diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-image-template.yml b/.github/workflows/build-image-template.yml
index 610658c..39ff910 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-image-template.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-image-template.yml
@@ -83,14 +83,14 @@ jobs:
       ### The publish and periodic rebuilds are based on the latest stable github release tag
       - name: Checkout latest Github Release tag (${{ inputs.git_latest_release_tag }}) ⚡️
         if: inputs.publish_to_registry == 'true'
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           ref: ${{ inputs.git_latest_release_tag }}
       
       ### The CI is based on the main branch
       - name: Checkout Repo ⚡️
         if: inputs.publish_to_registry == 'false'
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
       ### Common steps between CI and Publish
       - name: Free up disk space 📦
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-upload-spark-dist.yml b/.github/workflows/build-upload-spark-dist.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd6e644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-upload-spark-dist.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2025 okdp.io
+#
+# 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.
+#
+
+name: Build Spark distribution tarball
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      spark_version:
+        description: Spark version
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      scala_version:
+        description: Scala version
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      java_version:
+        description: Java version
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      hadoop_version:
+        description: Hadoop version
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      registry:
+        description: The container registry
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: quay.io
+      git_latest_release_tag:
+        description: The latest remote release tag
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      github_tarball_release:
+        description: "GitHub release tag where to push spark tgz tarballs"
+        type: string
+        default: "spark-tarballs"
+      runs-on:
+        description: GitHub Actions Runner image
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "ubuntu-latest"
+
+jobs:
+  build-upload-spark-dist:
+    name: dist(scala-${{ inputs.scala_version }}, java-${{ inputs.java_version }}, hadoop-${{ inputs.hadoop_version }})
+    runs-on: ${{ inputs.runs-on }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout latest Github Release tag (${{ inputs.git_latest_release_tag }}) ⚡️
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.git_latest_release_tag }}
+
+      - name: Set Spark distribution name
+        run: |
+          HADOOP_MAJOR_VERSION="${{ inputs.hadoop_version }}"
+          HADOOP_MAJOR_VERSION="${HADOOP_MAJOR_VERSION%%.*}"
+          
+          SPARK_MAJOR_VERSION="${{ inputs.spark_version }}"
+          SPARK_MAJOR_VERSION="${SPARK_MAJOR_VERSION%%.*}"
+  
+          if [[ "${{ inputs.scala_version }}" == "2.12" || ( "${{ inputs.scala_version }}" == "2.13" && "$SPARK_MAJOR_VERSION" -ge 4 ) ]]; then
+            SPARK_DIST_NAME="spark-${{ inputs.spark_version }}-bin-hadoop${HADOOP_MAJOR_VERSION}"
+          else
+            SPARK_DIST_NAME="spark-${{ inputs.spark_version }}-bin-hadoop${HADOOP_MAJOR_VERSION}-scala${{ inputs.scala_version }}"
+          fi
+          echo "SPARK_DIST_NAME=${SPARK_DIST_NAME}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Build spark distribution from Spark image
+        run: |
+          IMAGE="${{ inputs.registry }}/okdp/spark:spark-${{ inputs.spark_version }}-scala-${{ inputs.scala_version }}-java-${{ inputs.java_version }}"
+          SPARK_HOME=opt/spark
+          
+          echo "Pulling base image $IMAGE ..."
+          docker pull "$IMAGE"
+          
+          echo "Creating container from the image $IMAGE ..."
+          CID=$(docker create "$IMAGE")
+          
+          echo "Inspect Spark home directory"
+          docker export "$CID" | tar -tv "$SPARK_HOME/"
+          
+          mkdir -p "$SPARK_DIST_NAME"
+          
+          echo "Export Spark home directory content from container image into Spark Dist ${SPARK_DIST_NAME}.tgz"
+          docker export "$CID" | tar -xvf - -C "$SPARK_DIST_NAME" --strip-components=2 $SPARK_HOME
+          tar -czf "${SPARK_DIST_NAME}.tgz" "$SPARK_DIST_NAME"
+          
+          echo "Clean up"
+          docker rm "$CID"
+        shell: bash
+
+      - name: Upload Spark tarball to GitHub release (${{ inputs.github_tarball_release }})
+        run: |
+          echo "Uploading ${SPARK_DIST_NAME}.tgz to release {{ inputs.github_tarball_release }} ..."
+          gh release upload ${{ inputs.github_tarball_release }} "${SPARK_DIST_NAME}.tgz" --clobber
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        shell: bash
+
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index f08d99c..2ce91c5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix: ${{ steps.ci-versions.outputs.matrix }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repo ⚡️
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
       - name: Get CI versions matrix 📥
         id: ci-versions
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yml b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
index 4d8f7d4..ebffe18 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ concurrency:
 
