diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-integration-tests/spring-cloud-kubernetes-fabric8-client-reload/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/fabric8/client/reload/TestAssertions.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-integration-tests/spring-cloud-kubernetes-fabric8-client-reload/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/fabric8/client/reload/TestAssertions.java
index 2280049998..5ec746884c 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-integration-tests/spring-cloud-kubernetes-fabric8-client-reload/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/fabric8/client/reload/TestAssertions.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-integration-tests/spring-cloud-kubernetes-fabric8-client-reload/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/fabric8/client/reload/TestAssertions.java
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ static void manifests(Phase phase, Fabric8ClientKubernetesFixture fabric8Kuberne
 
 		if (phase.equals(Phase.CREATE)) {
 			fabric8KubernetesFixture.createAndWait(namespace, configMap, null);
-			fabric8KubernetesFixture.createAndWait(namespace, null, deployment, service, true);
+			fabric8KubernetesFixture.createAndWait(namespace, deployment, service, true);
 		}
 		else {
 			fabric8KubernetesFixture.deleteAndWait(namespace, configMap, null);
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Commons.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Commons.java
index 476aca831a..0583ef1179 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Commons.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Commons.java
@@ -17,14 +17,9 @@
 package org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons;
 
 import java.io.File;
-import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
-import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
-import java.nio.file.Files;
-import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
-import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -33,7 +28,6 @@
 
 import com.github.dockerjava.api.command.ListImagesCmd;
 import com.github.dockerjava.api.command.PullImageCmd;
-import com.github.dockerjava.api.command.SaveImageCmd;
 import com.github.dockerjava.api.model.Image;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
@@ -50,9 +44,9 @@
 import org.springframework.web.reactive.function.client.WebClient;
 
 import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Constants.KUBERNETES_VERSION_FILE;
-import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Constants.TEMP_FOLDER;
 import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Constants.TMP_IMAGES;
 import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.FixedPortsK3sContainer.CONTAINER;
+import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.FixedPortsK3sContainer.REGISTRY_PORT;
 
 /**
  * A few commons things that can be re-used across clients. This is meant to be used for
@@ -78,9 +72,11 @@ public static K3sContainer container() {
 		return CONTAINER;
 	}
 
-	public static void loadSpringCloudKubernetesImage(String project, K3sContainer container) {
+	public static void tagAndPushSpringCloudKubernetesImageToLocalDockerRegistry(String imageNameWithoutTag,
+			K3sContainer container) {
 		try {
-			loadImage("springcloud/" + project, pomVersion(), project, container);
+			String springCloudImageWithTag = "springcloud/" + imageNameWithoutTag + ":" + pomVersion();
+			tagAndPushImage(springCloudImageWithTag, container);
 		}
 		catch (Exception e) {
 			throw new RuntimeException(e);
@@ -88,56 +84,53 @@ public static void loadSpringCloudKubernetesImage(String project, K3sContainer c
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * create a tar, copy it in the running k3s and load this tar as an image.
+	 * tag image and push to local registry.
 	 */
-	public static void loadImage(String image, String tag, String tarName, K3sContainer container) {
+	public static void tagAndPushImage(String imageNameWithTag, K3sContainer container) {
 
-		if (imageAlreadyInK3s(container, tarName)) {
+		if (imageAlreadyInK3s(container, imageNameWithTag)) {
 			return;
 		}
 
