLE_ATG_FEATURE: TRUE
       LM_LICENSE_FILE: /vcast/vector-license.lic
@@ -41,8 +41,11 @@ jobs:
       R2T_RELEASE_URL_WIN: ${{ github.event.inputs.r2t-release-url-win || '' }}
 
     container:
-      image: rds-vtc-docker-dev-local.vegistry.vg.vector.int/vcast/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:node_18_dynamic_mounting
-      options: --user vcast_user --mount type=bind,source=${{ vars.VCAST_RELEASES_PATH }},target=/vcast
+      image: ghcr.io/vectorgrp/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:with_vcast
+      options: --user vcast_user
+      credentials:
+        username: ${{ github.actor }}
+        password: ${{ secrets.GHCR_TOKEN }}
 
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false   # ⬅ allow all matrix versions to run even if one fails
@@ -98,11 +101,61 @@ jobs:
             echo "Error: autoreq-win.tar.gz not found."
             exit 1
           fi
+
+          # extract linux distribution
           tar -xf autoreq-linux.tar.gz > /dev/null && rm autoreq-linux.tar.gz
           mv distribution /tmp/linux_distribution
+
+          # Preferred location: $HOME/reqs2tests/resources/distribution
+          HOME_TARGET="$HOME/reqs2tests/resources/distribution"
+          WORKSPACE_TARGET="$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/resources/distribution"
+
+          # Try to create and copy into $HOME target; if that fails, fallback to workspace
+          if mkdir -p "$HOME_TARGET" 2>/dev/null && cp -r /tmp/linux_distribution/* "$HOME_TARGET/"; then
+            REQS_PATH="$HOME_TARGET"
+            echo "Copied reqs2tests distribution to HOME target: $REQS_PATH"
+          else
+            echo "Could not use HOME target ($HOME_TARGET). Falling back to GITHUB_WORKSPACE."
+            mkdir -p "$WORKSPACE_TARGET"
+            cp -r /tmp/linux_distribution/* "$WORKSPACE_TARGET/"
+            REQS_PATH="$WORKSPACE_TARGET"
+            echo "Copied reqs2tests distribution to workspace target: $REQS_PATH"
+          fi
+
+          # Export the distribution folder path (this will be available to subsequent steps)
+          echo "REQS2TESTS_RESOURCES=$REQS_PATH/bin" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "REQS2TESTS_RESOURCES set to: $REQS_PATH/bin"
+
+          # Debug listing of the distribution folder
+          echo "Listing REQS2TESTS_RESOURCES contents: $REQS_PATH"
+          if command -v tree >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            tree -a "$REQS_PATH" || ls -laR "$REQS_PATH"
+          else
+            ls -laR "$REQS_PATH"
+          fi
+
+          # extract windows distribution for other uses (kept in /tmp)
           tar -xf autoreq-win.tar.gz > /dev/null && rm autoreq-win.tar.gz
           mv distribution /tmp/win_distribution
 
