diff --git a/.env b/.env
index 7c166b57a..5db3472fa 100644
--- a/.env
+++ b/.env
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@ GO_VERSION=1.23.0
 AWSCLI_URL=https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64-2.8.6.zip
 KUBECTL_VERSION=v1.29.1
 AZ_CLI_VERSION=2.30.0
-EKSCTL_VERSION=v0.143.0
-EKS_CLUSTER_K8_VERSION=1.27
+EKSCTL_VERSION=v0.191.0
+EKS_CLUSTER_K8_VERSION=1.31
 SPLUNK_ENTERPRISE_RELEASE_IMAGE=splunk/splunk:9.3.0
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index d6b5b1fd5..e5a11bf46 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go v1.47.11
 	github.com/go-logr/logr v1.4.2
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0
+	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1
 	github.com/minio/minio-go/v7 v7.0.16
 	github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2 v2.20.2
 	github.com/onsi/gomega v1.34.2
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 14de0e83e..708656411 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -223,6 +223,8 @@ github.com/jmespath/go-jmespath v0.4.0 h1:BEgLn5cpjn8UN1mAw4NjwDrS35OdebyEtFe+9Y
 github.com/jmespath/go-jmespath v0.4.0/go.mod h1:T8mJZnbsbmF+m6zOOFylbeCJqk5+pHWvzYPziyZiYoo=
 github.com/jmespath/go-jmespath/internal/testify v1.5.1 h1:shLQSRRSCCPj3f2gpwzGwWFoC7ycTf1rcQZHOlsJ6N8=
 github.com/jmespath/go-jmespath/internal/testify v1.5.1/go.mod h1:L3OGu8Wl2/fWfCI6z80xFu9LTZmf1ZRjMHUOPmWr69U=
+github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1 h1:7eLL/+HRGLY0ldzfGMeQkb7vMd0as4CfYvUVzLqw0N0=
+github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1/go.mod h1:f4LDr5Voq0i2e/R5DDNOoa2zzDfwtkZa6DnEwAbqwq4=
 github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0 h1:vlS4z54oSdjm0bgjRigI+G1HpF+tI+9rE5LLzOg8HmY=
 github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0/go.mod h1:5DoeVV0s6jJacbCEi61lwdGj/aVlrQvzHFFd8Hwg//Y=
 github.com/jpillora/backoff v1.0.0/go.mod h1:J/6gKK9jxlEcS3zixgDgUAsiuZ7yrSoa/FX5e0EB2j4=
@@ -518,6 +520,10 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20211216021012-1d35b9e2eb4e/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBc
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220114195835-da31bd327af9/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220908164124-27713097b956/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.1.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.20.0 h1:Od9JTbYCk261bKm4M/mw7AklTlFYIa0bIp9BgSm1S8Y=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.20.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.23.0 h1:YfKFowiIMvtgl1UERQoTPPToxltDeZfbj4H7dVUCwmM=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.23.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.24.0 h1:Twjiwq9dn6R1fQcyiK+wQyHWfaz/BJB+YIpzU/Cv3Xg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.24.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
 golang.org/x/term v0.0.0-20201117132131-f5c789dd3221/go.mod h1:Nr5EML6q2oocZ2LXRh80K7BxOlk5/8JxuGnuhpl+muw=
@@ -681,6 +687,8 @@ google.golang.org/protobuf v1.26.0-rc.1/go.mod h1:jlhhOSvTdKEhbULTjvd4ARK9grFBp0
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.26.0/go.mod h1:9q0QmTI4eRPtz6boOQmLYwt+qCgq0jsYwAQnmE0givc=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.27.1/go.mod h1:9q0QmTI4eRPtz6boOQmLYwt+qCgq0jsYwAQnmE0givc=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.28.0/go.mod h1:HV8QOd/L58Z+nl8r43ehVNZIU/HEI6OcFqwMG9pJV4I=
+google.golang.org/protobuf v1.33.0 h1:uNO2rsAINq/JlFpSdYEKIZ0uKD/R9cpdv0T+yoGwGmI=
+google.golang.org/protobuf v1.33.0/go.mod h1:c6P6GXX6sHbq/GpV6MGZEdwhWPcYBgnhAHhKbcUYpos=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.34.1 h1:9ddQBjfCyZPOHPUiPxpYESBLc+T8P3E+Vo4IbKZgFWg=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.34.1/go.mod h1:c6P6GXX6sHbq/GpV6MGZEdwhWPcYBgnhAHhKbcUYpos=
 gopkg.in/alecthomas/kingpin.v2 v2.2.6/go.mod h1:FMv+mEhP44yOT+4EoQTLFTRgOQ1FBLkstjWtayDeSgw=
diff --git a/helm-chart/splunk-operator/templates/deployment.yaml b/helm-chart/splunk-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
index 2a1ffc076..c1136248c 100644
--- a/helm-chart/splunk-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/helm-chart/splunk-operator/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@ spec:
             value: {{ include "splunk-operator.operator.fullname" . }}
           - name: RELATED_IMAGE_SPLUNK_ENTERPRISE
             value: "{{ .Values.image.repository }}"
+          - name: CLUSTER_DOMAIN
+            value: {{ .Values.splunkOperator.clusterDomain | default "cluster.local" }}
           ports:
             {{- range .Values.splunkOperator.service.ports }}
             - containerPort: {{ .port }}
diff --git a/test/appframework_aws/c3/appframework_aws_suite_test.go b/test/appframework_aws/c3/appframework_aws_suite_test.go
index 355152408..289b6b9ed 100644
--- a/test/appframework_aws/c3/appframework_aws_suite_test.go
+++ b/test/appframework_aws/c3/appframework_aws_suite_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 
+	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
 	"github.com/splunk/splunk-operator/test/testenv"
 )
 
