diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/docker/Dockerfile.devel b/.azure-pipelines/docker/Dockerfile.devel
index fbb7b8c4e57..4d021f440ba 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/docker/Dockerfile.devel
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/docker/Dockerfile.devel
@@ -36,10 +36,18 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends --fix-missing \
 
 RUN ln -sf $(which python3) /usr/bin/python
 
+ARG USER_ID=1000
+ARG GROUP_ID=1000
+
+RUN groupadd -g ${GROUP_ID} hostgroup && \
+    useradd -m -u ${USER_ID} -g ${GROUP_ID} hostuser
+
+USER hostuser
+
+ENV PATH="/home/hostuser/.local/bin:$PATH"
 RUN python -m pip install pip packaging --upgrade
 RUN python -m pip install --no-cache-dir setuptools
 
 RUN pip list
 
 WORKDIR /
-
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/docker/DockerfileCodeScan.devel b/.azure-pipelines/docker/DockerfileCodeScan.devel
index 611fe02e235..26b743ff295 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/docker/DockerfileCodeScan.devel
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/docker/DockerfileCodeScan.devel
@@ -30,9 +30,11 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends --fix-missing \
 
 RUN ln -sf $(which python3) /usr/bin/python
 
+ARG USER_ID=1000
+ARG GROUP_ID=1000
+
 RUN python -m pip install --no-cache-dir \
     bandit\
-    pyspelling\
     pydocstyle
 