-		// save image
-		try (SaveImageCmd saveImageCmd = container.getDockerClient().saveImageCmd(image)) {
-			InputStream imageStream = saveImageCmd.withTag(tag).exec();
-
-			Path imagePath = Paths.get(TEMP_FOLDER + "/" + tarName + ".tar");
-			try {
-				Files.copy(imageStream, imagePath, StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING);
-			}
-			catch (IOException e) {
-				throw new UncheckedIOException(e);
+		try {
+			int lastColon = imageNameWithTag.lastIndexOf(':');
+			if (lastColon < 0) {
+				throw new IllegalArgumentException("image must include tag: " + imageNameWithTag);
 			}
-			// import image with ctr. this works because TEMP_FOLDER is mounted in the
-			// container
+
+			String imageWithoutTag = imageNameWithTag.substring(0, lastColon);
+			String tag = imageNameWithTag.substring(lastColon + 1);
+
+			String targetRepository = "localhost:" + REGISTRY_PORT + "/" + imageWithoutTag;
+			String targetImageWithTag = targetRepository + ":" + tag;
+
+			container.getDockerClient().tagImageCmd(imageNameWithTag, targetRepository, tag).exec();
+
 			Awaitilities.awaitUntil(120, 1000, () -> {
-				Container.ExecResult result;
 				try {
-					result = container.execInContainer("ctr", "i", "import",
-							Constants.TEMP_FOLDER + "/" + tarName + ".tar");
+					container.getDockerClient().pushImageCmd(targetImageWithTag).start().awaitCompletion();
+					return true;
 				}
 				catch (Exception e) {
-					throw new RuntimeException(e);
+					LOG.info("failed to push image " + targetImageWithTag + " to local registry", e);
+					return false;
 				}
-				boolean noErrors = result.getStderr() == null || result.getStderr().isEmpty();
-				if (!noErrors) {
-					LOG.info("error is : " + result.getStderr());
-				}
-				return noErrors;
 			});
 		}
-
+		catch (Exception e) {
+			throw new RuntimeException(e);
+		}
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Ensures a common external test image is available inside K3s/containerd.
-	 * It first checks whether the image is already present in K3s.
-	 * If not, it tries to load it as a tar under '/tmp/docker/images'.
-	 * If no matching tar is found, it pulls the image directly inside K3s
-	 * using 'ctr images pull'.
-	 * This is meant for shared test images such as busybox, wiremock, kafka, etc.
+	 * Ensures a common external test image is available inside K3s/containerd. It first
+	 * checks whether the image is already present in K3s. If not, it tries to load it as
+	 * a tar under '/tmp/docker/images'. If no matching tar is found, it pulls the image
+	 * directly inside K3s using 'ctr images pull'. This is meant for shared test images
+	 * such as busybox, wiremock, kafka, etc.
 	 */
-	public static void loadOrPullCommonTestImages(K3sContainer container, String tarName,
-			String imageNameForDownload, String imageVersion) {
+	public static void loadOrPullCommonTestImages(K3sContainer container, String tarName, String imageNameForDownload,
+			String imageVersion) {
 
 		if (imageAlreadyInK3s(container, tarName)) {
 			return;
@@ -225,7 +218,7 @@ private static String fullImageReference(String imageName, String imageVersion)
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * validates that the provided image does exist in the local docker registry.
+	 * validates that the provided image does exist in the local dcoker cache.
 	 */
 	public static void validateImage(String image, K3sContainer container) {
 		try (ListImagesCmd listImagesCmd = container.getDockerClient().listImagesCmd()) {
@@ -239,15 +232,14 @@ public static void validateImage(String image, K3sContainer container) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public static void pullImage(String image, String tag, String tarName, K3sContainer container)
-			throws InterruptedException {
+	public static void pullImage(String imageFromDeployment, K3sContainer container) throws InterruptedException {
 
-		if (imageAlreadyInK3s(container, tarName)) {
+		if (imageAlreadyInK3s(container, imageFromDeployment)) {
 			return;
 		}
 
-		try (PullImageCmd pullImageCmd = container.getDockerClient().pullImageCmd(image)) {
-			pullImageCmd.withTag(tag).start().awaitCompletion();
+		try (PullImageCmd pullImageCmd = container.getDockerClient().pullImageCmd(imageFromDeployment)) {
+			pullImageCmd.start().awaitCompletion();
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -324,24 +316,21 @@ private static void loadImageFromPath(String tarName, K3sContainer container) {
 		});
 	}
 
-	private static boolean imageAlreadyInK3s(K3sContainer container, String tarName) {
+	private static boolean imageAlreadyInK3s(K3sContainer container, String imageWithTag) {
+		try {
+			String stdout = container.execInContainer("ctr", "-n", "k8s.io", "images", "list", "-q").getStdout();
 
