diff --git a/.github/workflows/code-scans.yaml b/.github/workflows/code-scans.yaml
index a94b5dd0..14046c9d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/code-scans.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/code-scans.yaml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ jobs:
         continue-on-error: true
         with:
           scan-type: 'image'
-          image-ref: 'public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:v0.10.2'
+          image-ref: 'vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v0.24.0'
           severity: 'HIGH,CRITICAL'
           exit-code: 0
           format: 'table'
diff --git a/core/helm-charts/vllm/values.yaml b/core/helm-charts/vllm/values.yaml
index 0a3d5df1..264806d7 100644
--- a/core/helm-charts/vllm/values.yaml
+++ b/core/helm-charts/vllm/values.yaml
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ accelDevice: ""
 port: 2080
 shmSize: 1Gi
 image:
-  repository: public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo
+  repository: vllm/vllm-openai-cpu
   # Uncomment the following line to set desired image pull policy if needed, as one of Always, IfNotPresent, Never.
   # pullPolicy: ""
   # Overrides the image tag whose default is the chart appVersion.
-  tag: "v0.10.2"
+  tag: "v0.24.0"
 
 imagePullSecrets: []
 nameOverride: ""
diff --git a/core/helm-charts/vllm/xeon-values.yaml b/core/helm-charts/vllm/xeon-values.yaml
index 77d92bf1..61944121 100644
--- a/core/helm-charts/vllm/xeon-values.yaml
+++ b/core/helm-charts/vllm/xeon-values.yaml
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ max_model_len: 8192
 
 # vLLM CPU image configuration
 image:
-  repository: public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo
-  tag: "v0.10.2"
+  repository: vllm/vllm-openai-cpu
+  tag: "v0.24.0"
   pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
 
