diff --git a/.github/workflows/ccruntime_e2e.yaml b/.github/workflows/ccruntime_e2e.yaml
index 788eb2f0..674480ee 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ccruntime_e2e.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ccruntime_e2e.yaml
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ jobs:
           if [ $RUNNING_INSTANCE = "s390x" ]; then
             args=""
           fi
-          ./run-local.sh -r "${{ matrix.runtimeclass }}" "${args}"
+          ./run-local.sh -t -r "${{ matrix.runtimeclass }}" "${args}"
         env:
           RUNNING_INSTANCE: ${{ matrix.instance }}
 
diff --git a/tests/e2e/operator.sh b/tests/e2e/operator.sh
index 3503ecd7..601c808d 100755
--- a/tests/e2e/operator.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/operator.sh
@@ -32,10 +32,10 @@ build_operator () {
 	# so it's better to check it before adding the target repo.
 	local sd="$(git config --global --get safe.directory ${project_dir} || true)"
 	if [ "${sd}" == "" ]; then
-		echo "Add repo ${project_dir} to git's safe.directory"
+		echo "::debug:: Add repo ${project_dir} to git's safe.directory"
 		git config --global --add safe.directory "${project_dir}"
 	else
-		echo "Repo ${project_dir} already in git's safe.directory"
+		echo "::debug:: Repo ${project_dir} already in git's safe.directory"
 	fi
 
 	pushd "$project_dir" >/dev/null
@@ -67,9 +67,9 @@ build_pre_install_img() {
 handle_older_containerd() {
 	command -v containerd >/dev/null || return
 	local version=$(containerd -v | awk '{ print $3 }' | sed 's/^v//')
-	echo "system's containerd version: $version"
+	echo "::debug:: system's containerd version: $version"
 	if [[ "$version" =~ ^1.6 || "$version" =~ ^1.5 ]]; then
-		echo "Old system's containerd ($version). Configuring the operator to install a newer one"
+		echo "::warning:: Old system's containerd ($version). Configuring the operator to install a newer one"
 		pushd "$project_dir" >/dev/null
 		for kfile in $(find config/ -name "kustomization.yaml" \
 			-exec grep -l INSTALL_OFFICIAL_CONTAINERD {} \;);do
@@ -104,10 +104,10 @@ install_operator() {
 	local cmd="kubectl get pods -n "$op_ns" --no-headers |"
 	cmd+="egrep -q ${controller_pod}.*'\<Running\>'"
 	if ! wait_for_process 120 10 "$cmd"; then
-		echo "ERROR: ${controller_pod} pod is not running"
+		echo "::error:: ${controller_pod} pod is not running"
 
 		local pod_id="$(get_pods_regex $controller_pod $op_ns)"
-		echo "DEBUG: Pod $pod_id"
+		echo "::debug:: Pod $pod_id"
 		debug_pod "$pod_id" "$op_ns"
 
 		return 1
@@ -135,10 +135,10 @@ install_ccruntime() {
 		cmd="kubectl get pods -n "$op_ns" --no-headers |"
 		cmd+="egrep -q ${pod}.*'\<Running\>'"
 		if ! wait_for_process 600 30 "$cmd"; then
-			echo "ERROR: $pod pod is not running"
+			echo "::error:: $pod pod is not running"
 
 			local pod_id="$(get_pods_regex $pod $op_ns)"
-			echo "DEBUG: Pod $pod_id"
+			echo "::debug:: Pod $pod_id"
 			debug_pod "$pod_id" "$op_ns"
 
 			return 1
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ install_ccruntime() {
 	# There could be a case where it is not even if the pods above are running.
 	cmd="kubectl get runtimeclass | grep -q ${runtimeclass}"
 	if ! wait_for_process 300 30 "$cmd"; then
-		echo "ERROR: runtimeclass ${runtimeclass} is not up"
+		echo "::error:: runtimeclass ${runtimeclass} is not up"
 		return 1
 	fi
 	# To keep operator running, we should resume registry stopped during containerd restart.
@@ -164,12 +164,12 @@ uninstall_ccruntime() {
 	popd >/dev/null
 