-		if (tarName == null) {
-			return false;
-		}
+			boolean present = Arrays.stream(stdout.split("\\R"))
+				.map(String::trim)
+				.anyMatch(line -> line.contains(imageWithTag));
 
-		try {
-			boolean present = container.execInContainer("sh", "-c", "ctr images list | grep " + tarName)
-				.getStdout()
-				.contains(tarName);
 			if (present) {
-				System.out.println("image : " + tarName + " already in k3s, skipping");
+				LOG.info("image : " + imageWithTag + " already in k3s, skipping");
 				return true;
 			}
-			else {
-				System.out.println("image : " + tarName + " not in k3s");
-				return false;
-			}
+
+			LOG.info("image : " + imageWithTag + " not in k3s");
+			return false;
 		}
 		catch (Exception e) {
 			throw new RuntimeException(e);
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Constants.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Constants.java
index 811299300b..c3c895667f 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Constants.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Constants.java
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 
 package org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons;
 
-import java.io.File;
-
 /**
  * @author wind57
  */
@@ -32,11 +30,6 @@ private Constants() {
 	 */
 	static final String TMP_IMAGES = "/tmp/docker/images";
 
-	/**
-	 * Temporary folder where to load images.
-	 */
-	static final String TEMP_FOLDER = new File(System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir")).getAbsolutePath();
-
 	/**
 	 * where is the version situated.
 	 */
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/FixedIdNetworkProvider.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/FixedIdNetworkProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8c40d131cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/FixedIdNetworkProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2013-present the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons;
+
+import org.testcontainers.DockerClientFactory;
+import org.testcontainers.containers.Network;
+
+/**
+ * re-use implementation for a Network. It first checks if such a named network already
+ * exists via docker client API and creates a new one if it does not.
+ *
+ * @author wind57
+ */
+final class FixedIdNetworkProvider {
+
+	private FixedIdNetworkProvider() {
+
+	}
+
+	static Network createReusableNetwork(String name) {
+		var client = DockerClientFactory.instance().client();
+
+		String id = client.listNetworksCmd()
+			.exec()
+			.stream()
+			.filter(network -> name.equals(network.getName()))
+			.map(com.github.dockerjava.api.model.Network::getId)
+			.findFirst()
+			.orElseGet(() -> client.createNetworkCmd().withName(name).withCheckDuplicate(true).exec().getId());
+
+		return new org.testcontainers.containers.Network() {
+			@Override
+			public String getId() {
+				return id;
+			}
+
+			@Override
+			public void close() {
+				// intentionally no-op
+			}
+		};
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/FixedPortsK3sContainer.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/FixedPortsK3sContainer.java
index d935f3c28e..e6104d6e5d 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/FixedPortsK3sContainer.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/FixedPortsK3sContainer.java
@@ -20,11 +20,14 @@
 
 import com.github.dockerjava.api.model.Bind;
 import com.github.dockerjava.api.model.HostConfig;
+import org.testcontainers.containers.GenericContainer;
+import org.testcontainers.containers.Network;
 import org.testcontainers.k3s.K3sContainer;
 import org.testcontainers.utility.DockerImageName;
+import org.testcontainers.utility.MountableFile;
 
-import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Constants.TEMP_FOLDER;
 import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Constants.TMP_IMAGES;
+import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.FixedIdNetworkProvider.createReusableNetwork;
 
 /**
  * A K3sContainer, but with fixed port mappings. This is needed because of the nature of
@@ -32,49 +35,99 @@
  *
  * @author wind57
  */
-final class FixedPortsK3sContainer extends K3sContainer {
+public final class FixedPortsK3sContainer extends K3sContainer {
 
 	/**
 	 * Test containers exposed ports.
 	 */
 	private static final int[] EXPOSED_PORTS = new int[] { 80, 6443, 8080, 8888, 9092, 32321, 32322 };
 
