diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/clustergroupupgrade_types.go b/api/v1alpha1/clustergroupupgrade_types.go
index 41787b36f..b7e496d53 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/clustergroupupgrade_types.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/clustergroupupgrade_types.go
@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ type PrecachingSpec struct {
 	PlatformImage                string   `json:"platformImage,omitempty"`
 	OperatorsIndexes             []string `json:"operatorsIndexes,omitempty"`
 	OperatorsPackagesAndChannels []string `json:"operatorsPackagesAndChannels,omitempty"`
+	ExcludePrecachePatterns      []string `json:"excludePrecachePatterns,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // PrecachingStatus defines the observed pre-caching status
diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index cb20f2030..ae56d17e8 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -456,6 +456,11 @@ func (in *PrecachingSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *PrecachingSpec) {
 		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
 		copy(*out, *in)
 	}
+	if in.ExcludePrecachePatterns != nil {
+		in, out := &in.ExcludePrecachePatterns, &out.ExcludePrecachePatterns
+		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
+		copy(*out, *in)
+	}
 }
 
 // DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new PrecachingSpec.
diff --git a/bundle/manifests/ran.openshift.io_clustergroupupgrades.yaml b/bundle/manifests/ran.openshift.io_clustergroupupgrades.yaml
index 0b3ef9d11..f077c0211 100644
--- a/bundle/manifests/ran.openshift.io_clustergroupupgrades.yaml
+++ b/bundle/manifests/ran.openshift.io_clustergroupupgrades.yaml
@@ -393,6 +393,10 @@ spec:
                     description: PrecachingSpec defines the pre-caching software spec
                       derived from policies
                     properties:
+                      excludePrecachePatterns:
+                        items:
+                          type: string
+                        type: array
                       operatorsIndexes:
                         items:
                           type: string
diff --git a/config/crd/bases/ran.openshift.io_clustergroupupgrades.yaml b/config/crd/bases/ran.openshift.io_clustergroupupgrades.yaml
index 49ee48d79..30f36fde6 100644
--- a/config/crd/bases/ran.openshift.io_clustergroupupgrades.yaml
+++ b/config/crd/bases/ran.openshift.io_clustergroupupgrades.yaml
@@ -395,6 +395,10 @@ spec:
                     description: PrecachingSpec defines the pre-caching software spec
                       derived from policies
                     properties:
+                      excludePrecachePatterns:
+                        items:
+                          type: string
+                        type: array
                       operatorsIndexes:
                         items:
                           type: string
diff --git a/config/pre-cache/README.md b/config/pre-cache/README.md
index c5fbdbefb..7eb1e1548 100644
--- a/config/pre-cache/README.md
+++ b/config/pre-cache/README.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Supported  overrides:
 2. `platform.image` - OCP release image 
 3. `operators.indexes` - OLM index images (list of image pull specs)
 4. `operators.packagesAndChannels` - operator packages and channels (list of  <package:channel> string entries)
+5. `excludePrecachePatterns` - list of patterns to exclude from precaching (using this command: grep -vG -f)
 
 :warning: We need to set the precache.image value as a container image digest. This value is going to be used by the pre-cache task to pull all the required container images and for the upgrade operator to replace the Clusterversion spec.desiredUpdate.image field. The cluster-version operator of the managed cluster requires this format to continue automatically with the upgrade since container image digest uniquely and immutably identifies a container image
 
@@ -40,5 +41,8 @@ data:
     performance-addon-operator: 4.9
     ptp-operator: stable
     sriov-network-operator: stable
+  excludePrecachePatterns: |
+    aws
+    thanos
 ```
 
diff --git a/config/pre-cache/overrides.yaml b/config/pre-cache/overrides.yaml
index 9071a157c..82b5af1f7 100644
--- a/config/pre-cache/overrides.yaml
+++ b/config/pre-cache/overrides.yaml
@@ -13,4 +13,8 @@ data:
   #   performance-addon-operator: 4.9
   #   ptp-operator: stable
   #   sriov-network-operator: stable
-
+  # excludePrecachePatterns: |