 WORKDIR /
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/docker/ubuntu-2404.devel b/.azure-pipelines/docker/ubuntu-2404.devel
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d279adf93fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/docker/ubuntu-2404.devel
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2025 Intel Corporation
+#
+# 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
+#
+#   http://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.
+ARG UBUNTU_VER=24.04
+FROM ubuntu:${UBUNTU_VER}
+
+# See http://bugs.python.org/issue19846
+ENV LANG C.UTF-8
+
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends --fix-missing \
+    python3 \
+    python3-pip \
+    python3.12-dev \
+    autoconf \
+    build-essential \
+    cmake \
+    git \
+    libomp-dev \
+    numactl \
+    time \
+    wget \
+    bc \
+    jq \
+    vim
+
+RUN ln -sf $(which python3) /usr/bin/python
+
+ARG USER_ID=1000
+ARG GROUP_ID=1000
+
+RUN groupadd -g ${GROUP_ID} hostgroup && \
+    useradd -m -u ${USER_ID} -g ${GROUP_ID} hostuser
+
+USER hostuser
+
+ENV PATH="/home/hostuser/.local/bin:$PATH"
+RUN pip config set global.break-system-packages true
+RUN pip install pip packaging --upgrade
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir setuptools
+RUN pip list
+
+WORKDIR /
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/install_nc.sh b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/install_nc.sh
index 8f9f8c0499e..8f6f7b4800b 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/install_nc.sh
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/install_nc.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 echo -e "##[group]Install Neural Compressor ... "
 cd /neural-compressor
-pip install cmake==3.31.6
 if [[ $1 = *"3x_pt"* ]]; then
     python -m pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements_pt.txt
     if [[ $1 = *"3x_pt_fp8"* ]]; then
@@ -10,8 +9,8 @@ if [[ $1 = *"3x_pt"* ]]; then
         python setup.py pt bdist_wheel
     else
         echo -e "\n Install torch CPU ... "
-        pip install torch==2.7.1 torchvision --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
-        python -m pip install intel-extension-for-pytorch==2.7.0 oneccl_bind_pt --index-url https://pytorch-extension.intel.com/release-whl/stable/cpu/us/
+        pip install torch==2.8.0 torchvision --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
+        python -m pip install intel-extension-for-pytorch==2.8.0 oneccl_bind_pt --index-url https://pytorch-extension.intel.com/release-whl/stable/cpu/us/
         python -m pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
         python setup.py bdist_wheel
     fi
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/env_setup.sh b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/env_setup.sh
index 0182b2781c9..852019466b1 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/env_setup.sh
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/env_setup.sh
@@ -50,10 +50,9 @@ done
 SCRIPTS_PATH="/neural-compressor/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models"
 log_dir="/neural-compressor/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models"
 if [[ "${inc_new_api}" == "3x"* ]]; then
-    pip install cmake==3.31.6
     WORK_SOURCE_DIR="/neural-compressor/examples/${framework}"
-    git clone https://github.com/intel/intel-extension-for-transformers.git /itrex
-    cd /itrex
+    git clone https://github.com/intel/intel-extension-for-transformers.git ~/itrex
+    cd ~/itrex
     pip install -r requirements.txt
     pip install -v .
 else
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/run_onnxrt_models_trigger.sh b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/run_onnxrt_models_trigger.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index d48a115bea5..00000000000
--- a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/run_onnxrt_models_trigger.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -eo pipefail
-# get parameters
-PATTERN='[-a-zA-Z0-9_]*='
-
-for i in "$@"
-do
-    case $i in
-        --model=*)
-            model=`echo $i | sed "s/${PATTERN}//"`;;
-        --mode=*)
-            mode=`echo $i | sed "s/${PATTERN}//"`;;
-        --USE_TUNE_ACC=*)
-            USE_TUNE_ACC=`echo $i | sed "s/${PATTERN}//"`;;
-        --PERF_STABLE_CHECK=*)
-            PERF_STABLE_CHECK=`echo $i | sed "s/${PATTERN}//"`;;
-        --BUILD_BUILDID=*)
-            BUILD_BUILDID=`echo $i | sed "s/${PATTERN}//"`;;
-        *)
-            echo "Parameter $i not recognized."; exit 1;;
-    esac
-done
-
-echo "specify FWs version..."
-source /neural-compressor/.azure-pipelines/scripts/fwk_version.sh 'latest'
-FRAMEWORK="onnxrt"
-FRAMEWORK_VERSION=${onnxruntime_version}
-
-inc_new_api=false
-# ======== set up config for onnxrt models ========
-if [ "${model}" == "resnet50-v1-12" ]; then
-    model_src_dir="image_recognition/onnx_model_zoo/resnet50/quantization/ptq_static"
-    dataset_location="/tf_dataset2/datasets/imagenet/ImagenetRaw/ImagenetRaw_small_5000/ILSVRC2012_img_val"
-    input_model="/tf_dataset2/models/onnx/resnet50-v1-12/resnet50-v1-12.onnx"
-    yaml="resnet50_v1_5.yaml"
-    strategy="basic"
-    batch_size=1
-    new_benchmark=true
-    inc_new_api=true
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --input_model=${input_model} --dataset_location=${dataset_location}"
-    benchmark_cmd="bash run_benchmark.sh --config=${yaml} --mode=performance --dataset_location=${dataset_location}"
-fi
-
-
-/bin/bash run_model_trigger_common.sh \
-    --yaml=${yaml} \
-    --framework=${FRAMEWORK} \
-    --fwk_ver=${FRAMEWORK_VERSION} \
-    --model=${model} \
-    --model_src_dir=${model_src_dir} \
-    --dataset_location=${dataset_location} \
-    --input_model=${input_model} \
-    --batch_size=${batch_size} \
-    --strategy=${strategy} \
-    --new_benchmark=${new_benchmark} \
-    --tuning_cmd="${tuning_cmd}" \
-    --benchmark_cmd="${benchmark_cmd}" \
-    --inc_new_api="${inc_new_api}" \
-    --mode=${mode} \
-    --USE_TUNE_ACC=${USE_TUNE_ACC} \
-    --PERF_STABLE_CHECK=${PERF_STABLE_CHECK} \
-    --BUILD_BUILDID=${BUILD_BUILDID}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/run_pytorch_models_trigger.sh b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/run_pytorch_models_trigger.sh
index c5627cc7c00..16e1f2c9189 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/run_pytorch_models_trigger.sh
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/run_pytorch_models_trigger.sh
@@ -30,29 +30,7 @@ new_benchmark=true
 inc_new_api=true
 benchmark_cmd=""
 # ======== set up config for pytorch models ========
-if [ "${model}" == "resnet18" ]; then
-    model_src_dir="image_recognition/torchvision_models/quantization/ptq/cpu/eager"
-    dataset_location="/tf_dataset2/datasets/mini-imageraw"
-    input_model=""
-    yaml="conf.yaml"
-    strategy="bayesian"
-    batch_size=1
-    new_benchmark=false
-    inc_new_api=false
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_tuning.sh --topology=resnet18 --dataset_location=${dataset_location} --input_model=${input_model}"
-    benchmark_cmd="bash run_benchmark.sh --topology=resnet18 --dataset_location=${dataset_location} --mode=benchmark --batch_size=${batch_size} --iters=500"
-elif [ "${model}" == "resnet18_fx" ]; then
-    model_src_dir="image_recognition/torchvision_models/quantization/ptq/cpu/fx/"
-    dataset_location="/tf_dataset2/datasets/mini-imageraw"
-    input_model="resnet18"
-    yaml=""
-    strategy="basic"
-    batch_size=1
-    new_benchmark=true
-    inc_new_api=true
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --topology=resnet18 --dataset_location=${dataset_location} --input_model=${input_model}"
-    benchmark_cmd="bash run_benchmark.sh --topology=resnet18 --dataset_location=${dataset_location} --mode=performance --batch_size=${batch_size} --iters=500"
-elif [ "${model}" == "opt_125m_woq_gptq_int4" ]; then
+if [ "${model}" == "opt_125m_woq_gptq_int4" ]; then
     model_src_dir="nlp/huggingface_models/language-modeling/quantization/weight_only"
     inc_new_api=3x_pt
     tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --topology=opt_125m_woq_gptq_int4"
@@ -60,10 +38,6 @@ elif [ "${model}" == "opt_125m_woq_gptq_nf4_dq_bnb" ]; then
     model_src_dir="nlp/huggingface_models/language-modeling/quantization/weight_only"
     inc_new_api=3x_pt
     tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --topology=opt_125m_woq_gptq_nf4_dq_bnb"
-elif [ "${model}" == "opt_125m_woq_gptq_int4_dq_ggml" ]; then
-    model_src_dir="nlp/huggingface_models/language-modeling/quantization/weight_only"
-    inc_new_api=3x_pt
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --topology=opt_125m_woq_gptq_int4_dq_ggml"
 fi
 
