From 31f180c144b200f0a1e2f9fc9f3a9981337c4663 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Julian <115516918+juliansommer@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2026 08:23:01 +1000
Subject: [PATCH 1/6] fix: stop-instances edge case

---
 hive/daemon/daemon.go | 15 +++++++++------
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/hive/daemon/daemon.go b/hive/daemon/daemon.go
index 3cc374019..0c643e804 100644
--- a/hive/daemon/daemon.go
+++ b/hive/daemon/daemon.go
@@ -1465,12 +1465,15 @@ func (d *Daemon) stopInstance(instances map[string]*vm.VM, deleteVolume bool) er
 	// Wait for all shutdowns to finish
 	wg.Wait()
 
-	// Unsubscribe from NATS subjects that match instances
-	for _, instance := range instances {
-		slog.Info("Unsubscribing from NATS subject", "instance", instance.ID)
-		d.natsSubscriptions[fmt.Sprintf("ec2.cmd.%s", instance.ID)].Unsubscribe()
-		// TODO: Remove redundant subscription if not used
-		//d.natsSubscriptions[fmt.Sprintf("ec2.describe.%s", instance.ID)].Unsubscribe()
+	// Only unsubscribe from NATS subjects when terminating (deleteVolume=true)
+	// For stop operations, keep the subscription so we can receive start commands
+	if deleteVolume {
+		for _, instance := range instances {
+			slog.Info("Unsubscribing from NATS subject", "instance", instance.ID)
+			d.natsSubscriptions[fmt.Sprintf("ec2.cmd.%s", instance.ID)].Unsubscribe()
+			// TODO: Remove redundant subscription if not used
+			//d.natsSubscriptions[fmt.Sprintf("ec2.describe.%s", instance.ID)].Unsubscribe()
+		}
 	}
 	return nil
 

From 31158932b815433f72b463ccc35d96a9ae90254d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Julian Sommer <115516918+juliansommer@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:49:28 +1100
Subject: [PATCH 2/6] fix: run-instances in e2e

---
 go.mod               |   5 +
 go.sum               |   2 +
 hive/gateway/ec2.go  |   2 +-
 tests/e2e/run-e2e.sh | 225 +++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------
 4 files changed, 137 insertions(+), 97 deletions(-)

diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index c6a57453e..a198ec7bf 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.13 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.16 // indirect
+	github.com/minio/crc64nvme v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/minio/highwayhash v1.0.3 // indirect
 	github.com/nats-io/jwt/v2 v2.7.4 // indirect
 	github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.11 // indirect
@@ -109,3 +110,7 @@ tool (
 	golang.org/x/vuln/cmd/govulncheck
 	honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck
 )
+
+replace github.com/mulgadc/viperblock => ../viperblock
+
+replace github.com/mulgadc/predastore => ../predastore
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 41eede855..5e7f34ec7 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -122,6 +122,8 @@ github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.13/go.mod h1:Jdepj2loyihRzMpdS35Xk/zdY8IAYHsh153qUoGf23w=
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.16 h1:E5ScNMtiwvlvB5paMFdw9p4kSQzbXFikJ5SQO6TULQc=
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.16/go.mod h1:Jdepj2loyihRzMpdS35Xk/zdY8IAYHsh153qUoGf23w=
+github.com/minio/crc64nvme v1.1.1 h1:8dwx/Pz49suywbO+auHCBpCtlW1OfpcLN7wYgVR6wAI=
+github.com/minio/crc64nvme v1.1.1/go.mod h1:eVfm2fAzLlxMdUGc0EEBGSMmPwmXD5XiNRpnu9J3bvg=
 github.com/minio/highwayhash v1.0.3 h1:kbnuUMoHYyVl7szWjSxJnxw11k2U709jqFPPmIUyD6Q=
 github.com/minio/highwayhash v1.0.3/go.mod h1:GGYsuwP/fPD6Y9hMiXuapVvlIUEhFhMTh0rxU3ik1LQ=
 github.com/mulgadc/predastore v0.1.5 h1:7SySkQQ5MQ1NTcKcB14pCUIJipq0YVgCJZeKM6ytrLM=
diff --git a/hive/gateway/ec2.go b/hive/gateway/ec2.go
index 7d513829d..c3af0898c 100644
--- a/hive/gateway/ec2.go
+++ b/hive/gateway/ec2.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func (gw *GatewayConfig) EC2_Request(ctx *fiber.Ctx) error {
 		}
 
 		// Convert to XML
-		payload := utils.GenerateXMLPayload("RunInstanceResponse", output)
+		payload := utils.GenerateXMLPayload("RunInstancesResponse", output)
 		xmlOutput, err = utils.MarshalToXML(payload)
 
