diff --git a/artifact-list.sh b/artifact-list.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..87669c8e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/artifact-list.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2019 Intel Corporation
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o pipefail
+set -o nounset
+
+supported_artifacts=(
+  "install_docker_config_script"
+  "install_experimental_kernel"
+  "install_firecracker"
+  "install_image"
+  "install_kata_components"
+  "install_kernel"
+  "install_qemu"
+  "install_qemu_virtiofsd"
+)
+
+for c in ${supported_artifacts[@]}; do echo $c; done
diff --git a/kata-deploy/Dockerfile b/kata-deploy/Dockerfile
index 500923294..5db3a0bca 100644
--- a/kata-deploy/Dockerfile
+++ b/kata-deploy/Dockerfile
@@ -1,24 +1,22 @@
 FROM centos/systemd
-ARG KATA_VER
-ARG ARCH=x86_64
 ARG KUBE_ARCH=amd64
-ARG KATA_URL=https://github.com/kata-containers/runtime/releases/download/${KATA_VER}
-ARG KATA_FILE=kata-static-${KATA_VER}-${ARCH}.tar.xz
+ARG KATA_ARTIFACTS=./kata-static.tar.xz
+ARG DESTINATION=/opt/kata-artifacts
+
+COPY ${KATA_ARTIFACTS} .
 
 RUN \
 yum install -y epel-release && \
 yum install -y bzip2 jq && \
-curl -sOL ${KATA_URL}/${KATA_FILE} && \
-mkdir -p /opt/kata-artifacts && \
-tar xvf ${KATA_FILE} -C /opt/kata-artifacts/ && \
-chown -R root:root /opt/kata-artifacts/ && \
-rm ${KATA_FILE}
+mkdir -p ${DESTINATION} && \
+tar xvf ${KATA_ARTIFACTS} -C ${DESTINATION}/ && \
+chown -R root:root ${DESTINATION}/
 
 RUN \
 curl -Lso /bin/kubectl https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/$(curl -s https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/${KUBE_ARCH}/kubectl && \
 chmod +x /bin/kubectl
 
