diff --git a/.github/workflows/image-build.yml b/.github/workflows/image-build.yml
index fbae383..b0069ff 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/image-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/image-build.yml
@@ -1,22 +1,26 @@
 name: image-build
+
 # Controls when the workflow will run
 on:
-  # Triggers the workflow on push or pull request events but only for the "main" branch
+  # Trigger on push or pull request to main branch
   push:
     branches: ["main"]
   pull_request:
     branches: ["main"]
-  # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
+  # Allow manual run from Actions tab
   workflow_dispatch:
+  # Scheduled run every Wednesday at 11:11 UTC
   schedule:
     - cron: "11 11 * * WED"
+
 jobs:
-  # save minicc and minirouter as artifacts to inject in image later
+  # Job: Save minicc and minirouter as artifacts for later use in image builds
   get-miniccc:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     container:
       image: ghcr.io/sandialabs/sceptre-phenix/minimega:main
     steps:
+      # Upload binaries as artifact named 'miniexes'
       - name: upload miniccc and minirouter
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
@@ -24,7 +28,8 @@ jobs:
           path: |
             /opt/minimega/bin/miniccc
             /opt/minimega/bin/minirouter
-  # build using phenix image builder
+
+  # Job: Build the bennu image using the phenix image builder
   build-bennu:
     needs: get-miniccc
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -33,22 +38,26 @@ jobs:
       options: --privileged # needed for kernel device-mapper permissions
 
     steps:
-      # Checks-out your repository under $GITHUB_WORKSPACE, so your job can access it
+      # Install oras CLI for pushing images to OCI registries
+      - name: oras install
+        uses: oras-project/setup-oras@v1
+      # Checkout repository code
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      # Runs a set of commands using the runners shell
+      # Download miniexes artifact (miniccc and minirouter)
       - name: get miniexes
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4.1.8
         with:
           name: miniexes
 
-      # add the miniccc binary
-      # the phenix base scripts already include the systemd service
+      # Add the miniccc binary to the overlay for image build
+      # The systemd service is already included in base scripts
       - name: add miniccc
         run: |
           mkdir -p ./overlays/miniccc/opt/minimega/bin
           cp ./miniccc ./overlays/miniccc/opt/minimega/bin
           chmod +x ./overlays/miniccc/opt/minimega/bin/miniccc
 
+      # Build the bennu image using phenix
       - name: bennu image build
         run: |
           phenix version
@@ -56,12 +65,23 @@ jobs:
           phenix image create -O ./overlays/bennu,./overlays/brash,./overlays/miniccc -T ./scripts/aptly,./scripts/bennu --format qcow2 --release jammy -c bennu --size 10G
           phenix image build bennu -o ./out -x
 
-      # upload bennu qc2 as artifact
-      - name: upload qc2
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: bennu.qc2
-          path: ./out/bennu.qc2
+      # Optionally upload bennu.qc2 as artifact (currently commented out)
+      # - name: upload qc2
+      #   uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      #   with:
+      #     name: bennu.qc2
+      #     path: ./out/bennu.qc2
+
+      # Publish the built image to GitHub Container Registry using oras
+      - name: publish package with oras
+        # Only push package if on the default branch (e.g., main)
+        if: github.ref == format('refs/heads/{0}', github.event.repository.default_branch)
+        run: |
+          cd ./out
+          oras login -u ${{ github.actor }} -p ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} ghcr.io
+          oras push "ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}/bennu.qc2:${GITHUB_SHA:0:7}" bennu.qc2
+
+  # Job: Build the ubuntu image using the phenix image builder
   build-ubuntu:
     needs: get-miniccc
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -70,22 +90,25 @@ jobs:
       options: --privileged # needed for kernel device-mapper permissions
 
     steps:
-      # Checks-out your repository under $GITHUB_WORKSPACE, so your job can access it
+      # Install oras CLI
+      - name: oras install
+        uses: oras-project/setup-oras@v1
+      # Checkout repository code
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      # Runs a set of commands using the runners shell
+      # Download miniexes artifact
       - name: get miniexes
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4.1.8
         with:
           name: miniexes
 
-      # add the miniccc binary
-      # the phenix base scripts already include the systemd service
+      # Add the miniccc binary to the overlay for image build
       - name: add miniccc
         run: |
           mkdir -p ./overlays/miniccc/opt/minimega/bin
           cp ./miniccc ./overlays/miniccc/opt/minimega/bin
           chmod +x ./overlays/miniccc/opt/minimega/bin/miniccc
 
+      # Build the ubuntu image using phenix
       - name: ubuntu image build
         run: |
           phenix version
@@ -93,23 +116,37 @@ jobs:
           phenix image create -O ./overlays/miniccc -T ./scripts/ubuntu,./scripts/ubuntu-user --format qcow2 --release noble -c ubuntu --size 10G
           phenix image build ubuntu -o ./out -x
 
