From 33328bc2894652fd342de13d27091d6b802ebe7c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Szymon Bylica <142112966+sbylica-splunk@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2025 14:23:06 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 1/7] fix: Fixed barracuda parser admitting to many headers
 (#2815)

---
 .../conflib/syslog/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf  | 15 +++++++++------
 .../conflib/syslog/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf  | 15 +++++++++------
 .../barracuda/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf       | 15 +++++++++------
 3 files changed, 27 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)

diff --git a/package/enterprise/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf b/package/enterprise/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf
index b85bfdcb8c..4622f3ab7a 100644
--- a/package/enterprise/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf
+++ b/package/enterprise/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf
@@ -46,11 +46,14 @@ block parser app-syslog-barracuda_waf() {
 
 application app-syslog-barracuda_waf[sc4s-syslog-pgm] {
     filter {
-        program('SYS' type(string))
-        or program('WF' type(string))
-        or program('TR' type(string))
-        or program('AUDIT' type(string))
-        or program('NF' type(string))
-    };	
+        (
+            program('SYS' type(string))
+            or program('WF' type(string))
+            or program('TR' type(string))
+            or program('AUDIT' type(string))
+            or program('NF' type(string))
+        )
+        and match('(SYS|WF|TR|AUDIT|NF) ?$', value("MSGHDR"))
+    };
     parser { app-syslog-barracuda_waf(); };
 };
diff --git a/package/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf b/package/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf
index b85bfdcb8c..4622f3ab7a 100644
--- a/package/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf
+++ b/package/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf
@@ -46,11 +46,14 @@ block parser app-syslog-barracuda_waf() {
 
 application app-syslog-barracuda_waf[sc4s-syslog-pgm] {
     filter {
-        program('SYS' type(string))
-        or program('WF' type(string))
-        or program('TR' type(string))
-        or program('AUDIT' type(string))
-        or program('NF' type(string))
-    };	
+        (
+            program('SYS' type(string))
+            or program('WF' type(string))
+            or program('TR' type(string))
+            or program('AUDIT' type(string))
+            or program('NF' type(string))
+        )
+        and match('(SYS|WF|TR|AUDIT|NF) ?$', value("MSGHDR"))
+    };
     parser { app-syslog-barracuda_waf(); };
 };
diff --git a/package/lite/etc/addons/barracuda/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf b/package/lite/etc/addons/barracuda/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf
index b85bfdcb8c..4622f3ab7a 100644
--- a/package/lite/etc/addons/barracuda/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf
+++ b/package/lite/etc/addons/barracuda/app-syslog-barracuda_waf.conf
@@ -46,11 +46,14 @@ block parser app-syslog-barracuda_waf() {
 
 application app-syslog-barracuda_waf[sc4s-syslog-pgm] {
     filter {
-        program('SYS' type(string))
-        or program('WF' type(string))
-        or program('TR' type(string))
-        or program('AUDIT' type(string))
-        or program('NF' type(string))
-    };	
+        (
+            program('SYS' type(string))
+            or program('WF' type(string))
+            or program('TR' type(string))
+            or program('AUDIT' type(string))
+            or program('NF' type(string))
+        )
+        and match('(SYS|WF|TR|AUDIT|NF) ?$', value("MSGHDR"))
+    };
     parser { app-syslog-barracuda_waf(); };
 };

From efd606b38d712ff8b8d5114613fff9311669aa11 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nikunj Joshi <nikunjj@splunk.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2025 14:29:47 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 2/7] docs: Updated the Epic EHR doc. (#2811)

---
 docs/sources/vendor/epic/epic_ehr.md | 2 ++
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)

diff --git a/docs/sources/vendor/epic/epic_ehr.md b/docs/sources/vendor/epic/epic_ehr.md
index e278000e13..84321fa5d6 100644
--- a/docs/sources/vendor/epic/epic_ehr.md
+++ b/docs/sources/vendor/epic/epic_ehr.md
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
 ## Key facts
 
 * Requires vendor product by source configuration
+* MSG Format based filter
 * Legacy BSD Format default port 514
+* RFC 5424 Format default port 514
 
 ## Links
 

From 1f548533e85a4d6a124a62051fdbc358da55546f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Szymon Bylica <142112966+sbylica-splunk@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2025 09:26:03 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 3/7] feat: Added support for more dell powerstore events
 (#2818)

---
 .../etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf | 4 ++--
 .../etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf | 4 ++--
 package/lite/etc/addons/dell/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf  | 4 ++--
 tests/test_dell_powerstore.py                                 | 3 ++-
 4 files changed, 8 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/package/enterprise/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf b/package/enterprise/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf
index 7870a460ba..5ef9464153 100644
--- a/package/enterprise/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf
+++ b/package/enterprise/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ block parser app-syslog-dell_powerstore() {
 };
 application app-syslog-dell_powerstore[sc4s-network-source] {
     filter {
-        match('\[PowerStore_audit_event@1139' value("MESSAGE"));
-        };
+        match('\[PowerStore_[A-Za-z_]+@1139' value("MESSAGE"));
+    };
 	parser { app-syslog-dell_powerstore(); };
 };
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf b/package/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf
index 7870a460ba..5ef9464153 100644
--- a/package/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf
+++ b/package/etc/conf.d/conflib/syslog/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ block parser app-syslog-dell_powerstore() {
 };
 application app-syslog-dell_powerstore[sc4s-network-source] {
     filter {
-        match('\[PowerStore_audit_event@1139' value("MESSAGE"));
-        };
+        match('\[PowerStore_[A-Za-z_]+@1139' value("MESSAGE"));
+    };
 	parser { app-syslog-dell_powerstore(); };
 };
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package/lite/etc/addons/dell/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf b/package/lite/etc/addons/dell/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf
index 7870a460ba..5ef9464153 100644
--- a/package/lite/etc/addons/dell/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf
+++ b/package/lite/etc/addons/dell/app-syslog-dell_powerstore.conf
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ block parser app-syslog-dell_powerstore() {
 };
 application app-syslog-dell_powerstore[sc4s-network-source] {
     filter {
-        match('\[PowerStore_audit_event@1139' value("MESSAGE"));
-        };
+        match('\[PowerStore_[A-Za-z_]+@1139' value("MESSAGE"));
+    };
 	parser { app-syslog-dell_powerstore(); };
 };
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/test_dell_powerstore.py b/tests/test_dell_powerstore.py
index 96bbc1430e..9f2fc33bc4 100644
--- a/tests/test_dell_powerstore.py
+++ b/tests/test_dell_powerstore.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 # <110>Jan 31 19:48:25 APM00243620939-B [358]: 2025-01-31T19:48:16 APM00243620939-B PSb8ad27c26647 358@HM3CTZ3 Authentication [PowerStore_audit_event@1139 id="2349" user="EncryptHTTP.PSb8ad27c26647" resource_type="login_session" action="None" client_ip="None" appliance="APM00243620939" status="success"] Successfully authenticated cert_account : Dell EMC PowerStore CA P9XEU8F5/EncryptHTTP.PSb8ad27c26647.
 # <110>Jan 31 19:49:05 APM00243620939-B [358]: 2025-01-31T19:48:49 APM00243620939-B PSb8ad27c26647 358@HM3CTZ3 Config [PowerStore_audit_event@1139 id="2351" user="admin" resource_type="system_health_check" action="create" client_ip="10.114.173.252" appliance="APM00243620939" status="failed"] Failed to perform system health check on pki-tech-ps-p01.
 # <110>Jan 31 19:58:46 APM00243620939-B [358]: 2025-01-31T19:58:22 APM00243620939-B PSb8ad27c26647 358@HM3CTZ3 Logout [PowerStore_audit_event@1139 id="2352" user="admin" resource_type="login_session" action="delete" client_ip="10.114.173.252" appliance="APM00243620939" status="success"] User "admin" was successfully logged out.
+# <110>Jan 31 19:58:46 APM00243620939-B [358]: 2025-01-31T19:58:22 APM00243620939-B PSb8ad27c26647 358@HM3CTZ3 AlertEvent [PowerStore_remote_logging_alert@1139 sequence_number="52497" event_name="REMOTE_SUPPORT_CONNECTIVITY_STATUS_NORMAL" resource_type="remote_support" resource_name="SupportAssist" alert_id="ef7b021c-23a0-4821-8245-289cbdc7addd" alert_state="Cleared" appliance_name="rzpowerstore01-appliance-1" event_id="b320f9b7-c44e-bd39-ab56-8d278c69f6bb" event_code="0x00d00203" system_impact="None" repair_flow=""] Cluster connectivity is good. Appliance status: A1 Good.
 