 	# Wait and ensure ccruntime pods are gone
-	#
-	local cmd="! sudo -E kubectl get pods -n $op_ns |"
-	cmd+="grep -q -e cc-operator-daemon-install"
+	# (ensure failing kubectl keeps iterating)
+	local cmd="_OUT=\$(sudo -E kubectl get pods -n '$op_ns')"
+	cmd+=" && ! echo \$_OUT | grep -q -e cc-operator-daemon-install"
 	cmd+=" -e cc-operator-pre-install-daemon"
 	if ! wait_for_process 720 30 "$cmd"; then
-		echo "ERROR: there are ccruntime pods still running"
+		echo "::error:: there are ccruntime pods still running"
 		echo "::group::Describe pods from $op_ns namespace"
 		kubectl -n "$op_ns" describe pods || true
 		echo "::endgroup::"
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ uninstall_ccruntime() {
 	# Labels should be gone
 	if kubectl get nodes "$SAFE_HOST_NAME" -o jsonpath='{.metadata.labels}' | \
 		grep -q -e cc-preinstall -e katacontainers.io; then
-		echo "ERROR: there are labels left behind"
+		echo "::error:: there are labels left behind"
 		kubectl get nodes "$SAFE_HOST_NAME" -o jsonpath='{.metadata.labels}'
 
 		return 1
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ kustomization_set_image() {
 	# and this can introduce false-positive on the tests. So let's check the old image really
 	# exist.
 	if ! grep -q "name: ${old}$" ./kustomization.yaml; then
-		echo "ERROR: expected image ${old} in ${overlay_dir}/kustomization.yaml"
+		echo "::error:: expected image ${old} in ${overlay_dir}/kustomization.yaml"
 		return 1
 	fi
 
@@ -242,15 +242,14 @@ uninstall_operator() {
 	popd >/dev/null
 
 	# Wait and ensure the controller pod is gone
-	#
-	local pod="cc-operator-controller-manager"
-	local cmd="! kubectl get pods -n $op_ns |"
-	cmd+="grep -q $pod"
+	# (ensure failing kubectl keeps iterating)
+	local cmd="_OUT=\$(sudo -E kubectl get pods -n '$op_ns')"
+	cmd+="&& ! echo \$_OUT | grep -q -e cc-operator-controller-manager"
 	if ! wait_for_process 180 30 "$cmd"; then
-		echo "ERROR: the controller manager is still running"
+		echo "::error:: the controller manager is still running"
 
 		local pod_id="$(get_pods_regex $pod $op_ns)"
-		echo "DEBUG: Pod $pod_id"
+		echo "::debug:: Pod $pod_id"
 		debug_pod "$pod_id" "$op_ns"
 
 		return 1
@@ -269,7 +268,7 @@ wait_for_stabilization() {
 
 		while read -r pod container restart_count; do
 			if [ "${restart_counts[$pod-$container]--1}" != "$restart_count" ]; then
-				echo "DEBUG: Pod: $pod, Container: $container, Restart count: $restart_count"
+				echo "::debug:: Pod: $pod, Container: $container, Restart count: $restart_count"
 				restart_counts["$pod-$container"]=$restart_count
 				change=1
 			fi
@@ -278,10 +277,10 @@ wait_for_stabilization() {
 		[ $change -eq 0 ] && ((iteration+=1))
 
 		if [ $iteration -gt 3 ]; then
-			echo "INFO: No new restarts in 3x21s, proceeding..."
+			echo "::info:: No new restarts in 3x21s, proceeding..."
 			break
 		elif [ $count -gt 20 ]; then
-			echo "ERROR: Pods are still restarting after 20x21s, bailing out!"
+			echo "::error:: Pods are still restarting after 20x21s, bailing out!"
 			return 1
 		fi
 
@@ -335,7 +334,7 @@ main() {
 				wait_for_stabilization
 				;;
 			*)
-				echo "Unknown command '$1'"
+				echo "::error:: Unknown command '$1'"
 				usage && exit 1
 		esac
 	fi
diff --git a/tests/e2e/operator_tests.bats b/tests/e2e/operator_tests.bats
index bea771c0..0cc7449c 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/operator_tests.bats
+++ b/tests/e2e/operator_tests.bats
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
 load "${BATS_TEST_DIRNAME}/lib.sh"
 test_tag="[cc][operator]"
 