-      # upload bennu qc2 as artifact
-      - name: upload qc2
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: ubuntu.qc2
-          path: ./out/ubuntu.qc2
-  # upload to github release
+      # Optionally upload ubuntu.qc2 as artifact (currently commented out)
+      # - name: upload qc2
+      #   uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      #   with:
+      #     name: ubuntu.qc2
+      #     path: ./out/ubuntu.qc2
+
+      # Publish the built image to GitHub Container Registry using oras
+      - name: publish package with oras
+        # Only push package if on the default branch (e.g., main)
+        if: github.ref == format('refs/heads/{0}', github.event.repository.default_branch)      
+        run: |
+          cd ./out
+          oras login -u ${{ github.actor }} -p ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} ghcr.io
+          oras push "ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}/ubuntu.qc2:${GITHUB_SHA:0:7}" ubuntu.qc2
+
+  # Job: Tag and release images after successful builds
   release:
-    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && (github.event_name == 'schedule' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch')
+    # Only run on main branch for scheduled or manual workflow_dispatch events
+    if: github.ref == format('refs/heads/{0}', github.event.repository.default_branch) && (github.event_name == 'schedule' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch')
     needs:
       - build-bennu
       - build-ubuntu
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
+      # Get current date for tagging
       - name: Get current date
         id: date
         run: echo "date=$(date +'%Y%m%d')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+      # Download built images from artifacts (if uploaded)
+      # Not needed with oras push, but kept for reference
       # - name: get images from artifacts
       #   uses: actions/download-artifact@v4.1.8
       #   with:
@@ -117,14 +154,31 @@ jobs:
       #     path: ./images
       #     merge-multiple: true
 
+      # Install oras CLI
+      - name: oras install
+        uses: oras-project/setup-oras@v1
+
+      # Tag images in the registry with 'latest' and date-based tags
+      - name: tag images with date and latest
+        run: |
+          oras version
+          oras login -u ${{ github.actor }} -p ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} ghcr.io
+          oras tag ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}/bennu.qc2:${GITHUB_SHA:0:7} latest ${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
+          oras tag ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}/ubuntu.qc2:${GITHUB_SHA:0:7} latest ${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
+
+      # Create a GitHub release with notes and usage instructions
       - name: create release
         uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1.15.0
         with:
           name: release-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
           body: |
-            Images are too large to be attached to the release directly.  
-            For the full set of downloadable images, visit the [artifacts page](${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}).
-          # artifacts: "./images/*.qc2"
+            Images can be downloaded from the registry using the oras client: https://oras.land/docs/installation
+            e.g.:
+            ```
+            oras pull ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}/bennu.qc2:latest
+            ```
+            You can view the available image builds from the [Package List](https://github.com/orgs/${{ github.repository_owner }}/packages?repo_name=${{ github.event.repository.name }})
+
           tag: release-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
           commit: main
           generateReleaseNotes: true
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-cleanup.yml b/.github/workflows/release-cleanup.yml
index 307a187..4149a7b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-cleanup.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-cleanup.yml
@@ -16,3 +16,16 @@ jobs:
           github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           delete_tags: true
           keep_latest_days: 90
+
+  cleanup-old-images:
+    name: Delete Untagged Images
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      packages: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: dataaxiom/ghcr-cleanup-action@v1
+        with:
+          older-than: 90 day
+          packages: sceptre-phenix-images/bennu.qc2,sceptre-phenix-images/ubuntu.qc2
+          keep-n-tagged: 5
+          exclude-tags: latest
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 009fcd1..e815331 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,6 +4,16 @@
 1. Create an image configuration by specifying things like release code, packages, scripts to run after building, and filesystem overlays.
 2. Build the image.
 
+## Pre-built Images
+Pre-built qcow2 images are available as [Packages](https://github.com/orgs/sandialabs/packages?repo_name=sceptre-phenix-images). They are stored in OCI registry format (due to size constraints) and require the [oras](https://oras.land/docs/installation) client to download. Once you have the oras client installed you can download with a command like:
+
+```
+oras pull ghcr.io/sandialabs/sceptre-phenix-images/bennu.qc2:latest
+```
+_This example will download the latest version of bennu.qc2 to your current working directory._
+
+Images are built weekly and saved for 90 days. View the [Github workflow](./.github/workflows/image-build.yml) for the details on how images are built.
+
 ## How it works
 In step 1, the tool compiles command line arguments, scripts, and filesystem overlay paths on disk into an `Image` vmdb configuration file in the phenix datastore. The scripts and overlays are specified on the command line by path.
 
diff --git a/scripts/ubuntu b/scripts/ubuntu
index a4cedf2..280f5bf 100755
--- a/scripts/ubuntu
+++ b/scripts/ubuntu
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ systemctl enable ssh
 
 # apt cleanup
 rm -rf /var/cache/apt/archives
-apt clean
-apt autoremove
+apt clean -y
+apt autoremove -y
 
 # add phenix hostname
 echo '127.0.1.1 phenix' > /etc/hosts