diff --git a/.github/actionlint.yml b/.github/actionlint.yml
index a5282876d07a..4ad8a7b4603e 100644
--- a/.github/actionlint.yml
+++ b/.github/actionlint.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 self-hosted-runner:
   labels:
     - arm64
-    - gen3
     - large
     - large-arm64
     - small
diff --git a/.github/actions/run-python-test-set/action.yml b/.github/actions/run-python-test-set/action.yml
index 9d39ab6ad7bf..4ccf190c6abf 100644
--- a/.github/actions/run-python-test-set/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/run-python-test-set/action.yml
@@ -83,7 +83,6 @@ runs:
       uses: actions/checkout@v4
       with:
         submodules: true
-        fetch-depth: 1
 
     - name: Cache poetry deps
       uses: actions/cache@v4
diff --git a/.github/workflows/_build-and-test-locally.yml b/.github/workflows/_build-and-test-locally.yml
index 5e5908860e22..af76e51ebc58 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/_build-and-test-locally.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/_build-and-test-locally.yml
@@ -70,7 +70,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: true
-          fetch-depth: 1
 
       - name: Set pg 14 revision for caching
         id: pg_v14_rev
@@ -263,7 +262,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: true
-          fetch-depth: 1
 
       - name: Pytest regression tests
         uses: ./.github/actions/run-python-test-set
diff --git a/.github/workflows/actionlint.yml b/.github/workflows/actionlint.yml
index 34fd8b1d155d..85cfe7446ebf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/actionlint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/actionlint.yml
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ jobs:
             grep -ERl $PAT .github/workflows |\
             while read -r f
             do
-              l=$(grep -nE $PAT .github/workflows/release.yml | awk -F: '{print $1}' | head -1)
+              l=$(grep -nE $PAT $f | awk -F: '{print $1}' | head -1)
               echo "::error file=$f,line=$l::Please use 'ubuntu-22.04' instead of 'ubuntu-latest'"
             done
             exit 1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/benchmarking.yml b/.github/workflows/benchmarking.yml
index 106c3e3138a3..f99a0374895d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/benchmarking.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/benchmarking.yml
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ jobs:
       uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
       with:
         aws-region: eu-central-1
-        role-to-assume: ${{ vars.DEV_AWS_OIDC_ROLE_ARN }}  
+        role-to-assume: ${{ vars.DEV_AWS_OIDC_ROLE_ARN }}
         role-duration-seconds: 18000 # 5 hours
 
     - name: Download Neon artifact
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ jobs:
         api_key: ${{ secrets.NEON_STAGING_API_KEY }}
 
     - name: Create Allure report
+      id: create-allure-report
       if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
       uses: ./.github/actions/allure-report-generate
 
@@ -154,7 +155,10 @@ jobs:
       uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
       with:
         channel-id: "C033QLM5P7D" # dev-staging-stream
-        slack-message: "Periodic perf testing: ${{ job.status }}\n${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
+        slack-message: |
+          Periodic perf testing: ${{ job.status }}
+          <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|GitHub Run>
+          <${{ steps.create-allure-report.outputs.report-url }}|Allure report>
       env:
         SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
 
@@ -176,7 +180,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-    
+
     - name: Download Neon artifact
       uses: ./.github/actions/download
       with:
@@ -215,6 +219,7 @@ jobs:
         NEON_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.NEON_STAGING_API_KEY }}
 
     - name: Create Allure report
+      id: create-allure-report
       if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
       uses: ./.github/actions/allure-report-generate
 
@@ -365,7 +370,7 @@ jobs:
         aws-region: eu-central-1
         role-to-assume: ${{ vars.DEV_AWS_OIDC_ROLE_ARN }}
         role-duration-seconds: 18000 # 5 hours
-        
+
     - name: Download Neon artifact
       uses: ./.github/actions/download
       with:
@@ -460,6 +465,7 @@ jobs:
         api_key: ${{ secrets.NEON_STAGING_API_KEY }}
 