-COPY scripts /opt/kata-artifacts/scripts
+COPY scripts ${DESTINATION}/scripts
 RUN \
-ln -s /opt/kata-artifacts/scripts/kata-deploy-docker.sh /usr/bin/kata-deploy-docker && \
-ln -s /opt/kata-artifacts/scripts/kata-deploy.sh /usr/bin/kata-deploy
+ln -s ${DESTINATION}/scripts/kata-deploy-docker.sh /usr/bin/kata-deploy-docker && \
+ln -s ${DESTINATION}/scripts/kata-deploy.sh /usr/bin/kata-deploy
diff --git a/kata-deploy/action/Dockerfile b/kata-deploy/action/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7047680f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kata-deploy/action/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2019 Intel Corporation
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+FROM microsoft/azure-cli:latest
+
+LABEL com.github.actions.name="Test kata-deploy in an AKS cluster"
+LABEL com.github.actions.description="Test kata-deploy in an AKS cluster"
+
+# Default to latest validated AKS-engine version
+ARG AKS_ENGINE_VER="v0.42.0"
+ARG ARCH=amd64
+
+ENV GITHUB_ACTION_NAME="Test kata-deploy in an AKS cluster"
+
+# When run, we expect the caller (GitHub Action workflow) to provide the
+# PKG_SHA environment variable
+ENV PKG_SHA=HEAD
+
+RUN curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/$(curl -s https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/${ARCH}/kubectl \
+  && chmod +x ./kubectl \
+  && mv ./kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
+
+RUN curl -LO https://github.com/Azure/aks-engine/releases/download/${AKS_ENGINE_VER}/aks-engine-${AKS_ENGINE_VER}-linux-${ARCH}.tar.gz \
+  && tar xvf aks-engine-${AKS_ENGINE_VER}-linux-${ARCH}.tar.gz \
+  && mv aks-engine-${AKS_ENGINE_VER}-linux-${ARCH}/aks-engine /usr/local/bin/aks-engine \
+  && rm aks-engine-${AKS_ENGINE_VER}-linux-${ARCH}.tar.gz
+
+COPY kubernetes-containerd.json /
+COPY setup-aks.sh test-kata.sh entrypoint.sh /
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint.sh"]
diff --git a/kata-deploy/action/action.yaml b/kata-deploy/action/action.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b894fecaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kata-deploy/action/action.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# action.yml
+name: 'kata-deploy'
+description: 'test Kata container image in AKS'
+inputs:
+  packaging-sha:
+    description: 'SHA we are using for pulling packaing manifests'
+    required: true
+    default: ''
+runs:
+  using: 'docker'
+  image: 'Dockerfile'
+  args:
+    - ${{ inputs.packaging-sha }}
diff --git a/kata-deploy/action/entrypoint.sh b/kata-deploy/action/entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..899bada6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kata-deploy/action/entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2018 Intel Corporation
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+set -o errexit
+set -o pipefail
+set -o nounset
+
+# This entrypoint expects an environment variable, PKG_SHA, to be
+# within the container runtime. A default is provided in the Dockerfile,
+# but we expect the caller to pass this into the container run (ie docker run -e PKG_SHA=foo ...)
+echo "provided package reference: ${PKG_SHA}"
+
+# Since this is the entrypoint for the container image, we know that the AKS and Kata setup/testing
+# scripts are located at root.
+source /setup-aks.sh
+source /test-kata.sh 
+
+trap destroy_aks EXIT
+
+setup_aks
+test_kata
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kata-deploy/action/kubernetes-containerd.json b/kata-deploy/action/kubernetes-containerd.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1b92e04f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kata-deploy/action/kubernetes-containerd.json
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+{
+  "apiVersion": "vlabs",
+  "properties": {
+    "orchestratorProfile": {
+      "orchestratorType": "Kubernetes",
+      "orchestratorVersion": "1.15.4",
+      "kubernetesConfig": {
+        "networkPlugin": "flannel",
+        "containerRuntime": "containerd",
+        "containerdVersion": "1.2.4"
+      }
+    },
+    "masterProfile": {
+      "count": 1,
+      "dnsPrefix": "",
+      "vmSize": "Standard_D2_v2"
+    },
+    "agentPoolProfiles": [
+      {
+        "name": "agentpool",
+        "count": 1,
+        "vmSize": "Standard_D4s_v3",
+        "availabilityProfile": "AvailabilitySet"
+      }
+    ],
+    "linuxProfile": {
+      "adminUsername": "azureuser",
+      "ssh": {
+        "publicKeys": [
+          {
+            "keyData": ""
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+    },
+    "servicePrincipalProfile": {
+      "clientId": "",
+      "secret": ""
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/kata-deploy/action/setup-aks.sh b/kata-deploy/action/setup-aks.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..967f500b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kata-deploy/action/setup-aks.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2019 Intel Corporation