+# Set 10m timeout for each test
+export BATS_TEST_TIMEOUT=600
+
 is_operator_installed() {
 	[ "$(kubectl get deployment -n "$ns" --no-headers 2>/dev/null | wc -l)" \
 		-gt 0 ]
diff --git a/tests/e2e/run-local.sh b/tests/e2e/run-local.sh
index bfbb780e..38bde695 100755
--- a/tests/e2e/run-local.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/run-local.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ step_start_cluster=0
 step_install_operator=0
 runtimeclass=""
 undo="false"
+timeout="false"
 
 usage() {
 	cat <<-EOF
@@ -29,44 +30,58 @@ usage() {
                          the tests. Defaults to "kata-qemu".
 	-u: undo the installation and configuration before exiting. Useful for
 	    baremetal machine were it needs to do clean up for the next tests.
+	-t: enable default timeout for each operation (useful for CI)
 	EOF
 }
 
 parse_args() {
-	while getopts "hr:u" opt; do
+	while getopts "hr:ut" opt; do
 		case $opt in
 			h) usage && exit 0;;
 			r) runtimeclass="$OPTARG";;
 			u) undo="true";;
+			t) timeout="true";;
 			*) usage && exit 1;;
 		esac
 	done
 }
 
+run() {
+	duration=$1; shift
+	if [ "$timeout" == "true" ]; then
+		timeout $duration "$@"
+	else
+		"$@"
+	fi
+}
+
 undo_changes() {
 	pushd "$script_dir" >/dev/null
 	# Do not try to undo steps that did not execute.
 	if [ $step_install_operator -eq 1 ]; then
-		echo "INFO: Uninstall the operator"
-		sudo -E PATH="$PATH" bash -c './operator.sh uninstall' || true
+		echo "::info:: Uninstall the operator"
+		run 10m sudo -E PATH="$PATH" bash -c './operator.sh uninstall' || true
 	fi
 
 	if [ $step_start_cluster -eq 1 ]; then
-		echo "INFO: Shutdown the cluster"
-		sudo -E PATH="$PATH" bash -c './cluster/down.sh' || true
+		echo "::info:: Shutdown the cluster"
+		run 5m sudo -E PATH="$PATH" bash -c './cluster/down.sh' || true
 	fi
 
 	if [ $step_bootstrap_env -eq 1 ]; then
-		echo "INFO: Undo the bootstrap"
-		ansible-playbook -i localhost, -c local --tags undo ansible/main.yml || true
+		echo "::info:: Undo the bootstrap"
+		run 5m ansible-playbook -i localhost, -c local --tags undo ansible/main.yml || true
 	fi
 	popd >/dev/null
 }
 
 on_exit() {
+	RET="$?"
 	if [ "$undo" == "true" ]; then
+		[ "$RET" -ne 0 ] && echo && echo "::error:: Testing failed with $RET, starting the cleanup..."
 		undo_changes
 	fi
+	[ "$RET" -ne 0 ] && echo && echo "::error:: Testing failed with $RET" || echo "::info:: Testing passed"
 }
 
 trap on_exit EXIT
@@ -78,28 +93,28 @@ main() {
 
 	# Check Ansible is installed.
 	if ! command -v ansible-playbook >/dev/null; then
-		echo "ERROR: ansible-playbook is required to run this script."
+		echo "::error:: ansible-playbook is required to run this script."
 		exit 1
 	fi
 
 	export "PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin"
 
 	pushd "$script_dir" >/dev/null
-	echo "INFO: Bootstrap the local machine"
+	echo "::info:: Bootstrap the local machine"
 	step_bootstrap_env=1
-	ansible-playbook -i localhost, -c local --tags untagged ansible/main.yml
+	run 10m ansible-playbook -i localhost, -c local --tags untagged ansible/main.yml
 
-	echo "INFO: Bring up the test cluster"
+	echo "::info:: Bring up the test cluster"
 	step_start_cluster=1
-	sudo -E PATH="$PATH" bash -c './cluster/up.sh'
+	run 10m sudo -E PATH="$PATH" bash -c './cluster/up.sh'
 	export KUBECONFIG=/etc/kubernetes/admin.conf
 
-	echo "INFO: Build and install the operator"
+	echo "::info:: Build and install the operator"
 	step_install_operator=1
-	sudo -E PATH="$PATH" bash -c './operator.sh'
+	run 20m sudo -E PATH="$PATH" bash -c './operator.sh'
 
-	echo "INFO: Run tests"
-	cmd="sudo -E PATH=\"$PATH\" bash -c "
+	echo "::info:: Run tests"
+	cmd="run 20m sudo -E PATH=\"$PATH\" bash -c "
 	if [ -z "$runtimeclass" ]; then
 		cmd+="'./tests_runner.sh'"
 	else