+          TARGET_DIR="$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/tests/internal/e2e/test"
+          echo "Listing all files and directories under: $TARGET_DIR"
+          if [ -d "$TARGET_DIR" ]; then
+            echo "----------------------------------------"
+            # Show a tree-like listing if available (nicer output)
+            if command -v tree >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              tree -a "$TARGET_DIR"
+            else
+              ls -laR "$TARGET_DIR"
+            fi
+            echo "----------------------------------------"
+          else
+            echo "Directory not found: $TARGET_DIR"
+            echo "Listing parent directories for context:"
+            ls -la "$(dirname "$TARGET_DIR")" || true
+          fi
+
+
       - name: Vcast activation
         run: |
           RELEASE_DIR=/vcast/${{ matrix.vcast }}
@@ -147,7 +200,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           curl -Os https://uploader.codecov.io/v0.7.1/linux/codecov
           chmod +x codecov
-          ./codecov -f ./coverage/coverage-final.json -F Unit -n vscode-vcast-unittests -t ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }} -C ${{ github.sha }} -r ${{ github.repository }} -U ${http_proxy} >> out.txt
+          ./codecov -f ./coverage/coverage-final.json -F Unit -n vscode-vcast-unittests -t ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }} -C ${{ github.sha }} -r ${{ github.repository }} >> out.txt
           cat out.txt | tail -n 1 | awk -F "'info'] " '{print $2}' | python3 -c 'import json,sys;obj=json.load(sys.stdin);print(obj.get("resultURL", ""))' > url.txt
           title="Coverage report URL" && \
           [ -z $(cat url.txt) ] && echo "::notice title=$title::URL not found" || echo "::notice title=$title::$(cat url.txt)"
@@ -281,11 +334,14 @@ jobs:
   generate-e2e-matrix:
     if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     permissions: write-all
-    runs-on: [self-hosted, vscode-vcast, Linux]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     container:
-      image: rds-vtc-docker-dev-local.vegistry.vg.vector.int/vcast/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:node_18_dynamic_mounting
+      image: ghcr.io/vectorgrp/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:with_vcast
       options: --user vcast_user
+      credentials:
+        username: ${{ github.actor }}
+        password: ${{ secrets.GHCR_TOKEN }}
 
     outputs:
       version_group_matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
@@ -324,11 +380,14 @@ jobs:
     needs: [generate-e2e-matrix, build-downloadable-vsix]
     if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     permissions: write-all
-    runs-on: [self-hosted, vscode-vcast, Linux]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     container:
-      image: rds-vtc-docker-dev-local.vegistry.vg.vector.int/vcast/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:node_18_dynamic_mounting
-      options: --user vcast_user --mount type=bind,source=${{ vars.VCAST_RELEASES_PATH }},target=/vcast
+      image: ghcr.io/vectorgrp/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:with_vcast
+      options: --user vcast_user
+      credentials:
+        username: ${{ github.actor }}
+        password: ${{ secrets.GHCR_TOKEN }}
 
     strategy:
       # ⬅ let all groups run even if one fails
@@ -454,7 +513,6 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
 
-
       - name: Package with VSCE
         run: |
           # Build a normal .vsix WITHOUT including the reqs2tests resources (we copied them to $GITHUB_WORKSPACE/resources)
@@ -522,20 +580,26 @@ jobs:
           content=$([ -s ./tests/internal/e2e/gh_e2e_summary.md ] && cat ./tests/internal/e2e/gh_e2e_summary.md || echo 'Not available')
           echo "${content}" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           
-          COMMIT_DATE=$(git log -1 --format=%cd --date=format:%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S)
-          ARTIFACTORY_URL="https://artifactory.vi.vector.int:443/artifactory/rds-build-packages-generic-dev/vscode-gh1/${{ github.ref_name }}/$COMMIT_DATE-${{ github.sha }}/tests-results"
-          count=`ls -1 tests/internal/e2e/*.png 2>/dev/null | wc -l`
-          if [ $count != 0 ] ; then
-            cd tests/internal/e2e
-            tar -cvzf e2e_vcast${{ matrix.version }}_${{ matrix.group }}_screenshots.tar.gz *.png > /dev/null
-            URL="$ARTIFACTORY_URL/e2e_vcast${{ matrix.version }}_${{ matrix.group }}_screenshots/"
-            curl -H "X-Explode-Archive: true" -H "X-JFrog-Art-Api:${{ secrets.ARTIFACTORY_TOKEN }}" -X PUT $URL -T e2e_vcast${{ matrix.version }}_${{ matrix.group }}_screenshots.tar.gz
-            cd ../../..
-            echo "[Screenshots]($URL)" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          if compgen -G "tests/internal/e2e/*.png" > /dev/null; then
+            mkdir e2e_vcast${{ matrix.version }}_${{ matrix.group }}_screenshots
+            mv tests/internal/e2e/*.png e2e_vcast${{ matrix.version }}_${{ matrix.group }}_screenshots/
+            echo "SCREENSHOTS_FOLDER=e2e_vcast${{ matrix.version }}_${{ matrix.group }}_screenshots" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+            echo "HAS_SCREENSHOTS=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          else
+            echo "No PNG files found, skipping screenshot folder creation"
+            echo "HAS_SCREENSHOTS=false" >> $GITHUB_ENV
           fi
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Upload screenshots artifact
+        if: always() && env.HAS_SCREENSHOTS == 'true'
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: ${{ env.SCREENSHOTS_FOLDER }}
+          path: ${{ env.SCREENSHOTS_FOLDER }}
 