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/tests/e2e/run-e2e.sh b/tests/e2e/run-e2e.sh
index e902b029b..6a7c960f0 100755
--- a/tests/e2e/run-e2e.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/run-e2e.sh
@@ -5,9 +5,30 @@ set -e
 cleanup() {
     EXIT_CODE=$?
     if [ $EXIT_CODE -ne 0 ]; then
-        echo "=== Hive Service Log ==="
+        echo ""
+        echo "=== NATS Service Log ==="
+        if [ -f ~/hive/logs/nats.log ]; then
+            tail -100 ~/hive/logs/nats.log 2>/dev/null
+        fi
+        echo ""
+        echo "=== Predastore Service Log ==="
+        if [ -f ~/hive/logs/predastore.log ]; then
+            tail -100 ~/hive/logs/predastore.log 2>/dev/null
+        fi
+        echo ""
+        echo "=== Viperblock Service Log ==="
+        if [ -f ~/hive/logs/viperblock.log ]; then
+            tail -100 ~/hive/logs/viperblock.log 2>/dev/null
+        fi
+        echo ""
+        echo "=== Hive Daemon Log ==="
         if [ -f ~/hive/logs/hive.log ]; then
-            cat ~/hive/logs/hive.log 2>/dev/null
+            tail -200 ~/hive/logs/hive.log 2>/dev/null
+        fi
+        echo ""
+        echo "=== AWS Gateway Log ==="
+        if [ -f ~/hive/logs/awsgw.log ]; then
+            tail -200 ~/hive/logs/awsgw.log 2>/dev/null
         fi
     fi
     ./scripts/stop-dev.sh
@@ -149,114 +170,126 @@ $AWS_EC2 describe-images --image-ids "$AMI_ID" | jq -e ".Images[0] | select(.Ima
 # Phase 5: Instance Lifecycle
 echo "Phase 5: Instance Lifecycle"
 # Launch a VM (run-instances)
-# INSTANCE_ID=$($AWS_EC2 run-instances --image-id "$AMI_ID" --instance-type "$INSTANCE_TYPE" --key-name test-key-1 --query 'Instances[0].InstanceId' --output text)
-# if [ -z "$INSTANCE_ID" ] || [ "$INSTANCE_ID" == "None" ]; then
-#     echo "Failed to launch instance"
-#     exit 1
-# fi
-# echo "Launched Instance ID: $INSTANCE_ID"
+echo "Running: aws ec2 run-instances --image-id $AMI_ID --instance-type $INSTANCE_TYPE --key-name test-key-1"
+# Capture full output for debugging
+set +e  # Temporarily disable exit on error to capture output
+RUN_OUTPUT=$($AWS_EC2 run-instances --image-id "$AMI_ID" --instance-type "$INSTANCE_TYPE" --key-name test-key-1 2>&1)
+RUN_EXIT_CODE=$?
+set -e  # Re-enable exit on error
+echo "Run instances exit code: $RUN_EXIT_CODE"
+echo "Run instances output: $RUN_OUTPUT"
+if [ $RUN_EXIT_CODE -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "❌ Failed to launch instance - AWS CLI returned error"
+    exit 1
+fi
+INSTANCE_ID=$(echo "$RUN_OUTPUT" | jq -r '.Instances[0].InstanceId')
+if [ -z "$INSTANCE_ID" ] || [ "$INSTANCE_ID" == "None" ] || [ "$INSTANCE_ID" == "null" ]; then
+    echo "Failed to launch instance - no InstanceId in response"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "Launched Instance ID: $INSTANCE_ID"
 
 # Poll until state is running (describe-instances)
-# echo "Polling for instance running state..."
-# COUNT=0
-# STATE="unknown"
-# while [ $COUNT -lt 60 ]; do
-#     # Capture full output to check if instance even exists in the response
-#     DESCRIBE_OUTPUT=$($AWS_EC2 describe-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID") || {
-#         echo "⚠️  Gateway request failed, retrying... ($COUNT/60)"
-#         sleep 5
-#         COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
-#         continue
-#     }
+echo "Polling for instance running state..."
+COUNT=0
+STATE="unknown"
+while [ $COUNT -lt 60 ]; do
+    # Capture full output to check if instance even exists in the response
+    DESCRIBE_OUTPUT=$($AWS_EC2 describe-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID") || {
+        echo "⚠️  Gateway request failed, retrying... ($COUNT/60)"
+        sleep 5
+        COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
+        continue
+    }
 
