diff --git a/.github/workflows/kind-e2e.yml b/.github/workflows/kind-e2e.yml
index 72539edda..8d78d115d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/kind-e2e.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/kind-e2e.yml
@@ -43,11 +43,6 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: 3.x
 
-      - name: Setup j2cli
-        run: |
-          sudo apt-get install -y j2cli
-          echo $(j2 --version)
-
       - name: Build latest-amd64
         uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
         with:
@@ -63,7 +58,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: generate yaml files
         working-directory: ./e2e
-        run: env CNI_VERSION=${{ matrix.cni-version }} ./generate_yamls.sh
+        run: env CNI_VERSION=${{ matrix.cni-version }} PATH=${PATH}:./bin ./generate_yamls.sh
 
       - name: Setup cluster
         working-directory: ./e2e
diff --git a/e2e/generate_yamls.sh b/e2e/generate_yamls.sh
index e237cc4ab..e0ab56514 100755
--- a/e2e/generate_yamls.sh
+++ b/e2e/generate_yamls.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,6 @@ templates_dir="$(dirname $(readlink -f $0))/templates"
 # generate yaml files based on templates/*.j2 to yamls directory
 for i in `ls templates/`; do
 	echo $i
-	j2 -e CNI_VERSION ${templates_dir}/$i -o yamls/${i%.j2}
+	gomplate -o yamls/${i%.j2} -f ${templates_dir}/$i
 done
 unset CNI_VERSION
diff --git a/e2e/get_tools.sh b/e2e/get_tools.sh
index fbc5b4057..77faaf2c5 100755
--- a/e2e/get_tools.sh
+++ b/e2e/get_tools.sh
@@ -13,3 +13,5 @@ curl -Lo ./bin/koko https://github.com/redhat-nfvpe/koko/releases/download/v0.83
 chmod +x ./bin/koko
 curl -Lo ./bin/jq https://github.com/stedolan/jq/releases/download/jq-1.6/jq-linux64
 chmod +x ./bin/jq
+curl -Lo ./bin/gomplate https://github.com/hairyhenderson/gomplate/releases/download/v3.11.7/gomplate_linux-amd64-slim
+chmod +x ./bin/gomplate
diff --git a/e2e/templates/default-route1.yml.j2 b/e2e/templates/default-route1.yml.j2
index 8d58cdeab..e1155229b 100644
--- a/e2e/templates/default-route1.yml.j2
+++ b/e2e/templates/default-route1.yml.j2
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ metadata:
   name: default-route-config
 spec: 
   config: '{
-            "cniVersion": "{{ CNI_VERSION }}",
+            "cniVersion": "{{ .Env.CNI_VERSION }}",
             "plugins": [
                 {
                     "type": "macvlan",
diff --git a/e2e/templates/multus-daemonset-thick.yml.j2 b/e2e/templates/multus-daemonset-thick.yml.j2
index 035304188..67ec770e6 100644
--- a/e2e/templates/multus-daemonset-thick.yml.j2
+++ b/e2e/templates/multus-daemonset-thick.yml.j2
@@ -86,14 +86,15 @@ metadata:
 data:
   daemon-config.json: |
     {
+        "chrootDir": "/hostroot",
         "confDir": "/host/etc/cni/net.d",
         "logToStderr": true,
         "logLevel": "debug",
         "logFile": "/tmp/multus.log",
-        "binDir": "/host/opt/cni/bin",
+        "binDir": "/opt/cni/bin",
         "cniDir": "/var/lib/cni/multus",
         "socketDir": "/host/run/multus",
-        "cniVersion": "{{ CNI_VERSION }}",
+        "cniVersion": "{{ .Env.CNI_VERSION }}",
         "cniConfigDir": "/host/etc/cni/net.d",
         "multusConfigFile": "auto",
         "forceCNIVersion": true,
@@ -147,7 +148,7 @@ spec:
         - name: cni
           mountPath: /host/etc/cni/net.d
         - name: cnibin
-          mountPath: /host/opt/cni/bin
+          mountPath: /opt/cni/bin
         - name: host-run
           mountPath: /host/run
         - name: host-var-lib-cni-multus
@@ -158,6 +159,9 @@ spec:
         - name: multus-daemon-config
           mountPath: /etc/cni/net.d/multus.d
           readOnly: true
+        - name: hostroot
+          mountPath: /hostroot
+          mountPropagation: HostToContainer
         env:
         - name: MULTUS_NODE_NAME
           valueFrom:
@@ -187,6 +191,9 @@ spec:
         - name: cnibin
           hostPath:
             path: /opt/cni/bin
+        - name: hostroot
+          hostPath:
+            path: /
         - name: multus-daemon-config
           configMap:
             name: multus-daemon-config
diff --git a/e2e/templates/multus-daemonset.yml.j2 b/e2e/templates/multus-daemonset.yml.j2
index 08cac28d1..b31abece0 100644
--- a/e2e/templates/multus-daemonset.yml.j2
+++ b/e2e/templates/multus-daemonset.yml.j2
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ spec:
         args:
         - "--multus-conf-file=auto"
         - "--force-cni-version=true"
-        - "--cni-version={{ CNI_VERSION }}"
+        - "--cni-version={{ .Env.CNI_VERSION }}"
         resources:
           requests:
             cpu: "100m"
diff --git a/e2e/templates/simple-macvlan1.yml.j2 b/e2e/templates/simple-macvlan1.yml.j2
index 7d31dcdbc..a9f71ae9d 100644
--- a/e2e/templates/simple-macvlan1.yml.j2
+++ b/e2e/templates/simple-macvlan1.yml.j2
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ metadata:
   name: macvlan1-config
 spec: 
   config: '{
-            "cniVersion": "{{ CNI_VERSION }}",
+            "cniVersion": "{{ .Env.CNI_VERSION }}",
             "plugins": [
                 {
                     "type": "macvlan",