@@ -53,11 +54,47 @@ var (
 // TestBasic is the main entry point
 func TestBasic(t *testing.T) {
 
+	// Find and load the .env file from the current directory upwards
+	if err := loadEnvFile(); err != nil {
+		panic("Error loading .env file: " + err.Error())
+	}
 	RegisterFailHandler(Fail)
 
 	RunSpecs(t, "Running "+testSuiteName)
 }
 
+//func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
+// Run the tests
+//    os.Exit(m.Run())
+//}
+
+// loadEnvFile traverses up the directory tree to find a .env file
+func loadEnvFile() error {
+	// Get the current working directory
+	dir, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Traverse up the directory tree
+	for {
+		// Check if .env file exists in the current directory
+		envFile := filepath.Join(dir, ".env")
+		if _, err := os.Stat(envFile); err == nil {
+			// .env file found, load it
+			return godotenv.Load(envFile)
+		}
+
+		// Move up to the parent directory
+		parentDir := filepath.Dir(dir)
+		if parentDir == dir {
+			// Reached the root directory
+			return nil
+		}
+		dir = parentDir
+	}
+}
+
 var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 	var err error
 	testenvInstance, err = testenv.NewDefaultTestEnv(testSuiteName)
diff --git a/test/deploy-eks-cluster.sh b/test/deploy-eks-cluster.sh
index c5c405a22..faa83a597 100755
--- a/test/deploy-eks-cluster.sh
+++ b/test/deploy-eks-cluster.sh
@@ -93,6 +93,8 @@ function createCluster() {
     kubectl annotate serviceaccount -n $namespace $service_account eks.amazonaws.com/role-arn=arn:aws:iam::$account_id:role/${rolename}
     eksctl create addon --name aws-ebs-csi-driver --cluster ${TEST_CLUSTER_NAME} --service-account-role-arn arn:aws:iam::$account_id:role/${rolename} --force
     eksctl utils update-cluster-logging --cluster ${TEST_CLUSTER_NAME}
+    # CSPL-2887 - Patch the default storage class to gp2
+    kubectl patch storageclass gp2 -p '{"metadata": {"annotations":{"storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class":"true"}}}'
   else
     echo "Retrieving kubeconfig for ${TEST_CLUSTER_NAME}"
     # Cluster exists but kubeconfig may not
diff --git a/test/env.sh b/test/env.sh
index be3c7c65c..08aed7af0 100644
--- a/test/env.sh
+++ b/test/env.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 : "${ECR_REGISTRY:=}"
 : "${VPC_PUBLIC_SUBNET_STRING:=}"
 : "${VPC_PRIVATE_SUBNET_STRING:=}"
-: "${EKS_CLUSTER_K8_VERSION:=1.26}"
+: "${EKS_CLUSTER_K8_VERSION:=1.31}"
 # Below env variables required to run license master test cases
 : "${ENTERPRISE_LICENSE_S3_PATH:=/test_licenses}"
 : "${TEST_S3_BUCKET:=splk-test-data-bucket}"