diff --git a/.ci/run.sh b/.ci/run.sh
index 64695cde10..72cf47b011 100755
--- a/.ci/run.sh
+++ b/.ci/run.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ if [ "$SNAP_CI" == "true" ] && [ "$ID" == "ubuntu" ]; then
 	sudo -E PATH="$PATH" bash -c \
 		 "make functional docker crio docker-compose network netmon \
 		 docker-stability oci openshift kubernetes swarm \
-		 entropy ramdisk shimv2 tracing"
+		 entropy ramdisk tracing"
 else
 	.ci/run.sh
 fi
diff --git a/snap/snapcraft.yaml b/snap/snapcraft.yaml
index ed8ebdbf6a..31e517cde9 100644
--- a/snap/snapcraft.yaml
+++ b/snap/snapcraft.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: kata-containers
-version: "1.8.0-alpha0"
+version: "1.8.0-rc0"
 summary: Build lightweight VMs that seamlessly plug into the containers ecosystem
 description: |
   Kata Containers is an open source project and community working to build a
@@ -10,10 +10,40 @@ grade: stable
 confinement: classic
 
 parts:
-  go:
+  yq:
+    plugin: nil
+    prime:
+      - -*
+    build-packages:
+      - curl
     override-build: |
+      yq_path="yq"
+      yq_pkg="github.com/mikefarah/yq"
+      goos="linux"
+      case "$(uname -m)" in
+        aarch64) goarch="arm64";;
+        ppc64le) goarch="ppc64le";;
+        x86_64) goarch="amd64";;
+        s390x) goarch="s390x";;
+        *) echo "unsupported architecture: $(uname -m)"; exit 1;;
+      esac
+
+      # Workaround to get latest release from github (to not use github token).
+      # Get the redirection to latest release on github.
+      yq_latest_url=$(curl -Ls -o /dev/null -w %{url_effective} "https://${yq_pkg}/releases/latest")
+      # The redirected url should include the latest release version
+      # https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/releases/tag/<VERSION-HERE>
+      yq_version=$(basename "${yq_latest_url}")
+      yq_url="https://${yq_pkg}/releases/download/${yq_version}/yq_${goos}_${goarch}"
+      curl -o "${yq_path}" -LSsf ${yq_url}
+      chmod +x ${yq_path}
+
+  go:
+    after: [yq]
+    override-build: |
+      yq=$(realpath ../../yq/build/yq)
       versions_url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kata-containers/runtime/${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_VERSION}/versions.yaml
-      version="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | yq r - languages.golang.version)"
+      version="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | ${yq} r - languages.golang.version)"
       curl -LO https://dl.google.com/go/go${version}.src.tar.gz
       tar -xf go${version}.src.tar.gz --strip-components=1
       cd src && env GOROOT_BOOTSTRAP=$(go env GOROOT | tr -d '\n') ./make.bash
@@ -21,8 +51,6 @@ parts:
       - golang-go
       - g++
       - curl
-    build-snaps:
-      - yq
     plugin: nil
     prime:
       - -*
@@ -113,17 +141,20 @@ parts:
       make install LIBEXECDIR=${SNAPCRAFT_PART_INSTALL}/usr/libexec
 
   image:
-    source: http://github.com/kata-containers/osbuilder
-    source-type: git
     after: [go]
-    plugin: make
+    plugin: nil
     build-packages:
       - docker.io
       - cpio
     override-build: |
+      yq=$(realpath ../../yq/build/yq)
+      pkg_name=osbuilder
+
       # set GOPATH
       export GOPATH=$(realpath go)
-      mkdir -p "${GOPATH}"
+      pkg_gopath=${GOPATH}/src/github.com/${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_NAME}/${pkg_name}
+      mkdir -p ${pkg_gopath}
+
       # go was built in parts/go/build
       export GOROOT=$(realpath ../../go/build)
       export PATH="${GOROOT}/bin:${PATH}"
@@ -133,6 +164,10 @@ parts:
         sudo -E systemctl set-environment https_proxy=$https_proxy || true
       fi
 