 # Node affinity for Xeon inference nodes
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ modelConfigs:
       VLLM_CPU_NUM_OF_RESERVED_CPU: "0"
       HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET: "1"
       VLLM_CPU_SGL_KERNEL: "1"
+      USER: "vllm"
+      TRITON_CACHE_DIR: "/tmp/.triton"
     extraCmdArgs:
       [
         "--block-size",
@@ -74,7 +76,6 @@ modelConfigs:
         "2048",
         "--max-num-seqs",
         "256",
-        "--disable-log-requests",
         "--enable-auto-tool-choice",
         "--tool-call-parser", "llama3_json",
       ]
@@ -90,6 +91,8 @@ modelConfigs:
       VLLM_CPU_NUM_OF_RESERVED_CPU: "0"
       VLLM_CPU_SGL_KERNEL: "1"
       HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET: "1"
+      USER: "vllm"
+      TRITON_CACHE_DIR: "/tmp/.triton"
     extraCmdArgs:
       [
         "--block-size",
@@ -121,6 +124,8 @@ modelConfigs:
       VLLM_CPU_NUM_OF_RESERVED_CPU: "0"
       VLLM_CPU_SGL_KERNEL: "1"
       HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET: "1"
+      USER: "vllm"
+      TRITON_CACHE_DIR: "/tmp/.triton"
     extraCmdArgs:
       [
         "--block-size",
@@ -137,7 +142,6 @@ modelConfigs:
         "2048",
         "--max-num-seqs",
         "256",
-        "--disable-log-requests",        
       ]
     tensor_parallel_size: "{{ .Values.tensor_parallel_size }}"
     pipeline_parallel_size: "{{ .Values.pipeline_parallel_size }}"
@@ -151,6 +155,8 @@ modelConfigs:
       VLLM_CPU_NUM_OF_RESERVED_CPU: "0"
       VLLM_CPU_SGL_KERNEL: "1"
       HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET: "1"
+      USER: "vllm"
+      TRITON_CACHE_DIR: "/tmp/.triton"
     extraCmdArgs:
       [
         "--block-size",
@@ -167,7 +173,6 @@ modelConfigs:
         "2048",
         "--max-num-seqs",
         "256",
-        "--disable-log-requests",       
       ]
     tensor_parallel_size: "{{ .Values.tensor_parallel_size }}"
     pipeline_parallel_size: "{{ .Values.pipeline_parallel_size }}"
@@ -181,6 +186,8 @@ modelConfigs:
       VLLM_CPU_NUM_OF_RESERVED_CPU: "0"
       VLLM_CPU_SGL_KERNEL: "1"
       HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET: "1"
+      USER: "vllm"
+      TRITON_CACHE_DIR: "/tmp/.triton"
     extraCmdArgs:
       [
         "--block-size",
@@ -212,6 +219,8 @@ modelConfigs:
       VLLM_CPU_NUM_OF_RESERVED_CPU: "0"
       VLLM_CPU_SGL_KERNEL: "1"
       HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET: "1"
+      USER: "vllm"
+      TRITON_CACHE_DIR: "/tmp/.triton"
     extraCmdArgs:
       [
         "--block-size",
@@ -245,6 +254,8 @@ modelConfigs:
       VLLM_CPU_SGL_KERNEL: "1"
       HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET: "1"
       LOGNAME: "vllm"
+      USER: "vllm"
+      TRITON_CACHE_DIR: "/tmp/.triton"
     extraCmdArgs:
       [
         "--block-size",
@@ -274,8 +285,9 @@ defaultModelConfigs:
     VLLM_ALLOW_LONG_MAX_MODEL_LEN: "1"
     VLLM_ENGINE_ITERATION_TIMEOUT_S: "120"
     VLLM_CPU_NUM_OF_RESERVED_CPU: "0"
-    VLLM_CPU_SGL_KERNEL: "1"
     HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET: "1"
+    USER: "vllm"
+    TRITON_CACHE_DIR: "/tmp/.triton"
   extraCmdArgs:
     [
       "--block-size",
diff --git a/core/roles/inference-tools/tasks/main.yml b/core/roles/inference-tools/tasks/main.yml
index 12801161..51ae0eec 100644
--- a/core/roles/inference-tools/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/core/roles/inference-tools/tasks/main.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
   ansible.builtin.pip:
     name: kubernetes
     state: present
-    extra_args: "--break-system-packages"
+    extra_args: "--break-system-packages --ignore-installed"
   become: true
   when: pip_install_result is failed
   tags: always
diff --git a/core/scripts/vllm-quickstart/README.md b/core/scripts/vllm-quickstart/README.md
index 7dba3473..3a0977c3 100644
--- a/core/scripts/vllm-quickstart/README.md
+++ b/core/scripts/vllm-quickstart/README.md
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ The `models.json` file contains all configuration:
 ```json
 {
   "docker": {
-    "image": "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:v0.11.2",
+    "image": "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v0.24.0",
     "port": "8000:8000",
     "environment": { ... },
     "volumes": [ ... ]
diff --git a/core/scripts/vllm-quickstart/models.json b/core/scripts/vllm-quickstart/models.json
index e7e24eff..330bbe3f 100644
--- a/core/scripts/vllm-quickstart/models.json
+++ b/core/scripts/vllm-quickstart/models.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "docker": {
-    "image": "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:v0.11.2",
+    "image": "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v0.24.0",
     "port": "8000:8000",
     "environment": {
       "VLLM_CPU_SGL_KERNEL": "1",
diff --git a/docs/deploy-llm-model-from-hugging-face.md b/docs/deploy-llm-model-from-hugging-face.md
index 7c104bdd..545f0c06 100644
--- a/docs/deploy-llm-model-from-hugging-face.md
+++ b/docs/deploy-llm-model-from-hugging-face.md
@@ -20,3 +20,26 @@ This option allows you to deploy any Hugging Face-hosted LLM on the Inference Cl
    - **Tensor Parallel Size** (based on available  Intel® AI Accelerator cards)
 
 > **Note**: This deploys a model that has **not** been pre-validated. Make sure the tensor parallel size is configured correctly. An incorrect value can result in the model being stuck in a "not ready" state.
+
+### Customizing Environment Variables and vLLM Arguments
+
+Models deployed from Hugging Face use the `defaultModelConfigs` settings in `core/helm-charts/vllm/xeon-values.yaml`. You can customize environment variables and vLLM command-line arguments by editing the `defaultModelConfigs` section of that file before deploying.
+
+**Example: enabling the SGL kernel, configuring KV cache, and other environment variables**
+
+```yaml
+defaultModelConfigs:
+  configMapValues:
+    VLLM_CPU_SGL_KERNEL: "1"       # Enable the SGL kernel for improved CPU performance
+    VLLM_CPU_KVCACHE_SPACE: "40"   # KV cache memory allocation in GB
+    # Add or override any other environment variables here
+  extraCmdArgs:
+    [
+      "--block-size", "128",
+      "--dtype", "bfloat16",
+      "--max-model-len", "8192",
+      # Add or override any vLLM CLI arguments here
+    ]
+```
+
+You can set any vLLM-supported environment variable under `configMapValues` and any vLLM CLI flag under `extraCmdArgs`.