-#     if [ -z "$DESCRIBE_OUTPUT" ]; then
-#         echo "⚠️  Gateway returned empty response, retrying..."
-#         sleep 5
-#         COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
-#         continue
-#     fi
+    if [ -z "$DESCRIBE_OUTPUT" ]; then
+        echo "⚠️  Gateway returned empty response, retrying..."
+        sleep 5
+        COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
+        continue
+    fi
 
-#     # Extract state using jq
-#     STATE=$(echo "$DESCRIBE_OUTPUT" | jq -r '.Reservations[0].Instances[0].State.Name // "not-found"')
+    # Extract state using jq
+    STATE=$(echo "$DESCRIBE_OUTPUT" | jq -r '.Reservations[0].Instances[0].State.Name // "not-found"')
 
-#     echo "Instance state: $STATE"
-#     if [ "$STATE" == "running" ]; then
-#         break
-#     fi
+    echo "Instance state: $STATE"
+    if [ "$STATE" == "running" ]; then
+        break
+    fi
 
-#     if [ "$STATE" == "terminated" ]; then
-#         echo "❌ Instance terminated unexpectedly!"
-#         exit 1
-#     fi
+    if [ "$STATE" == "terminated" ]; then
+        echo "❌ Instance terminated unexpectedly!"
+        exit 1
+    fi
 
-#     sleep 5
-#     COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
-# done
+    sleep 5
+    COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
+done
 
-# if [ "$STATE" != "running" ]; then
-#     echo "Instance failed to reach running state"
-#     exit 1
-# fi
+if [ "$STATE" != "running" ]; then
+    echo "Instance failed to reach running state"
+    exit 1
+fi
 
-# # Verify root volume attached to the instance (describe-volumes)
-# VOLUME_ID=$($AWS_EC2 describe-volumes --query 'Volumes[0].VolumeId' --output text)
-# if [ -z "$VOLUME_ID" ] || [ "$VOLUME_ID" == "None" ]; then
-#     echo "Failed to find volume for instance $INSTANCE_ID"
-#     exit 1
-# fi
-# echo "Volume ID: $VOLUME_ID"
+# Verify root volume attached to the instance (describe-volumes)
+VOLUME_ID=$($AWS_EC2 describe-volumes --query 'Volumes[0].VolumeId' --output text)
+if [ -z "$VOLUME_ID" ] || [ "$VOLUME_ID" == "None" ]; then
+    echo "Failed to find volume for instance $INSTANCE_ID"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "Volume ID: $VOLUME_ID"
 
-# # Stop instance (stop-instances) and verify transition to stopped (describe-instances)
-# echo "Stopping instance..."
-# $AWS_EC2 stop-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID"
-# COUNT=0
-# while [ $COUNT -lt 30 ]; do
-#     STATE=$($AWS_EC2 describe-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID" --query 'Reservations[0].Instances[0].State.Name' --output text)
-#     echo "Instance state: $STATE"
-#     if [ "$STATE" == "stopped" ]; then
-#         break
-#     fi
-#     sleep 5
-#     COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
-# done
+# Stop instance (stop-instances) and verify transition to stopped (describe-instances)
+echo "Stopping instance..."
+$AWS_EC2 stop-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID"
+COUNT=0
+while [ $COUNT -lt 30 ]; do
+    STATE=$($AWS_EC2 describe-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID" --query 'Reservations[0].Instances[0].State.Name' --output text)
+    echo "Instance state: $STATE"
+    if [ "$STATE" == "stopped" ]; then
+        break
+    fi
+    sleep 5
+    COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
+done
 
-# if [ "$STATE" != "stopped" ]; then
-#     echo "Instance failed to reach stopped state"
-#     exit 1
-# fi
+if [ "$STATE" != "stopped" ]; then
+    echo "Instance failed to reach stopped state"
+    exit 1
+fi
 
-# # Start instance (start-instances) and verify transition back to running (describe-instances)
-# echo "Starting instance..."
-# $AWS_EC2 start-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID"
-# COUNT=0
-# while [ $COUNT -lt 30 ]; do
-#     STATE=$($AWS_EC2 describe-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID" --query 'Reservations[0].Instances[0].State.Name' --output text)
-#     echo "Instance state: $STATE"
-#     if [ "$STATE" == "running" ]; then
-#         break
-#     fi
-#     sleep 5
-#     COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
-# done
+# Start instance (start-instances) and verify transition back to running (describe-instances)
+echo "Starting instance..."
+$AWS_EC2 start-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID"
+COUNT=0
+while [ $COUNT -lt 30 ]; do
+    STATE=$($AWS_EC2 describe-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID" --query 'Reservations[0].Instances[0].State.Name' --output text)
+    echo "Instance state: $STATE"
+    if [ "$STATE" == "running" ]; then
+        break
+    fi
+    sleep 5
+    COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
+done
 