 test_cases = [
     "{{ mark }}{{ bsd }} {{ host }} [358]: {{ iso }} {{ host }} PSb8ad27c26647 358@HM3CTZ3 Authentication [PowerStore_audit_event@1139 id=\"2341\" user=\"admin\" resource_type=\"login_session\" action=\"None\" client_ip=\"10.114.173.252\" appliance=\"APM00243620939\" status=\"success\"] User \"admin\" logged in successfully.",
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@
     "{{ mark }}{{ bsd }} {{ host }} [358]: {{ iso }} {{ host }} PSb8ad27c26647 358@HM3CTZ3 Authentication [PowerStore_audit_event@1139 id=\"2349\" user=\"EncryptHTTP.PSb8ad27c26647\" resource_type=\"login_session\" action=\"None\" client_ip=\"None\" appliance=\"APM00243620939\" status=\"success\"] Successfully authenticated cert_account : Dell EMC PowerStore CA P9XEU8F5/EncryptHTTP.PSb8ad27c26647.",
     "{{ mark }}{{ bsd }} {{ host }} [358]: {{ iso }} {{ host }} PSb8ad27c26647 358@HM3CTZ3 Config [PowerStore_audit_event@1139 id=\"2351\" user=\"admin\" resource_type=\"system_health_check\" action=\"create\" client_ip=\"10.114.173.252\" appliance=\"APM00243620939\" status=\"failed\"] Failed to perform system health check on pki-tech-ps-p01.",
     "{{ mark }}{{ bsd }} {{ host }} [358]: {{ iso }} {{ host }} PSb8ad27c26647 358@HM3CTZ3 Logout [PowerStore_audit_event@1139 id=\"2352\" user=\"admin\" resource_type=\"login_session\" action=\"delete\" client_ip=\"10.114.173.252\" appliance=\"APM00243620939\" status=\"success\"] User \"admin\" was successfully logged out."
-
+    "{{ mark }}{{ bsd }} {{ host }} [358]: {{ iso }} {{ host }} PSb8ad27c26647 358@HM3CTZ3 AlertEvent [PowerStore_remote_logging_alert@1139 sequence_number=\"52497\" event_name=\"REMOTE_SUPPORT_CONNECTIVITY_STATUS_NORMAL\" resource_type=\"remote_support\" resource_name=\"SupportAssist\" alert_id=\"ef7b021c-23a0-4821-8245-289cbdc7addd\" alert_state=\"Cleared\" appliance_name=\"rzpowerstore01-appliance-1\" event_id=\"b320f9b7-c44e-bd39-ab56-8d278c69f6bb\" event_code=\"0x00d00203\" system_impact=\"None\" repair_flow=\"\"] Cluster connectivity is good. Appliance status: A1 Good."
 ]
 
 

From 1086bb0b639777e6fd43be6defc3f877e882fee7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: pdudhaiya-crest <69460835+pdudhaiya-crest@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2025 12:10:20 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 4/7] test: (ADDON-81912) add docker and podman e2e tests
 (#2822)

* ci: add e2e tests for docker and podman

* chore: fix test failures in docker e2e

* chore: make changes to fix issues in execution

* chore: test

* chore: test

* chore: test

* chore: update SC4S_IMAGE settings

* chore: use sudo

* chore: test without setting ENV

* chore: test named cache

* chore: test

* chore: also update ci lite

* chore: test

* chore: Update artifacts name and use sed command to update SC4S image

* chore: test

* chore: debug things

* chore: test

* chore: test

* chore: test

* chore: Update ci enterprise

* chore: test

* chore: test

* chore: test
---
 .github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml          | 220 ++++++++++-------
 .github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml                | 229 ++++++++++--------
 .github/workflows/ci-main.yaml                | 228 +++++++++--------
 .../tasks/install_docker_debian.yml           |   6 +
 ansible/tasks/docker/deploy_app.yml           |   4 +-
 ansible/tasks/podman/deploy_app.yml           |   4 +-
 6 files changed, 384 insertions(+), 307 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
index 10afd7a00e..7222bdbfbc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
@@ -184,12 +184,15 @@ jobs:
           scanners: "vuln"
           