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+set -o errexit
+set -o pipefail
+set -o nounset
+
+export AZURE_HTTP_USER_AGENT="GITHUBACTIONS_${GITHUB_ACTION_NAME}_${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}"
+
+LOCATION=${LOCATION:-westus2}
+DNS_PREFIX=${DNS_PREFIX:-kata-deploy-${GITHUB_SHA:0:10}}
+CLUSTER_CONFIG=${CLUSTER_CONFIG:-/kubernetes-containerd.json}
+
+function die() {
+    msg="$*"
+    echo "ERROR: $msg" >&2
+    exit 1
+}
+
+function destroy_aks() {
+    set +x
+
+    export KUBECONFIG="_output/$DNS_PREFIX/kubeconfig/kubeconfig.$LOCATION.json"
+    kubectl describe ds -n kube-system kata-deploy || true
+    kubectl describe ds -n kube-system kata-cleanup || true
+
+    az login --service-principal -u "$AZ_APPID" -p "$AZ_PASSWORD" --tenant "$AZ_TENANT_ID"
+    az group delete --name "$DNS_PREFIX" --yes --no-wait
+    az logout
+}
+
+function setup_aks() {
+    [[ -z "$AZ_APPID" ]] && die "no Azure service principal ID provided"
+    [[ -z "$AZ_PASSWORD" ]] && die "no Azure service principal secret provided"
+    [[ -z "$AZ_SUBSCRIPTION_ID" ]] && die "no Azure subscription ID provided"
+    [[ -z "$AZ_TENANT_ID" ]] && die "no Azure tenant ID provided"
+
+    aks-engine deploy --subscription-id "$AZ_SUBSCRIPTION_ID" \
+        --client-id "$AZ_APPID" --client-secret "$AZ_PASSWORD" \
+        --location "$LOCATION" --dns-prefix "$DNS_PREFIX" \
+        --api-model "$CLUSTER_CONFIG" --force-overwrite
+
+    export KUBECONFIG="_output/$DNS_PREFIX/kubeconfig/kubeconfig.$LOCATION.json"
+
+    # wait for the cluster to be settled:
+    kubectl wait --timeout=10m --for=condition=Ready --all nodes
+
+    # make sure coredns is up before moving forward:
+    kubectl wait --timeout=5m -n kube-system --for=condition=Available deployment.extensions/coredns
+}
diff --git a/kata-deploy/action/test-kata.sh b/kata-deploy/action/test-kata.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..7f0dcde1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kata-deploy/action/test-kata.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2019 Intel Corporation
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o pipefail
+set -o nounset
+
+function die() {
+    msg="$*"
+    echo "ERROR: $msg" >&2
+    exit 1
+}
+
+function waitForProcess() {
+    wait_time="$1"
+    sleep_time="$2"
+    cmd="$3"
+    while [ "$wait_time" -gt 0 ]; do
+        if eval "$cmd"; then
+            return 0
+        else
+            echo "waiting"
+            sleep "$sleep_time"
+            wait_time=$((wait_time-sleep_time))
+        fi
+    done
+    return 1
+}
+
+# waitForLabelRemoval will wait for the kata-runtime labels to removed until a given
+# timeout expires
+function waitForLabelRemoval() {
+    wait_time="$1"
+    sleep_time="$2"
+
+    while [[ "$wait_time" -gt 0 ]]; do
+        # if a node is found which matches node-select, the output will include a column for node name,
+        # NAME. Let's look for that 
+        if [[ -z $(kubectl get nodes --selector katacontainers.io/kata-runtime | grep NAME) ]]
+        then
+            return 0
+        else
+            echo "waiting for kata-runtime label to be removed"
+            sleep "$sleep_time"
+            wait_time=$((wait_time-sleep_time))
+        fi
+    done
+
+    echo "failed to cleanup"
+    return 1
+}
+
+
+function run_test() {
+    PKG_SHA=$1
+    YAMLPATH="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/amshinde/kata-packaging/$PKG_SHA/kata-deploy"
+    echo "verify connectivity with a pod using Kata"
+
+    deployment=""
+    busybox_pod="test-nginx"
+    busybox_image="busybox"
+    cmd="kubectl get pods | grep $busybox_pod | grep Completed"
+    wait_time=120
+    sleep_time=3
+
+    configurations=("nginx-deployment-qemu" "nginx-deployment-qemu-virtiofs")
+    for deployment in "${configurations[@]}"; do
+        # start the kata pod:
+        kubectl apply -f "$YAMLPATH/examples/${deployment}.yaml"
+
+      # in case the control plane is slow, give it a few seconds to accept the yaml, otherwise
+      # our 'wait' for deployment status will fail to find the deployment at all
+      sleep 3 
+
+      kubectl wait --timeout=5m --for=condition=Available deployment/${deployment}
+      kubectl expose deployment/${deployment}
+
+      # test pod connectivity:
+      kubectl run $busybox_pod --restart=Never --image="$busybox_image" -- wget --timeout=5 "$deployment"
+      waitForProcess "$wait_time" "$sleep_time" "$cmd"
+      kubectl logs "$busybox_pod" | grep "index.html"
+      kubectl describe pod "$busybox_pod"
+
+      # cleanup:
+      kubectl delete deployment "$deployment"
+      kubectl delete service "$deployment"
+      kubectl delete pod "$busybox_pod"
+  done
+}
+
+
+function test_kata() {
+    set -x
+
+    [[ -z "$PKG_SHA" ]] && die "no PKG_SHA provided"
+    echo "$PKG_SHA"
+
+    #kubectl all the things
+    kubectl get pods,nodes --all-namespaces
+
+    YAMLPATH="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/amshinde/kata-packaging/$PKG_SHA/kata-deploy"