 echo "Specify FWs version..."
@@ -72,7 +46,7 @@ FRAMEWORK="pytorch"
 source /neural-compressor/.azure-pipelines/scripts/fwk_version.sh 'latest'
 if [[ "${inc_new_api}" == "3x"* ]]; then
     FRAMEWORK_VERSION="latest"
-    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${HOME}/.local/lib/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
 else
     FRAMEWORK_VERSION=${pytorch_version}
     TORCH_VISION_VERSION=${torchvision_version}
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/run_tensorflow_models_trigger.sh b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/run_tensorflow_models_trigger.sh
deleted file mode 100644
index 505fad4a6e5..00000000000
--- a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/models/run_tensorflow_models_trigger.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,118 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -eo pipefail
-# get parameters
-PATTERN='[-a-zA-Z0-9_]*='
-
-for i in "$@"
-do
-    case $i in
-        --model=*)
-            model=`echo $i | sed "s/${PATTERN}//"`;;
-        --mode=*)
-            mode=`echo $i | sed "s/${PATTERN}//"`;;
-        --USE_TUNE_ACC=*)
-            USE_TUNE_ACC=`echo $i | sed "s/${PATTERN}//"`;;
-        --PERF_STABLE_CHECK=*)
-            PERF_STABLE_CHECK=`echo $i | sed "s/${PATTERN}//"`;;
-        --BUILD_BUILDID=*)
-            BUILD_BUILDID=`echo $i | sed "s/${PATTERN}//"`;;
-        *)
-            echo "Parameter $i not recognized."; exit 1;;
-    esac
-done
-
-echo "specify FWs version..."
-source /neural-compressor/.azure-pipelines/scripts/fwk_version.sh 'latest'
-FRAMEWORK="tensorflow"
-FRAMEWORK_VERSION=${tensorflow_version}
-
-inc_new_api=false
-# ======== set up config for tensorflow models ========
-if [ "${model}" == "resnet50v1.5" ]; then
-    model_src_dir="image_recognition/tensorflow_models/resnet50_v1_5/quantization/ptq"
-    dataset_location="/tf_dataset/dataset/TF_mini_imagenet"
-    input_model="/tf_dataset/pre-trained-models/resnet50v1_5/fp32/resnet50_v1.pb"
-    new_benchmark=true
-    inc_new_api=true
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --dataset_location=${dataset_location} --input_model=${input_model}"
-    benchmark_cmd="bash run_benchmark.sh --dataset_location=${dataset_location} --batch_size=1 --mode=performance"
-elif [ "${model}" == "ssd_resnet50_v1" ];then
-    model_src_dir="object_detection/tensorflow_models/ssd_resnet50_v1/quantization/ptq"
-    dataset_location="/tf_dataset/tensorflow/mini-coco-100.record"
-    input_model="/tf_dataset/pre-train-model-oob/object_detection/ssd_resnet50_v1/frozen_inference_graph.pb"
-    new_benchmark=true
-    inc_new_api=true
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --dataset_location=${dataset_location} --input_model=${input_model}"
-    benchmark_cmd="bash run_benchmark.sh --dataset_location=${dataset_location} --batch_size=1 --mode=performance"
-elif [ "${model}" == "ssd_mobilenet_v1_ckpt" ];then
-    model_src_dir="object_detection/tensorflow_models/ssd_mobilenet_v1/quantization/ptq"
-    dataset_location="/tf_dataset/tensorflow/mini-coco-100.record"
-    input_model="/tf_dataset/pre-train-model-oob/object_detection/ssd_mobilenet_v1"
-    new_benchmark=true
-    inc_new_api=true
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --dataset_location=${dataset_location} --input_model=${input_model}"
-    benchmark_cmd="bash run_benchmark.sh --dataset_location=${dataset_location} --batch_size=1 --mode=performance"
-elif [ "${model}" == "inception_v1" ]; then
-    model_src_dir="image_recognition/tensorflow_models/quantization/ptq"
-    dataset_location="/tf_dataset/dataset/TF_mini_imagenet"
-    input_model="/tf_dataset/pre-train-model-slim/pbfile/frozen_pb/frozen_inception_v1.pb"
-    yaml="inception_v1.yaml"
-    strategy="basic"
-    batch_size=1
-    new_benchmark=true
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_tuning.sh --config=${yaml} --input_model=${input_model}"
-    benchmark_cmd="bash run_benchmark.sh --config=${yaml} --mode=performance"
-elif [ "${model}" == "darknet19" ]; then
-    model_src_dir="oob_models/quantization/ptq"
-    dataset_location=""
-    input_model="/tf_dataset/tensorflow/tf_oob_models/ov/all_tf_models/PublicInHouse/classification/darknet19/darknet19.pb"
-    yaml="config.yaml"
-    strategy="basic"
-    batch_size=1
-    new_benchmark=false
-    inc_new_api=true
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --topology=${model} --input_model=${input_model}"
-    benchmark_cmd="bash run_benchmark.sh --topology=${model} --mode=performance --batch_size=1 --iters=500"
-elif [ "${model}" == "densenet-121" ]; then
-    model_src_dir="oob_models/quantization/ptq"
-    dataset_location=""
-    input_model="/tf_dataset/tensorflow/tf_oob_models/ov/all_tf_models/classification/densenet/121/tf/densenet-121.pb"
-    yaml="config.yaml"
-    strategy="basic"
-    batch_size=1
-    new_benchmark=false
-    inc_new_api=true
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --topology=${model} --input_model=${input_model}"
-    benchmark_cmd="bash run_benchmark.sh --topology=${model} --mode=performance --batch_size=1 --iters=500"
-elif [ "${model}" == "resnet-101" ]; then
-    model_src_dir="oob_models/quantization/ptq"
-    dataset_location=""
-    input_model="/tf_dataset/tensorflow/tf_oob_models/ov/all_tf_models/classification/resnet/v1/101/tf/resnet-101.pb"
-    yaml="config.yaml"
-    strategy="basic"
-    batch_size=1
-    new_benchmark=false
-    inc_new_api=true
-    tuning_cmd="bash run_quant.sh --topology=${model} --input_model=${input_model}"
-    benchmark_cmd="bash run_benchmark.sh --topology=${model} --mode=performance --batch_size=1 --iters=500"
-fi
-
-
-/bin/bash run_model_trigger_common.sh \
-    --yaml=${yaml} \
-    --framework=${FRAMEWORK} \
-    --fwk_ver=${FRAMEWORK_VERSION} \
-    --model=${model} \
-    --model_src_dir=${model_src_dir} \
-    --dataset_location=${dataset_location} \
-    --input_model=${input_model} \
-    --batch_size=${batch_size} \
-    --strategy=${strategy} \
-    --new_benchmark=${new_benchmark} \
-    --tuning_cmd="${tuning_cmd}" \
-    --benchmark_cmd="${benchmark_cmd}" \
-    --inc_new_api="${inc_new_api}" \
-    --mode=${mode} \
-    --USE_TUNE_ACC=${USE_TUNE_ACC} \
-    --PERF_STABLE_CHECK=${PERF_STABLE_CHECK} \
-    --BUILD_BUILDID=${BUILD_BUILDID}
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/3x/run_3x_pt.sh b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/3x/run_3x_pt.sh
index d9199111378..089aea116a0 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/3x/run_3x_pt.sh
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/3x/run_3x_pt.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ echo "##[section]import check pass"
 