       - name: Save dependencies - node
-        if: steps.cache-dependencies-restore-node.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        if: always() && steps.cache-dependencies-restore-node.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
         uses: actions/cache/save@v4
         with:
           path: |
@@ -553,11 +617,14 @@ jobs:
   black:
     if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     permissions: write-all
-    runs-on: [self-hosted, vscode-vcast, Linux]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
-    container: 	
-      image: rds-vtc-docker-dev-local.vegistry.vg.vector.int/vcast/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:node_18_dynamic_mounting	
-      options: --user vcast_user	
+    container:
+      image: ghcr.io/vectorgrp/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:with_vcast
+      options: --user vcast_user
+      credentials:
+        username: ${{ github.actor }}
+        password: ${{ secrets.GHCR_TOKEN }}
 
     steps:	
       - name: Check out repository	
@@ -576,35 +643,41 @@ jobs:
         if: failure()	
         uses: actions/checkout@v4	
 
-      - name: Run black	
-        shell: bash	
-        run: |	
-          /home/vcast_user/.venv/bin/python -m black . --check --extend-exclude '/(.*venv.*)/' > output.log 2>&1; echo $? > exitcode.txt	
-      - name: Summary	
-        shell: bash	
-        if: always()	
-        run: |	
-          echo "### Black output" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY	
-          {	
-            echo '```'	
-            cat output.log	
-            echo '```'	
-          } >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY	
-      - name: Exit with code	
-        shell: bash	
-        if: always()	
-        run: |	
-          if [ -f exitcode.txt ]; then	
-              exit $(cat exitcode.txt)	
-          fi	
-  prettier:	
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false	
-    permissions: write-all	
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, vscode-vcast]
+      - name: Run black
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          /home/vcast_user/.venv/bin/python -m black . --check --extend-exclude '/(.*venv.*)/' > output.log 2>&1; echo $? > exitcode.txt
 
-    container:	
-      image: rds-vtc-docker-dev-local.vegistry.vg.vector.int/vcast/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:node_18_dynamic_mounting
+      - name: Summary
+        shell: bash
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          echo "### Black output" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          {
+            echo '```'
+            cat output.log
+            echo '```'
+          } >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+
+      - name: Exit with code
+        shell: bash
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          if [ -f exitcode.txt ]; then
+              exit $(cat exitcode.txt)
+          fi
+
+  prettier:
+    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    permissions: write-all
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+
+    container:
+      image: ghcr.io/vectorgrp/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:with_vcast
       options: --user vcast_user
+      credentials:
+        username: ${{ github.actor }}
+        password: ${{ secrets.GHCR_TOKEN }}
 
     steps:	
       - name: Check out repository	
@@ -623,32 +696,35 @@ jobs:
         if: failure()	
         uses: actions/checkout@v4	
 
-      - name: Run prettier	
-        shell: bash	
-        run: |	
-          npm install prettier@$(node -pe "require('./package').devDependencies.prettier")	
-          npx prettier -c . > output.log 2>&1; echo $? > exitcode.txt	
-      - name: Summary	
-        shell: bash	
-        if: always()	
-        run: |	
-          echo "### Prettier output" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY	
-          {	
-            echo '```'	
-            cat output.log	
-            echo '```'	
-          } >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY	
-      - name: Exit with code	
-        shell: bash	
-        if: always()	
-        run: |	
-          if [ -f exitcode.txt ]; then	
-              exit $(cat exitcode.txt)	
-          fi	
-  xo:	
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false	
-    permissions: write-all	
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, vscode-vcast]
+      - name: Run prettier
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          npm install prettier@$(node -pe "require('./package').devDependencies.prettier")
+          npx prettier -c . > output.log 2>&1; echo $? > exitcode.txt
+
+      - name: Summary
+        shell: bash
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          echo "### Prettier output" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          {
+            echo '```'
+            cat output.log
+            echo '```'
+          } >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+
+      - name: Exit with code
+        shell: bash
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          if [ -f exitcode.txt ]; then
+              exit $(cat exitcode.txt)
+          fi
+
+  xo:
+    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    permissions: write-all
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
 