-# if [ "$STATE" != "running" ]; then
-#     echo "Instance failed to reach running state after restart"
-#     exit 1
-# fi
+if [ "$STATE" != "running" ]; then
+    echo "Instance failed to reach running state after restart"
+    exit 1
+fi
 
-# # Terminate instance (terminate-instances) and verify termination (describe-instances)
-# echo "Terminating instance..."
-# $AWS_EC2 terminate-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID"
-# COUNT=0
-# while [ $COUNT -lt 30 ]; do
-#     STATE=$($AWS_EC2 describe-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID" --query 'Reservations[0].Instances[0].State.Name' --output text)
-#     echo "Instance state: $STATE"
-#     if [ "$STATE" == "terminated" ] || [ "$STATE" == "None" ]; then
-#         break
-#     fi
-#     sleep 5
-#     COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
-# done
+# Terminate instance (terminate-instances) and verify termination (describe-instances)
+echo "Terminating instance..."
+$AWS_EC2 terminate-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID"
+COUNT=0
+while [ $COUNT -lt 30 ]; do
+    STATE=$($AWS_EC2 describe-instances --instance-ids "$INSTANCE_ID" --query 'Reservations[0].Instances[0].State.Name' --output text)
+    echo "Instance state: $STATE"
+    if [ "$STATE" == "terminated" ] || [ "$STATE" == "None" ]; then
+        break
+    fi
+    sleep 5
+    COUNT=$((COUNT + 1))
+done
 
 echo "E2E Test Completed Successfully"
 exit 0

From 0a4e0858f1590203354be34b3fd83eb1ff7a8002 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Julian <115516918+juliansommer@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:04:48 +1000
Subject: [PATCH 3/6] remove replace directive

---
 go.mod | 4 ----
 1 file changed, 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index a198ec7bf..db354dc00 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -110,7 +110,3 @@ tool (
 	golang.org/x/vuln/cmd/govulncheck
 	honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck
 )
-
-replace github.com/mulgadc/viperblock => ../viperblock
-
-replace github.com/mulgadc/predastore => ../predastore

From b1ec9b2122da542cf68e6e481d351a5014bdeae9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Julian <115516918+juliansommer@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:22:12 +1000
Subject: [PATCH 4/6] upgrade viperblock

---
 go.mod | 2 +-
 go.sum | 2 ++
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index db354dc00..c53758c17 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0
 	github.com/kdomanski/iso9660 v0.4.0
 	github.com/mulgadc/predastore v0.1.5
-	github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v0.1.4
+	github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v0.1.5
 	github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 v2.11.6
 	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.43.0
 	github.com/pelletier/go-toml/v2 v2.2.4
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 5e7f34ec7..9ca9239a8 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ github.com/mulgadc/predastore v0.1.5 h1:7SySkQQ5MQ1NTcKcB14pCUIJipq0YVgCJZeKM6yt
 github.com/mulgadc/predastore v0.1.5/go.mod h1:BhMymRV3zMTu2S+5pJnNDDm5+AGakjhSc/PKX0q8Xfg=
 github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v0.1.4 h1:YnRHEC6XNbhnSk6S+ET3X7DTMRezdO3o1O3nO/R9Syg=
 github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v0.1.4/go.mod h1:JNooDHb6ZuPvNPWaf0gChlft/D8xs5jHJFln+P3B9lQ=
+github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v0.1.5 h1:vS7ImGApQvxKuU1+fJNmwOycduwr9fx/xyofxWYKPcI=
+github.com/mulgadc/viperblock v0.1.5/go.mod h1:JNooDHb6ZuPvNPWaf0gChlft/D8xs5jHJFln+P3B9lQ=
 github.com/nats-io/jwt/v2 v2.7.4 h1:jXFuDDxs/GQjGDZGhNgH4tXzSUK6WQi2rsj4xmsNOtI=
 github.com/nats-io/jwt/v2 v2.7.4/go.mod h1:me11pOkwObtcBNR8AiMrUbtVOUGkqYjMQZ6jnSdVUIA=
 github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 v2.11.6 h1:4VXRjbTUFKEB+7UoaKL3F5Y83xC7MxPoIONOnGgpkHw=

From 6a87b62e06485b00df5c860d24fba2353e2c695f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Julian <115516918+juliansommer@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:23:07 +1000
Subject: [PATCH 5/6] feat: cache Ubuntu image in e2e Docker build

