diff --git a/.github/workflows/end2end_tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/end2end_tests.yaml
index f05b3af33..381f07ced 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/end2end_tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/end2end_tests.yaml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ on:
 env:
   SSHNP_ATSIGN: "@jeremy_0"
   SSHNPD_ATSIGN: "@smoothalligator"
-  CONTAINER_TIMEOUT: "30"
+  CONTAINER_TIMEOUT: "300" # seconds
 
 jobs:
   end2end_tests_trunk:
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Docker Compose Up
         working-directory: packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests
         run: |
-          docker compose up --abort-on-container-exit --exit-code-from=container-trunk-sshnp --wait-timeout=${{ env.CONTAINER_TIMEOUT }} --always-recreate-deps
+          docker compose up --abort-on-container-exit --exit-code-from=container-trunk-sshnp -t=${{ env.CONTAINER_TIMEOUT }}
 
       - name: (Debug) View containers
         continue-on-error: true # in case step fails, pass anyway
diff --git a/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/contexts/sshnp/entrypoint.sh b/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/contexts/sshnp/entrypoint.sh
index 50fafc116..e82630826 100644
--- a/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/contexts/sshnp/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/contexts/sshnp/entrypoint.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-sleep 10
+sleep 2
 ~/.local/bin/sshnp -f @jeremy_0 -t @smoothalligator -d docker -h @rv_am -s id_ed25519.pub -v
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/contexts/sshnpd/entrypoint.sh b/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/contexts/sshnpd/entrypoint.sh
index 71f56435e..09e3b0c89 100644
--- a/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/contexts/sshnpd/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/contexts/sshnpd/entrypoint.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,2 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-# tmux new-session -d -s sshnpd
-# tmux send-keys -t sshnpd "~/.local/bin/sshnpd -a @smoothalligator -m @jeremy_0 -d docker -s -u -v" C-m
-# sleep 2
-
-~/.local/bin/sshnpd -a @smoothalligator -m @jeremy_0 -d docker -s -u -v
-sleep 2
+~/.local/bin/sshnpd -a @smoothalligator -m @jeremy_0 -d docker -s -u -v
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/docker-compose.yml b/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/docker-compose.yml
index f8c71dcc7..3d2d68ade 100644
--- a/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,37 @@
 version: '3'
 
 services:
+  # image-runtime-blank:
+  #   build:
+  #     context: ./image/
+  #     dockerfile: ./Dockerfile
+  #     target: runtime-blank
+  #   image: atsigncompany/sshnp-e2e-runtime:blank
+  #   deploy:
+  #     mode: replicated
+  #     replicas: 0
+  # image-runtime-local:
+  #   build:
+  #     context: ./image/
+  #     dockerfile: ./Dockerfile
+  #     target: runtime-release
+  #     args:
+  #       - release=3.3.0
+  #   image: atsigncompany/sshnp-e2e-runtime:local
+  #   deploy:
+  #     mode: replicated
+  #     replicas: 0
+  # image-runtime-release:
+  #   build:
+  #     context: ./image/
+  #     dockerfile: ./Dockerfile
+  #     target: runtime-release
+  #     args:
+  #       - release=3.3.0
+  #   image: atsigncompany/sshnp-e2e-runtime:release
+  #   deploy:
+  #     mode: replicated
+  #     replicas: 0
   image-runtime-trunk:
     build:
       context: ./image/
diff --git a/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/image/Dockerfile b/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/image/Dockerfile
index 762e0a733..3f5be610d 100644
--- a/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/image/Dockerfile
+++ b/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/image/Dockerfile
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ ENV OUTPUT_DIR=/app/output
 
 ARG branch=trunk
 
-RUN mkdir -p ${REPO_DIR} ${OUTPUT_DIR} ; \
+RUN set -eux ; \
+  mkdir -p ${REPO_DIR} ${OUTPUT_DIR} ; \
   apt-get update ; \
   apt-get install -y git ; \
   cd ${REPO_DIR} ; \
@@ -16,8 +17,8 @@ RUN mkdir -p ${REPO_DIR} ${OUTPUT_DIR} ; \
   dart compile exe ${REPO_DIR}/packages/sshnoports/bin/sshnp.dart -o ${OUTPUT_DIR}/sshnp ; \
   dart compile exe ${REPO_DIR}/packages/sshnoports/bin/sshnpd.dart -o ${OUTPUT_DIR}/sshnpd ; \
   dart compile exe ${REPO_DIR}/packages/sshnoports/bin/sshrv.dart -o ${OUTPUT_DIR}/sshrv ; \
-  dart compile exe ${REPO_DIR}/packages/sshnoports/bin/sshrvd.dart -o ${BUILDDIR}/bin/sshrvd ; \
-  dart compile exe ${REPO_DIR}/packages/sshnoports/bin/activate_cli.dart -o ${BUILDDIR}/bin/at_activate ;
+  dart compile exe ${REPO_DIR}/packages/sshnoports/bin/sshrvd.dart -o ${OUTPUT_DIR}/sshrvd ; \
+  dart compile exe ${REPO_DIR}/packages/sshnoports/bin/activate_cli.dart -o ${OUTPUT_DIR}/at_activate ;
 
 FROM dart:3.0.5@sha256:65e5f5d6d72ad2f7b32f402c01b5fe8a426455b1ede1e9f840f95a2a8c14afbd AS build-local
 
@@ -29,7 +30,8 @@ RUN mkdir -p ${REPO_DIR} ${OUTPUT_DIR} ;
 # context must be the same folder as the Dockerfile
 COPY ../../../ ${REPO_DIR}
 
-RUN cd ${REPO_DIR} ; \
+RUN set -eux ; \
+  cd ${REPO_DIR} ; \
   dart pub get ; \
   dart compile exe ${REPO_DIR}/bin/sshnp.dart -o ${OUTPUTDIR}/sshnp ; \
   dart compile exe ${REPO_DIR}/bin/sshnpd.dart -o ${OUTPUTDIR}/sshnpd ; \
@@ -39,34 +41,39 @@ RUN cd ${REPO_DIR} ; \
 
 FROM debian:stable-20230612-slim@sha256:b09f68bffcf9c14f3105f262e92321d05abaf48460d1f43f884325bcd4395b95 AS build-release
 
-ARG release="3.3.0"
+ARG release
 
-RUN mkdir -p ${HOMEDIR}/.atsign/keys ${HOMEDIR}/.local/bin ${HOMEDIR}/tmp/build ; \
-  cd ${HOMEDIR}/tmp/build ; \
+ENV BUILD_DIR=/app/build
+ENV OUTPUT_DIR=/app/output
+ENV URL="https://api.github.com/repos/atsign-foundation/sshnoports/releases/latest"
+ENV URLP="https://github.com/atsign-foundation/sshnoports/releases/download"
+
+RUN apt-get update ; \
+  apt-get install -y wget dpkg ; \
+  mkdir -p ${BUILD_DIR} ${OUTPUT_DIR} ; \
+  cd ${BUILD_DIR} ; \
   case "$(dpkg --print-architecture)" in \
-  amd64) \
-  ARCH="x64";; \
-  armhf) \
-  ARCH="arm";; \
-  arm64) \
-  ARCH="arm64";; \
-  riscv64) \
-  ARCH="riscv64";; \
+    amd64) \
+      ARCH="x64";; \
+    armhf) \
+      ARCH="arm";; \
+    arm64) \
+      ARCH="arm64";; \
+    riscv64) \
+      ARCH="riscv64";; \
   esac; \
-  URL="https://api.github.com/repos/atsign-foundation/sshnoports/releases/latest"; \
-  URLP="https://github.com/atsign-foundation/sshnoports/releases/download"; \
   if [ -z "${release}" ]; \
   then \
-  LATEST_VERSION=$(curl --silent ${URL} | grep -Po '"tag_name": "v\K.*?(?=")') ; \
-  VERSION=${LATEST_VERSION} ; \
+    LATEST_VERSION=$(curl --silent ${URL} | grep -Po '"tag_name": "v\K.*?(?=")') ; \
+    VERSION=${LATEST_VERSION} ; \
   else \
-  VERSION=${release} ; \
+    VERSION=${release} ; \
   fi ; \
   wget "${URLP}/v${VERSION}/sshnp-linux-${ARCH}.tgz" ; \
   tar -xvf sshnp-linux-${ARCH}.tgz ; \
   rm sshnp-linux-${ARCH}.tgz ; \
   cd sshnp ; \
-  mv sshnp sshnpd sshrv sshrvd at_activate ${HOMEDIR}/.local/bin ;
+  mv sshnp sshnpd sshrv sshrvd at_activate ${OUTPUT_DIR} ;
 
 FROM debian:stable-20230612-slim@sha256:b09f68bffcf9c14f3105f262e92321d05abaf48460d1f43f884325bcd4395b95 AS base
 
@@ -77,7 +84,7 @@ ENV GROUP_ID=1024
 
 RUN set -eux ; \
   apt-get update ; \
-  apt-get install -y openssh-server sudo wget curl openssh-server nano vim iproute2 nmap tmux git dpkg ; \
+  apt-get install -y openssh-server sudo vim nano iproute2 nmap tmux ; \
   groupadd --gid ${GROUP_ID} ${USER} ; \
   useradd --system --shell /bin/bash --home ${HOMEDIR} --uid ${USER_ID} --gid ${GROUP_ID} ${USER} ; \
   usermod -aG sudo ${USER} ; \
@@ -89,20 +96,40 @@ RUN set -eux ; \
   sed -E -i 's|^#?(PasswordAuthentication)\s.*|\1 no|' /etc/ssh/sshd_config ; \
   sed -i 's/#ListenAddress 0.0.0.0/ListenAddress 127.0.0.1/g' /etc/ssh/sshd_config ;
 