   test-container:
+    strategy:
+      matrix: 
+        deployment_type: ["docker", "podman"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    continue-on-error: true
     needs:
       - meta
       - build_action
-    container:
-      image: python:3.9-buster
+
     services:
       splunk:
         image: splunk/splunk:${{ fromJson(needs.meta.outputs.matrix_supportedSplunk)[0].version }}
@@ -202,41 +205,68 @@ jobs:
           SPLUNK_PASSWORD: Changed@11
           SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
           SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
-      sc4s:
-        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-        ports:
-          - 514:514
-          - 601:601
-          - 5614:5514
-          - 5601:5601
-          - 6000:6000
-          - 6002:6002
-          - 9000:9000
-        env:
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_HTTP_COMPRESSION: "yes"
-          SC4S_LISTEN_PFSENSE_FIREWALL_TCP_PORT: 6000
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_TCP_PORT: 5514
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_UDP_PORT: 5514
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_TWO_TCP_PORT: 5601
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SPECTRACOM_NTP_TCP_PORT: 6002
-          SC4S_LISTEN_CISCO_ESA_TCP_PORT: 9000
-          SC4S_LISTEN_RARITAN_DSX_TCP_PORT: 9001
-          SC4S_LISTEN_CHECKPOINT_SPLUNK_NOISE_CONTROL: "yes"
-          SC4S_SOURCE_RICOH_SYSLOG_FIXHOST: "yes"
-          TEST_SC4S_ACTIVATE_EXAMPLES: "yes"
-          SC4S_DEBUG_CONTAINER: "yes"
-          SC4S_SOURCE_VMWARE_VSPHERE_GROUPMSG: "yes"
-          SC4S_NETAPP_ONTAP_NEW_FORMAT: "yes"
-          SC4S_USE_VPS_CACHE: "yes"
+
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: false
           persist-credentials: false
+      - name: Install Ansible and other dependencies as python package
+        run: |
+          pip install ansible~=6.1.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install pywinrm>=0.4.2 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install ansible-lint>=6.0.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install docker
+      - name: Configure Ansible Environment Variables
+        env:
+          ANSIBLE_CONFIG: ansible.cfg
+          ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING: False
+        run: |
+          echo "ANSIBLE_CONFIG is set to: $ANSIBLE_CONFIG"
+          echo "ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING is set to: $ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING"
+          sudo systemctl set-environment SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
+      - name: Update inventory file
+        run: |
+          cat << EOF > ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml
+          ---
+          all:
+            hosts:
+            children:
+              node:
+                hosts:
+                  node_1:
+                    ansible_host: 127.0.0.1
+                    ansible_connection: local
+                    ansible_user: root
+      - name: Update env_file
+        run: |
+          echo "Updating ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml"
+          cat << EOF > ansible/resources/env_file
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_HTTP_COMPRESSION=yes
+          SC4S_LISTEN_PFSENSE_FIREWALL_TCP_PORT=6000
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_TCP_PORT=5514
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_UDP_PORT=5514
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_TWO_TCP_PORT=5601
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SPECTRACOM_NTP_TCP_PORT=6002
+          SC4S_LISTEN_CISCO_ESA_TCP_PORT=9000
+          SC4S_LISTEN_RARITAN_DSX_TCP_PORT=9001
+          SC4S_LISTEN_CHECKPOINT_SPLUNK_NOISE_CONTROL=yes
+          SC4S_SOURCE_RICOH_SYSLOG_FIXHOST=yes
+          TEST_SC4S_ACTIVATE_EXAMPLES=yes
+          SC4S_DEBUG_CONTAINER=yes
+          SC4S_SOURCE_VMWARE_VSPHERE_GROUPMSG=yes
+          SC4S_NETAPP_ONTAP_NEW_FORMAT=yes
+          SC4S_USE_VPS_CACHE=yes
+      - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
+        run: |
+          sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
+      - name: Run Ansible Playbook
+        run: |
+          ansible-playbook --connection=local -i ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml ansible/playbooks/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.yml 
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           pip3 install poetry
@@ -245,22 +275,34 @@ jobs:
           poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
             --splunk_type=external \
             --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=splunk \
-            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
+            --splunk_host=127.0.0.1 \
+            --sc4s_host=127.0.0.1 \
             --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
             -n 14 \
             -k 'not lite and not name_cache'
-  test-ipv4-name-cache:
+      - name: artifact-test-results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: test-container-results_${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.xml
+          path: test-results/test.xml
+        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
+  
+  test-name-cache:
+    strategy:
+      matrix: 
+        deployment_type: ["docker", "podman"]
+        SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: ["yes","no"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    continue-on-error: true
     needs:
       - meta
       - build_action
-    container:
-      image: python:3.9-buster
+
     services:
       splunk:
         image: splunk/splunk:${{ fromJson(needs.meta.outputs.matrix_supportedSplunk)[0].version }}
         ports:
+          - 8000:8000
           - 8088:8088
           - 8089:8089
         env:
@@ -268,70 +310,56 @@ jobs:
           SPLUNK_PASSWORD: Changed@11
           SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
           SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
-      sc4s:
-        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-        ports:
-          - 514:514
-        env:
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
-          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
+
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: false
           persist-credentials: false
-      - name: Run tests
+      - name: Install Ansible and other dependencies as python package
         run: |
-          pip3 install poetry
-          poetry install
-          mkdir -p test-results || true
-          poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
-            --splunk_type=external \
-            --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=splunk \
-            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
-            --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
-            -n 1 \
-            -m 'name_cache'
-  test-ipv6-name-cache:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs:
-      - meta
-      - build_action
-    container:
-      image: python:3.9-buster
-    services:
-      splunk:
-        image: splunk/splunk:${{ fromJson(needs.meta.outputs.matrix_supportedSplunk)[0].version }}
-        ports:
-          - 8088:8088
-          - 8089:8089
-        env:
-          SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SPLUNK_PASSWORD: Changed@11
-          SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
-          SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
-      sc4s:
-        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-        ports:
-          - 514:514
+          pip install ansible~=6.1.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install pywinrm>=0.4.2 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install ansible-lint>=6.0.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install docker
+      - name: Configure Ansible Environment Variables
         env:
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
+          ANSIBLE_CONFIG: ansible.cfg
+          ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING: False
+        run: |
+          echo "ANSIBLE_CONFIG is set to: $ANSIBLE_CONFIG"
+          echo "ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING is set to: $ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING"
+          sudo systemctl set-environment SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
+      - name: Update inventory file
+        run: |
+          cat << EOF > ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml
+          ---
+          all:
+            hosts:
+            children:
+              node:
+                hosts:
+                  node_1:
+                    ansible_host: 127.0.0.1
+                    ansible_connection: local
+                    ansible_user: root
+      - name: Update env_file
+        run: |
+          echo "Updating ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml"
+          cat << EOF > ansible/resources/env_file
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
           SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
           SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "yes"
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: false
-          persist-credentials: false
+          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}"
+      - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
+        run: |
+          sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
+      - name: Run Ansible Playbook
+        run: |
+          ansible-playbook --connection=local -i ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml ansible/playbooks/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.yml 
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           pip3 install poetry
@@ -340,11 +368,17 @@ jobs:
           poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
             --splunk_type=external \
             --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=splunk \
-            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
+            --splunk_host=127.0.0.1 \
+            --sc4s_host=127.0.0.1 \
             --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
             -n 1 \
             -m 'name_cache'
+      - name: artifact-test-results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: test-name-cache-results_${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_IPv6_${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}.xml
+          path: test-results/test.xml
+        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
   release:
     name: Release
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -352,7 +386,7 @@ jobs:
       - meta
       - build_action
       - test-container
-      - test-ipv4-name-cache
+      - test-name-cache
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml
index 79c5066140..a477dba2b3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml
@@ -178,14 +178,14 @@ jobs:
           scanners: "vuln"
           