 # install requirements
 echo "##[group]set up UT env..."
-export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${HOME}/.local/lib/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
 sed -i '/^deepspeed/d' /neural-compressor/test/3x/torch/requirements.txt
 pip install -r /neural-compressor/test/3x/torch/requirements.txt --extra-index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
 pip install pytest-cov
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/3x/run_3x_tf.sh b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/3x/run_3x_tf.sh
index 60986e4cf60..317b261be4d 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/3x/run_3x_tf.sh
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/3x/run_3x_tf.sh
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ pytest --cov="${inc_path}" --cov-append -vs --disable-warnings --html=report_tf.
 # test for tensorflow new api ut
 pip uninstall tensorflow -y
 pip install /tf_dataset/tf_binary/230928/tensorflow*.whl
-pip install cmake==3.31.6
 pip install protobuf==3.20.3
 pip install horovod==0.27.0
 pip list
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/env_setup.sh b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/env_setup.sh
index c4eed7f0779..f12ee6efa07 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/env_setup.sh
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/env_setup.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ if [[ "${tensorflow_version}" == *"-official" ]]; then
     pip install tensorflow==${tensorflow_version%-official}
 elif [[ "${tensorflow_version}" == "spr-base" ]]; then
     pip install /tf_dataset/tf_binary/230928/tensorflow*.whl
-    pip install cmake==3.31.6
     pip install protobuf==3.20.3
     pip install horovod==0.27.0
     if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
@@ -67,7 +66,6 @@ fi
 