+  #   aws
+  #   alibaba
+  #   azure
+  #   vsphere
diff --git a/controllers/managedClusterResources.go b/controllers/managedClusterResources.go
index 242e53c4b..e1f2502b9 100644
--- a/controllers/managedClusterResources.go
+++ b/controllers/managedClusterResources.go
@@ -38,14 +38,15 @@ import (
 
 // templateData provides template rendering data
 type templateData struct {
-	Cluster               string
-	ResourceName          string
-	PlatformImage         string
-	Operators             operatorsData
-	WorkloadImage         string
-	SpaceRequired         string
-	JobTimeout            uint64
-	ViewUpdateIntervalSec int
+	Cluster                 string
+	ResourceName            string
+	PlatformImage           string
+	Operators               operatorsData
+	WorkloadImage           string
+	SpaceRequired           string
+	JobTimeout              uint64
+	ViewUpdateIntervalSec   int
+	ExcludePrecachePatterns []string
 }
 
 // operatorsData provides operators data for template rendering
diff --git a/controllers/managedClusterResources_test.go b/controllers/managedClusterResources_test.go
index be37c426c..724963a17 100644
--- a/controllers/managedClusterResources_test.go
+++ b/controllers/managedClusterResources_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package controllers
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"log"
+	"os"
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -25,6 +27,40 @@ func TestMCR_renderYamlTemplates(t *testing.T) {
 		resourceName string
 		result       string
 	}{
+		{
+			name:         "create configmap",
+			resourceName: "precache-spec",
+			data: templateData{
+				Cluster:                 "test",
+				ResourceName:            "precache-spec",
+				ExcludePrecachePatterns: []string{"aws", "thanos"},
+			},
+			template: templates.MngClusterActCreatePrecachingSpecCM,
+			result: `
+apiVersion: action.open-cluster-management.io/v1beta1
+kind: ManagedClusterAction
+metadata:
+  name: precache-spec
+  namespace: test
+spec:
+  actionType: Create
+  kube:
+    resource: configmap
+    template:
+      apiVersion: v1
+      data:
+        excludePrecachePatterns: |
+          aws  
+          thanos 
+        operators.indexes: ""
+        operators.packagesAndChannels: ""
+        platform.image: 
+      kind: ConfigMap
+      metadata:
+        name: pre-cache-spec
+        namespace: openshift-talo-pre-cache
+`,
+		},
 		{
 			name:         "create namespace",
 			resourceName: "test-ns",
@@ -351,6 +387,12 @@ spec:
 				t.Errorf("error serializing yaml string: %v", err)
 			}
 			assert.Equal(t, true, reflect.DeepEqual(renderedObject, desiredObject))
+			l := log.New(os.Stderr, "", 0)
+
+			if !reflect.DeepEqual(renderedObject, desiredObject) {
+				l.Println(renderedObject)
+				l.Println(desiredObject)
+			}
 		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/controllers/overrides_test.go b/controllers/overrides_test.go
index 52d03fb1d..7664db531 100644
--- a/controllers/overrides_test.go
+++ b/controllers/overrides_test.go
@@ -31,12 +31,14 @@ func TestOverrides_getOverrides(t *testing.T) {
 				"platform.image":                "test-platform-image:test-tag",
 				"operators.indexes":             "registry.example.com:5000/test-index:v0.0",
 				"operators.packagesAndChannels": "local-storage-operator: stable\nperformance-addon-operator: 4.9\nptp-operator: stable\nsriov-network-operator: stable",
+				"excludePrecachePatterns":       "thanos\naws",
 			},
 			rdData: map[string]string{
 				"precache.image":                "test-image:test-tag",
 				"platform.image":                "test-platform-image:test-tag",
 				"operators.indexes":             "registry.example.com:5000/test-index:v0.0",
 				"operators.packagesAndChannels": "local-storage-operator: stable\nperformance-addon-operator: 4.9\nptp-operator: stable\nsriov-network-operator: stable",
+				"excludePrecachePatterns":       "thanos\naws",
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -48,6 +50,7 @@ func TestOverrides_getOverrides(t *testing.T) {
 				"platform.image":                "test-platform-image:test_tag",
 				"operators.indexes":             "registry.example.com:5000/test-index:v0.0",
 				"operators.packagesAndChannels": "local-storage-operator: stable\nperformance-addon-operator: 4.9\nptp-operator: stable\nsriov-network-operator: stable",
+				"excludePrecachePatterns":       "thanos\naws",
 			},
 			rdData: map[string]string{},
 		},
diff --git a/controllers/precache.go b/controllers/precache.go
