diff --git a/tests/e2e/cases/ci.sh b/tests/e2e/cases/ci.sh
index 4e6421b..2903bd6 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/cases/ci.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/cases/ci.sh
@@ -186,44 +186,30 @@ function test::ci::_clean_pv() {
 }
 
 function test::ci::_start() {
-  test::ci::stop_controller
-  test::ci::_install_CRD
-  test::ci::start_controller
-  log::info "create xline auth key pairs"
+  log::info "starting controller manager"
+  pushd ${CODE_BASE_DIR}
+  IMG=${OPERATOR_IMG} make deploy 2>/dev/null
+  if ! KUBECTL_NAMESPACE=${OPERATOR_NS} k8s::kubectl wait --for=condition=available deployment/xline-operator-controller-manager --timeout=300s; then
+    log::fatal "Failed to wait for xline-operator-controller-manager to be ready"
+  fi
+  popd
+  log::info "controller manager started"
+  log::info "creating xline auth key pairs..."
   k8s::kubectl apply -f "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/manifests/auth-cred.yaml" >/dev/null 2>&1
   k8s::kubectl::wait_resource_creation secret $_TEST_CI_SECRET_NAME
   test::ci::_prepare_pv
-  log::info "starting xline cluster"
+  log::info "starting xline cluster..."
   k8s::kubectl apply -f "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/manifests/cluster.yaml" >/dev/null 2>&1
   k8s::kubectl::wait_resource_creation sts $_TEST_CI_STS_NAME
 }
 
-function test::ci::start_controller() {
-    log::info "starting controller"
-    pushd $(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../../../
-    make run >/dev/null 2>&1 &
-    popd
-    sleep 5
-    if kill -0 $!; then
-      log::info "Controller started"
-    else
-      log::error "Controller cannot failed"
-    fi
-}
-
-function test::ci::stop_controller() {
-  controller_pid=$(lsof -i:8081 | grep main | awk '{print $2}')
-  if [ -n "$controller_pid" ]; then
-    kill -9 $controller_pid
-  fi
-}
 
 
 function test::ci::_teardown() {
-  log::info "stopping controller"
-  test::ci::_uninstall_CRD
-  test::ci::stop_controller
-  k8s::kubectl delete -f "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/manifests/cluster.yaml" >/dev/null 2>&1
+  log::info "stopping controller manager..."
+  pushd ${CODE_BASE_DIR}
+  IMG=${OPERATOR_IMG} make undeploy 2>/dev/null
+  popd
   test::ci::wait_all_xline_pod_deleted 3
   test::ci::_clean_pvc 3
   test::ci::_clean_pv
diff --git a/tests/e2e/e2e.sh b/tests/e2e/e2e.sh
index 3c09aee..6f5667a 100755
--- a/tests/e2e/e2e.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/e2e.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ set -euo pipefail
 __ABS_PATH__=$(realpath ${BASH_SOURCE[0]})
 export E2E_TEST_DIR=$(dirname ${__ABS_PATH__})
 export CODE_BASE_DIR=$(dirname $(dirname ${E2E_TEST_DIR}))
+export OPERATOR_IMG="ghcr.io/xline-kv/xline-operator:$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
+export OPERATOR_NS="xline-operator-system"
 
 source "${E2E_TEST_DIR}/common/common.sh"
 source "${E2E_TEST_DIR}/testenv/testenv.sh"
diff --git a/tests/e2e/testenv/testenv.sh b/tests/e2e/testenv/testenv.sh
index ddf6c41..ccf771e 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/testenv/testenv.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e/testenv/testenv.sh
@@ -14,13 +14,16 @@ function testenv::k8s::delete() {
 }
 
 function testenv::k8s::load_images() {
-  # xline image
   log::info "Loading images"
-  xline_image="phoenix500526/xline:v0.6.1"
-  docker pull "$xline_image" 2>/dev/null
-  testenv::k8s::kind::load_image "$xline_image"
-  # etcdctl image
-  etcdctl_image="ghcr.io/xline-kv/etcdctl:v3.5.9"
-  docker pull "$etcdctl_image" 2>/dev/null
-  testenv::k8s::kind::load_image "$etcdctl_image"
+  # xline operator image
+  pushd ${CODE_BASE_DIR}
+  IMG=${OPERATOR_IMG} make docker-build 2>/dev/null
+  popd
+  testenv::k8s::kind::load_image "$OPERATOR_IMG"
+
+  remote_images=("phoenix500526/xline:v0.6.1" "ghcr.io/xline-kv/etcdctl:v3.5.9" "quay.io/brancz/kube-rbac-proxy:v0.15.0")
+  for img in "${remote_images[@]}"; do
+    docker pull "$img" 2>/dev/null
+    testenv::k8s::kind::load_image "$img"
+  done
 }