     - name: Create Allure report
+      id: create-allure-report
       if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
       uses: ./.github/actions/allure-report-generate
 
@@ -468,7 +474,10 @@ jobs:
       uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
       with:
         channel-id: "C033QLM5P7D" # dev-staging-stream
-        slack-message: "Periodic perf testing ${{ matrix.platform }}: ${{ job.status }}\n${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
+        slack-message: |
+          Periodic perf testing on ${{ matrix.platform }}: ${{ job.status }}
+          <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|GitHub Run>
+          <${{ steps.create-allure-report.outputs.report-url }}|Allure report>
       env:
         SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
 
@@ -542,7 +551,7 @@ jobs:
         esac
 
         echo "connstr=${CONNSTR}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-        
+
     - name: Configure AWS credentials # necessary on Azure runners to read/write from/to S3
       uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
       with:
@@ -577,8 +586,9 @@ jobs:
         BENCHMARK_CONNSTR: ${{ steps.set-up-connstr.outputs.connstr }}
         VIP_VAP_ACCESS_TOKEN: "${{ secrets.VIP_VAP_ACCESS_TOKEN }}"
         PERF_TEST_RESULT_CONNSTR: "${{ secrets.PERF_TEST_RESULT_CONNSTR }}"
-    
+
     - name: Create Allure report
+      id: create-allure-report
       if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
       uses: ./.github/actions/allure-report-generate
 
@@ -587,7 +597,10 @@ jobs:
       uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
       with:
         channel-id: "C033QLM5P7D" # dev-staging-stream
-        slack-message: "Periodic perf testing ${PLATFORM}: ${{ job.status }}\n${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
+        slack-message: |
+          Periodic perf testing on ${{ env.PLATFORM }}: ${{ job.status }}
+          <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|GitHub Run>
+          <${{ steps.create-allure-report.outputs.report-url }}|Allure report>
       env:
         SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
 
@@ -670,6 +683,7 @@ jobs:
         TEST_OLAP_SCALE: 10
 
     - name: Create Allure report
+      id: create-allure-report
       if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
       uses: ./.github/actions/allure-report-generate
 
@@ -678,7 +692,10 @@ jobs:
       uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
       with:
         channel-id: "C033QLM5P7D" # dev-staging-stream
-        slack-message: "Periodic OLAP perf testing ${{ matrix.platform }}: ${{ job.status }}\n${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
+        slack-message: |
+          Periodic OLAP perf testing on ${{ matrix.platform }}: ${{ job.status }}
+          <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|GitHub Run>
+          <${{ steps.create-allure-report.outputs.report-url }}|Allure report>
       env:
         SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
 
@@ -764,6 +781,7 @@ jobs:
         TEST_OLAP_SCALE: ${{ matrix.scale }}
 
     - name: Create Allure report
+      id: create-allure-report
       if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
       uses: ./.github/actions/allure-report-generate
 
@@ -772,7 +790,10 @@ jobs:
       uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
       with:
         channel-id: "C033QLM5P7D" # dev-staging-stream
-        slack-message: "Periodic TPC-H perf testing ${{ matrix.platform }}: ${{ job.status }}\n${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
+        slack-message: |
+          Periodic TPC-H perf testing on ${{ matrix.platform }}: ${{ job.status }}
+          <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|GitHub Run>
+          <${{ steps.create-allure-report.outputs.report-url }}|Allure report>
       env:
         SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
 
@@ -843,6 +864,7 @@ jobs:
         BENCHMARK_CONNSTR: ${{ steps.set-up-connstr.outputs.connstr }}
 
     - name: Create Allure report
+      id: create-allure-report
       if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
       uses: ./.github/actions/allure-report-generate
 
