diff --git a/app/drivers/imanager.go b/app/drivers/imanager.go
index fc2c3d31..323cd28d 100644
--- a/app/drivers/imanager.go
+++ b/app/drivers/imanager.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ type IManager interface {
 	Update(ctx context.Context, instance *types.Instance) error
 	Add(pools ...Pool) error
 	StartInstancePurger(ctx context.Context, maxAgeBusy, maxAgeFree time.Duration, purgerTime time.Duration) error
-	Provision(ctx context.Context, poolName, serverName, ownerID, resourceClass string, query *types.QueryParams, gitspaceAgentConfig *types.GitspaceAgentConfig, storageConfig *types.StorageConfig, zone string) (*types.Instance, error) //nolint
+	Provision(ctx context.Context, poolName, serverName, ownerID, resourceClass string, imageName string, query *types.QueryParams, gitspaceAgentConfig *types.GitspaceAgentConfig, storageConfig *types.StorageConfig, zone string) (*types.Instance, error) //nolint
 	Destroy(ctx context.Context, poolName string, instanceID string, instance *types.Instance, storageCleanupType *storage.CleanupType) error
 	BuildPools(ctx context.Context) error
 	CleanPools(ctx context.Context, destroyBusy, destroyFree bool) error
diff --git a/app/drivers/manager.go b/app/drivers/manager.go
index 3faf2213..fee813fd 100644
--- a/app/drivers/manager.go
+++ b/app/drivers/manager.go
@@ -321,6 +321,7 @@ func (m *Manager) Provision(
 	serverName,
 	ownerID,
 	resourceClass string,
+	imageName string,
 	query *types.QueryParams,
 	gitspaceAgentConfig *types.GitspaceAgentConfig,
 	storageConfig *types.StorageConfig,
@@ -336,7 +337,7 @@ func (m *Manager) Provision(
 		if pool.Driver.DriverName() != string(types.Nomad) && pool.Driver.DriverName() != string(types.Google) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("incorrect pool, gitspaces is only supported on nomad/google")
 		}
-		inst, err := m.setupInstance(ctx, pool, serverName, ownerID, resourceClass, true, gitspaceAgentConfig, storageConfig, zone)
+		inst, err := m.setupInstance(ctx, pool, serverName, ownerID, resourceClass, imageName, true, gitspaceAgentConfig, storageConfig, zone)
 		return inst, err
 	}
 
@@ -359,7 +360,7 @@ func (m *Manager) Provision(
 			return nil, ErrorNoInstanceAvailable
 		}
 		var inst *types.Instance
-		inst, err = m.setupInstance(ctx, pool, serverName, ownerID, resourceClass, true, gitspaceAgentConfig, storageConfig, zone)
+		inst, err = m.setupInstance(ctx, pool, serverName, ownerID, resourceClass, imageName, true, gitspaceAgentConfig, storageConfig, zone)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("provision: failed to create instance: %w", err)
 		}
@@ -390,7 +391,7 @@ func (m *Manager) Provision(
 	// the go routine here uses the global context because this function is called
 	// from setup API call (and we can't use HTTP request context for async tasks)
 	go func(ctx context.Context) {
-		_, _ = m.setupInstance(ctx, pool, serverName, "", "", false, nil, nil, zone)
+		_, _ = m.setupInstance(ctx, pool, serverName, "", "", "", false, nil, nil, zone)
 	}(m.globalCtx)
 
 	return inst, nil
@@ -554,7 +555,7 @@ func (m *Manager) buildPool(ctx context.Context, pool *poolEntry, tlsServerName
 			defer wg.Done()
 
 			// generate certs cert
-			inst, err := m.setupInstance(ctx, pool, tlsServerName, "", "", false, nil, nil, "")
+			inst, err := m.setupInstance(ctx, pool, tlsServerName, "", "", "", false, nil, nil, "")
 			if err != nil {
 				logr.WithError(err).Errorln("build pool: failed to create instance")
 				return
@@ -586,6 +587,7 @@ func (m *Manager) setupInstance(
 	tlsServerName,
 	ownerID,
 	resourceClass string,
+	imageName string,
 	inuse bool,
 	agentConfig *types.GitspaceAgentConfig,
 	storageConfig *types.StorageConfig,
@@ -607,6 +609,7 @@ func (m *Manager) setupInstance(
 	createOptions.Tmate = m.tmate
 	createOptions.AccountID = ownerID
 	createOptions.ResourceClass = resourceClass
+	createOptions.ImageName = imageName
 	if storageConfig != nil {
 		createOptions.StorageOpts = types.StorageOpts{
 			CephPoolIdentifier: storageConfig.CephPoolIdentifier,
diff --git a/app/drivers/nomad/driver.go b/app/drivers/nomad/driver.go
index 909e8748..fa81dd23 100644
--- a/app/drivers/nomad/driver.go
+++ b/app/drivers/nomad/driver.go
@@ -174,6 +174,11 @@ func (p *config) Create(ctx context.Context, opts *types.InstanceCreateOpts) (*t
 		class = p.virtualizer.GetGlobalAccountID()
 	}
 
+	image := opts.ImageName
+	if image == "" {
+		image = p.vmImage
+	}
+
 	// Create a resource job which occupies resources until the VM is alive to avoid
 	// oversubscribing the node
 	var resourceJob *api.Job
@@ -231,7 +236,7 @@ func (p *config) Create(ctx context.Context, opts *types.InstanceCreateOpts) (*t
 	if p.noop {
 		initJob, initJobID, initTaskGroup = p.initJobNoop(vm, id, liteEngineHostPort)
 	} else {
-		initJob, initJobID, initTaskGroup, err = p.virtualizer.GetInitJob(vm, id, p.vmImage, p.userData, p.username, p.password, liteEngineHostPort, resource, opts, gitspacesPortMappings)
+		initJob, initJobID, initTaskGroup, err = p.virtualizer.GetInitJob(vm, id, image, p.userData, p.username, p.password, liteEngineHostPort, resource, opts, gitspacesPortMappings)
 		if err != nil {
 			defer p.deregisterJob(logr, resourceJobID, false) //nolint:errcheck
 			return nil, err
diff --git a/command/harness/setup.go b/command/harness/setup.go
index c6c456cb..a94e29df 100644
--- a/command/harness/setup.go
+++ b/command/harness/setup.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ type SetupVMRequest struct {
 	LogKey              string            `json:"log_key"`
 	Context             Context           `json:"context,omitempty"`
 	ResourceClass       string            `json:"resource_class"`
+	ImageName           string            `json:"image_name"`
 	api.SetupRequest    `json:"setup_request"`
 	GitspaceAgentConfig types.GitspaceAgentConfig `json:"gitspace_agent_config"`
 	StorageConfig       types.StorageConfig       `json:"storage_config"`
@@ -243,7 +244,7 @@ func handleSetup(
 			RunnerName: runnerName,
 		}
 	}
-	instance, err := poolManager.Provision(ctx, pool, poolManager.GetTLSServerName(), owner, r.ResourceClass, query, &r.GitspaceAgentConfig, &r.StorageConfig, r.Zone)
+	instance, err := poolManager.Provision(ctx, pool, poolManager.GetTLSServerName(), owner, r.ResourceClass, r.ImageName, query, &r.GitspaceAgentConfig, &r.StorageConfig, r.Zone)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to provision instance: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/command/setup/setup.go b/command/setup/setup.go
index bce33a71..7b65ffd5 100644
--- a/command/setup/setup.go
+++ b/command/setup/setup.go
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ func (c *setupCommand) run(*kingpin.ParseContext) error { //nolint
 			Fatalln("setup: unable to add pool")
 	}
 	// provision
-	instance, provisionErr := poolManager.Provision(ctx, testPoolName, runnerName, "drone", "", nil, nil, nil, "")
+	instance, provisionErr := poolManager.Provision(ctx, testPoolName, runnerName, "drone", "", "", nil, nil, nil, "")
 	if provisionErr != nil {
 		consoleLogs, consoleErr := poolManager.InstanceLogs(ctx, testPoolName, instance.ID)
 		logrus.Infof("setup: instance logs for %s: %s", instance.ID, consoleLogs)
diff --git a/engine/engine.go b/engine/engine.go
index 1fa2635b..f3824e92 100644
--- a/engine/engine.go
+++ b/engine/engine.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func (e *Engine) Setup(ctx context.Context, specv runtime.Spec) error {
 	}
 
 	// lets see if there is anything in the pool
-	instance, err := manager.Provision(ctx, poolName, e.config.Runner.Name, "drone", "", nil, nil, nil, "")
+	instance, err := manager.Provision(ctx, poolName, e.config.Runner.Name, "drone", "", "", nil, nil, nil, "")
 	if err != nil {
 		logr.WithError(err).Errorln("failed to provision an instance")
 		return err
diff --git a/types/types.go b/types/types.go
index c432d11f..8b6688a3 100644
--- a/types/types.go
+++ b/types/types.go
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ type InstanceCreateOpts struct {
 	AccountID              string
 	IsHosted               bool
 	ResourceClass          string
+	ImageName              string
 	GitspaceOpts           GitspaceOpts
 	StorageOpts            StorageOpts
 	AutoInjectionBinaryURI string