+	/**
+	 * Port for the local running images registry.
+	 */
+	public static final int REGISTRY_PORT = 6000;
+
+	/**
+	 * Small doc on how the set-up works. ( 5000 is just an example ) <pre>
+	 *     - we start a local registry and expose it on localhost:<5000>
+	 *     - from the host, we can push an image with:
+	 *       docker push localhost:5000/image:tag
+	 *     - the image is now stored in that local registry
+	 *     - k3s later sees the image reference: localhost:5000/image:tag
+	 *     - inside the k3s container, localhost would point to k3s itself, not to the registry
+	 *     - because of the mirror entry in registries.yaml, when k3s/containerd sees
+	 *       an image starting with localhost:5000, it actually uses the endpoint 'http://registry:5000'
+	 *     - LocalRegistryContainer has withNetworkAliases("registry")
+	 *     - this makes the registry reachable from the same Docker network via the hostname "registry"
+	 * </pre>
+	 */
+	private static final Network NETWORK = createReusableNetwork("spring-cloud-kubernetes-local-docker-registry");
+
+	private static final LocalRegistryContainer REGISTRY = new LocalRegistryContainer().configureFixedPorts()
+		.withNetwork(NETWORK)
+		.withNetworkAliases("registry")
+		.withReuse(true);
+
 	/**
 	 * Rancher version to use for test-containers.
 	 */
 	private static final String RANCHER_VERSION = "rancher/k3s:v1.35.4-k3s1";
 
+	/**
+	 * Docker registry version.
+	 */
+	private static final String DOCKER_REGISTRY_VERSION = "registry:3.1.0";
+
 	/**
 	 * Command to use when starting rancher. Without "server" option, traefik is not
 	 * installed
 	 */
-	private static final String RANCHER_COMMAND = "server --disable=metric-server";
+	private static final String RANCHER_COMMAND = "server --disable=metric-server --disable-default-registry-endpoint";
 
 	static final K3sContainer CONTAINER = new FixedPortsK3sContainer(DockerImageName.parse(RANCHER_VERSION))
 		.configureFixedPorts()
 		.addBinds()
 		.withCommand(RANCHER_COMMAND)
-		.withReuse(true);
+		.withReuse(true)
+		.withNetwork(NETWORK)
+		.withCopyFileToContainer(MountableFile.forClasspathResource("registries.yaml"),
+				"/etc/rancher/k3s/registries.yaml");
 
-	FixedPortsK3sContainer(DockerImageName dockerImageName) {
+	private FixedPortsK3sContainer(DockerImageName dockerImageName) {
 		super(dockerImageName);
+		REGISTRY.start();
 	}
 
-	FixedPortsK3sContainer configureFixedPorts() {
+	private FixedPortsK3sContainer configureFixedPorts() {
 		for (int port : EXPOSED_PORTS) {
 			super.addFixedExposedPort(port, port);
 		}
 		return this;
 	}
 
-	FixedPortsK3sContainer addBinds() {
+	private FixedPortsK3sContainer addBinds() {
 		super.withCreateContainerCmdModifier(cmd -> {
 			HostConfig hostConfig = Objects.requireNonNull(cmd.getHostConfig());
-			hostConfig.withBinds(Bind.parse(TEMP_FOLDER + ":" + TEMP_FOLDER),
-					Bind.parse(TMP_IMAGES + ":" + TMP_IMAGES));
+			hostConfig.withBinds(Bind.parse(TMP_IMAGES + ":" + TMP_IMAGES));
 		});
 
 		return this;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * official registry image with fixed port 5000.
+	 */
+	private static final class LocalRegistryContainer extends GenericContainer<LocalRegistryContainer> {
+
+		private LocalRegistryContainer() {
+			super(DOCKER_REGISTRY_VERSION);
+		}
+
+		private LocalRegistryContainer configureFixedPorts() {
+			addFixedExposedPort(REGISTRY_PORT, 5000);
+			return this;
+		}
+
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Images.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Images.java
index ef76b8009f..ea23b64c2e 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Images.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/Images.java
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 import java.io.BufferedReader;
 import java.io.InputStreamReader;
 
+import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
+import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.testcontainers.k3s.K3sContainer;
 