+
+    kubectl apply -f "$YAMLPATH/kata-rbac.yaml"
+
+    # apply runtime classes:
+    kubectl apply -f "$YAMLPATH/k8s-1.14/kata-qemu-runtimeClass.yaml"
+    kubectl apply -f "$YAMLPATH/k8s-1.14/kata-qemu-virtiofs-runtimeClass.yaml"
+
+    kubectl get runtimeclasses
+
+    curl -LO "$YAMLPATH/kata-deploy.yaml"
+    curl -LO "$YAMLPATH/kata-cleanup.yaml"
+
+    # update deployment daemonset to utilize the container under test:
+    sed -i "s#katadocker/kata-deploy#katadocker/kata-deploy-ci:${PKG_SHA}#g" kata-deploy.yaml
+    sed -i "s#katadocker/kata-deploy#katadocker/kata-deploy-ci:${PKG_SHA}#g" kata-cleanup.yaml
+
+    cat kata-deploy.yaml
+
+    # deploy kata:
+    kubectl apply -f kata-deploy.yaml
+
+    # in case the control plane is slow, give it a few seconds to accept the yaml, otherwise
+    # our 'wait' for deployment status will fail to find the deployment at all. If it can't persist
+    # the daemonset to etcd in 30 seconds... then we'll fail.
+    sleep 30
+
+    # wait for kata-deploy to be up
+    kubectl -n kube-system wait --timeout=10m --for=condition=Ready -l name=kata-deploy pod
+
+    # show running pods, and labels of nodes
+    kubectl get pods,nodes --all-namespaces --show-labels
+
+    run_test $PKG_SHA
+
+    kubectl get pods,nodes --show-labels
+
+    # Remove Kata
+    kubectl delete -f kata-deploy.yaml
+    kubectl -n kube-system wait --timeout=10m --for=delete -l name=kata-deploy pod
+
+    kubectl get pods,nodes --show-labels
+
+    kubectl apply -f kata-cleanup.yaml
+
+    # The cleanup daemonset will run a single time, since it will clear the node-label. Thus, its difficult to
+    # check the daemonset's status for completion. instead, let's wait until the kata-runtime labels are removed
+    # from all of the worker nodes. If this doesn't happen in 45 seconds, let's fail
+    timeout=45
+    sleeptime=1
+    waitForLabelRemoval $timeout $sleeptime
+
+    kubectl delete -f kata-cleanup.yaml
+
+    rm kata-cleanup.yaml
+    rm kata-deploy.yaml
+
+    set +x
+}
diff --git a/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-fc.yaml b/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-fc.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2053e0dee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-fc.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: nginx-deployment-fc
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: nginx
+  replicas: 2
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: nginx
+    spec:
+      runtimeClassName: kata-fc
+      containers:
+      - name: nginx
+        image: nginx:1.14
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 80
diff --git a/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-nemu.yaml b/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-nemu.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..907e3c69d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-nemu.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: nginx-deployment-nemu
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: nginx
+  replicas: 2
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: nginx
+    spec:
+      runtimeClassName: kata-nemu
+      containers:
+      - name: nginx
+        image: nginx:1.14
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 80
diff --git a/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-qemu-virtiofs.yaml b/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-qemu-virtiofs.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..06bf7d449
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-qemu-virtiofs.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: nginx-deployment-qemu-virtiofs
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: nginx
+  replicas: 2
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: nginx
+    spec:
+      runtimeClassName: kata-qemu-virtiofs
+      containers:
+      - name: nginx
+        image: nginx:1.14
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 80
diff --git a/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-qemu.yaml b/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-qemu.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..467c99e91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kata-deploy/examples/nginx-deployment-qemu.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: nginx-deployment-qemu
+spec:
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      app: nginx
+  replicas: 2
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      labels:
+        app: nginx
+    spec:
+      runtimeClassName: kata-qemu
+      containers:
+      - name: nginx
+        image: nginx:1.14
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 80
diff --git a/obs-packaging/gen_versions_txt.sh b/obs-packaging/gen_versions_txt.sh
index 31d3550ab..2f22dbb55 100755
--- a/obs-packaging/gen_versions_txt.sh
+++ b/obs-packaging/gen_versions_txt.sh
@@ -26,12 +26,13 @@ get_kata_version() {
 
