diff --git a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
index 3dcbfa0..e283a4d 100755
--- a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ steps:
     key: aws-up-fedora
     concurrency_group: aws-fd
     concurrency: 1
-    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-bs-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=41 task ci:aws:rp
+    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-bs-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=43 task ci:aws:rp
     plugins:
       - seek-oss/aws-sm#v2.3.2:
           json-to-env:
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ steps:
     key: aws-up-fed-con
     concurrency_group: aws-fd-cn
     concurrency: 1
-    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-cn-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=41 task ci:aws:rp:connect
+    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-cn-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=43 task ci:aws:rp:connect
     plugins:
       - seek-oss/aws-sm#v2.3.2:
           json-to-env:
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ steps:
     key: aws-up-fedora-tiered
     concurrency_group: aws-fd
     concurrency: 1
-    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-ts-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=41 task ci:aws:rp:tiered
+    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-ts-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=43 task ci:aws:rp:tiered
     plugins:
       - seek-oss/aws-sm#v2.3.2:
           json-to-env:
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ steps:
     key: aws-up-fed-cts
     concurrency_group: aws-fd-cn
     concurrency: 1
-    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-ct-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=41 task ci:aws:rp:ts-connect
+    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-ct-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=43 task ci:aws:rp:ts-connect
     plugins:
       - seek-oss/aws-sm#v2.3.2:
           json-to-env:
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ steps:
     key: aws-up-fedora-ts-large
     concurrency_group: aws-fd
     concurrency: 1
-    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-ts-fd-lg-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=41 INSTANCE_TYPE_AWS=is4gen.4xlarge MACHINE_ARCH=arm64 task ci:aws:rp:tiered
+    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-ts-fd-lg-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=43 INSTANCE_TYPE_AWS=is4gen.4xlarge MACHINE_ARCH=arm64 task ci:aws:rp:tiered
     plugins:
       - seek-oss/aws-sm#v2.3.2:
           json-to-env:
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ steps:
     key: gcp-up-fedora
     concurrency_group: gcp-fd
     concurrency: 1
-    command: GCP_IMAGE="fedora-cloud/fedora-cloud-39" DEPLOYMENT_ID="ci-bs-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4`" task ci:gcp:rp
+    command: GCP_IMAGE="fedora-cloud/fedora-cloud-43-x86-64" DEPLOYMENT_ID="ci-bs-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4`" task ci:gcp:rp
     plugins:
       - seek-oss/aws-sm#v2.3.2:
           json-to-env:
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ steps:
     key: gcp-up-fedora-tiered
     concurrency_group: gcp-fd
     concurrency: 1
-    command: GCP_IMAGE="fedora-cloud/fedora-cloud-39" DEPLOYMENT_ID="ci-ud-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4`" task ci:gcp:rp:tiered
+    command: GCP_IMAGE="fedora-cloud/fedora-cloud-43-x86-64" DEPLOYMENT_ID="ci-ud-fd-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4`" task ci:gcp:rp:tiered
     plugins:
       - seek-oss/aws-sm#v2.3.2:
           json-to-env:
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ steps:
     key: aws-us-fedora-tiered
     concurrency_group: unstable
     concurrency: 1
-    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-ts-fd-us-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=41 IS_USING_UNSTABLE=true task ci:aws:rp:tiered
+    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-ts-fd-us-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=43 IS_USING_UNSTABLE=true task ci:aws:rp:tiered
     plugins:
       - seek-oss/aws-sm#v2.3.2:
           json-to-env:
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ steps:
     key: aws-us-fedora-ts-large
     concurrency_group: unstable
     concurrency: 1
-    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-ts-fd-us-lg-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=41 IS_USING_UNSTABLE=true INSTANCE_TYPE_AWS=is4gen.4xlarge MACHINE_ARCH=arm64 task ci:aws:rp:tiered
+    command: DEPLOYMENT_ID=ci-ts-fd-us-lg-`tr -dc a-z0-9 </dev/urandom | head -c 4` DISTRO=43 IS_USING_UNSTABLE=true INSTANCE_TYPE_AWS=is4gen.4xlarge MACHINE_ARCH=arm64 task ci:aws:rp:tiered
     plugins:
       - seek-oss/aws-sm#v2.3.2:
           json-to-env:
diff --git a/.tasks/ci.yml b/.tasks/ci.yml
index a6d8982..258178a 100644
--- a/.tasks/ci.yml
+++ b/.tasks/ci.yml
@@ -28,11 +28,11 @@ tasks:
     desc: CI workflow - AWS Redpanda with Connect
     vars:
       ENABLE_CONNECT: "true"
-      DISTRO: "41"
+      DISTRO: "43"
     cmds:
       - task: :tools:keygen
       - task: :infra:aws:build
-        vars: {ENABLE_CONNECT: "true", DISTRO: "41"}
+        vars: {ENABLE_CONNECT: "true", DISTRO: "43"}
       - task: :infra:extra:aws:copy
       - task: :infra:extra:aws:build
       - task: :cluster:provision
@@ -67,11 +67,11 @@ tasks:
     vars:
       ENABLE_CONNECT: "true"
       TIERED_STORAGE_ENABLED: "true"
-      DISTRO: "41"
+      DISTRO: "43"
     cmds:
       - task: :tools:keygen
       - task: :infra:aws:build
-        vars: {ENABLE_CONNECT: "true", TIERED_STORAGE_ENABLED: "true", DISTRO: "41"}
+        vars: {ENABLE_CONNECT: "true", TIERED_STORAGE_ENABLED: "true", DISTRO: "43"}
       - task: :cluster:tiered
       - task: :connect:deploy:tls
       - task: :monitor:deploy:tls
diff --git a/.tasks/dev.yml b/.tasks/dev.yml
index e522ed5..2469951 100644
--- a/.tasks/dev.yml
+++ b/.tasks/dev.yml
@@ -5,13 +5,13 @@ tasks:
     desc: Stand up full Connect environment (primary + secondary clusters for replication)
     vars:
       ENABLE_CONNECT: "true"
-      DISTRO: "41"
+      DISTRO: "43"
     cmds:
       - task: :tools:keygen
       - task: :ansible:prereqs
       - task: :tools:rpk:install
       - task: :infra:aws:build
-        vars: {ENABLE_CONNECT: "true", DISTRO: "41"}
+        vars: {ENABLE_CONNECT: "true", DISTRO: "43"}
       - task: :infra:extra:aws:copy
       - task: :infra:extra:aws:build
       - task: :cluster:provision