 /**
@@ -26,6 +28,8 @@
  */
 public final class Images {
 
+	private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(Images.class);
+
 	private static final String BUSYBOX = "busybox";
 
 	private static final String BUSYBOX_TAR = BUSYBOX + ":" + busyboxVersion();
@@ -116,11 +120,11 @@ private static boolean imageAlreadyInK3s(K3sContainer container, String tarName)
 				.getStdout()
 				.contains(tarName);
 			if (present) {
-				System.out.println("image : " + tarName + " already in k3s, skipping");
+				LOG.info("image : " + tarName + " already in k3s, skipping");
 				return true;
 			}
 			else {
-				System.out.println("image : " + tarName + " not in k3s");
+				LOG.info("image : " + tarName + " not in k3s");
 				return false;
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/fabric8_client/Fabric8ClientKubernetesFixture.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/fabric8_client/Fabric8ClientKubernetesFixture.java
index ab5859a25a..545d342109 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/fabric8_client/Fabric8ClientKubernetesFixture.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/fabric8_client/Fabric8ClientKubernetesFixture.java
@@ -44,9 +44,10 @@
 import org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Images;
 import org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Phase;
 
-import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Commons.loadImage;
 import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Commons.pomVersion;
 import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Commons.pullImage;
+import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Commons.tagAndPushImage;
+import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.FixedPortsK3sContainer.REGISTRY_PORT;
 
 /**
  * @author wind57
@@ -70,31 +71,41 @@ public Fabric8ClientKubernetesFixture(K3sContainer container) {
 	 * service. It creates the given resources as-well as waits for them to be created.
 	 * The delay check is intentionally not taken as an argument, so that it stays as
 	 * tight as possible, providing reasonable defaults.
-	 *
+	 * @param imageWithoutTag is true when we need to set the correct pom version, as such
+	 * it only relates to images from our own code ( not busybox, wiremock, etc. )
 	 */
-	public void createAndWait(String namespace, String name, @Nullable Deployment deployment, @Nullable Service service,
-			boolean changeVersion) {
+	public void createAndWait(String namespace, @Nullable Deployment deployment, @Nullable Service service,
+			boolean imageWithoutTag) {
 		try {
 
 			if (deployment != null) {
+
 				String imageFromDeployment = deployment.getSpec()
 					.getTemplate()
 					.getSpec()
 					.getContainers()
 					.get(0)
 					.getImage();
-				if (changeVersion) {
+
+				if (imageWithoutTag) {
+
+					String imageFromDeploymentWithTag = imageFromDeployment + ":" + pomVersion();
+
+					// change format to localhost:5000/....
+					String imageFormatForRegistry = springCloudImageInLocalRegistry(imageFromDeploymentWithTag);
+
 					deployment.getSpec()
 						.getTemplate()
 						.getSpec()
 						.getContainers()
 						.get(0)
-						.setImage(imageFromDeployment + ":" + pomVersion());
+						.setImage(imageFormatForRegistry);
 				}
 				else {
-					String[] image = imageFromDeployment.split(":", 2);
-					pullImage(image[0], image[1], name, container);
-					loadImage(image[0], image[1], name, container);
+					// pullImage is only needed when we run some test locally.
+					// Inside github actions, this will be a NOOP.
+					pullImage(imageFromDeployment, container);
+					tagAndPushImage(imageFromDeployment, container);
 				}
 
 				client.apps().deployments().inNamespace(namespace).resource(deployment).create();
@@ -123,7 +134,7 @@ public void busybox(String namespace, Phase phase) {
 		Service service = Serialization.unmarshal(serviceStream, Service.class);
 
 		if (phase.equals(Phase.CREATE)) {
-			createAndWait(namespace, "busybox", deployment, service, false);
+			createAndWait(namespace, deployment, service, false);
 		}
 		else if (phase.equals(Phase.DELETE)) {
 			deleteAndWait(namespace, deployment, service);
@@ -134,7 +145,7 @@ public void externalName(Phase phase) {
 		InputStream serviceStream = inputStream("external-name-service/external-name-service.yaml");
 		Service service = Serialization.unmarshal(serviceStream, Service.class);
 		if (Phase.CREATE.equals(phase)) {
-			createAndWait("default", null, null, service, false);
+			createAndWait("default", null, service, false);
 		}
 		else {
 			deleteAndWait("default", null, service);
@@ -288,7 +299,7 @@ public void istioCtl(String namespace, Phase phase) {
 		istioctlDeployment.getSpec().getTemplate().getSpec().getContainers().get(0).setImage(imageWithVersion);
 