index 8081dec71..4ebaa4477 100644
--- a/controllers/precache.go
+++ b/controllers/precache.go
@@ -284,6 +284,7 @@ func (r *ClusterGroupUpgradeReconciler) getPrecacheSpecTemplateData(
 	rv.PlatformImage = spec.PlatformImage
 	rv.Operators.Indexes = spec.OperatorsIndexes
 	rv.Operators.PackagesAndChannels = spec.OperatorsPackagesAndChannels
+	rv.ExcludePrecachePatterns = spec.ExcludePrecachePatterns
 	return rv
 }
 
@@ -299,6 +300,7 @@ func (r *ClusterGroupUpgradeReconciler) getPrecacheSpecTemplateData(
 //	3. "operators.indexes" - OLM index images (list of index image URIs)
 //	4. "operators.packagesAndChannels" - operator packages and channels
 //		(list of  <package:channel> string entries)
+//	5. "excludePrecachePatterns" - list of patterns to exclude from precaching
 //	If overrides are used, the configmap must be created before the CGU
 //
 // returns: *ranv1alpha1.PrecachingSpec, error
@@ -333,6 +335,8 @@ func (r *ClusterGroupUpgradeReconciler) includeSoftwareSpecOverrides(
 	}
 	rv.OperatorsPackagesAndChannels = operatorsPackagesAndChannels
 
+	rv.ExcludePrecachePatterns = strings.Split(overrides["excludePrecachePatterns"], "\n")
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return *rv, err
 	}
diff --git a/controllers/templates/precache-templates.go b/controllers/templates/precache-templates.go
index fecd3860d..24dd2eb0f 100644
--- a/controllers/templates/precache-templates.go
+++ b/controllers/templates/precache-templates.go
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ spec:
           {{ . }} {{ end }}
         operators.packagesAndChannels: |{{ range .Operators.PackagesAndChannels }} 
           {{ . }} {{ end }}
+        excludePrecachePatterns: |{{ range .ExcludePrecachePatterns }} 
+          {{ . }} {{ end }}
         platform.image: {{ .PlatformImage }}
       kind: ConfigMap
       metadata:
diff --git a/pre-cache/precache.sh b/pre-cache/precache.sh
index b5e24e2dd..ddffe9de7 100755
--- a/pre-cache/precache.sh
+++ b/pre-cache/precache.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 set -e
 
 rm -rf /host/tmp/precache
+rm -f /host/tmp/images.txt
 cp -a /opt/precache /host/tmp/
 cp -rf /etc/config /host/tmp/precache/config
 # only check space for OCP upgrade
diff --git a/pre-cache/release b/pre-cache/release
index e3bc78861..10cff5e73 100755
--- a/pre-cache/release
+++ b/pre-cache/release
@@ -5,7 +5,17 @@ cwd=$(dirname "$0")
 
 extract_pull_spec(){
     local rel_img_mount=$1
-    cat ${rel_img_mount}/release-manifests/image-references |jq '.spec.tags[].from.name' >> $pull_spec_file
+
+    # remove empty lines
+    sed -i '/^[[:space:]]*$/d' $config_volume_path/excludePrecachePatterns
+    # remove trailing and leading whitespace
+    sed -i 's/^[ \t]*//;s/[ \t]*$//' $config_volume_path/excludePrecachePatterns
+    
+    cat ${rel_img_mount}/release-manifests/image-references | \
+      jq  '.spec.tags[] | .name as $name |.from.name as $pull |[$name,$pull] |join("$")' | \
+       grep -vG -f $config_volume_path/excludePrecachePatterns | \
+       cut -d "$" -f2 | \
+       sed 's/^/"/' >> $pull_spec_file
     log_debug "Release index image processing done"
 }
 
diff --git a/pre-cache/test.sh b/pre-cache/test.sh
index 5190646fc..9738de5d2 100755
--- a/pre-cache/test.sh
+++ b/pre-cache/test.sh
@@ -21,16 +21,27 @@ echo "test_index1" > /tmp/operators.indexes
 echo "test_index2" >> /tmp/operators.indexes
 echo "  package1:  channel1 " > /tmp/operators.packagesAndChannels
 echo "  package2:channel2" >> /tmp/operators.packagesAndChannels
+# the script should ignore traling and leading whitespaces and empty lines
+echo -e "\n\n aws \n alibaba \n" > /tmp/excludePrecachePatterns
+
 mkdir -p /tmp/release-manifests
 cat <<EOF > /tmp/release-manifests/image-references
 {
   "spec": {
     "tags": [
       {
+        "name": "redhat",
+        "from": {
+          "name": "quay.io/1"
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        "name": "bawsa",
         "from": {
-          "name": "test"
+          "name": "quay.io/2"
         }
-      }]
+      }
+      ]
   }
 }
 EOF
@@ -72,7 +83,7 @@ echo " extract_packages - pass"
 echo "Testing release unit:"
 result=$(extract_pull_spec "/tmp")
 [[ $? -eq 0 ]] || fatal "release_image extract unexpected exit code"
-[[ $(cat $pull_spec_file) == "\"test\"" ]] || fatal "release pull spec extract failure"
+[[ $(cat $pull_spec_file) == "\"quay.io/1\"" ]] || fatal "release pull spec extract failure"
 echo " release extract_pull_spec pass"
 
 # Clean