+      # Copy yq binary. It's used in the container
+      mkdir -p "${GOPATH}/bin/"
+      cp -a "${yq}" "${GOPATH}/bin/"
+
       echo "Unmasking docker service"
       sudo -E systemctl unmask docker.service || true
       sudo -E systemctl unmask docker.socket || true
@@ -143,8 +178,9 @@ parts:
       echo "Starting docker"
       sudo -E systemctl start docker || true
 
-      # use the same go version for all packages
-      sed -i 's|^GO_VERSION=.*|GO_VERSION='$(go version | cut -d' ' -f3 | tr -d go)'|g' rootfs-builder/versions.txt
+      # download source
+      git clone -b ${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_VERSION} https://github.com/kata-containers/${pkg_name} ${pkg_gopath}
+      cd ${pkg_gopath}
 
       sudo -E PATH=$PATH make AGENT_VERSION=${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_VERSION} DISTRO=alpine AGENT_INIT=yes USE_DOCKER=1 initrd
 
@@ -178,65 +214,22 @@ parts:
         TARGET=kata-ksm-throttler
 
   kernel:
-    override-pull: |
-      versions_url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kata-containers/runtime/${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_VERSION}/versions.yaml
-      version="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | yq r - assets.kernel.version | tr -d v)"
-      url="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | yq r - assets.kernel.url)"
-      curl -LO ${url}/linux-${version}.tar.xz
-      tar -xf linux-${version}.tar.xz --strip-components=1
-    after: [kernel-dump]
-    plugin: kernel
+    after: [kernel-dump, scripts-dump, yq]
+    plugin: nil
     build-packages:
       - libelf-dev
       - curl
       - build-essential
       - bison
       - flex
-    build-snaps:
-      - yq
     override-build: |
-      versions_url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kata-containers/runtime/${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_VERSION}/versions.yaml
-      version="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | yq r - assets.kernel.version | tr -d v)"
-      x_version="$(echo $version | sed -e 's|.[[:digit:]]*$||').x"
-      case "$(uname -m)" in
-        "x86_64")
-          config="x86_64_kata_kvm_${x_version}"
-        ;;
+      yq=$(realpath ../../yq/build/yq)
 
-        "ppc64le")
-          config="powerpc_kata_kvm_${x_version}"
-        ;;
-
-        "aarch64")
-          config="arm64_kata_kvm_${x_version}"
-        ;;
-
-        "s390x")
-          config="s390_kata_kvm_${x_version}"
-        ;;
-
-        *)
-          echo "ERROR: Unsupported architecture $(uname -m)"
-          exit 1
-        ;;
-      esac
-
-      make mrproper
-
-
-      # Apply patches
-      for patch in ${SNAPCRAFT_STAGE}/kernel/patches/${x_version}/*.patch; do
-        echo "Applying $(basename "$patch") ..."
-        patch \
-          --batch \
-          --forward \
-          --strip 1 \
-          --input "$patch"
-      done
-
-      # Copy config file
-      cp ${SNAPCRAFT_STAGE}/kernel/configs/${config} .config
-      make -s oldconfig EXTRAVERSION=".container" > /dev/null
+      # Say 'no' to everithing, fix issues with incomplete .config files
+      yes "n" | ${SNAPCRAFT_STAGE}/kernel/build-kernel.sh setup
+      kernel_dir_prefix="kata-linux-"
+      cd ${kernel_dir_prefix}*
+      version=$(basename ${PWD} | sed 's|'"${kernel_dir_prefix}"'||' | cut -d- -f1)
       make -j $(($(nproc)-1)) EXTRAVERSION=".container"
 
       kernel_suffix=${version}.container
@@ -261,9 +254,17 @@ parts:
     prime:
       - -*
 