   test-container:
+    strategy:
+      matrix: 
+        deployment_type: ["docker", "podman"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    continue-on-error: true
     needs:
       - meta
       - build_action
-    # runs all of the steps inside the specified container rather than on the VM host.
-    # Because of this the network configuration changes from host based network to a container network.
-    container:
-      image: python:3.9-buster
 
     services:
       splunk:
@@ -200,41 +200,67 @@ jobs:
           SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
           SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
 
-      sc4s:
-        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-        ports:
-          - 514:514
-          - 601:601
-          - 5614:5514
-          - 5601:5601
-          - 6000:6000
-          - 6002:6002
-          - 9000:9000
-        env:
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_HTTP_COMPRESSION: "yes"
-          SC4S_LISTEN_PFSENSE_FIREWALL_TCP_PORT: 6000
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_TCP_PORT: 5514
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_UDP_PORT: 5514
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_TWO_TCP_PORT: 5601
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SPECTRACOM_NTP_TCP_PORT: 6002
-          SC4S_LISTEN_CISCO_ESA_TCP_PORT: 9000
-          SC4S_LISTEN_RARITAN_DSX_TCP_PORT: 9001
-          SC4S_LISTEN_CHECKPOINT_SPLUNK_NOISE_CONTROL: "yes"
-          SC4S_SOURCE_RICOH_SYSLOG_FIXHOST: "yes"
-          TEST_SC4S_ACTIVATE_EXAMPLES: "yes"
-          SC4S_DEBUG_CONTAINER: "yes"
-          SC4S_SOURCE_VMWARE_VSPHERE_GROUPMSG: "yes"
-          SC4S_NETAPP_ONTAP_NEW_FORMAT: "yes"
-          SC4S_USE_VPS_CACHE: "yes"
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: false
           persist-credentials: false
+      - name: Install Ansible and other dependencies as python package
+        run: |
+          pip install ansible~=6.1.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install pywinrm>=0.4.2 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install ansible-lint>=6.0.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install docker
+      - name: Configure Ansible Environment Variables
+        env:
+          ANSIBLE_CONFIG: ansible.cfg
+          ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING: False
+        run: |
+          echo "ANSIBLE_CONFIG is set to: $ANSIBLE_CONFIG"
+          echo "ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING is set to: $ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING"
+          sudo systemctl set-environment SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
+      - name: Update inventory file
+        run: |
+          cat << EOF > ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml
+          ---
+          all:
+            hosts:
+            children:
+              node:
+                hosts:
+                  node_1:
+                    ansible_host: 127.0.0.1
+                    ansible_connection: local
+                    ansible_user: root
+      - name: Update env_file
+        run: |
+          echo "Updating ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml"
+          cat << EOF > ansible/resources/env_file
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_HTTP_COMPRESSION=yes
+          SC4S_LISTEN_PFSENSE_FIREWALL_TCP_PORT=6000
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_TCP_PORT=5514
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_UDP_PORT=5514
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_TWO_TCP_PORT=5601
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SPECTRACOM_NTP_TCP_PORT=6002
+          SC4S_LISTEN_CISCO_ESA_TCP_PORT=9000
+          SC4S_LISTEN_RARITAN_DSX_TCP_PORT=9001
+          SC4S_LISTEN_CHECKPOINT_SPLUNK_NOISE_CONTROL=yes
+          SC4S_SOURCE_RICOH_SYSLOG_FIXHOST=yes
+          TEST_SC4S_ACTIVATE_EXAMPLES=yes
+          SC4S_DEBUG_CONTAINER=yes
+          SC4S_SOURCE_VMWARE_VSPHERE_GROUPMSG=yes
+          SC4S_NETAPP_ONTAP_NEW_FORMAT=yes
+          SC4S_USE_VPS_CACHE=yes
+      - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
+        run: |
+          sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
+      - name: Run Ansible Playbook
+        run: |
+          ansible-playbook --connection=local -i ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml ansible/playbooks/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.yml 
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           pip3 install poetry
@@ -243,24 +269,33 @@ jobs:
           poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
             --splunk_type=external \
             --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=splunk \
-            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
+            --splunk_host=127.0.0.1 \
+            --sc4s_host=127.0.0.1 \
             --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
             -n 14 -m "lite or addons"
-
-  test-ipv4-name-cache:
+      - name: artifact-test-results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: test-container-results_${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.xml
+          path: test-results/test.xml
+        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
+  
+  test-name-cache:
+    strategy:
+      matrix: 
+        deployment_type: ["docker", "podman"]
+        SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: ["yes","no"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    continue-on-error: true
     needs:
       - meta
       - build_action
-    # runs all of the steps inside the specified container rather than on the VM host.
-    # Because of this the network configuration changes from host based network to a container network.
-    container:
-      image: python:3.9-buster
+
     services:
       splunk:
         image: splunk/splunk:${{ fromJson(needs.meta.outputs.matrix_supportedSplunk)[0].version }}
         ports:
+          - 8000:8000
           - 8088:8088
           - 8089:8089
         env:
@@ -269,76 +304,55 @@ jobs:
           SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
           SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
 
-      sc4s:
-        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-        ports:
-          - 514:514
-        env:
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
-          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: false
           persist-credentials: false
-      - name: Run tests
+      - name: Install Ansible and other dependencies as python package
         run: |
-          pip3 install poetry
-          poetry install
-          mkdir -p test-results || true
-          poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
-            --splunk_type=external \
-            --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=splunk \
-            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
-            --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
-            -n 1 \
-            -m 'name_cache'
-
-  test-ipv6-name-cache:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs:
-      - meta
-      - build_action
-    # runs all of the steps inside the specified container rather than on the VM host.
-    # Because of this the network configuration changes from host based network to a container network.
-    container:
-      image: python:3.9-buster
-    services:
-      splunk:
-        image: splunk/splunk:${{ fromJson(needs.meta.outputs.matrix_supportedSplunk)[0].version }}
-        ports:
-          - 8088:8088
-          - 8089:8089
-        env:
-          SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SPLUNK_PASSWORD: Changed@11
-          SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
-          SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
-
-      sc4s:
-        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-        ports:
-          - 514:514
+          pip install ansible~=6.1.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install pywinrm>=0.4.2 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install ansible-lint>=6.0.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install docker
+      - name: Configure Ansible Environment Variables
         env:
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
+          ANSIBLE_CONFIG: ansible.cfg
+          ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING: False
+        run: |
+          echo "ANSIBLE_CONFIG is set to: $ANSIBLE_CONFIG"
+          echo "ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING is set to: $ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING"
+          sudo systemctl set-environment SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
+      - name: Update inventory file
+        run: |
+          cat << EOF > ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml
+          ---
+          all:
+            hosts:
+            children:
+              node:
+                hosts:
+                  node_1:
+                    ansible_host: 127.0.0.1
+                    ansible_connection: local
+                    ansible_user: root
+      - name: Update env_file
+        run: |
+          echo "Updating ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml"
+          cat << EOF > ansible/resources/env_file
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
           SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
           SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "yes"
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: false
-          persist-credentials: false
+          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}"
+      - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
+        run: |
+          sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
+      - name: Run Ansible Playbook
+        run: |
+          ansible-playbook --connection=local -i ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml ansible/playbooks/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.yml 
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           pip3 install poetry
@@ -347,11 +361,17 @@ jobs:
           poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
             --splunk_type=external \
             --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=splunk \
-            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
+            --splunk_host=127.0.0.1 \
+            --sc4s_host=127.0.0.1 \
             --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
             -n 1 \
             -m 'name_cache'
+      - name: artifact-test-results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: test-name-cache-results_${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_IPv6_${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}.xml
+          path: test-results/test.xml
+        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
 
   test-healthcheck:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -412,8 +432,7 @@ jobs:
       - meta
       - build_action
       - test-container
-      - test-ipv4-name-cache
-      - test-ipv6-name-cache
+      - test-name-cache
       - test-healthcheck
       - test-healthcheck-unit-tests
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml
index a2cdbb3280..c403920499 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml
@@ -178,14 +178,14 @@ jobs:
           scanners: "vuln"
           
   test-container:
+    strategy:
+      matrix: 
+        deployment_type: ["docker", "podman"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    continue-on-error: true
     needs:
       - meta
       - build_action
-    # runs all of the steps inside the specified container rather than on the VM host.
-    # Because of this the network configuration changes from host based network to a container network.
-    container:
-      image: python:3.9-buster
 
     services:
       splunk:
@@ -200,42 +200,67 @@ jobs:
           SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
           SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
 
-      sc4s:
-        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-        ports:
-          - 514:514
-          - 601:601
-          - 5614:5514
-          - 5601:5601
-          - 6000:6000
-          - 6002:6002
-          - 9000:9000
-        env:
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_HTTP_COMPRESSION: "yes"
-          SC4S_LISTEN_PFSENSE_FIREWALL_TCP_PORT: 6000
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_TCP_PORT: 5514
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_UDP_PORT: 5514
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_TWO_TCP_PORT: 5601
-          SC4S_LISTEN_SPECTRACOM_NTP_TCP_PORT: 6002
-          SC4S_LISTEN_CISCO_ESA_TCP_PORT: 9000
-          SC4S_LISTEN_RARITAN_DSX_TCP_PORT: 9001
-          SC4S_LISTEN_CHECKPOINT_SPLUNK_NOISE_CONTROL: "yes"
-          SC4S_SOURCE_RICOH_SYSLOG_FIXHOST: "yes"
-          TEST_SC4S_ACTIVATE_EXAMPLES: "yes"
-          SC4S_DEBUG_CONTAINER: "yes"
-          SC4S_SOURCE_VMWARE_VSPHERE_GROUPMSG: "yes"
-          SC4S_NETAPP_ONTAP_NEW_FORMAT: "yes"
-          SC4S_USE_VPS_CACHE: "yes"
-
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: false
           persist-credentials: false
+      - name: Install Ansible and other dependencies as python package
+        run: |
+          pip install ansible~=6.1.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install pywinrm>=0.4.2 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install ansible-lint>=6.0.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install docker
+      - name: Configure Ansible Environment Variables
+        env:
+          ANSIBLE_CONFIG: ansible.cfg
+          ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING: False
+        run: |
+          echo "ANSIBLE_CONFIG is set to: $ANSIBLE_CONFIG"
+          echo "ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING is set to: $ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING"
+          sudo systemctl set-environment SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
+      - name: Update inventory file
+        run: |
+          cat << EOF > ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml
+          ---
+          all:
+            hosts:
+            children:
+              node:
+                hosts:
+                  node_1:
+                    ansible_host: 127.0.0.1
+                    ansible_connection: local
+                    ansible_user: root
+      - name: Update env_file
+        run: |
+          echo "Updating ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml"
+          cat << EOF > ansible/resources/env_file
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_HTTP_COMPRESSION=yes
+          SC4S_LISTEN_PFSENSE_FIREWALL_TCP_PORT=6000
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_TCP_PORT=5514
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_ONE_UDP_PORT=5514
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SIMPLE_TEST_TWO_TCP_PORT=5601
+          SC4S_LISTEN_SPECTRACOM_NTP_TCP_PORT=6002
+          SC4S_LISTEN_CISCO_ESA_TCP_PORT=9000
+          SC4S_LISTEN_RARITAN_DSX_TCP_PORT=9001
+          SC4S_LISTEN_CHECKPOINT_SPLUNK_NOISE_CONTROL=yes
+          SC4S_SOURCE_RICOH_SYSLOG_FIXHOST=yes
+          TEST_SC4S_ACTIVATE_EXAMPLES=yes
+          SC4S_DEBUG_CONTAINER=yes
+          SC4S_SOURCE_VMWARE_VSPHERE_GROUPMSG=yes
+          SC4S_NETAPP_ONTAP_NEW_FORMAT=yes
+          SC4S_USE_VPS_CACHE=yes
+      - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
+        run: |
+          sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
+      - name: Run Ansible Playbook
+        run: |
+          ansible-playbook --connection=local -i ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml ansible/playbooks/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.yml 
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           pip3 install poetry
@@ -244,25 +269,34 @@ jobs:
           poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
             --splunk_type=external \
             --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=splunk \
-            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
+            --splunk_host=127.0.0.1 \
+            --sc4s_host=127.0.0.1 \
             --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
             -n 14 \
             -k 'not lite and not name_cache'
+      - name: artifact-test-results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: test-container-results_${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.xml
+          path: test-results/test.xml
+        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
   
-  test-ipv4-name-cache:
+  test-name-cache:
+    strategy:
+      matrix: 
+        deployment_type: ["docker", "podman"]
+        SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: ["yes","no"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    continue-on-error: true
     needs:
       - meta
       - build_action
-    # runs all of the steps inside the specified container rather than on the VM host.
-    # Because of this the network configuration changes from host based network to a container network.
-    container:
-      image: python:3.9-buster
+
     services:
       splunk:
         image: splunk/splunk:${{ fromJson(needs.meta.outputs.matrix_supportedSplunk)[0].version }}
         ports:
+          - 8000:8000
           - 8088:8088
           - 8089:8089
         env:
@@ -271,76 +305,55 @@ jobs:
           SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
           SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
 
-      sc4s:
-        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-        ports:
-          - 514:514
-        env:
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
-          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: false
           persist-credentials: false
-      - name: Run tests
+      - name: Install Ansible and other dependencies as python package
         run: |
-          pip3 install poetry
-          poetry install
-          mkdir -p test-results || true
-          poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
-            --splunk_type=external \
-            --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=splunk \
-            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
-            --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
-            -n 1 \
-            -m 'name_cache'
-
-  test-ipv6-name-cache:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs:
-      - meta
-      - build_action
-    # runs all of the steps inside the specified container rather than on the VM host.
-    # Because of this the network configuration changes from host based network to a container network.
-    container:
-      image: python:3.9-buster
-    services:
-      splunk:
-        image: splunk/splunk:${{ fromJson(needs.meta.outputs.matrix_supportedSplunk)[0].version }}
-        ports:
-          - 8088:8088
-          - 8089:8089
-        env:
-          SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SPLUNK_PASSWORD: Changed@11
-          SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
-          SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
-
-      sc4s:
-        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-        ports:
-          - 514:514
+          pip install ansible~=6.1.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install pywinrm>=0.4.2 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install ansible-lint>=6.0.0 --no-cache-dir \
+          && pip install docker
+      - name: Configure Ansible Environment Variables
         env:
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
+          ANSIBLE_CONFIG: ansible.cfg
+          ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING: False
+        run: |
+          echo "ANSIBLE_CONFIG is set to: $ANSIBLE_CONFIG"
+          echo "ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING is set to: $ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING"
+          sudo systemctl set-environment SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
+      - name: Update inventory file
+        run: |
+          cat << EOF > ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml
+          ---
+          all:
+            hosts:
+            children:
+              node:
+                hosts:
+                  node_1:
+                    ansible_host: 127.0.0.1
+                    ansible_connection: local
+                    ansible_user: root
+      - name: Update env_file
+        run: |
+          echo "Updating ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml"
+          cat << EOF > ansible/resources/env_file
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
           SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
           SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "yes"
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: false
-          persist-credentials: false
+          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}"
+      - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
+        run: |
+          sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
+      - name: Run Ansible Playbook
+        run: |
+          ansible-playbook --connection=local -i ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml ansible/playbooks/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.yml 
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           pip3 install poetry
@@ -349,11 +362,17 @@ jobs:
           poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
             --splunk_type=external \
             --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=splunk \
-            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
+            --splunk_host=127.0.0.1 \
+            --sc4s_host=127.0.0.1 \
             --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
             -n 1 \
             -m 'name_cache'
+      - name: artifact-test-results
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: test-name-cache-results_${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_IPv6_${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}.xml
+          path: test-results/test.xml
+        if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
 
   test-healthcheck:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -437,8 +456,7 @@ jobs:
       - meta
       - build_action
       - test-container
-      - test-ipv4-name-cache
-      - test-ipv6-name-cache
+      - test-name-cache
       - test-healthcheck
       - test-healthcheck-unit-tests
       - mike
diff --git a/ansible/roles/install_docker/tasks/install_docker_debian.yml b/ansible/roles/install_docker/tasks/install_docker_debian.yml
index 21a517907d..d3d434a774 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/install_docker/tasks/install_docker_debian.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/install_docker/tasks/install_docker_debian.yml
@@ -23,10 +23,16 @@
     repo: deb https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal stable
     state: present
 
+- name: Check if 'docker' command exists
+  ansible.builtin.command: which docker
+  register: docker_command_check
+  ignore_errors: true
+
 - name: Install docker-ce
   apt:
     name: docker-ce
     state: latest
+  when: docker_command_check.rc != 0
 
 - name: Install Docker Module for Python
   pip:
diff --git a/ansible/tasks/docker/deploy_app.yml b/ansible/tasks/docker/deploy_app.yml
index 50462fac88..85ad163724 100644
--- a/ansible/tasks/docker/deploy_app.yml
+++ b/ansible/tasks/docker/deploy_app.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 - name: Copying unit file on the server
   copy:
-    src: "/opt/ansible/resources/docker_sc4s.service"
+    src: "../../../ansible/resources/docker_sc4s.service"
     dest: "/lib/systemd/system/sc4s.service"
     owner: "{{ ansible_user }}"
     group: "{{ ansible_user }}"
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 - name: Copying env_file file on the server
   copy:
-    src: "/opt/ansible/resources/env_file"
+    src: "../../../ansible/resources/env_file"
     dest: "/opt/sc4s/env_file"
     owner: "{{ ansible_user }}"
     group: "{{ ansible_user }}"
diff --git a/ansible/tasks/podman/deploy_app.yml b/ansible/tasks/podman/deploy_app.yml
index 07632d8eaa..f74fe85807 100644
--- a/ansible/tasks/podman/deploy_app.yml
+++ b/ansible/tasks/podman/deploy_app.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 - name: Copying unit file on the server
   copy:
-    src: "/opt/ansible/resources/podman_sc4s.service"
+    src: "../../../ansible/resources/podman_sc4s.service"
     dest: "/lib/systemd/system/sc4s.service"
     owner: "{{ ansible_user }}"
     group: "{{ ansible_user }}"
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 - name: Copying env_file file on the server
   copy:
-    src: "/opt/ansible/resources/env_file"
+    src: "../../../ansible/resources/env_file"
     dest: "/opt/sc4s/env_file"
     owner: "{{ ansible_user }}"
     group: "{{ ansible_user }}"

From 46957215c3a5483d5bfa8093652421ecadbd1c73 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: pdudhaiya-crest <pdudhaiya@splunk.com>
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2025 12:23:31 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 5/7] chore: add no cache for docker as well

---
 .github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
index 7222bdbfbc..83e472b93c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ jobs:
           pip install ansible~=6.1.0 --no-cache-dir \
           && pip install pywinrm>=0.4.2 --no-cache-dir \
           && pip install ansible-lint>=6.0.0 --no-cache-dir \
-          && pip install docker
+          && pip install docker --no-cache-dir
       - name: Configure Ansible Environment Variables
         env:
           ANSIBLE_CONFIG: ansible.cfg

From 8cfef834fd6253157a05fda5ae4a7163471e569d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: pdudhaiya-crest <pdudhaiya@splunk.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2025 11:06:18 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 6/7] chore: fix name cache tests

---
 .github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml | 6 +++---
 .github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml       | 6 +++---
 .github/workflows/ci-main.yaml       | 6 +++---
 3 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
index 83e472b93c..7f42771140 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
@@ -351,9 +351,9 @@ jobs:
           SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
           SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
           SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
-          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}"
+          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE=yes
+          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE=yes
+          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE=${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}
       - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
         run: |
           sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml
index a477dba2b3..b6fefd8a5e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml
@@ -344,9 +344,9 @@ jobs:
           SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
           SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
           SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
-          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}"
+          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE=yes
+          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE=yes
+          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE=${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}
       - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
         run: |
           sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml
index c403920499..ea545ebbb1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml
@@ -345,9 +345,9 @@ jobs:
           SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
           SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
           SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
-          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
-          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}"
+          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE=yes
+          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE=yes
+          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE=${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}
       - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
         run: |
           sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service

From c4e997097239b446b5c5e755fee0838d3ceffe62 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: pdudhaiya-crest <69460835+pdudhaiya-crest@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2025 11:55:19 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 7/7] revert

Update test_checkpoint.py

Update ci-main.yaml

update

Update ci-lite.yaml

Update docker_sc4s.service

Update test_name_cache.py

Update splunkutils.py

Update conftest.py
---
 .github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml  | 69 +++++++-------------------
 .github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml        | 69 +++++++-------------------
 .github/workflows/ci-main.yaml        | 71 ++++++++-------------------
 ansible/resources/docker_sc4s.service |  2 +-
 tests/conftest.py                     |  2 +-
 5 files changed, 60 insertions(+), 153 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
index 7f42771140..00eca74571 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-enterprise.yaml
@@ -290,19 +290,19 @@ jobs:
   test-name-cache:
     strategy:
       matrix: 
-        deployment_type: ["docker", "podman"]
         SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: ["yes","no"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    continue-on-error: true
     needs:
       - meta
       - build_action
-
+    # runs all of the steps inside the specified container rather than on the VM host.
+    # Because of this the network configuration changes from host based network to a container network.
+    container:
+      image: python:3.9-buster
     services:
       splunk:
         image: splunk/splunk:${{ fromJson(needs.meta.outputs.matrix_supportedSplunk)[0].version }}
         ports:
-          - 8000:8000
           - 8088:8088
           - 8089:8089
         env:
@@ -311,55 +311,24 @@ jobs:
           SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
           SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
 
+      sc4s:
+        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
+        ports:
+          - 514:514
+        env:
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
+          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
+          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
+          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}"
+
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: false
           persist-credentials: false
-      - name: Install Ansible and other dependencies as python package
-        run: |
-          pip install ansible~=6.1.0 --no-cache-dir \
-          && pip install pywinrm>=0.4.2 --no-cache-dir \
-          && pip install ansible-lint>=6.0.0 --no-cache-dir \
-          && pip install docker
-      - name: Configure Ansible Environment Variables
-        env:
-          ANSIBLE_CONFIG: ansible.cfg
-          ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING: False
-        run: |
-          echo "ANSIBLE_CONFIG is set to: $ANSIBLE_CONFIG"
-          echo "ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING is set to: $ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING"
-          sudo systemctl set-environment SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-      - name: Update inventory file
-        run: |
-          cat << EOF > ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml
-          ---
-          all:
-            hosts:
-            children:
-              node:
-                hosts:
-                  node_1:
-                    ansible_host: 127.0.0.1
-                    ansible_connection: local
-                    ansible_user: root
-      - name: Update env_file
-        run: |
-          echo "Updating ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml"
-          cat << EOF > ansible/resources/env_file
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
-          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE=yes
-          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE=yes
-          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE=${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}
-      - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
-        run: |
-          sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
-      - name: Run Ansible Playbook
-        run: |
-          ansible-playbook --connection=local -i ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml ansible/playbooks/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.yml 
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           pip3 install poetry
@@ -368,15 +337,15 @@ jobs:
           poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
             --splunk_type=external \
             --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=127.0.0.1 \
-            --sc4s_host=127.0.0.1 \
+            --splunk_host=splunk \
+            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
             --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
             -n 1 \
             -m 'name_cache'
       - name: artifact-test-results
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
-          name: test-name-cache-results_${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_IPv6_${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}.xml
+          name: test-name-cache-results_IPv6_${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}.xml
           path: test-results/test.xml
         if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
   release:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml
index b6fefd8a5e..b254734ee7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-lite.yaml
@@ -283,19 +283,19 @@ jobs:
   test-name-cache:
     strategy:
       matrix: 
-        deployment_type: ["docker", "podman"]
         SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: ["yes","no"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    continue-on-error: true
     needs:
       - meta
       - build_action
-
+    # runs all of the steps inside the specified container rather than on the VM host.
+    # Because of this the network configuration changes from host based network to a container network.
+    container:
+      image: python:3.9-buster
     services:
       splunk:
         image: splunk/splunk:${{ fromJson(needs.meta.outputs.matrix_supportedSplunk)[0].version }}
         ports:
-          - 8000:8000
           - 8088:8088
           - 8089:8089
         env:
@@ -304,55 +304,24 @@ jobs:
           SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
           SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
 
