diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml b/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
index ba299c5e2..98e122ad8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e.yaml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ env:
 jobs:
   build:
     name: build
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     steps:
     - name: Check out code
       uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
         path: _output/konnectivity-agent.tar
   kind-e2e:
     name: kind-e2e
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     timeout-minutes: 100
     needs:
     - build
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ jobs:
       run: make test-e2e-ci
   e2e:
     name: e2e
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     timeout-minutes: 100
     needs:
       - build
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ jobs:
         sudo cp ${TMP_DIR}/e2e.test /usr/local/bin/e2e.test
         sudo cp ${TMP_DIR}/kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
         sudo cp ${TMP_DIR}/kind /usr/local/bin/kind
-        sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/*
+        sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ginkgo /usr/local/bin/e2e.test /usr/local/bin/kubectl /usr/local/bin/kind
 
     - name: Create multi node cluster
       run: |
diff --git a/cmd/server/app/options/options.go b/cmd/server/app/options/options.go
index f5a26621c..a5dbce407 100644
--- a/cmd/server/app/options/options.go
+++ b/cmd/server/app/options/options.go
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ type ProxyRunOptions struct {
 	LeaseNamespace string
 	// Lease Labels
 	LeaseLabel string
+	// Needs kubernetes client
+	NeedsKubernetesClient bool
 }
 
 func (o *ProxyRunOptions) Flags() *pflag.FlagSet {
@@ -287,29 +289,27 @@ func (o *ProxyRunOptions) Validate() error {
 	if o.EnableContentionProfiling && !o.EnableProfiling {
 		return fmt.Errorf("if --enable-contention-profiling is set, --enable-profiling must also be set")
 	}
-
-	// validate agent authentication params
-	// all 4 parameters must be empty or must have value (except KubeconfigPath that might be empty)
-	if o.AgentNamespace != "" || o.AgentServiceAccount != "" || o.AuthenticationAudience != "" || o.KubeconfigPath != "" {
+	usingServiceAccountAuth := o.AgentNamespace != "" || o.AgentServiceAccount != "" || o.AuthenticationAudience != ""
+	if usingServiceAccountAuth {
 		if o.ClusterCaCert != "" {
-			return fmt.Errorf("ClusterCaCert can not be used when service account authentication is enabled")
+			return fmt.Errorf("--cluster-ca-cert can not be used when agent authentication is enabled")
 		}
 		if o.AgentNamespace == "" {
-			return fmt.Errorf("AgentNamespace cannot be empty when agent authentication is enabled")
+			return fmt.Errorf("--agent-namespace cannot be empty when agent authentication is enabled")
 		}
 		if o.AgentServiceAccount == "" {
-			return fmt.Errorf("AgentServiceAccount cannot be empty when agent authentication is enabled")
+			return fmt.Errorf("--agent-service-account cannot be empty when agent authentication is enabled")
 		}
 		if o.AuthenticationAudience == "" {
-			return fmt.Errorf("AuthenticationAudience cannot be empty when agent authentication is enabled")
+			return fmt.Errorf("--authentication-audience cannot be empty when agent authentication is enabled")
 		}
-		if o.KubeconfigPath != "" {
-			if _, err := os.Stat(o.KubeconfigPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
-				return fmt.Errorf("error checking KubeconfigPath %q, got %v", o.KubeconfigPath, err)
-			}
+	}
+	// Validate kubeconfig path if provided
+	if o.KubeconfigPath != "" {
+		if _, err := os.Stat(o.KubeconfigPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("checking KubeconfigPath %q, got %v", o.KubeconfigPath, err)
 		}
 	}
-
 	// validate the proxy strategies
 	if len(o.ProxyStrategies) == 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("ProxyStrategies cannot be empty")
@@ -338,6 +338,8 @@ func (o *ProxyRunOptions) Validate() error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	o.NeedsKubernetesClient = usingServiceAccountAuth || o.EnableLeaseController
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/server/app/server.go b/cmd/server/app/server.go
index 8f8ddfa36..479d838f7 100644
--- a/cmd/server/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/server/app/server.go
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ func (p *Proxy) Run(o *options.ProxyRunOptions, stopCh <-chan struct{}) error {
 	defer cancel()
 
 	var k8sClient *kubernetes.Clientset
-	if o.AgentNamespace != "" {
+	if o.NeedsKubernetesClient {
 		config, err := clientcmd.BuildConfigFromFlags("", o.KubeconfigPath)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to load kubernetes client config: %v", err)