 permissions:
   packages: write
-  
+  contents: write
+
 jobs:
   
   latest-github-release:
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
       tag_name: ${{ steps.git-release-tag.outputs.tag_name }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repo ⚡️
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
       - name: Get latest GitHub Release tag name 📥
         id: git-release-tag
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix: ${{ steps.release-versions.outputs.matrix }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repo ⚡️
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
       - name: Get release versions matrix 📥
         id: release-versions
@@ -85,22 +86,40 @@ jobs:
         with:
           use_matrix: ".build/release-versions.yml"
 
-  spark-publish:
+#  spark-images-publish:
+#    if: github.repository_owner == 'OKDP' && needs.latest-github-release.outputs.tag_name != ''
+#    name: spark-images-publish (${{ needs.latest-github-release.outputs.tag_name }}/spark-${{ matrix.version.spark_version }})
+#    needs: [latest-github-release, get-release-versions]
+#    strategy:
+#      fail-fast: false
+#      matrix:
+#        version: ${{ fromJson(needs.get-release-versions.outputs.matrix) }}
+#    uses: ./.github/workflows/build-images-template.yml
+#    with:
+#      python_version: ${{ matrix.version.python_version }}
+#      spark_version: ${{ matrix.version.spark_version }}
+#      java_version: ${{ matrix.version.java_version }}
+#      scala_version: ${{ matrix.version.scala_version }}
+#      hadoop_version: ${{ matrix.version.hadoop_version }}
+#      registry: ${{ vars.REGISTRY || 'quay.io' }}
+#      publish_to_registry: "true"
+#      git_latest_release_tag: ${{ needs.latest-github-release.outputs.tag_name }}
+#    secrets: inherit
+
+  spark-dist-publish:
     if: github.repository_owner == 'OKDP' && needs.latest-github-release.outputs.tag_name != ''
-    name: spark-publish (${{ needs.latest-github-release.outputs.tag_name }}/spark-${{ matrix.version.spark_version }})
+    name: spark-dist-publish (${{ needs.latest-github-release.outputs.tag_name }}/spark-${{ matrix.version.spark_version }})
     needs: [latest-github-release, get-release-versions]
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
-      matrix: 
+      matrix:
         version: ${{ fromJson(needs.get-release-versions.outputs.matrix) }}
-    uses: ./.github/workflows/build-images-template.yml
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/build-upload-spark-dist.yml
     with:
-      python_version: ${{ matrix.version.python_version }}
       spark_version: ${{ matrix.version.spark_version }}
       java_version: ${{ matrix.version.java_version }}
       scala_version: ${{ matrix.version.scala_version }}
       hadoop_version: ${{ matrix.version.hadoop_version }}
       registry: ${{ vars.REGISTRY || 'quay.io' }}
-      publish_to_registry: "true"
       git_latest_release_tag: ${{ needs.latest-github-release.outputs.tag_name }}
     secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sign-images.yml b/.github/workflows/sign-images.yml
index 0871a1d..79047dd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sign-images.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sign-images.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix: ${{ steps.ci-versions.outputs.matrix }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repo
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
         
       - name: Get CI versions matrix
         id: ci-versions
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repo
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
       - name: Set up CI registry
         id: registry-repos