     container:	
       image: rds-vtc-docker-dev-local.vegistry.vg.vector.int/vcast/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:node_18_dynamic_mounting	
@@ -691,5 +767,52 @@ jobs:
         if: always()	
         run: |	
           if [ -f exitcode.txt ]; then
-              exit $(cat exitcode.txt)	
-          fi
\ No newline at end of file
+              exit $(cat exitcode.txt)
+          fi
+
+  publish-extension:
+    permissions: write-all
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, vscode-vcast, Linux]
+    container:
+      image: rds-vtc-docker-dev-local.vegistry.vg.vector.int/vcast/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:node_18_dynamic_mounting
+      options: --user vcast_user --mount type=bind,source=${{ vars.VCAST_RELEASES_PATH }},target=/vcast
+    needs: unit-tests
+    steps:
+      - name: Check out repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Restore cached dependencies
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
+        with:
+          path: node_modules
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-dependencies-${{ hashFiles('package.json') }}
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        if: steps.cache-dependencies-restore.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: npm install
+
+      - name: Package extension and list VSIX
+        run: |
+          npm run package
+          echo "VSIX contents:"
+          npx vsce ls
+          VSIX_FILE=$(find . -maxdepth 2 -name "*.vsix" | head -n 1)
+          if [ -z "$VSIX_FILE" ]; then
+            echo "Error: vsix not found"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "VSIX_FILE=$VSIX_FILE" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: Upload VSIX
+        run: |
+          if [ -z "${VSIX_FILE}" ]; then
+            echo "VSIX_FILE environment variable not set"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          COMMIT_DATE=$(git log -1 --format=%cd --date=format:%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S)
+          ARTIFACTORY_URL="https://artifactory.vi.vector.int:443/artifactory/rds-build-packages-generic-dev/vscode-gh1/${{ github.ref_name }}/$COMMIT_DATE-${{ github.sha }}/artifacts"
+          BASENAME=$(basename "${VSIX_FILE}")
+          URL="$ARTIFACTORY_URL/$BASENAME"
+          curl -H "X-JFrog-Art-Api:${{ secrets.ARTIFACTORY_TOKEN }}" -X PUT $URL -T "${VSIX_FILE}"
+          echo "### VSIX Extension" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          echo "[Download extension (.vsix)]($URL)" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docker/Ubuntu24-Dockerfile-CI-with-vcast b/docker/Ubuntu24-Dockerfile-CI-with-vcast
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8f42e4a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/Ubuntu24-Dockerfile-CI-with-vcast
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+# ghcr.io/vectorgrp/vscode_ubuntu24_ci
+FROM rds-vtc-docker-dev-local.vegistry.vg.vector.int/vcast/vscode_ubuntu24_ci:node_18_dynamic_mounting
+
+ARG USERNAME=vcast_user
+ARG USER_UID=1001     # host runner UID on GitHub-hosted runners
+ARG USER_GID=121      # common docker group GID on GH runners (sometimes 127)
+
+USER root
+SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-lc"]
+
+# vcast