 gen_version_file() {
 	local branch="$1"
-	local use_head="$2"
+	local kata_version="$2"
 	local ref="refs/heads/${branch}"
-	local kata_version="${branch}"
 
-	if [ -n "$branch" ] && [ -z "${use_head}" ]; then
-		kata_version=$(get_kata_version "${branch}")
+	if  [ "${kata_version}" == "HEAD" ]; then
+		kata_version="${branch}"
+		ref="refs/heads/${branch}"
+	else
 		ref="refs/tags/${kata_version}^{}"
 	fi
 
@@ -135,6 +136,7 @@ EOT
 main() {
 	local compareOnly=
 	local use_head=
+	local use_tag=
 
 	case "${1:-}" in
 		"-h"|"--help")
@@ -148,13 +150,57 @@ main() {
 			use_head=1
 			shift
 			;;
+		--tag)
+			use_tag=1
+			shift
+			;;
 		-*)
 			die "Invalid option: ${1:-}" "1"
 			shift
 			;;
 	esac
-	local branch="${1:-}"
-	[ -n "${branch}" ] || die "No branch specified" "1"
+
+	local kata_version=
+	if [ -n "$use_tag" ]; then
+		if [ -n "${use_head}" ]; then
+		       die "tag and head options are mutually exclusive"
+		fi
+
+		# We are generating versions based on the provided tag
+		local tag="${1:-}"
+		[ -n "${tag}" ] || die "No tag specified" "1"
+
+		# use the runtime's repository to determine branch information
+		local repo="github.com/kata-containers/runtime"
+		local repo_dir="runtime"
+		git clone --quiet "https://${repo}.git" "${repo_dir}"
+		pushd "${repo_dir}" >> /dev/null
+		local branch=$(git branch -r -q --contains "${tag}" | grep -E "master|stable" | grep -v HEAD)
+
+		popd >> /dev/null
+		rm -rf ${repo_dir}
+
+		[ -n "${branch}" ] || die "branch for tag ${tag} not found"
+
+		# in the event this is on master as well as stable, or multiple stables, just pick the first branch
+		# (ie, 1.8.0-alpha0 may live on stable-1.8 as well as master: we'd just use master in this case)
+		branch=$(echo ${branch} | awk -F" " '{print $1}')
+
+		# format will be origin/<branch-name> - let's drop origin:
+		branch=$(echo ${branch} | awk -F"/" '{print $2}')
+
+		echo "generating versions for tag ${tag} which is on branch ${branch}"
+		kata_version=${tag}
+	else
+		local branch="${1:-}"
+		[ -n "${branch}" ] || die "No branch specified" "1"
+
+		if [ -n "${use_head}" ]; then
+			kata_version="HEAD"
+		else
+			kata_version=$(get_kata_version "${branch}")
+		fi
+	fi
 
 	if [ -n "$compareOnly" ]; then
 		source "./${versions_txt}" || exit 1
@@ -167,7 +213,7 @@ main() {
 		return
 	fi
 
-	gen_version_file "${branch}" "${use_head}"
+	gen_version_file "${branch}" "${kata_version}"
 }
 
 main $@
diff --git a/release/kata-deploy-binaries.sh b/release/kata-deploy-binaries.sh
index d956c12cd..44ea30f0b 100755
--- a/release/kata-deploy-binaries.sh
+++ b/release/kata-deploy-binaries.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ workdir="${WORKDIR:-$PWD}"
 # that are local
 test_local="false"
 
+destdir="${workdir}/kata-static"
+mkdir -p "${destdir}"
+
 exit_handler() {
 	[ -d "${tmp_dir}" ] || sudo rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
 }
@@ -89,6 +92,7 @@ verify_hub() {
 
 #Install guest image/initrd asset
 install_image() {
+	kata_version=${1:-kata_version}
 	image_destdir="${destdir}/${prefix}/share/kata-containers/"
 	info "Create image"
 	image_tarball=$(find . -name 'kata-containers-'"${kata_version}"'-*.tar.gz')
@@ -105,60 +109,49 @@ install_image() {
 	ln -sf "${image}" kata-containers.img
 	ln -sf "${initrd}" kata-containers-initrd.img
 	popd >>/dev/null
+	pushd ${destdir}
+	tar -czvf ../kata-image.tar.gz *
+	popd
 }
 
 #Install kernel asset
 install_kernel() {
-	if [[ "$test_local" == "true" ]]; then
-		pushd "${script_dir}/../"
-	else
-		go get "github.com/${project}/packaging" || true
-		pushd ${GOPATH}/src/github.com/${project}/packaging >>/dev/null
-		git checkout "${kata_version}-kernel-config" ||
-		git checkout "${kata_version}"
-	fi
-
+	pushd "${script_dir}/../"
 	info "build kernel"
 	./kernel/build-kernel.sh setup
 	./kernel/build-kernel.sh build
 	info "install kernel"
 	DESTDIR="${destdir}" PREFIX="${prefix}" ./kernel/build-kernel.sh install
 	popd
+	pushd ${destdir}
+	tar -czvf ../kata-kernel.tar.gz *
+	popd
 }
 
 #Install experimental kernel asset
 install_experimental_kernel() {
-	if [[ "$test_local" == "true" ]]; then
-		pushd "${script_dir}/../"
-	else
-		go get "github.com/${project}/packaging" || true
-		pushd ${GOPATH}/src/github.com/${project}/packaging >>/dev/null
-		git checkout "${kata_version}-kernel-config" ||
-		git checkout "${kata_version}"
-	fi
-
+	pushd "${script_dir}/../"
 	info "build experimental kernel"
 	./kernel/build-kernel.sh -e setup
 	./kernel/build-kernel.sh -e build
 	info "install experimental kernel"
 	DESTDIR="${destdir}" PREFIX="${prefix}" ./kernel/build-kernel.sh -e install
 	popd
+	pushd ${destdir}
+	tar -czvf ../kata-kernel-experimental.tar.gz *
+	popd
 }
 
 # Install static qemu asset
 install_qemu() {
 	info "build static qemu"
 	"${script_dir}/../static-build/qemu/build-static-qemu.sh"
-	info "Install static qemu"
-	tar xf kata-qemu-static.tar.gz -C "${destdir}"
 }
 
 # Install static qemu-virtiofsd asset
 install_qemu_virtiofsd() {
 	info "build static qemu-virtiofs"
 	"${script_dir}/../static-build/qemu-virtiofs/build-static-qemu-virtiofs.sh"
-	info "Install static qemu-virtiofs"
-	tar xf kata-qemu-static.tar.gz -C "${destdir}"
 }
 
 # Install static firecracker asset
@@ -169,7 +162,9 @@ install_firecracker() {
 	mkdir -p "${destdir}/opt/kata/bin/"
 	sudo install -D --owner root --group root --mode 0744  firecracker/firecracker-static "${destdir}/opt/kata/bin/firecracker"
 	sudo install -D --owner root --group root --mode 0744  firecracker/jailer-static "${destdir}/opt/kata/bin/jailer"
-
+	pushd ${destdir}
+	tar -czvf ../kata-firecracker-static.tar.gz *
+	popd
 }
 
 install_docker_config_script() {
@@ -186,6 +181,7 @@ install_docker_config_script() {
 
 #Install all components that are not assets
 install_kata_components() {
+	kata_version=${1:-kata_version}
 	for p in "${projects[@]}"; do
 		echo "Download ${p}"
 		go get "github.com/${project}/$p" || true
@@ -234,6 +230,16 @@ EOT
 	sudo chmod +x kata-qemu-virtiofs
 
 	popd
+	pushd ${destdir}
+	tar -czvf ../kata-components.tar.gz *
+	popd
+}
+
+untar_qemu_binaries() {
+	info "Install static qemu"
+	tar xf kata-qemu-static.tar.gz -C "${destdir}"
+	info "Install static qemu-virtiofs"
+	tar xf kata-qemu-virtiofs-static.tar.gz -C "${destdir}"
 }
 
 main() {
@@ -267,6 +273,8 @@ main() {
 	install_firecracker
 	install_docker_config_script
 
+	untar_qemu_binaries
+
 	tarball_name="${destdir}.tar.xz"
 	pushd "${destdir}" >>/dev/null
 	tar cfJ "${tarball_name}" "./opt"
@@ -278,4 +286,6 @@ main() {
 	fi
 }
 
-main $@
+if [[ "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" == "${0}" ]]; then
+  main $@
+fi
diff --git a/static-build/qemu-virtiofs/build-static-qemu-virtiofs.sh b/static-build/qemu-virtiofs/build-static-qemu-virtiofs.sh
index 141255935..e1a21b090 100755
--- a/static-build/qemu-virtiofs/build-static-qemu-virtiofs.sh
+++ b/static-build/qemu-virtiofs/build-static-qemu-virtiofs.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ qemu_virtiofs_repo=$(get_from_kata_deps "assets.hypervisor.qemu-experimental.url
 # This tag will be supported on the runtime versions.yaml
 qemu_virtiofs_tag=$(get_from_kata_deps "assets.hypervisor.qemu-experimental.tag")
 qemu_tar="kata-qemu-static.tar.gz"
-qemu_tmp_tar="kata-qemu-static-tmp.tar.gz"
+qemu_virtiofs_tar="kata-qemu-virtiofs-static.tar.gz"
+qemu_tmp_tar="kata-qemu-virtiofs-static-tmp.tar.gz"
 
 info "Build ${qemu_virtiofs_repo} tag: ${qemu_virtiofs_tag}"
 
@@ -46,4 +47,4 @@ sudo chown ${USER}:${USER} "${PWD}/${qemu_tar}"
 
 # Remove blacklisted binaries
 gzip -d < "${qemu_tar}" | tar --delete --wildcards -f - ${qemu_black_list[*]} | gzip > "${qemu_tmp_tar}"
-mv -f "${qemu_tmp_tar}" "${qemu_tar}"
+mv -f "${qemu_tmp_tar}" "${qemu_virtiofs_tar}"