+  scripts-dump:
+    source: scripts
+    plugin: dump
+    organize:
+      '*' : scripts/
+    prime:
+      - -*
+
   qemu:
     plugin: make
-    after: [qemu-scripts-dump, qemu-lite-patches-dump, qemu-aarch64-patches-dump]
+    after: [scripts-dump, qemu-patches-dump, qemu-aarch64-patches-dump, yq]
     build-packages:
       - gcc
       - python
@@ -278,26 +279,25 @@ parts:
       - libfdt-dev
       - curl
       - libcapstone-dev
-    build-snaps:
-      - yq
     override-build: |
+      yq=$(realpath ../../yq/build/yq)
       pkg_name="qemu"
 
       versions_url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kata-containers/runtime/${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_VERSION}/versions.yaml
       # arch-specific definition
       case "$(uname -m)" in
         "aarch64")
-          branch="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | yq r - assets.hypervisor.qemu.architecture.aarch64.branch)"
-          url="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | yq r - assets.hypervisor.qemu.url)"
-          commit="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | yq r - assets.hypervisor.qemu.architecture.aarch64.commit)"
+          branch="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | ${yq} r - assets.hypervisor.qemu.architecture.aarch64.branch)"
+          url="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | ${yq} r - assets.hypervisor.qemu.url)"
+          commit="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | ${yq} r - assets.hypervisor.qemu.architecture.aarch64.commit)"
           patch_dir="${SNAPCRAFT_STAGE}/qemu-aarch64/patches/"
         ;;
 
         *)
-          branch="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | yq r - assets.hypervisor.qemu-lite.branch)"
-          url="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | yq r - assets.hypervisor.qemu-lite.url)"
-          commit="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | yq r - assets.hypervisor.qemu-lite.commit)"
-          patch_dir="${SNAPCRAFT_STAGE}/qemu-lite/patches/"
+          branch="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | ${yq} r - assets.hypervisor.qemu.tag)"
+          url="$(curl -sSL ${versions_url} | ${yq} r - assets.hypervisor.qemu.url)"
+          patch_dir="${SNAPCRAFT_STAGE}/qemu/patches/4.0.x"
+          commit=""
         ;;
       esac
 
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ parts:
       pkg_repo_dir="${pkg_name}-repo"
       git clone --branch ${branch} --single-branch ${url} "${pkg_repo_dir}"
       cd ${pkg_repo_dir}
-      git checkout ${commit}
+      [ -z "${commit}" ] || git checkout ${commit}
 
       [ -n "$(ls -A ui/keycodemapdb)" ] || git clone https://github.com/qemu/keycodemapdb ui/keycodemapdb/
       [ -n "$(ls -A capstone)" ] || git clone https://github.com/qemu/capstone capstone
@@ -320,9 +320,9 @@ parts:
           --input "$patch"
       done
 
-      chmod +x ${SNAPCRAFT_STAGE}/qemu/scripts/configure-hypervisor.sh
+      chmod +x ${SNAPCRAFT_STAGE}/scripts/configure-hypervisor.sh
       # static build
-      echo "$(${SNAPCRAFT_STAGE}/qemu/scripts/configure-hypervisor.sh -s qemu) \
+      echo "$(${SNAPCRAFT_STAGE}/scripts/configure-hypervisor.sh -s qemu) \
         --disable-rbd
         --prefix=/snap/${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_NAME}/current/usr \
         --datadir=/snap/${SNAPCRAFT_PROJECT_NAME}/current/usr/share \
@@ -345,18 +345,11 @@ parts:
       # Hack: move qemu to /
       "snap/kata-containers/current/": "./"
 
-  qemu-scripts-dump:
-    source: scripts
+  qemu-patches-dump:
+    source: qemu/patches/
     plugin: dump
     organize:
-      '*' : qemu/scripts/
-    prime:
-      - -*
-  qemu-lite-patches-dump:
-    source: obs-packaging/qemu-lite/patches/
-    plugin: dump
-    organize:
-      '*' : qemu-lite/patches/
+      '*' : qemu/patches/
     prime:
       - -*
   qemu-aarch64-patches-dump: