npe protection, step condition streamlining

.github/workflows/client-compatibility-tests.yml

@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ jobs:
               echo "New reth release found: $new_reth"
               implementations_arr+=("reth")
             fi
+          
             IFS=','
             eth_implementations="${implementations_arr[*]}"
             if [ -n "$eth_implementations" ]; then
@@ -307,7 +308,7 @@ jobs:
 
   get-latest-available-images:
     name: Get Latest EVM Implementation's Images
-    if: always() && needs.should-run.outputs.should_run == 'true' && (needs.select-versions.outputs.evm_implementations != '' || github.event.inputs.base64TestList != '')
+    if: always() && needs.should-run.outputs.should_run == 'true' && needs.select-versions.outputs.evm_implementations != '' && github.event.inputs.base64TestList != ''
     environment: integration
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [check-ecr-images-exist, should-run, select-versions]

integration-tests/docker/test_env/test_env_builder.go

@@ -280,6 +280,10 @@ func (b *CLTestEnvBuilder) Build() (*CLClusterTestEnv, error) {
 					// new logs can be added to the log stream, so parallel processing would get stuck on waiting for it to be unlocked
 				LogScanningLoop:
 					for i := 0; i < b.clNodesCount; i++ {
+						// if something went wrong during environment setup we might not have all nodes, and we don't want an NPE
+						if b.te.ClCluster == nil || b.te.ClCluster.Nodes == nil || len(b.te.ClCluster.Nodes) < i || b.te.ClCluster.Nodes[i] == nil {
+							continue
+						}
 						// ignore count return, because we are only interested in the error
 						_, err := logProcessor.ProcessContainerLogs(b.te.ClCluster.Nodes[i].ContainerName, processFn)
 						if err != nil && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), testreporters.MultipleLogsAtLogLevelErr) && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), testreporters.OneLogAtLogLevelErr) {