 # install special test env requirements
 # common deps
-pip install cmake==3.31.6
 pip install transformers==4.50.0
 
 if [[ $(echo "${test_case}" | grep -c "others") != 0 ]];then
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/run_basic_adaptor.sh b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/run_basic_adaptor.sh
index 3f05474effa..0ed1d9c8255 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/run_basic_adaptor.sh
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/run_basic_adaptor.sh
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ source /neural-compressor/.azure-pipelines/scripts/fwk_version.sh $1
 
 echo "set up UT env..."
 bash /neural-compressor/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/env_setup.sh "${test_case}"
-pip install cmake==4.0.0
-export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${HOME}/.local/lib/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
 export COVERAGE_RCFILE=/neural-compressor/.azure-pipelines/scripts/ut/coverage.file
 lpot_path=$(python -c 'import neural_compressor; import os; print(os.path.dirname(neural_compressor.__file__))')
 cd /neural-compressor/test || exit 1
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/template/code-scan-template.yml b/.azure-pipelines/template/code-scan-template.yml
index b8d121b4991..0aeb5389d06 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/template/code-scan-template.yml
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/template/code-scan-template.yml
@@ -38,5 +38,6 @@ steps:
     inputs:
       targetType: "inline"
       script: |
-        docker exec ${{ parameters.codeScanContainerName }} bash -c "rm -fr /neural-compressor/* && rm -fr /neural-compressor/.* || true"
+        docker stop ${{ parameters.codeScanContainerName }}
+        docker rm -vf ${{ parameters.codeScanContainerName }} || true
     displayName: "Docker clean up"
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/template/docker-template.yml b/.azure-pipelines/template/docker-template.yml
index a7625fc4d60..25d143bd8d5 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/template/docker-template.yml
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/template/docker-template.yml
@@ -63,7 +63,8 @@ steps:
       - script: |
           docker image prune -a -f
           if [[ ! $(docker images | grep -i ${{ parameters.repoName }}:${{ parameters.repoTag }}) ]]; then
-            docker build -f ${BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY}/.azure-pipelines/docker/${{parameters.dockerFileName}}.devel -t ${{ parameters.repoName }}:${{ parameters.repoTag }} .
+            docker build --build-arg USER_ID=$(id -u) --build-arg GROUP_ID=$(id -g) \
+             -f ${BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY}/.azure-pipelines/docker/${{parameters.dockerFileName}}.devel -t ${{ parameters.repoName }}:${{ parameters.repoTag }} .
           fi
           docker images | grep -i ${{ parameters.repoName }}
           if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ steps:
 