@@ -851,6 +873,10 @@ jobs:
       uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
       with:
         channel-id: "C033QLM5P7D" # dev-staging-stream
-        slack-message: "Periodic User example perf testing ${{ matrix.platform }}: ${{ job.status }}\n${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
+        slack-message: |
+          Periodic TPC-H perf testing on ${{ matrix.platform }}: ${{ job.status }}
+          <${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|GitHub Run>
+          <${{ steps.create-allure-report.outputs.report-url }}|Allure report>
+
       env:
         SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-build-tools-image.yml b/.github/workflows/build-build-tools-image.yml
index f4f6e6971fdf..ca5ff573e19e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-build-tools-image.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-build-tools-image.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         arch: [ x64, arm64 ]
 
-    runs-on: ${{ fromJson(format('["self-hosted", "gen3", "{0}"]', matrix.arch == 'arm64' && 'large-arm64' || 'large')) }}
+    runs-on: ${{ fromJson(format('["self-hosted", "{0}"]', matrix.arch == 'arm64' && 'large-arm64' || 'large')) }}
 
     env:
       IMAGE_TAG: ${{ inputs.image-tag }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yml b/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yml
index a591cb73f22a..ee6d3ba005ae 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ jobs:
 
   tag:
     needs: [ check-permissions ]
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, gen3, small ]
+    runs-on: [ self-hosted, small ]
     container: 369495373322.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/base:pinned
     outputs:
       build-tag: ${{steps.build-tag.outputs.tag}}
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ jobs:
 
   check-codestyle-python:
     needs: [ check-permissions, build-build-tools-image ]
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, gen3, small ]
+    runs-on: [ self-hosted, small ]
     container:
       image: ${{ needs.build-build-tools-image.outputs.image }}
       credentials:
@@ -101,9 +101,6 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: false
-          fetch-depth: 1
 
       - name: Cache poetry deps
         uses: actions/cache@v4
@@ -142,7 +139,6 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: true
-          fetch-depth: 1
 
 #      Disabled for now
 #      - name: Restore cargo deps cache
@@ -204,7 +200,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         arch: [ x64 ]
         # Do not build or run tests in debug for release branches
-        build-type: ${{ fromJson((startsWith(github.ref_name, 'release' && github.event_name == 'push')) && '["release"]' || '["debug", "release"]') }}
+        build-type: ${{ fromJson((startsWith(github.ref_name, 'release') && github.event_name == 'push') && '["release"]' || '["debug", "release"]') }}
         include:
           - build-type: release
             arch: arm64
@@ -224,7 +220,7 @@ jobs:
     outputs:
       json: ${{ steps.get-benchmark-durations.outputs.json }}
     needs: [ check-permissions, build-build-tools-image ]
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, gen3, small ]
+    runs-on: [ self-hosted, small ]
     container:
       image: ${{ needs.build-build-tools-image.outputs.image }}
       credentials:
@@ -257,7 +253,7 @@ jobs:
   benchmarks:
     if: github.ref_name == 'main' || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'run-benchmarks')
     needs: [ check-permissions, build-and-test-locally, build-build-tools-image, get-benchmarks-durations ]
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, gen3, small ]
+    runs-on: [ self-hosted, small ]
     container:
       image: ${{ needs.build-build-tools-image.outputs.image }}
       credentials:
@@ -302,9 +298,8 @@ jobs:
       with:
         channel-id: C060CNA47S9 # on-call-staging-storage-stream
         slack-message: |
-          Benchmarks failed on main: ${{ github.event.head_commit.url }}
-
-          Allure report: ${{ needs.create-test-report.outputs.report-url }}
+          Benchmarks failed on main <${{ github.event.head_commit.url }}|${{ github.sha }}>
+          <${{ needs.create-test-report.outputs.report-url }}|Allure report>
       env:
         SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
 
@@ -314,7 +309,7 @@ jobs:
     outputs:
       report-url: ${{ steps.create-allure-report.outputs.report-url }}
 