+ADD https://artifactory.vi.vector.int:443/artifactory/rds-build-packages-generic-dev-local/vcast/2021sp0.tar.gz /vcast/2021sp0.tar.gz
+ADD https://artifactory.vi.vector.int:443/artifactory/rds-build-packages-generic-dev-local/vcast/2023sp0.tar.gz /vcast/2023sp0.tar.gz
+ADD https://artifactory.vi.vector.int:443/artifactory/rds-build-packages-generic-dev-local/vcast/2024sp1.tar.gz /vcast/2024sp1.tar.gz
+ADD https://artifactory.vi.vector.int:443/artifactory/rds-build-packages-generic-dev-local/vcast/2024sp4.tar.gz /vcast/2024sp4.tar.gz
+ADD https://artifactory.vi.vector.int:443/artifactory/rds-build-packages-generic-dev-local/vcast/2024sp5.tar.gz /vcast/2024sp5.tar.gz
+ADD https://artifactory.vi.vector.int:443/artifactory/rds-build-packages-generic-dev-local/vcast/2025sp0.tar.gz /vcast/2025sp0.tar.gz
+ADD https://artifactory.vi.vector.int:443/artifactory/rds-build-packages-generic-dev-local/vcast/2025sp1.tar.gz /vcast/2025sp1.tar.gz
+ADD https://artifactory.vi.vector.int:443/artifactory/rds-build-packages-generic-dev-local/vcast/vector-license.lic /vcast/vector-license.lic
+
+RUN set -eux; \
+    if getent group "${USER_GID}" >/dev/null; then \
+      groupmod -g "${USER_GID}" "${USERNAME}" || true; \
+    else \
+      groupmod -g "${USER_GID}" "${USERNAME}" || groupadd -g "${USER_GID}" "${USERNAME}"; \
+    fi; \
+    usermod -u "${USER_UID}" -g "${USER_GID}" "${USERNAME}"; \
+    chown -R "${USER_UID}:${USER_GID}" "/home/${USERNAME}"
+
+RUN cd /vcast && \
+    for f in *.tar.gz; do tar xf "$f"; done && rm *.tar.gz && \
+    chown -R $(id -u $USERNAME):$(id -g $USERNAME) /vcast && \
+    chown -R $(id -u $USERNAME):$(id -g $USERNAME) /__w
+
+# cleaning up proxy settings
+RUN set -eux; \
+    N_PREFIX_DEFAULT="/home/${USERNAME}/.n"; \
+    NPM_GLOBAL_NPMRC="${N_PREFIX:-$N_PREFIX_DEFAULT}/etc/npmrc"; \
+    for f in \
+      "/etc/npmrc" \
+      "/usr/local/etc/npmrc" \
+      "$NPM_GLOBAL_NPMRC" \
+      "/home/${USERNAME}/.npmrc" \
+      "/home/${USERNAME}/.config/npm/npmrc"; do \
+      if [ -f "$f" ]; then \
+        sed -i -E '/^(proxy|https-proxy|noproxy|cafile|registry)\s*=/d' "$f"; \
+      fi; \
+    done
+
+RUN set -eux; \
+    if [ -f "/home/${USERNAME}/.bashrc" ]; then \
+      sed -i -E '/REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE|http_proxy|https_proxy|HTTP_PROXY|HTTPS_PROXY|NO_PROXY/d' "/home/${USERNAME}/.bashrc"; \
+    fi
+
+RUN set -eux; \
+    chown root:root /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt || true; \
+    rm -f /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt; \
+    find /usr/local/share/ca-certificates -type f -iname 'vector_*.crt' -print -delete || true; \
+    find /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/ -type f -iname '*.crt' -print -delete || true; \
+    update-ca-certificates --fresh || true
+
+ENV NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS= \
+    SSL_CERT_FILE= \
+    REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE= \
+    SSL_CERT_DIR= \
+    CA_BUNDLE_PATH= \
+    CURL_CA_BUNDLE= \
+    GLOBAL_AGENT_HTTP_PROXY= \
+    http_proxy= \
+    GLOBAL_AGENT_HTTPS_PROXY= \
+    GLOBAL_AGENT_NO_PROXY= \
+    HTTPS_PROXY= \
+    https_proxy= \
+    no_proxy= \
+    HTTP_PROXY=
+
+RUN chown -R "${USERNAME}:${USERNAME}" "/home/${USERNAME}" || true
+
+USER ${USERNAME}
+
+SHELL ["/bin/bash", "--login", "-c"]
\ No newline at end of file