   - ${{ if eq(parameters.imageSource, 'pull') }}:
       - script: |
-          docker pull vault.habana.ai/gaudi-docker/1.22.0/ubuntu24.04/habanalabs/pytorch-installer-2.7.1:latest
+          docker pull vault.habana.ai/gaudi-docker/1.22.1/ubuntu24.04/habanalabs/pytorch-installer-2.7.1:latest
         displayName: "Pull habana docker image"
 
   - script: |
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ steps:
             else
                 docker run -dit --disable-content-trust --privileged --name=${{ parameters.containerName }} --shm-size="2g" \
                 --runtime=habana -e HABANA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all -e OMPI_MCA_btl_vader_single_copy_mechanism=none --cap-add=sys_nice --net=host --ipc=host \
-                -v ${BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY}:/neural-compressor vault.habana.ai/gaudi-docker/1.22.0/ubuntu24.04/habanalabs/pytorch-installer-2.7.1:latest
+                -v ${BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY}:/neural-compressor vault.habana.ai/gaudi-docker/1.22.1/ubuntu24.04/habanalabs/pytorch-installer-2.7.1:latest
                 docker exec ${{ parameters.containerName }} bash -c "ln -sf \$(which python3) /usr/bin/python"
             fi
             echo "Show the container list after docker run ... "
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/template/model-template.yml b/.azure-pipelines/template/model-template.yml
index 20fdd1a8cba..e8a6755bf2f 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/template/model-template.yml
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/template/model-template.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ steps:
     parameters:
       dockerConfigName: "commonDockerConfig"
       repoName: "neural-compressor"
-      repoTag: "py310"
+      repoTag: "py312"
       dockerFileName: "Dockerfile"
       containerName: ${{ parameters.modelContainerName }}
 
@@ -77,4 +77,6 @@ steps:
       targetType: "inline"
       script: |
         docker exec ${{ parameters.modelContainerName }} bash -c "rm -fr /neural-compressor/* && rm -fr /neural-compressor/.* || true"
+        docker stop ${{ parameters.modelContainerName }}
+        docker rm -vf ${{ parameters.modelContainerName }} || true
     displayName: "Docker clean up"
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/template/ut-template.yml b/.azure-pipelines/template/ut-template.yml
index d8908d22a35..f083e4a3bca 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/template/ut-template.yml
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/template/ut-template.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ parameters:
   - name: dockerConfigName
     type: string
     default: "commonDockerConfig"
+  - name: dockerFileName
+    type: string
+    default: "Dockerfile"
   - name: repo
     type: string
     default: "https://github.com/intel/neural-compressor"
@@ -27,7 +30,7 @@ steps:
       dockerConfigName: ${{ parameters.dockerConfigName }}
       repoName: "neural-compressor"
       repoTag: "py310"
-      dockerFileName: "Dockerfile"
+      dockerFileName: "${{ parameters.dockerFileName }}"
       containerName: ${{ parameters.utContainerName }}
       repo: ${{ parameters.repo }}
       imageSource: ${{ parameters.imageSource }}
@@ -58,4 +61,6 @@ steps:
       targetType: "inline"
       script: |
         docker exec ${{ parameters.utContainerName }} bash -c "rm -fr /neural-compressor/* && rm -fr /neural-compressor/.* || true"
+        docker stop ${{ parameters.utContainerName }}
+        docker rm -vf ${{ parameters.utContainerName }} || true
     displayName: "Docker clean up"
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/ut-3x-pt.yml b/.azure-pipelines/ut-3x-pt.yml
index 68083d3a2c6..2b8ccf7069f 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/ut-3x-pt.yml
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/ut-3x-pt.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ pool: ICX-16C
 