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, gen3, small ]
+    runs-on: [ self-hosted, small ]
     container:
       image: ${{ needs.build-build-tools-image.outputs.image }}
       credentials:
@@ -361,7 +356,7 @@ jobs:
 
   coverage-report:
     needs: [ check-permissions, build-build-tools-image, build-and-test-locally ]
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, gen3, small ]
+    runs-on: [ self-hosted, small ]
     container:
       image: ${{ needs.build-build-tools-image.outputs.image }}
       credentials:
@@ -475,7 +470,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         arch: [ x64, arm64 ]
 
-    runs-on: ${{ fromJson(format('["self-hosted", "gen3", "{0}"]', matrix.arch == 'arm64' && 'large-arm64' || 'large')) }}
+    runs-on: ${{ fromJson(format('["self-hosted", "{0}"]', matrix.arch == 'arm64' && 'large-arm64' || 'large')) }}
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -554,7 +549,7 @@ jobs:
         version: [ v14, v15, v16 ]
         arch: [ x64, arm64 ]
 
-    runs-on: ${{ fromJson(format('["self-hosted", "gen3", "{0}"]', matrix.arch == 'arm64' && 'large-arm64' || 'large')) }}
+    runs-on: ${{ fromJson(format('["self-hosted", "{0}"]', matrix.arch == 'arm64' && 'large-arm64' || 'large')) }}
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -699,7 +694,7 @@ jobs:
 
   vm-compute-node-image:
     needs: [ check-permissions, tag, compute-node-image ]
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, gen3, large ]
+    runs-on: [ self-hosted, large ]
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -748,7 +743,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         arch: [ x64, arm64 ]
 
-    runs-on: ${{ fromJson(format('["self-hosted", "gen3", "{0}"]', matrix.arch == 'arm64' && 'small-arm64' || 'small')) }}
+    runs-on: ${{ fromJson(format('["self-hosted", "{0}"]', matrix.arch == 'arm64' && 'small-arm64' || 'small')) }}
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -963,7 +958,7 @@ jobs:
     needs: [ check-permissions, promote-images, tag, build-and-test-locally, trigger-custom-extensions-build-and-wait ]
     if: github.ref_name == 'main' || github.ref_name == 'release'|| github.ref_name == 'release-proxy'
 
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, gen3, small ]
+    runs-on: [ self-hosted, small ]
     container: 369495373322.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/ansible:latest
     steps:
       - name: Fix git ownership
@@ -983,7 +978,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          submodules: false
           fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Trigger deploy workflow
@@ -1064,7 +1058,7 @@ jobs:
     needs: [ check-permissions, promote-images, tag, build-and-test-locally ]
     if: github.ref_name == 'release'
 
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, gen3, small ]
+    runs-on: [ self-hosted, small ]
     container:
       image: 369495373322.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/base:pinned
       options: --init
@@ -1120,10 +1114,12 @@ jobs:
     # Format `needs` differently to make the list more readable.
     # Usually we do `needs: [...]`
     needs:
+      - build-and-test-locally
       - check-codestyle-python
       - check-codestyle-rust
-      - build-and-test-locally
+      - promote-images
       - test-images
+      - trigger-custom-extensions-build-and-wait
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     steps:
       # The list of possible results:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/neon_extra_builds.yml b/.github/workflows/neon_extra_builds.yml
index 2ee66cfdc1f6..7fecdbde8c5c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/neon_extra_builds.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/neon_extra_builds.yml
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: true
-          fetch-depth: 1
 
       - name: Install macOS postgres dependencies
         run: brew install flex bison openssl protobuf icu4c pkg-config
@@ -158,7 +157,6 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: true
-          fetch-depth: 1
 
       # Some of our rust modules use FFI and need those to be checked
       - name: Get postgres headers
diff --git a/.github/workflows/periodic_pagebench.yml b/.github/workflows/periodic_pagebench.yml
index ed4e6be71239..615937b5a198 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/periodic_pagebench.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/periodic_pagebench.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   trigger_bench_on_ec2_machine_in_eu_central_1:
-    runs-on: [ self-hosted, gen3, small ]
+    runs-on: [ self-hosted, small ]
     container:
       image: neondatabase/build-tools:pinned
       credentials: