diff --git a/.github/workflows/extra.yml b/.github/workflows/extra.yml
index c91d6fe78..6a075ae16 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/extra.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/extra.yml
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Make image usable for further builds
         run: |
           . venv/bin/activate
-          openstack image unset --property signature_verified "${{ steps.manifest.outputs.image-id }}"
+          openstack image unset --property signature_verified "${{ steps.manifest.outputs.image-id }}" || true
 
       - name: Delete image for automatically-run workflows
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/fatimage.yml b/.github/workflows/fatimage.yml
index c3b91fefa..38f55db04 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/fatimage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/fatimage.yml
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ jobs:
       matrix: # build RL8, RL9
         build:
           - image_name: openhpc-RL8
-            source_image_name: Rocky-8-GenericCloud-Base-8.10-20240528.0.x86_64.qcow2
+            source_image_name: Rocky-8-GenericCloud-Base-8.10-20240528.0.x86_64.raw
             inventory_groups: control,compute,login,update
           - image_name: openhpc-RL9
-            source_image_name: Rocky-9-GenericCloud-Base-9.5-20241118.0.x86_64.qcow2
+            source_image_name: Rocky-9-GenericCloud-Base-9.5-20241118.0.x86_64.raw
             inventory_groups: control,compute,login,update
     env:
       ANSIBLE_FORCE_COLOR: True
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Make image usable for further builds
         run: |
           . venv/bin/activate
-          openstack image unset --property signature_verified "${{ steps.manifest.outputs.image-id }}"
+          openstack image unset --property signature_verified "${{ steps.manifest.outputs.image-id }}" || true
 
       - name: Upload manifest artifact
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
diff --git a/.github/workflows/s3-image-sync.yml b/.github/workflows/s3-image-sync.yml
index fefe835a2..d5ba6afb9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/s3-image-sync.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/s3-image-sync.yml
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install s3cmd
         run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
           sudo apt-get --yes install s3cmd
       
       - name: Cleanup S3 bucket
@@ -75,9 +76,10 @@ jobs:
           echo "${{ secrets['ARCUS_S3_CFG'] }}" > ~/.s3cfg
         shell: bash
 
-      - name: Install s3cmd
+      - name: Install s3cmd and qemu-utils
         run: |
-          sudo apt-get --yes install s3cmd
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get --yes install s3cmd qemu-utils
 
       - name: Retrieve image name
         run: |
@@ -85,10 +87,27 @@ jobs:
           echo "TARGET_IMAGE=${TARGET_IMAGE}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
         shell: bash
 
+      - name: Clear up some space on runner
+        run: |
+          df -h
+          sudo rm -rf /usr/share/dotnet
+          sudo rm -rf /opt/ghc
+          sudo rm -rf "/usr/local/share/boost"
+          sudo rm -rf "$AGENT_TOOLSDIRECTORY"
+          sudo apt-get clean
+          df -h
+
       - name: Download image to runner
         run: |
           . venv/bin/activate
-          openstack image save --file ${{ env.TARGET_IMAGE }} ${{ env.TARGET_IMAGE }}
+          openstack image save --file "${{ env.TARGET_IMAGE }}.raw" "${{ env.TARGET_IMAGE }}"
+          df -h
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Convert image to QCOW2
+        run: |
+          . venv/bin/activate
+          qemu-img convert -f raw -O qcow2 -c "${{ env.TARGET_IMAGE }}.raw" "${{ env.TARGET_IMAGE }}"
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Upload Image to S3
diff --git a/packer/openstack.pkr.hcl b/packer/openstack.pkr.hcl
index 2ba0a1e63..a821076d0 100644
--- a/packer/openstack.pkr.hcl
+++ b/packer/openstack.pkr.hcl
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ source "openstack" "openhpc" {
   ssh_bastion_private_key_file = var.ssh_bastion_private_key_file
   
   # Output image:
-  image_disk_format = "qcow2"
+  image_disk_format = "raw"
   image_visibility = var.image_visibility
   
 }