 variables:
   IMAGE_NAME: "neural-compressor"
-  IMAGE_TAG: "py310"
+  IMAGE_TAG: "py312"
   UPLOAD_PATH: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/log_dir
   DOWNLOAD_PATH: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/log_dir
   ARTIFACT_NAME: "UT_coverage_report_3x_pt"
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ stages:
           - template: template/ut-template.yml
             parameters:
               dockerConfigName: "commonDockerConfig"
+              dockerFileName: "ubuntu-2404"
               utScriptFileName: "3x/run_3x_pt"
               uploadPath: $(UPLOAD_PATH)
               utArtifact: "ut_3x"
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ stages:
           - template: template/ut-template.yml
             parameters:
               dockerConfigName: "gitCloneDockerConfig"
+              dockerFileName: "ubuntu-2404"
               utScriptFileName: "3x/run_3x_pt"
               uploadPath: $(UPLOAD_PATH)
               utArtifact: "ut_3x_baseline"
@@ -72,7 +74,8 @@ stages:
         steps:
           - script: |
               if [[ ! $(docker images | grep -i ${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_TAG}) ]]; then
-                docker build -f ${BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY}/.azure-pipelines/docker/Dockerfile.devel -t ${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_TAG} .
+                docker build --build-arg USER_ID=$(id -u) --build-arg GROUP_ID=$(id -g) \
+                  -f ${BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY}/.azure-pipelines/docker/ubuntu-2404.devel -t ${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_TAG} .
               fi
               docker images | grep -i ${IMAGE_NAME}
               if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/ut-3x-tf.yml b/.azure-pipelines/ut-3x-tf.yml
index d2733b1149b..17d17d8f678 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/ut-3x-tf.yml
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/ut-3x-tf.yml
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ stages:
         steps:
           - script: |
               if [[ ! $(docker images | grep -i ${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_TAG}) ]]; then
-                docker build -f ${BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY}/.azure-pipelines/docker/Dockerfile.devel -t ${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_TAG} .
+                docker build --build-arg USER_ID=$(id -u) --build-arg GROUP_ID=$(id -g) \
+                  -f ${BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY}/.azure-pipelines/docker/Dockerfile.devel -t ${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_TAG} .
               fi
               docker images | grep -i ${IMAGE_NAME}
               if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-stale-issue.yml b/.github/workflows/check-stale-issue.yml
index 6af25375328..2aae86025ce 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-stale-issue.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-stale-issue.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ permissions:
 on:
   schedule:
     - cron: "30 22 * * *"
+  workflow_dispatch:
 
 jobs:
   stale:
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/stale@v10
         with:
+          start-date: '2020-01-01T00:00:00Z'
           days-before-issue-stale: 60
           days-before-issue-close: 7
           stale-issue-message: "This issue is stale because it has been open 60 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 7 days."
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7831990f6ea..a91220d8f4d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ To try on Intel Gaudi2, docker image with Gaudi Software Stack is recommended, p
 
 Run a container with an interactive shell, [more info](https://docs.habana.ai/en/latest/Installation_Guide/Additional_Installation/Docker_Installation.html#docker-installation)
 ```
-docker run -it --runtime=habana -e HABANA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all -e OMPI_MCA_btl_vader_single_copy_mechanism=none --cap-add=sys_nice --net=host --ipc=host vault.habana.ai/gaudi-docker/1.22.0/ubuntu24.04/habanalabs/pytorch-installer-2.7.1:latest
+docker run -it --runtime=habana -e HABANA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all -e OMPI_MCA_btl_vader_single_copy_mechanism=none --cap-add=sys_nice --net=host --ipc=host vault.habana.ai/gaudi-docker/1.22.1/ubuntu24.04/habanalabs/pytorch-installer-2.7.1:latest
 ```
 
 > Note: Since Habana software >= 1.21.0, `PT_HPU_LAZY_MODE=0` is the default setting. However, most low-precision functions (such as `convert_from_uint4`) do not support this setting. Therefore, we recommend setting `PT_HPU_LAZY_MODE=1` to maintain compatibility.
diff --git a/neural_compressor/version.py b/neural_compressor/version.py
index 6f857d8faca..732a1dd612c 100644
--- a/neural_compressor/version.py
+++ b/neural_compressor/version.py
@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 """Intel® Neural Compressor: An open-source Python library supporting popular model compression techniques."""
-__version__ = "3.6"
+__version__ = "3.7"