-FROM base AS blank
+FROM base AS runtime-blank
 
 WORKDIR ${HOMEDIR}
+
 USER ${USER}
+
 ENTRYPOINT sudo service ssh start && sh ${HOMEDIR}/entrypoint.sh
 
-FROM blank AS runtime-branch
+FROM base AS runtime-branch
 
 COPY --chown=${USER}:${USER} --from=build-branch /app/output ${HOMEDIR}/.local/bin
 
-FROM blank AS runtime-release
+WORKDIR ${HOMEDIR}
+
+USER ${USER}
+
+ENTRYPOINT sudo service ssh start && sh ${HOMEDIR}/entrypoint.sh
+
+FROM base AS runtime-release
 
 COPY --chown=${USER}:${USER} --from=build-release /app/output ${HOMEDIR}/.local/bin
 
-FROM blank AS runtime-local
+WORKDIR ${HOMEDIR}
+
+USER ${USER}
+
+ENTRYPOINT sudo service ssh start && sh ${HOMEDIR}/entrypoint.sh
+
+FROM base AS runtime-local
 
 COPY --chown=${USER}:${USER} --from=build-local /app/output ${HOMEDIR}/.local/bin
+
+WORKDIR ${HOMEDIR}
+
+USER ${USER}
+
+ENTRYPOINT sudo service ssh start && sh ${HOMEDIR}/entrypoint.sh
diff --git a/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/tools/run.sh b/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/tools/run.sh
index 67e24d4b0..249c6ece1 100644
--- a/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/tools/run.sh
+++ b/packages/sshnoports/test/end2end_tests/tools/run.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 usage() {
     echo "usage: $0"
     echo "  -h|--help"
-    echo "  -t|--type <sshnp/sshnpd/sshrvd> (required)"
+    echo "  -t|--tag <sshnp/sshnpd/sshrvd> (required)"
     echo "  ONE OF THE FOLLOWING (required)"
     echo "  -l|--local"
     echo "  -b|--branch <branch/commitid>"
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ parse_args() {
                 exit 0
                 ;;
             -t|--type)
-                type=$2
+                tag=$2
                 shift 2
                 ;;
             -l|--local)
@@ -60,28 +60,80 @@ parse_args() {
         esac
     done
 
-    if [[ -z $type ]];
+    # check that tag is provided
+    if [[ -z $tag ]];
     then
-        echo "Missing required argument: --type"
+        echo "Missing required argument: --tag"
         usage
         exit 1
     fi
 
-    if [[ $type != "sshnp" && $type != "sshnpd" && $type != "sshrvd" ]];
+    # check that tag is one of: sshnp/sshnpd/sshrvd
+    if [[ $tag != "sshnp" && $tag != "sshnpd" && $tag != "sshrvd" ]];
     then
-        echo "Invalid type: $type, must be one of: sshnp/sshnpd/sshrvd"
+        echo "Invalid tag: $tag, must be one of: sshnp/sshnpd/sshrvd"
         usage
         exit 1
     fi
 
+    # check that at least one of the following is provided: local branch release blank
     if [[ -z $local && -z $branch && -z $release && -z $blank ]];
     then
         echo "Missing required argument: ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: --local, --branch, --release, --blank"
         usage
         exit 1
     fi
+
+    # check that only one and only one of the following is provided: local branch release blank
+    local_count=0
+    branch_count=0
+    release_count=0
+    blank_count=0
+
+    if [[ ! -z $local ]];
+    then
+        type=local
+        local_count=1
+    fi
+
+    if [[ ! -z $branch ]];
+    then
+        type=branch
+        branch_count=1
+    fi
+
+    if [[ ! -z $release ]];
+    then
+        type=release
+        release_count=1
+    fi
+
+    if [[ ! -z $blank ]];
+    then
+        type=blank
+        blank_count=1
+    fi
+
+    if [[ $local_count + $branch_count + $release_count + $blank_count -gt 1 ]];
+    then
+        echo "Too many arguments provided: ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: --local, --branch, --release, --blank"
+        usage
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+main() {
+    # if type is branch
+    if [[ $type == "branch" ]];
+    then
+        sudo docker compose build --no-cache --build-arg branch=$branch
+    else if [[ $type == "release" ]]
+        sudo docker compose build --no-cache --build-arg release=$release
+    else
+        sudo docker compose build
+    fi
+
 }
 
-cd ..
-sudo docker-compose up --exit-code-from=sshnp-trunk --build $@
-sudo docker-compose down
\ No newline at end of file
+parse_args $@
+main