+      sc4s:
+        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
+        ports:
+          - 514:514
+        env:
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
+          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
+          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
+          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}"
+
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: false
           persist-credentials: false
-      - name: Install Ansible and other dependencies as python package
-        run: |
-          pip install ansible~=6.1.0 --no-cache-dir \
-          && pip install pywinrm>=0.4.2 --no-cache-dir \
-          && pip install ansible-lint>=6.0.0 --no-cache-dir \
-          && pip install docker
-      - name: Configure Ansible Environment Variables
-        env:
-          ANSIBLE_CONFIG: ansible.cfg
-          ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING: False
-        run: |
-          echo "ANSIBLE_CONFIG is set to: $ANSIBLE_CONFIG"
-          echo "ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING is set to: $ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING"
-          sudo systemctl set-environment SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-      - name: Update inventory file
-        run: |
-          cat << EOF > ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml
-          ---
-          all:
-            hosts:
-            children:
-              node:
-                hosts:
-                  node_1:
-                    ansible_host: 127.0.0.1
-                    ansible_connection: local
-                    ansible_user: root
-      - name: Update env_file
-        run: |
-          echo "Updating ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml"
-          cat << EOF > ansible/resources/env_file
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
-          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE=yes
-          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE=yes
-          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE=${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}
-      - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
-        run: |
-          sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
-      - name: Run Ansible Playbook
-        run: |
-          ansible-playbook --connection=local -i ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml ansible/playbooks/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.yml 
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           pip3 install poetry
@@ -361,15 +330,15 @@ jobs:
           poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
             --splunk_type=external \
             --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=127.0.0.1 \
-            --sc4s_host=127.0.0.1 \
+            --splunk_host=splunk \
+            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
             --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
             -n 1 \
             -m 'name_cache'
       - name: artifact-test-results
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
-          name: test-name-cache-results_${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_IPv6_${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}.xml
+          name: test-name-cache-results_IPv6_${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}.xml
           path: test-results/test.xml
         if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml
index ea545ebbb1..8f80566db1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-main.yaml
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ jobs:
             --sc4s_host=127.0.0.1 \
             --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
             -n 14 \
-            -k 'not lite and not name_cache'
+            -k 'checkpoint or not lite and not name_cache'
       - name: artifact-test-results
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
@@ -284,19 +284,19 @@ jobs:
   test-name-cache:
     strategy:
       matrix: 
-        deployment_type: ["docker", "podman"]
         SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: ["yes","no"]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    continue-on-error: true
     needs:
       - meta
       - build_action
-
+    # runs all of the steps inside the specified container rather than on the VM host.
+    # Because of this the network configuration changes from host based network to a container network.
+    container:
+      image: python:3.9-buster
     services:
       splunk:
         image: splunk/splunk:${{ fromJson(needs.meta.outputs.matrix_supportedSplunk)[0].version }}
         ports:
-          - 8000:8000
           - 8088:8088
           - 8089:8089
         env:
@@ -305,55 +305,24 @@ jobs:
           SPLUNK_START_ARGS: --accept-license
           SPLUNK_APPS_URL: https://github.com/splunk/splunk-configurations-base-indexes/releases/download/v1.0.0/splunk_configurations_base_indexes-1.0.0.tar.gz
 
+      sc4s:
+        image: ${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
+        ports:
+          - 514:514
+        env:
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL: https://splunk:8088
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN: 70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
+          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY: "no"
+          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
+          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE: "yes"
+          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE: "${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}"
+
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: false
           persist-credentials: false
-      - name: Install Ansible and other dependencies as python package
-        run: |
-          pip install ansible~=6.1.0 --no-cache-dir \
-          && pip install pywinrm>=0.4.2 --no-cache-dir \
-          && pip install ansible-lint>=6.0.0 --no-cache-dir \
-          && pip install docker
-      - name: Configure Ansible Environment Variables
-        env:
-          ANSIBLE_CONFIG: ansible.cfg
-          ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING: False
-        run: |
-          echo "ANSIBLE_CONFIG is set to: $ANSIBLE_CONFIG"
-          echo "ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING is set to: $ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING"
-          sudo systemctl set-environment SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}
-      - name: Update inventory file
-        run: |
-          cat << EOF > ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml
-          ---
-          all:
-            hosts:
-            children:
-              node:
-                hosts:
-                  node_1:
-                    ansible_host: 127.0.0.1
-                    ansible_connection: local
-                    ansible_user: root
-      - name: Update env_file
-        run: |
-          echo "Updating ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml"
-          cat << EOF > ansible/resources/env_file
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_URL=https://127.0.0.1:8088
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TOKEN=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630
-          SC4S_DEST_SPLUNK_HEC_DEFAULT_TLS_VERIFY=no
-          SC4S_USE_NAME_CACHE=yes
-          SC4S_CLEAR_NAME_CACHE=yes
-          SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE=${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}
-      - name: Update current SC4S image in unit file
-        run: |
-          sed -i 's|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=ghcr.io/splunk/splunk-connect-for-syslog/container3:latest"|Environment="SC4S_IMAGE=${{ needs.meta.outputs.container_base }}"|' ansible/resources/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_sc4s.service
-      - name: Run Ansible Playbook
-        run: |
-          ansible-playbook --connection=local -i ansible/inventory/inventory.yaml ansible/playbooks/${{ matrix.deployment_type }}.yml 
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           pip3 install poetry
@@ -362,15 +331,15 @@ jobs:
           poetry run pytest -v --tb=long \
             --splunk_type=external \
             --splunk_hec_token=70b6ae71-76b3-4c38-9597-0c5b37ad9630 \
-            --splunk_host=127.0.0.1 \
-            --sc4s_host=127.0.0.1 \
+            --splunk_host=splunk \
+            --sc4s_host=sc4s \
             --junitxml=test-results/test.xml \
             -n 1 \
             -m 'name_cache'
       - name: artifact-test-results
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
-          name: test-name-cache-results_${{ matrix.deployment_type }}_IPv6_${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}.xml
+          name: test-name-cache-results_IPv6_${{ matrix.SC4S_IPV6_ENABLE }}.xml
           path: test-results/test.xml
         if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
 
diff --git a/ansible/resources/docker_sc4s.service b/ansible/resources/docker_sc4s.service
index 6b18a46cfd..667fff51d3 100644
--- a/ansible/resources/docker_sc4s.service
+++ b/ansible/resources/docker_sc4s.service
@@ -43,4 +43,4 @@ ExecStart=/usr/bin/docker run \
         --name SC4S \
         --rm $SC4S_IMAGE
 
-Restart=on-failure
\ No newline at end of file
+Restart=on-failure
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 7141695854..709cfaaf22 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ def get_host_key():
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
 def get_pid():
-    return random.randint(1000, 32000) # NOSONAR
+    return random.randint(1000, 32000)  # NOSONAR
 
 
 def pytest_addoption(parser):