 		if (phase.equals(Phase.CREATE)) {
-			createAndWait(namespace, null, istioctlDeployment, null, false);
+			createAndWait(namespace, istioctlDeployment, null, false);
 		}
 		else {
 			deleteAndWait(namespace, istioctlDeployment, null);
@@ -351,7 +362,7 @@ public void wiremock(String namespace, Phase phase, boolean withNodePort) {
 		if (phase.equals(Phase.CREATE)) {
 			deployment.getMetadata().setNamespace(namespace);
 			service.getMetadata().setNamespace(namespace);
-			createAndWait(namespace, "wiremock", deployment, service, false);
+			createAndWait(namespace, deployment, service, false);
 		}
 		else {
 			deleteAndWait(namespace, deployment, service);
@@ -368,7 +379,7 @@ public void configWatcher(Phase phase) {
 		Service service = client.services().load(serviceStream).item();
 
 		if (phase.equals(Phase.CREATE)) {
-			createAndWait("default", deployment.getMetadata().getName(), deployment, service, true);
+			createAndWait("default", deployment, service, true);
 		}
 		else if (phase.equals(Phase.DELETE)) {
 			deleteAndWait("default", deployment, service);
@@ -465,6 +476,18 @@ private void innerSetup(String namespace, InputStream serviceAccountAsStream, In
 		}
 	}
 
+	// from docker.io/springcloud/spring-cloud-kubernetes-configuration-watcher ->
+	// localhost:5000/springcloud/spring-cloud-kubernetes-configuration-watcher:5.0.2-SNAPSHOT
+	private static String springCloudImageInLocalRegistry(String imageFromDeploymentWithTag) {
+		String image = imageFromDeploymentWithTag;
+
+		if (image.startsWith("docker.io/")) {
+			image = image.substring("docker.io/".length());
+		}
+
+		return "localhost:" + REGISTRY_PORT + "/" + image;
+	}
+
 	private String deploymentName(Deployment deployment) {
 		return deployment.getMetadata().getName();
 	}
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/k3s/FabricClientIntegrationTestExtension.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/k3s/FabricClientIntegrationTestExtension.java
index 6c805a193a..0aea0c91d6 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/k3s/FabricClientIntegrationTestExtension.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/k3s/FabricClientIntegrationTestExtension.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public void beforeAll(ExtensionContext context) {
 		// 2. external image presence
 		for (String image : scenario.withImages()) {
 			Commons.validateImage(image, container);
-			Commons.loadSpringCloudKubernetesImage(image, container);
+			Commons.tagAndPushSpringCloudKubernetesImageToLocalDockerRegistry(image, container);
 		}
 
 		// 3. deploy istio
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ private void istioSetup(K3sContainer container, Fabric8ClientKubernetesFixture f
 			Deployment deployment = Serialization.unmarshal(deploymentStream, Deployment.class);
 			Service service = Serialization.unmarshal(serviceStream, Service.class);
 
-			fabric8KubernetesFixture.createAndWait("istio-test", null, deployment, service, true);
+			fabric8KubernetesFixture.createAndWait("istio-test", deployment, service, true);
 
 		}
 		catch (Exception e) {
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/k3s/NativeClientIntegrationTestExtension.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/k3s/NativeClientIntegrationTestExtension.java
index 5af4da9ee4..b1183b0fa2 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/k3s/NativeClientIntegrationTestExtension.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/k3s/NativeClientIntegrationTestExtension.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ public void beforeAll(ExtensionContext context) throws Exception {
 		// 2. external image presence
 		for (String image : scenario.withImages()) {
 			Commons.validateImage(image, container);
-			Commons.loadSpringCloudKubernetesImage(image, container);
+			Commons.tagAndPushSpringCloudKubernetesImageToLocalDockerRegistry(image, container);
 		}
 
 		// 3. set-up RBAC.
@@ -110,11 +110,13 @@ public void beforeAll(ExtensionContext context) throws Exception {
 
 		// 10. deploy kafka
 		if (scenario.deployKafka()) {
+			Images.loadKafka(container);
 			nativeClientKubernetesFixture.kafka(Phase.CREATE);
 		}
 
 		// 11. deploy rabbitMq
 		if (scenario.deployRabbitMq()) {
+			Images.loadRabbitmq(container);
 			nativeClientKubernetesFixture.rabbitMq(Phase.CREATE);
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/native_client/NativeClientKubernetesFixture.java b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/native_client/NativeClientKubernetesFixture.java
index 4b567c8f1d..e9220e0c2f 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/native_client/NativeClientKubernetesFixture.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/kubernetes/integration/tests/commons/native_client/NativeClientKubernetesFixture.java
@@ -61,9 +61,10 @@
 import org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Images;
 import org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Phase;
 
-import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Commons.loadImage;
 import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Commons.pomVersion;
 import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Commons.pullImage;
+import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.Commons.tagAndPushImage;
+import static org.springframework.cloud.kubernetes.integration.tests.commons.FixedPortsK3sContainer.REGISTRY_PORT;
 
 /**
  * @author wind57
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@ public NativeClientKubernetesFixture(K3sContainer container) {
 	 *
 	 */
 	public void createAndWait(String namespace, String name, V1Deployment deployment, V1Service service,
-			boolean changeVersion) {
+			boolean imageWithoutTag) {
 		try {
 
 			coreV1Api.createNamespacedService(namespace, service).execute();
@@ -119,18 +120,24 @@ public void createAndWait(String namespace, String name, V1Deployment deployment
 					.getContainers()
 					.get(0)
 					.getImage();
-				if (changeVersion) {
+
+				if (imageWithoutTag) {
+
+					String imageFromDeploymentWithTag = imageFromDeployment + ":" + pomVersion();
+
+					// change format to localhost:5000/....
+					String imageFormatForRegistry = springCloudImageInLocalRegistry(imageFromDeploymentWithTag);
+
 					deployment.getSpec()
 						.getTemplate()
 						.getSpec()
 						.getContainers()
 						.get(0)
-						.setImage(imageFromDeployment + ":" + pomVersion());
+						.setImage(imageFormatForRegistry);
 				}
 				else {
-					String[] image = imageFromDeployment.split(":", 2);
-					pullImage(image[0], image[1], name, container);
-					loadImage(image[0], image[1], name, container);
+					pullImage(imageFromDeployment, container);
+					tagAndPushImage(imageFromDeployment, container);
 				}
 
 				appsV1Api.createNamespacedDeployment(namespace, deployment).execute();
@@ -789,6 +796,18 @@ private String labelSelector(Map<String, String> labels) {
 		return labels.entrySet().stream().map(en -> en.getKey() + "=" + en.getValue()).collect(Collectors.joining(","));
 	}
 
+	// from docker.io/springcloud/spring-cloud-kubernetes-configuration-watcher ->
+	// localhost:5000/springcloud/spring-cloud-kubernetes-configuration-watcher:5.0.2-SNAPSHOT
+	private static String springCloudImageInLocalRegistry(String imageFromDeploymentWithTag) {
+		String image = imageFromDeploymentWithTag;
+
+		if (image.startsWith("docker.io/")) {
+			image = image.substring("docker.io/".length());
+		}
+
+		return "localhost:" + REGISTRY_PORT + "/" + image;
+	}
+
 	private interface CheckedSupplier<T> {
 
 		T get() throws Exception;
diff --git a/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/resources/registries.yaml b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/resources/registries.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f8539cad31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-cloud-kubernetes-test-support/src/main/resources/registries.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+mirrors:
+  "localhost:6000":
+    endpoint:
+      - "http://registry:5000"