---
 tests/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e | 12 ++++++++++++
 tests/e2e/run-e2e.sh     | 12 ++++++++----
 2 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tests/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e b/tests/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e
index 94768ed3a..c87926630 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e
+++ b/tests/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e
@@ -38,6 +38,18 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/go/pkg/mod \
     (cd viperblock/nbd/libguestfs.org/nbdkit && go mod download) && \
     (cd predastore && go mod download)
 
+# Pre-download Ubuntu cloud image for e2e tests (cached in Docker layer)
+# Placed before source copy so code changes don't invalidate this layer
+RUN mkdir -p /root/images && \
+    ARCH=$(dpkg --print-architecture) && \
+    if [ "$ARCH" = "amd64" ]; then \
+        curl -L -o /root/images/ubuntu-24.04.img \
+            https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img; \
+    elif [ "$ARCH" = "arm64" ]; then \
+        curl -L -o /root/images/ubuntu-24.04.img \
+            https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-arm64.img; \
+    fi
+
 # 3. Copy the rest of the source code
 COPY hive/ ./hive/
 COPY viperblock/ ./viperblock/
diff --git a/tests/e2e/run-e2e.sh b/tests/e2e/run-e2e.sh
index 6a7c960f0..afc712da5 100755
--- a/tests/e2e/run-e2e.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/run-e2e.sh
@@ -151,10 +151,14 @@ else
 fi
 echo "Using image: $IMAGE_NAME"
 
-# Import a reliable Ubuntu image and capture the AMI ID from the output
-echo "Importing image $IMAGE_NAME..."
-echo "May appear stalled here, just takes a while to import..."
-IMPORT_LOG=$(./bin/hive admin images import --name "$IMAGE_NAME" --force 2>/dev/null)
+# Import the pre-downloaded Ubuntu image using file-based import
+echo "Importing pre-cached Ubuntu image..."
+IMPORT_LOG=$(./bin/hive admin images import \
+    --file /root/images/ubuntu-24.04.img \
+    --arch "$ARCH" \
+    --distro ubuntu \
+    --version 24.04 \
+    --force 2>/dev/null)
 AMI_ID=$(echo "$IMPORT_LOG" | grep -o 'ami-[a-z0-9]\+')
 
 if [ -z "$AMI_ID" ]; then

From 0138b7c970d6826acae189d197eb76b36ba07690 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Julian <115516918+juliansommer@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:26:33 +1000
Subject: [PATCH 6/6] move image download to before deps layer

---
 tests/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e | 24 ++++++++++++------------
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tests/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e b/tests/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e
index c87926630..9d1200ad4 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e
+++ b/tests/e2e/Dockerfile.e2e
@@ -23,6 +23,18 @@ ENV PATH="/usr/local/go/bin:/root/go/bin:${PATH}"
 # Set up working directory structure to match development layout
 WORKDIR /root/Development/mulga
 
+# Pre-download Ubuntu cloud image for e2e tests (cached in Docker layer)
+# Placed before dependency copy so go.mod changes don't invalidate this layer
+RUN mkdir -p /root/images && \
+    ARCH=$(dpkg --print-architecture) && \
+    if [ "$ARCH" = "amd64" ]; then \
+        curl -L -o /root/images/ubuntu-24.04.img \
+            https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img; \
+    elif [ "$ARCH" = "arm64" ]; then \
+        curl -L -o /root/images/ubuntu-24.04.img \
+            https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-arm64.img; \
+    fi
+
 # 1. Pre-copy dependency manifests for cache layer
 COPY hive/go.mod hive/go.sum ./hive/
 COPY viperblock/go.mod viperblock/go.sum ./viperblock/
@@ -38,18 +50,6 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/go/pkg/mod \
     (cd viperblock/nbd/libguestfs.org/nbdkit && go mod download) && \
     (cd predastore && go mod download)
 
-# Pre-download Ubuntu cloud image for e2e tests (cached in Docker layer)
-# Placed before source copy so code changes don't invalidate this layer
-RUN mkdir -p /root/images && \
-    ARCH=$(dpkg --print-architecture) && \
-    if [ "$ARCH" = "amd64" ]; then \
-        curl -L -o /root/images/ubuntu-24.04.img \
-            https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img; \
-    elif [ "$ARCH" = "arm64" ]; then \
-        curl -L -o /root/images/ubuntu-24.04.img \
-            https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-arm64.img; \
-    fi
-
 # 3. Copy the rest of the source code
 COPY hive/ ./hive/
 COPY viperblock/ ./viperblock/